Genesis' "DAYS of CREATION" in light of scientific views

[spyx3m_119]

First off, this is not a duplicate of a thread from which was focusing on the creation of the universe as a whole. This topic focuses on the "days of creation" outlined in the book of Genesis (Please continue reading to understand why days of creation of Genesis is not the same as the creation of universe as a whole). For the purpose of this thread, I am gonna list the days of creation and show you how logical it was base on the standpoint of Science. Before proceeding, one must understand what and what is not included in the account of Genesis:

1. The account is written on a standpoint of someone who is standing on the earth as it was happening and not on the standpoint of how God sees it.
2. The length of days in the bible creation is not merely a 24 hrs in length.Sa Genesis 1:5, sabi ng Diyos, na hinati nya ang bawat araw... tinawag nya ang liwanag bilang araw at ang dilim bilang gabi. Sa Genesis 2:4 yung buong days ng creation ay tinuring nyang isang "Araw". Sa hebrew ang salitang araw ay maraming kahulugan... pweding 24 hrs, pede rin namang a period of time na may special event na nagaganap. Halimbawa ang buhay ng isang tao (pagpalagay ng mga 60 years) can also be called araw ng buhay nya. In the same manner ang night can also be refered to as the ending of that "day" or event. This means that each creative days could last thousands of years.
3. Events that starts in one "day" (creative days) does not end on the start of another "day". As an example, on day 1, it started as nothing but darkness and the account ended saying that there is a diffused light seen on the surface of the earth. On the 2nd day it is apparent that it continues to clear the atmosphere which resulted in creating a space between a thick cloud above and the waters beneath which continues on to the fourth day from which the atmosphere is now clear and thus the source of light (sun, moon and stars) started to be seen.
4. God already created the heavens and the earth prior to the Genesis days of creation. It is very apparent in the first 2 verse of Genesis: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.Now the earth was formless and desolate, and there was darkness upon the surface of the watery deep, and God’s active force was moving about over the surface of the waters."

From this statement we can understand that God already created the whole heavens (in plural form which would suggest many heavenly bodies including sun, moon, galaxies, etc) and the "unhabited earth" (in singular which suggest uniqueness) which probably existed billions of years prior to the first day of creation in the Genesis account. Again, the book of genesis describes how the earth was prepared for human habitat, from which base on that verse, initially was void (formless) and desolated. Again, it is imporant to note that God already created the Universe, including the lifeless planet earth, which is in existence for an indefinite period of time prior to the first day of creation.

Now that this is out of the way, let us proceed:



First Day

“‘Let light come to be.’ Then there came to be light. And God began calling the light Day, but the darkness he called Night. And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, a first day.” —Genesis 1:3, 5.

As mentioned on an earthly observer, initially you can see nothing on earth but darkness but of course as I explicitly mentioned on the start: the sun, moon and stars were already created, but their light did not reach the surface of the earth. Now a small portion of light is beginning to be seen on the face of the earth which comes in gradual process over a period of time. It seems that the light being seen came from the sun but the sun it self is not yet visible on earth... The light being seen is a diffused light.




Second Day

“‘Let an expanse come to be in between the waters and let a dividing occur between the waters and the waters.’ Then God proceeded to make the expanse and to make a division between the waters that should be beneath the expanse and the waters that should be above the expanse. And it came to be so. And God began to call the expanse Heaven.”—Genesis 1:6-8.

There are not much information on how this event happen, only that God separated the waters from above to the waters from below to produce an expanse. It seems that this process enables the creation of the earths atmosphere.




Third Day

“‘Let the waters under the heavens be brought together into one place and let the dry land appear.’ And it came to be so. And God began calling the dry land Earth, but the bringing together of the waters he called Seas.” -Genesis 1:9, 10

There are no specific description again how this happens but you can imagine that there would be a great movements of earth's plates to be able to accomplish this task of formation of land masses.

Pwede nating gamiting reference yung account ng Job kung saan God is described as questioning Job about his knowledge of the earth...Binanggit doon ang tungkol sa: sukat, kapal ng ulap, ang dagat at mga alon nito which were limited by dry land — many things in general about the creation, spanning long periods of time. Among these things, comparing earth to a building, the Bible says that God asked Job: “Into what have its socket pedestals been sunk down, or who laid its cornerstone?”—Job 38:6.

