Creation question

[AntB]

if Genesis is not meant to be taken literally and it’s not 6, 24 hour days then how did plant life survive (day 3) before the creation of the sun (day 4) if it took x amount of time in-between?

Is there a legit stance on this since plants and trees need sunlight?

 

[aragonjohn1]

if Genesis is not meant to be taken literally and it’s not 6, 24 hour days then how did plant life survive (day 3) before the creation of the sun (day 4) if it took x amount of time in-between?

Is there a legit stance on this since plants and trees need sunlight?

the order of creation you mentioned does work because God in His love sustains. just remember God’s days are not like our days. if You want a literal interpretation the plants and other beautiful things that did not need much light God creates before the fourth day. simple:thumbsup:

God bless

 

[AntB]

Ha, you make it sound so easy!!

 

[SpringWater]

God is beyond science and common sense, that’s why all what is irrational sounds rational with God.

 

[AntB]

I’ve read at the moment of the BB there was light but idk how long that was sustained so idk where the artificial light came from…maybe it’s just me but I don’t know of “day” without the uhhhh, sun.

You’re attempt at humility was lost, sorry if the question wasn’t to your liking my friend

 

[Elizium23]

if Genesis is not meant to be taken literally

You answered your own question by stating the premise. Genesis is not meant to be taken literally - case closed!

 

[AntB]

You answered your own question by stating the premise. Genesis is not meant to be taken literally - case closed!

Is that all there is to it though?? It’s probably one of those things that we will never know the answer to but I figured it was a logical question so maybe there was a certain stance on it but thank you.

 

[AntB]

“No attempt at “humility”, just an (apparently poor) attempt at humor. Sorry if it came off wrong.”

It’s All good, my apologies as well, I was just lookin to see if there was any other stance then a “Gods outside of science” type answer but I when I looked up how to sustain plant life without sunlight i saw that they can use artificial light, it’s just obviously not as strong but it was by no means an extensive study by me

Thank you for your (name removed by moderator)ut, I appreciate it!

 

[TimothyH]

God himself was the light before sin entered the world.

And night shall be no more; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they shall reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 22:5)

-Tim-

 

[Simca]

if Genesis is not meant to be taken literally and it’s not 6, 24 hour days then how did plant life survive (day 3) before the creation of the sun (day 4) if it took x amount of time in-between?

Is there a legit stance on this since plants and trees need sunlight?

I know what you’re saying, because I have always wondered how all the plant life survived after being under water for 40 days and 40 nights.

In reading Genesis, I noticed that light was created on the first day, before the sun was created, so I guess the plants survived from this light.

But as another poster said, all things were sustained by God’s power, so the plants could have survived underwater or without the sun, too.

 

[Jon_S_1]

if Genesis is not meant to be taken literally and it’s not 6, 24 hour days then how did plant life survive (day 3) before the creation of the sun (day 4) if it took x amount of time in-between?

Is there a legit stance on this since plants and trees need sunlight?

You are still looking at it all literally with this question.

The order, time, etc… Doesn’t matter to the message

 

[UppityAnn]

A toddler asked his mother: “Mom, where was I before I was born?”

The mother replied: “Right under my heart safe and warm.”

Did she lie to her child?

Do you think it would be better if she had taken her child aside and given him a detailed sex lesson (complete with pictures) to tell him the whole, real truth?

Do you think it would be better if she had said: “Stop asking silly questions.”

Do you think she should have said: "Wait until you are much older and you will discover the answer to your question. (Remember, to a child’s concept of time a year is longer than a decade to an adult.)

Or should she have passed on some complete falsehood: “The stork brought you” or “We picked you out of the baby catalogue.”

When the Hebrew slaves were released from slavery they had spent over 200 years in bondage in a land filled with creation myths and gods. They were travelling to a land where they were going to be surrounded by people who all had their own gods and creation stories. It would be natural for them to ask: “But what about us? Where do we come from and where did the world come from?”

I believe that the one GOD, through his great prophet Moses, decided to give his people a story (not science but a story) that would keep them assured of God’s love and power all through the centuries of scientific infancy. Now that we are reaching more scientific maturity we can begin to discover the FACTS. But if the facts do not perfectly fit the story in a scientific way, the story fits the facts in an emotional way.

Search the creation stories in all the cultures in all the world in all of time. I have studied many. I have found none which fit the scientific concept of slow progression in creation and the religious belief of ONE GOD and that God being intimately loving and concerned about ALL creation and especially humans.

Humanity wasn’t ready for the full scientific proofs of creation because we still had a lot to learn about a lot of other subjects, like math and physics and astronomy. We even had to learn how to create large pools of wealth and learning so we could create the tools needed to do scientific investigation.

The great Bible commentator Matthew Henry wrote: “The scriptures were written not to gratify our curiosity, or make us astronomers, but to lead us to God and make us saints.” This was published in 1710!

You tell me if the mother was wrong to give her child a story to bring comfort and just enough science (after all, we do all come from inside our mothers eventually) to carry the child along until the child grew old enough for the full revelation of science to bring out the details more clearly.

I think the mother was wise, and I believe that God has worked in just such a wise manner with his children who have the blessing of the Bible to read

I can’t say that this is the exact truth of the matter. It is just an idea which comforts me.

May God bless us all so that our questions about science and religion remain questions to be explored in truth and in love and not become divisive dogmas to stir up pride and anger. Amen.

