The Biblical Account of the Creation - Debunked

The Biblical Account of the Creation


The different nations of the earth have formed to themselves widely divergent ideas of the creation; ideas always in harmony with their degree of scientific advancement. Reason and science concur in admitting the fantastic character of certain theories. The explanation of the subject now given through spirit communication is confirmatory of the opinion which has long been adopted by the most enlightened exponents of modern science.


This explanation will no doubt be objected to, on the ground that it is in contradiction with the statements of the Bible; but a careful examination of those statements shows us that this contradiction is more apparent than real, and that it results from the interpretation which has been given to expressions whose meaning is allegorical rather than historical.


The question of the personality of Adam, regarded as the first man, and sole progenitor of the human race, is not the only one in regard to which the religious convictions of the world have necessarily undergone modification. The hypothesis of the rotation of the earth round the sun appeared, at one time, to be in such utter opposition to the letter of the Bible, that every species of persecution was directed against it, and against those who advocated it. Yet the earth continued to move on in its orbit in defiance of anathemas; and no one, at the present day, could contest the fact of its movement without doing violence to his own powers of reasoning.


The Bible also tells us that the world was created in six days, and fixes the epoch of this creation at about 4000 years before the Christian era. Previously to that period the earth did not exist. At that period it was produced out of nothing. Such is the formal declaration of the sacred text, yet science, positive, inexorable steps in with proof to the contrary.

The history of the formation of the globe is written in indestructible characters in the worlds of fossils, proving beyond the possibility of denial that the six days of the creation are successive periods, each of which may have been of millions of ages.

This is not a mere matter of statement or of opinion. It is a fact as incontestably certain as is the motion of the earth, and one that theology itself can no longer refuse to admit, although this admission furnishes another example of the errors into which we are led by attributing literal truth to language which is often of a figurative nature.

Are we therefore to conclude that the Bible is a mere tissue of errors? No; but we must admit that men have erred in their method of interpreting it.

_allan Kardec

reply to post by Shadow Herder


An extraordinary OP. I S/Fed "on the ground that it is in contradiction with the statements in the Bible."

Thank you for presenting a lucid, reasonable, and intelligent essay for the Religion Forum junkies to consider.
Good luck.

This is not a mere matter of statement or of opinion. It is a fact as incontestably certain as is the motion of the earth, and one that theology itself can no longer refuse to admit, although this admission furnishes another example of the errors into which we are led by attributing literal truth to language which is often of a figurative nature.

THIS ^^^^ Bravo!!!

(I'll just be over in the corner here, if you need me.... ) --------------->>>

reply to post by Shadow Herder

Man likes to explain himself in terms of higher powers. So when people walked around and saw "all that was" they had to gossip and write about it. So we have in almost every culture a reasoning of exactly why this and that got to be the way it is seen (from stars in the heavens to snails on the lettuce). God, in Her infinite wisdom, is still in the sixth day of creation and going strong!

Cannot man, through scientific investigation, penetrate some of the secrets of nature?

The faculty of scientific research has been given to him as a means by which he may advance in every direction; but he cannot overstep the limits of his present possibilities.

The farther man advances in the study of the mysteries around him, the greater should be his admiration of the power and wisdom of the Creator. But, partly through pride, partly through weakness, his intellect itself often renders him the sport of illusion. He heaps systems upon systems; and every day shows him how many errors he has mistaken for truths, how many truths he has repelled as errors. Ail this should be a lesson for his pride.

Those "days" were much,much longer than you think. Think millions if not billions of years. The Sumerians tell the same story with greater detail. The Bible is watered down and edited.

reply to post by Shadow Herder


Genesis 1 to the head of Genesis 2 is 7000 years. This is the creation of Elohim with no restrictions of the fruit and mankind as perfect beings. When the LORD creates Adam and Earth in the Garden, he restricts the fruit and mankind is engaged to knowledge. This starts the next seven thousand years.

From Adam to Abraham, you have 2000 years.
From Issac to Jesus, yo have 2000 years.
From Jesus to today, you have 2000 years.

We are now at 13,000 years. Take this time scale and apply expansion and you have a curve of time ending in a singularity. It is based on the golden spiral. Day One would have been the longest. Day 14 will be the shortest. Time dilation gives you approximately 14 billion years give or take. This is consistent with the difference between distance and time compared to the mass of the universe as we know the constants today.

S n F for an awesome thread.

I've been thinking along these lines myself for years now. I mean, who says God's day is the same amount of time as our definition of a day?

