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Old 03-22-2009, 07:09 AM   #1
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Default How many hours in a day?

The Genesis story describes what god did on day one, two etc. I have a bit of a problem with the time between events, not the sequence of events but the timing. Each event is described as being a day. But we now know that the big bang occurred approximately 14 billion years ago and that the earth was formed about 4 billion years ago and that man showed up about 2-300,000 years ago.

When ever I ask this question of Christians they make up all kinds of mumbo jumbo about a day wasn’t a day, or you’re misinterpreting it etc etc.

So I’ll try it here.. how many hours in a day back in the time of Genesis?
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Old 03-22-2009, 09:37 AM   #2
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So I’ll try it here.. how many hours in a day back in the time of Genesis?
There is no "time of Genesis". I suggest you stop treating these ancient stories as though they were science texts.
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Old 03-22-2009, 09:43 AM   #3
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Originally Posted by Question View Post

When ever I ask this question of Christians they make up all kinds of mumbo jumbo about a day wasn’t a day, or you’re misinterpreting it etc etc.

So I’ll try it here.. how many hours in a day back in the time of Genesis?

But, which day in Genesis are you querying?

"Day 1-2-3" were before the sun was created and there is also the period before "day 1-2-3" when the "earth was without form".



It may be that the 24-hr day only started properly on day 5.

Day 4 is a bit tricky since part of that "day" has a component of "day" 3. It is not known if when God created the sun if God himself was on the darkside
of the earth.

For example, God may have been somewhere in the Middle East during the night while the sun was being created somewhere over the Caribbean, perhaps the Virgin Islands or Jamaica.


Perhaps some believers know how many hours made a day back in those days.
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Old 03-22-2009, 09:57 AM   #4
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Markers serve moments. Moments serve momentums.

Certain say time flies in points. The gist say momentums come inner and outer a person.

Reading may go in different momentums, to where no other may observe.

Like reading a book which takes you a day to read may take another, say, instant.

What speed is an "in the beginning"? As fast as any buy it, might tell the speed.

Next time something comes in attention as a great item, note the speed in buying it. Note it may be in the attention which be the buy intent, the in beginning buy. May be the want without intent to buy it, the in beginning buy. Etc.
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Old 03-22-2009, 04:41 PM   #5
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Well, the Hebrews apparently understood those creation days to be normal days:

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Exodus 20
8. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10. But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
The 7 day week of 6 work days and 1 day of rest was directly correlated with the creation week, so there's little doubt in my mind how they understood those creation days.
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Old 03-22-2009, 05:36 PM   #6
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Peter's idea of a day: "..for a day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day."

"and the evening and the morning were the first day". So when dated by the Hebrews, did they borrow from the people of the land, the Canaanites?

Adam died in the day that he was created - 930 years. Did Adam the man die or was it his name that disolved into all those other tribes called begotten sons?
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Old 03-22-2009, 06:36 PM   #7
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Peter's idea of a day: "..for a day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day."
Well, in that case, a day can mean sunrise to sunset which varies depending on location or a time span of 8,766, 000 hours and these hours are probably only applicable to day 5 and beyond.

From Day 0 to day 1-2-3-4 is bit more complicated. How long was the first evening before God said, "Let there be light"?

Quote:
"and the evening and the morning were the first day".
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Old 03-22-2009, 07:54 PM   #8
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Default A Better Question: Who Put in the Day of Rest

It seems to me that the 20th century Big Bang theory was unknown to the writers of Genesis; and therefore, it is absurd to think that the original writer meant anything but a single day's time when they said a "day."

A better question is this: Who edited the text so that Man is created on the sixth day instead of the seventh as he was in an earlier version of the poem?

We can tell this because the phrase "God called ..." or "God saw that it was Good" precedes the naming of each new day. For example:
Quote:
5: And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

8: And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

12: And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
13: And the evening and the morning were the third day.

18: And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
19: And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

21: And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
22: And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
23: And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

25: And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. {Here was originally "And the evening and the morning were the sixth day"}
26: And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

31: And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
It is apparent from the pattern in the rest of the poem that after the creation of the cattle and creeping things and the phrase "God saw that it was good," the phase "And the evening and the morning were the sixth day" should be there. Note also that God makes cattle and creeping things and man all on the same day. There seems to be no reason why cattle and creeping things would be made on the same day as man. We may justifiably assume that man was made on the seventh day, before the text was edited.

Please note that Gary Greenberg, in a similar, but independent analysis in 101 Myths of the Bible also concludes that in an earlier text, man was created on the seventh day. (See http://www.smalllinks.com/8JQ )


Warmly,

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Question View Post
The Genesis story describes what god did on day one, two etc. I have a bit of a problem with the time between events, not the sequence of events but the timing. Each event is described as being a day. But we now know that the big bang occurred approximately 14 billion years ago and that the earth was formed about 4 billion years ago and that man showed up about 2-300,000 years ago.

When ever I ask this question of Christians they make up all kinds of mumbo jumbo about a day wasn’t a day, or you’re misinterpreting it etc etc.

So I’ll try it here.. how many hours in a day back in the time of Genesis?
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Old 03-22-2009, 08:03 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Question View Post

When ever I ask this question of Christians they make up all kinds of mumbo jumbo about a day wasn’t a day, or you’re misinterpreting it etc etc.

So I’ll try it here.. how many hours in a day back in the time of Genesis?

"Day 1-2-3" were before the sun was created and there is also the period before "day 1-2-3" when the "earth was without form".
Im saying that there was 10 BILLION years between the big bang in day 1 and day 3
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Old 03-22-2009, 08:06 PM   #10
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Well, the Hebrews apparently understood those creation days to be normal days:
.
So can you explain the 10 Billion years between the big bang in day 1 and the earth in day 3?
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