Upon awakening this morning I remembered the opening to a story I am writing, maybe it is a book, but either way it expresses my view on the beginning of the earth and life.
Quote
IN THE BEGINNING
GENESIS 1: 1-12 1. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. 3. Then God said, "Let there be light "; and there was light. 4. God saw that the light was good ; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5. God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. 6. Then God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." 7. God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse ; and it was so. 8. God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day. 9. Then God said, "Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear "; and it was so. 10. God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas ; and God saw that it was good. 11. Then God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation : plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them"; and it was so. 12. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind ; and God saw that it was good.
The teller of this tale has no clue as to the exact number of days or just how God created the earth, nor does he care. It is enough to know the earth wasn't and then it was. The teller of this tale does have thoughts about what all went on in the process as it relates to the part of earth where he resides, that part now known as the Pacific Northwest on the Continent of North America.
It must have been one wild ride. There is evidence of vast inland lakes that are now long gone. There are multiple mountain ranges and deep canyons, some scoured by water and others seem to have been created by violent splits in the earths crust or perhaps formed by the finger of God. There are volcanoes that have spewed forth ash and lava from deep within the earth's core, sometimes bringing various other minerals and elements along for the ride. There is also evidence of ancient rivers that are no more. The teller of this tale does not think it would have been fun to live here when all this took place, but he takes great joy in the beauty and splendor of what is there now.
And good Morning to you Sir.
I must agree, the story of the earth is one wild ride. The shooting gallery we call the Early Bombardment, the collision with a Mercury sized planet that lead to the creation of the moon, the billion+ years it took for our atmosphere to evolve. If you take it back to the Big bang, the story becomes even more amazing, with large short lived stars creating the heavy elements needed for the surface we stand on. Yes, it's a great story.
Regarding the authors view of the time frames, at several points he quotes specific timer frames:
Genesis 1:13 And the evening and the morning were the third day. 1:19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. 1:23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. 1:31 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.
2:2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
It's widely believed a second writer picks up at Genesis 2:4 (The Second Creation Account), and this second writer contradicts the above time frame: Gen.2:4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.
Now I do not know your target audience so these differences may not be relevant to your message. Your apparent figurative approach to the text provides you great lea way. As I've said before, the less literal, and more allegorical you message, so long as it conforms to your readers sense of morality, the more difficult it becomes to argue against the message.
You didn't use logic or reason to get into this opinion, I cannot use logic or reason to get you out of it.
You cannot over estimate the unimportance of nearly everything. John Maxwell
