Genesis 1 Days and Those Supernova Remnants

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For centuries, Bible literalists said, “Scripture is literally true. Scripture says that the Earth was created in six days, and that God rested on the seventh day. Therefore, it is literally true that the Universe was created in six days – roughly, 144 hours.”

But then, modern astronomy happened, and we discovered, more and more and more and more, that the sky is filled – jammed – with evidence that light in the sky has been travelling to us for thousands of years.

For example, the light from Andromeda Galaxy has been coming to Earth, where the Earth is now, for about 2 million years, from where Andromeda used to be located 2 million years ago…

antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090510.html

Most fundamentalist Bible literalists say, “Oh, God simply created light in space in-place, so that we could appreciate the immensity of His creation.”

That is what Duane Gish, of the Institute for Creation Research, wrote to me several years ago.

But I responded to Mr. Gish with this challenge:

The Universe is also filled with what astronomers call “supernova remnants.” They are the expanding cloud of debris from supernova-style star explosions in the past.

antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090905.html

If mankind is looking up into the sky one night, and sees a star, but on the following night mankind sees a brilliant supernova, because the star exploded centuries ago and the light finally reached us, then if in fact the Universe was not created more than, say, 6,000 years ago, and the supernova is located far, far more than 6,000 light years away, then the star never existed, though we saw it, and God is directly responsible for “A Lie in the Sky.”

A case of such a supernova occurred in 1987. In 1987, a star 170,000 light years away, in the Large Magellanic Cloud, suddenly “went supernova.” What had been a star scientists had looked at for years, as one of millions in the Large Magellanic Cloud, suddenly became a burst of light and expanding ring of energy in space.

antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040220.html

Since 170,000 years is longer than 6,000 years, then if the Universe is only 6,000 years old, then the light of the supernova explosion was part of the light beam created in-place by God. If we assume that the supernova light represents “truth,” then the prior light, showing a star, only, was a lie by God, because the star never existed!

Mr. Gish confessed that he could not explain why God would lie.

Many modern Catholic Bible literalists, struggling to avoid the conclusion that the Genesis creationm account is a non-factual myth teaching theology, suggest, “Well, God years are longer than man years!”

In truth, the creation stories in Genesis are filled with such problems.

It is nothing but a fictional myth, inspired by God the Holy Spirit to teach religious truth, not good science.
 
I think that the most imortant truth that we can take from Genesis Chapter 1 is; “In the begining God created the heavens and the earth.” Modern science is a gift from God, the more we learn from astronomy the more I realize how great our God is!
 
CalCatholic,
👍 All creation tells of the glory of God!

We’ll never have all the answers, understand everything, no matter how science progresses or how long the cosmos exists. The more we discover and understand, the more mysteries and puzzles we’ll encounter to remind us that God is a mystery beyond them all.
 
Gen 1:1 reads, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (RSV). Where is there a timetable in this verse? God never said how long He took to create the heavens and the earth, just that He did. Verse 2 reads, “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters” (RSV). Notice that here the Spirit of God was moving on the face of the waters. Obviously, this couldn’t have happened before the earth cooled, so wher does the Bible say that God created everything in existance only 6 days?

For myself, I do not doubt that God created things as outlined in Genesis in exactly 6 24-hour days. What came before Genesis 1:2, we do not know. How much time elapsed between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2, we do not know. Why couldn’t it have been a couple billion years (or more). Why couldn’t God have started everything with the “Big Bang” as many scientists theorize? It doesn’t disprove Scripture.
 
Peter_Dawson said:
If mankind is looking up into the sky one night, and sees a star, but on the following night mankind sees a brilliant supernova, because the star exploded centuries ago and the light finally reached us, then if in fact the Universe was not created more than, say, 6,000 years ago, and the supernova is located far, far more than 6,000 light years away, then the star never existed, though we saw it, and God is directly responsible for “A Lie in the Sky.”

Many modern Catholic Bible literalists, struggling to avoid the conclusion that the Genesis creationm account is a non-factual myth teaching theology, suggest, “Well, God years are longer than man years!”

In truth, the creation stories in Genesis are filled with such problems.

It is nothing but a fictional myth, inspired by God the Holy Spirit to teach religious truth, not good science.
Click to expand...
The speed of light has not been a constant. To answer your challenge of how light reaches us from distant stars please check out Creation Worldview Ministries
In the Articles section the first Article is entitled
The Decay in the speed of light and the truth about Red Shift
:shamrock2::bible1:
 
Actually, it’s the other way around; the earliest Church Fathers knew Genesis was an allegory, and Biblical literalism only arose a bit later.

“For as Adam was told that in the day he ate of the tree he would die, we know that he did not complete a thousand years [Gen. 5:5]. We have perceived, moreover, that the expression ‘The day of the Lord is a thousand years’ [Ps. 90:4] is connected with this subject” (Dialogue with Trypho the Jew 81 [A.D. 155]).

“And how could creation take place in time, seeing time was born along with things which exist? . . . That, then, we may be taught that the world was originated and not suppose that God made it in time, prophecy adds: ‘This is the book of the generation, also of the things in them, when they were created in the day that God made heaven and earth’ [Gen. 2:4]. For the expression ‘when they were created’ intimates an indefinite and dateless production. But the expression ‘in the day that God made them,’ that is, in and by which God made ‘all things,’ and ‘without which not even one thing was made,’ points out the activity exerted by the Son” (Miscellanies 6:16 [A.D. 208]).

“It not infrequently happens that something about the earth, about the sky, about other elements of this world, about the motion and rotation or even the magnitude and distances of the stars, about definite eclipses of the sun and moon, about the passage of years and seasons, about the nature of animals, of fruits, of stones, and of other such things, may be known with the greatest certainty by reasoning or by experience, even by one who is not a Christian. It is too disgraceful and ruinous, though, and greatly to be avoided, that he [the non-Christian] should hear a Christian speaking so idiotically on these matters, and as if in accord with Christian writings, that he might say that he could scarcely keep from laughing when he saw how totally in error they are. In view of this and in keeping it in mind constantly while dealing with the book of Genesis, I have, insofar as I was able, explained in detail and set forth for consideration the meanings of obscure passages, taking care not to affirm rashly some one meaning to the prejudice of another and perhaps better explanation” (The Literal Interpretation of Genesis 1:19–20 [A.D. 408]).

etc.
 
Peter_Dawson said:
For centuries, Bible literalists said, "Scripture is literally true. Scripture says that the Earth was created in six days, and that God rested on the seventh day.
Click to expand...
Not true.

Ever read what the early church father wrote, maybe St. Augustine?
 
Peter_Dawson said:
It [the book of Genesis] is nothing but a fictional myth, inspired by God the Holy Spirit to teach religious truth, not good science.
Click to expand...
Given the limitations of the ancient observer, at the time it was composed the creation narrative in Genesis may have been very good science. When read against other ancient cosmogonies of the time the narrative comes across as very sensible. What becomes visible in such a comparison is a picture of a theologian stripping away the outlandish creation mythologies of the surrounding cultures in an attempt to arrive at truth - polytheism being a prime example.

Peter, you seem to consistently promote a low assessment (in this post and earlier ones) for the Genesis creation narrative. Outside of a comparison with modern cosmogonies, I would be interested to know what you find of value in the biblical account of creation.

PeterK
 
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