I
itinerant1
Guest
Firmament is a translation of the Hebrew “rakia” which means hardened bowl, as in beaten bronze. The firmament in ancient Hebrew and ancient semitic cosmology is a solid structure.Duh - of course the word firmament is a translation. My understanding of the meaning of firmament is “expanse”.
Using archaeology, history and science together - minimum 12,000 years and up. I really do not know the upper limit, but it seems the lower limit has to be 12,000 or so.
The argument that God would be indicted for being a trickster is so bogus. One could argue that He is tricking us by not allowing us to observe the supernatural world. Why can’t we see angels on a regular basis? He is tricking us? Bogus! Bogus! Bogus!
I won’t comment on your 12,000 years because there is nothing good or positive I can say about it.
I still think the YEC view of creation (albeit inadvertently) makes God out to be a trickster of sorts. Your response about angels is not relevant to the issue of the radical chronological disconnect in material creation implied by the YEC view. Unless, I come across a solid objection to my characterization of the YEC view, I will maintain it as a valid objection. Even better, I must write an essay and expand on trickster argument.
Meanwhile, how does your literalist interpretation of the OT explain the “rakia”,
or a flat earth,
or an earth that floats on a body of water,
or an earth that does not move,
or that rainwater is stored above the firmament,
or the sluices or apertures in the firmament through which rainwater descends to the earth??