 

[Judas_Thaddeus]

if Genesis is not meant to be taken literally and it’s not 6, 24 hour days then how did plant life survive (day 3) before the creation of the sun (day 4) if it took x amount of time in-between?

Is there a legit stance on this since plants and trees need sunlight?

Creationists would say, “Well it’s only 24 hours, not like they took time to grow.”

You consider the time as maybe figurative, may help then to see the
rest of Creation as figurative, allegorical, metaphorical, NOT LITERAL.

Evidence which God left for us to find shows that Genesis is NOT all literal.
BIG BANG!~HOT Gas, Stars, planets soon after, more formal planets little
later, something happens, NOT INTELLIGENT DESIGN WHICH IS NOT A
SCIENCE, Life shows up, the Sun already existed.

Don’t miss the point of Genesis:
youtube.com/watch?v=PzWK2rpLCwk

 

[aragonjohn1]

You answered your own question by stating the premise. Genesis is not meant to be taken literally - case closed!

as said by the church many times and in Dei Verbum there are many different interpretations in the light of God’s love; one of them is literal interpretation in the sense of that time when God inspires writing of that revelation to all.

God bless

 

[dmwessel]

if Genesis is not meant to be taken literally and it’s not 6, 24 hour days then how did plant life survive (day 3) before the creation of the sun (day 4) if it took x amount of time in-between?

Is there a legit stance on this since plants and trees need sunlight?

Excellent question. Genesis is not in chronological order; you find the answers by finding like verses. For example, a matching verse for Genesis Chapter 1:1 (“in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” is found in John 1:1-3:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God*. 3 *All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

Concerning your question about how plants can come before the Sun! It all seems allegorical:

“Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass” (Deut. 32:1-3)

 

[Falco]

Genesis 1 (New International Version)

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he 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—the first day.
DAY ONE - the earth is created, and set spinning in the void, to give day and night. It is a water planet, no ready to support life yet, the weather is probably very stormy and it rains a lot. Low cloud.

6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.* DAY TWO -A cloud cover surrounds the whole earth, which the daylight can penetrate, but no sky is seen. Still not a hospitable place for any kind of life as we’d know it. *

9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.DAY THREE Land appears, still under cloud cover. The beginnings of life can start to develop in the land above the water.

11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day. ALSO ON DAY THREE - Vegetation appears, which is able to grow under a thin cloud cover - as it does unto this day.

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day. *DAY FOUR - the clouds clear, revealing the sources of the daylight and moonlight, and starlight./I]

20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.* DAY FIVE - The world now has sunlight, plants, and is ready for the first animal life - so God creates birds and fish - the egg layers*

24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

27 So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
*DAY SIX - The world is now ready for mammalian animal life in abundance, and human life - the skies have cleared, it is not raining all the time, there are greens and meat to eat, so God makes us **

 

[tskrobacz]

if Genesis is not meant to be taken literally and it’s not 6, 24 hour days then how did plant life survive (day 3) before the creation of the sun (day 4) if it took x amount of time in-between?

Is there a legit stance on this since plants and trees need sunlight?

Genesis is not science, it is not literal, it is metaphorical.

 

[Elizium23]

as said by the church many times and in Dei Verbum there are many different interpretations in the light of God’s love; one of them is literal interpretation in the sense of that time when God inspires writing of that revelation to all.

God bless

I did not understand anything you said after the semicolon. Perhaps I was not meant to interpret it literally!

 

[dmwessel]

Genesis 1 (New International Version)

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he 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—the first day.
DAY ONE - the earth is created, and set spinning in the void, to give day and night. It is a water planet, no ready to support life yet, the weather is probably very stormy and it rains a lot. Low cloud.

6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.* DAY TWO -A cloud cover surrounds the whole earth, which the daylight can penetrate, but no sky is seen. Still not a hospitable place for any kind of life as we’d know it. *

9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.DAY THREE Land appears, still under cloud cover. The beginnings of life can start to develop in the land above the water.

11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day. ALSO ON DAY THREE - Vegetation appears, which is able to grow under a thin cloud cover - as it does unto this day.

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day. *DAY FOUR - the clouds clear, revealing the sources of the daylight and moonlight, and starlight./I]

20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.* DAY FIVE - The world now has sunlight, plants, and is ready for the first animal life - so God creates birds and fish - the egg layers**

24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

27 So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
*DAY SIX - The world is now ready for mammalian animal life in abundance, and human life - the skies have cleared, it is not raining all the time, there are greens and meat to eat, so God makes us *

With this are you pointing out that you believe that plants (11) came before the Sun (14-greater light)?

 

[Falco]

With this are you pointing out that you believe that plants (11) came before the Sun (14-greater light)?

No, I’m saying that plants are able to live under a light cloud cover - I’m saying that day and night were already established - right from day one. To have day and night, you have to have sunlight, even if you cannot see the orb of the sun. I’m saying the sun was there right from the first day.

The waters were separated, water above the earth sounds like cloud to me.

As the cloud cover thinned, plants were able to develop - ask any Englishman who lives under a constant overcast for months at a time! Or even the dwellers in the monsoon rainy season in Asia.

And eventually the air clears, and the orb of the sun, and the moon and stars are visible.

For an earth system that developed through five eras before the coming of man, it is a plausible succession of occurrences.