Interestingly, like “socket pedestals,” earth’s crust is much thicker under continents and even more so under mountain ranges, pushing deep into the underlying mantle, like tree roots into soil. “The idea that mountains and continents had roots has been tested over and over again, and shown to be valid,” says Putnam’s Geology. Oceanic crust is only about 5 miles thick, but continental roots go down about 20 miles and mountain roots penetrate about twice that far. And all earth’s layers press inward upon earth’s core from all directions, making it like a great “cornerstone” of support.

Whatever means were used to accomplish the raising up of dry land, the important point is: Both the Bible and science recognize it as one of the stages in the forming of the earth.

Plants on the Third Day. The Bible account adds:

“‘Let the earth cause grass to shoot forth, vegetation bearing seed, fruit trees yielding fruit according to their kinds, the seed of which is in it, upon the earth.’ And it came to be so.”—Genesis 1:11.

Bagamat hindi pa lahat ng uri ng halaman ang tumubo during this stage, at least merong tatlong klase o grupo ng halaman ang binanggit, (1) damo, (2) halamang may buto, at (3) punong namumunga. The diffused light would have become quite strong by then, ample for the process of photosynthesis so vital to green plants. Microscopic organisms, water plants and others are not specifically named, but likely were created on this “day.”

Fourth Day

“‘Let luminaries come to be in the expanse of the heavens to make a division between the day and the night; and they must serve as signs and for seasons and for days and years. And they must serve as luminaries in the expanse of the heavens to shine upon the earth.’ And it came to be so. And God proceeded to make the two great luminaries, the greater luminary for dominating the day and the lesser luminary for dominating the night, and also the stars.”—Genesis 1:14-16; Psalm 136:7-9.

Previously, on the first “day,” the expression “Let light come to be” was used. The Hebrew word there used for “light” is?’ohr, meaning light in a general sense. But on the fourth “day,” the Hebrew word changes to ma·’ohr', which means the source of the light. On the first “day” diffused light evidently penetrated the swaddling bands, but the sources of that light could not have been seen by an earthly observer because of the cloud layers still enveloping the earth. Now, on this fourth “day,” things apparently changed.

An atmosphere initially rich in carbon dioxide may have caused an earth-wide hot climate. But the lush growth of vegetation during the third and fourth creative periods would absorb some of this heat-retaining blanket of carbon dioxide. The vegetation, in turn, would release oxygen—a requirement for animal life.

Now, had there been an earthly observer, he would be able to discern the sun, moon and stars, which would “serve as signs and for seasons and for days and years.” (Genesis 1:14) The moon would indicate the passing of lunar months, and the sun the passing of solar years. The seasons that now “came to be” on this fourth “day” would no doubt have been much milder than they became later on.—Genesis 1:15; 8:20-22.

Fifth Day

“‘Let the waters swarm forth a swarm of living souls and let flying creatures fly over the earth upon the face of the expanse of the heavens.’ And God proceeded to create the great sea monsters and every living soul that moves about, which the waters swarmed forth according to their kinds, and every winged flying creature according to its kind.”—Genesis 1:20, 21.

It is important to note that since the atmosphere started to clear which resulted in the gradual process of cleaning the environment with the help of vegetation and the entering of a more strong energy from the sun, the plants created the oxygen which is necessary for "flying creatures" to survive as well as the sea creatures. Also it is noteworthy to note that it is during this days, that some of the great/big creatures started to exist (ie. Dinosours).

Also note that no ground creature is yet created because it still cannot sustain them initially but it will over time.

Sixth Day

“‘Let the earth put forth living souls according to their kinds, domestic animal and moving animal and wild beast of the earth according to its kind.’ And it came to be so.”—Genesis 1:24.

This is the time the land creatures were created. But the creation is not over yet. “And God went on to say: ‘Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and the domestic animals and all the earth and every moving animal that is moving upon the earth.’ And God proceeded to create the man in his image, in God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.”—Genesis 1:26, 27.

This is where chapter 1 of Genesis ended saying God proceeded to bless the 7th day. But Chapter 2 of the Book of Genesis adds details on how God prepared the place for the human beings and eventually how the human beings were created. Chapter 2 of the book of Genesis seems to have started its story from the "Third Day" of creation from which God made it happen that a dry land appear and then he selected a special place on that dry land and made a Garden of eden which he allows a huge vegetation to sprout out of the ground. And then the animals on the fifth and sixth days....