ShadowWolf Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 I keep suggesting to Christians that a "day" is a metaphor for a thousand years or so, a different period in earth's history (paleolithic, Jurassic, etc.), but many of them seem to ignore my suggestion and keep insisting that a day is 24 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OpheliaGinger Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 I forgot exactly where, but somewhere in the Bible, on of the writers say something to the effect of, "a day is a thousand years, and a thousand years is a day to God." So, we have 7,000 years upon creation and another 7-12,000 years--still falls short of the actual geological age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouroboros Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 I think they should be taken seriously... not as accurate historical or scientific accounts, but as 3000 year old explanations of the world as they understood it. Of course. Only serious in the sense of anthropological interest though, in my opinion. And maybe serious in the sense that there are people out there who do take the story literally and as historical, and they are working their butts of to disprove science, evolution, Big Bang and so forth. If you take the story metaphorically... Let me emphasize he "rested" from creation. He set the mechanism up and let it run itself... including the mechanisms of natural selection (and gene mutation... ). He stopped initiating creation. (That is why miracles are considered miracles, if you believe that sort of thing... because they are OUTSIDE of of the initial act of creation. ) Yes, yes, I know. I know it's a metaphorical story. Which the question of this topic should be the leading star for the literalist Christians to realize exactly that. The story of God creating the world in six days is silly, of discussed reasons, so therefore (implicitly) a sane person should realize the story to be metaphorical. That's why these discussions tends to come up, because the newly de-converted realize the arguments to why these stories must be taken non-literal. Let them, help them, show them, give them more reasons, and they free themselves from the bondage of fundamentalism. Even this story is a human explanation of events... myths of creation. Everything that follows is based on the same world view, however, it is still a human explanation. God never says anything in The Bible.. people say they heard God speak. Well, people say that today, and we normally say they are nuts. But when they say God spoke to them it means something different. One implies words were spoken, the other that a message was received... There has to be an understanding of the way language has always been used, and that is to symbolize life experiences. People today, but especially people in less developed societies use language to paint pictures, to express emotions, to transmit ideas... when we say "I hear you, man", or "I feel your pain", or "I can get behind that"... we are not being literal.. we are being picturesque. Look, here is an example: Hear ye the word of the Lord, my people. The United States economy is going to have a total collapse if people do not repent of their addiction to debt... thus sayeth the Lord. Now you and I both know God didn't say it, but we both know that this is an absolute truth... with a capital T as if it had come from God himself... itself... the selfless... whatever. THAT is what the prophets meant... that is what Moses meant... that is what ALL prophets ALWAYS mean. I understand, however, many people still take these stories as true facts, and some of them are even trying to undermine our society and even education. Some people manages to break out from these ideas and become free-thinking individuals. This topic is an example of a person who is realizing this fact that these stories are just that... stories, and they need the help to solidify these understanding. Basically, you're stating the obvious. If you had summarized it to a short, clever phrase, I could tattoo that on my ass instead! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kcdad Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 I forgot exactly where, but somewhere in the Bible, on of the writers say something to the effect of, "a day is a thousand years, and a thousand years is a day to God." So, we have 7,000 years upon creation and another 7-12,000 years--still falls short of the actual geological age. A day is LIKE a thousand years... LIKE... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kcdad Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Basically, you're stating the obvious. If you had summarized it to a short, clever phrase, I could tattoo that on my ass instead! How about this: If you believe everything you read, you better not read Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest QuidEstCaritas? Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 I forgot exactly where, but somewhere in the Bible, on of the writers say something to the effect of, "a day is a thousand years, and a thousand years is a day to God." So, we have 7,000 years upon creation and another 7-12,000 years--still falls short of the actual geological age. A day is LIKE a thousand years... LIKE... geesh, don't criticize literalists when you are one yourself. Like a thousand years? Your opinion is a non-falsifiable multiple out. I do admit, it is "better" than six days of bullshit. Still a multiple out though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kcdad Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Your opinion is a non-falsifiable multiple out. What does non-falsifiable have to do with a proper translation? The passage says Like a thousand or As a thousand years... How do you mean it is an "OUT"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator buffettphan Posted February 10, 2009 Super Moderator Share Posted February 10, 2009 How Did God Create The Universe In Six Days? He didn't. (Sorry, that Nyquil I took is making me loopy.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PandaPirate Posted February 10, 2009 Author Share Posted February 10, 2009 I prefer Benadryl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest QuidEstCaritas? Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Your opinion is a non-falsifiable multiple out. What does non-falsifiable have to do with a proper translation? The passage says Like a thousand or As a thousand years... How do you mean it is an "OUT"? If you don't know what a multiple out is then I won't bother to post here, as I don't feel like explaining what that means to you right now. Look it up. Falsifiable obviously means a scenario that once occurring would disprove your vague claim of the genesis account. Non-falsifiable would mean there would be no conceivable scenario where your claim could be disproven. http://www.csicop.org/si/9012/critical-thinking.html "The rule of falsifiability is essential for this reason: If nothing conceivable could ever disprove the claim, then the evidence that does exist would not matter; it would be pointless to even examine the evidence, because the conclusion is already known -- the claim is invulnerable to any possible evidence. This would not mean, however, that the claim is true; instead it would mean that the claim is meaningless. This is so because it is impossible -- logically impossible -- for any claim to be true no matter what. For every true claim, you can always conceive of evidence that would make the claim untrue -- in other words, again, every true claim is falsifiable." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwc Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 The word is "hōs" which is a comparison word. So 2 Peter could be said something like "a day could be compared to a thousand years; a thousand years compared to a day." That is not an exact translation (it's not meant to be). The verse contains a simple comparison. It is most likely a reference to: Psalms 90:4 For to you a thousand years are no more than yesterday when it is past, and like a watch in the night. This says roughly the same thing. Only in Psalms it's more of a lament. Taking a verse in Psalms literally probably isn't the best idea but who am I to correct the guy who wrote 2 Peter? I doubt he's going to listen. So the "fact" from Psalms is given more weight in 2 Peter and people give it even more weight today. mwc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouroboros Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 1 d = 1000 y 1 y = 1000 d : 1) d=1000y 2) y=1000d 3) d=1000(1000d) => d=1,000,000d => 1,000,000d-d=0 => d(1,000,000-1)=0 => 999,999d=0 Answer: d=0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kcdad Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 1 d = 1000 y1 y = 1000 d Huh? wouldn't 1 y = 1/1000 d? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PandaPirate Posted February 12, 2009 Author Share Posted February 12, 2009 I figured out how he did it. With an Etch A Sketch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouroboros Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 wouldn't 1 y = 1/1000 d? Yeah, I guess you're right. I messed it up somehow. I re-read the quote, and it really just say the same thing twice. I misread it. But: 1y = 1/1000d => 1000*y = 1000*(1/1000d) => 1000y = 1d. So that part is still the same. But the Bible quote really just say: "a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day" 1d = 1000y, 1000y=1d. So it's just restating the same thing. First time I read it, "one day is like thousand years, and thousand days are like one year." Anyhow, I'm just doing it for the fun of it, nothing serious, m'kay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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