Creation and Dinosaurs - Page 14

[Bluegoat]

Originally Posted by BrandiRhoades

My uni had it. The class was a first-year class. For me it was mostly a rehash of issues we'd discussed in chemistry and biology in high school, but for some students it seemed like new info. I actually thought it was becoming a fairly common course requirement.

That is a very good thing - I could never understand relying on what kids did in public school. In my school it was grade 8 that we covered the scientific method, and how many people remember what they did in grade 8? Too many horomones get in the way, I think.

But like Smokering, I've met grad level science students who talk about scientific theories being "proven". By that level, it seems to me, a basic understanding of the scientific method would be expected.

All this being said, it strikes me that if I said "The theory of evolution is a very good scientific theory," and someone else pointed out that I couldn't "prove" it, I would say - So what? It really isn't an argument about taking any scientific theory seriously, though I see many people who want to argue against ideas like evolution using it that way.

The only thing it's useful for, I find, is making people who think science is the only way to knowledge understand that it actually depends on more basic reasoning and assumptions, and so to take science seriously means to take those things seriously too.

[CrunchyChristianMama]

I am lost

Anything we can help with? Is it one issue or is it the whole thread?

[APBTlover]

...I don't have time to look through the entire thread... has anyone mentioned the Gap Theory? A lot of extremely conservative, literalist Christians I know believe it's the answer to the "dinosaur question" (including most of my own family). In short (in case it wasn't already covered), it's the idea that The Creation in Genesis wasn't the first creation. Notice, "the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters," ie, "the waters" were already here. So they believe that all of those being before Man lived here in a previous age, and were destroyed before the creation story of Genesis begins.

ETA: This seems to be a really wonderful discussion, and I can't wait to read it through.

[CrunchyChristianMama]

I don't recall us getting into the Gap Theory much if at all on this thread. I do know there are two different forms of the Gap Theory though. One that is as you described, and the other that would say the "gap" occurs between verses 2 and 3 of Genesis 1. This second version would mean that the Earth was here for an undetermined or unspoken length of time before God began his creation of life on it. I can see some justification for this second version (although I am not sold on it), but do not see any Biblical justification for the version you bring up. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it though.

[CrunchyChristianMama]

Here's a great link that I strongly agree with on why I don't think the gap theory (in which any life forms were on the Earth before the 7 day creation) has validity. The Gap Theory that I can maybe get behind would say that yes, the Earth was created long before the then 7 day creation took place.

[CrunchyChristianMama]

Sorry, DD woke up and wanted to nurse and I forgot to add the link.

http://www.answersingenesis.org/crea.../gaptheory.asp

[APBTlover]

Just to be clear, since I realize my original post was vague, I myself do not necessarily endorse Gap Theory... I am currently a very curious and searching agnostic. Therefore, I'm afraid any of my actual "arguments" would be half-hearted, lol. I was really just kind of throwing it out there. Thanks, Evie's Mama, for the link you posted... it should produce some interesting discussions around here.

[Beeblebrox]

Originally Posted by JamesMama

Didn't read the whole thread, but I'm a Bible believing Christian and here is my take...

Several times in the Bible it is said that HIS time is not our time. So the whole 'earth in 6 days' is more metaphor to me. I don't think it was LITERALLY 144 hours. I believe that GOD'S day can be anywhere from 10,000 of our years to a trillion of our years. So it happened VERY slowly. So the 5th day where GOD created the beasts of the water and the air and the land, that very well could have been dinosaurs, and then some trillion of our years later on the '6th day' when GOD created man the dinosaurs had already died off along with probably a zillion other species created on the '5th day'. And then on the '6th day' there were primarily the creatures we see today....minus a bunch I'm sure as different animals have become extinct over the years.

Once Man was created I believe it became more of a 24-hour period day.

Not sure if this has already been brought up because this is a LONG thread, but where I get hung up on this idea is that death is the wages of sin and sin didn't enter until the fall. So, then death didn't enter in before that time either. If this is the case, then why would there have been death before then?

[theretohere]

Originally Posted by Beeblebrox

Not sure if this has already been brought up because this is a LONG thread, but where I get hung up on this idea is that death is the wages of sin and sin didn't enter until the fall. So, then death didn't enter in before that time either. If this is the case, then why would there have been death before then?

That's the reason I don't think that Gap Theory about creation before the creation would work.