I do believe much of the truth of the bible has been edited out ( mere mortals, humans gathered together at the direction of another mortal human in order to decide what would and would not make it into the bible, based on whether those humans thought a particular writing was divinely inspired or not) or simply was changed or lost over time and with numerous translations.

I was raised in a Missionary Baptist church here in the bible belt. When I was about 7 years old, I was absolutely wild about dinosaurs and treasured my National Geographic magazines and archeology books. One Sunday, after the service, I asked the preacher, "Why aren't there any dinosaurs in the bible?" to which he replied, "Because dinosaurs aren't real. They are pretend. There is no such thing as dinosaurs and never has been."

Talk about messing with a kid's head! Here were books and magazines full of photographs of fossils that I could see with my own two eyes, and yet this man to whom all the adults in my life looked to for truth and guidance was telling me those photos were all lies. Over the years, as I tried to reconcile the photos and science with our interpretation of creation and the Bible, I came to the conclusion that God's telling of time is not at all relative to that of men. I have also wondered at times if the behemoth and leviathan of the bible weren't actually dinosaurs.

If you get to thinking on it too hard, it can make your head swim.

if you read the bible literally you will find all kinds of errors

reply to post by Shadow Herder


For me personally, I have found the bible is best used by each individual, using their own interpretations of the scripture to shape their life in hopes of being a better person. I have never taken every word and passage literally because I have always believed the bible spoke in metaphors as well as actual events and it can be exceedingly difficult to distinguish between the two.

You run into problems when if you believe in the bible (God) you mistakenly try to assert that the Bible gives a precise and accurate account of time frames and history and that is mistake, it was never meant to do such things, it was meant to offer spiritual guidance and opportunity for personal growth.

I'm kind of thinking the only people who got debunked here are the ones who think the bible should be read and treated like an 8th grade history book.

reply to post by Shadow Herder


The world was flat with 4 corners because it was created on a written page. The Creation story is certainly allegory, but we should not stop there. The whole Bible is allegory, but this allegory does not hide nonsensical secrets as religious scholars may claim; it hides real history as well as clues on how to decipher it.

Suppose we accept the idea that "water" is a metaphor for writings, then the "flood" can be understood as one system of writing replacing another and since a Sumerian legend is found on board the Ark, then the form of writing that was replaced was cuneiform. The Books of Moses were drawn from the waters of the Sumerians. Later stories were collected from other places. The “Mighty Men” of David represent the stories which were pieced together to create that character. The “puzzles” exchanged between Solomon and Hiram represent a phase of development of this allegory. Allegory is dualistic with the “above” representing literal meanings and the “below” representing hidden meanings so the conflict between "good" and "evil" is really a battle over secrets. When we “christen” something we give it a name and this is the real power of the “Word”. It can hide many sins by changing the name of things.

reply to post by Shadow Herder


The Bible states the earth was re-created in 6 days approximately 6000 years ago, after being transformed into a state void of life and full of chaos as a result of the angelic rebellion of Satan, which occurred prior to those days.

The original Earth was created countless billions of years ago, and had numerous forms of life on it, through many ages of transformation; under the reign of the faithful Lucifer on Earth as God's high cherub; then Lucifer rebelled, and all physical life was destroyed as a result (ELE).

Then after "the Earth was made void and full of chaos" (result of angelic rebellion) God said let there be light and began re-creating the Earth so it would be suitable for mankind to live upon it in 6 days.

"God creates no thing void and full of chaos" - Isaiah

"In the beginning (billions of year ago) God created the heavens (universe) and the Earth (original). Then (over time) the Earth was rendered (became as a result of something) void and full of chaos, and darkness was upon the oceans (notice the oceans already existed prior to the Creation verses). Then (after that) God said "let there be light" and there was light.

You see God took 6 days to restore/renew/re-create the Earth from the destroyed state it was in to a living state suitable for mankind to be created upon it.

God Bless,

EnochWasRight
Take this time scale and apply expansion and you have a curve of time ending in a singularity.

Right... I haven't thought of this.

Big Bang: Space-time expansion...

ElohimJD
reply to post by Shadow Herder

 

The Bible states the earth was re-created in 6 days approximately 6000 years ago, after being transformed into a state void of life and full of chaos as a result of the angelic rebellion of Satan, which occurred prior to those days.

The original Earth was created countless billions of years ago, and had numerous forms of life on it, through many ages of transformation; under the reign of the faithful Lucifer on Earth as God's high cherub; then Lucifer rebelled, and all physical life was destroyed as a result (ELE).

Then after "the Earth was made void and full of chaos" (result of angelic rebellion) God said let there be light and began re-creating the Earth so it would be suitable for mankind to live upon it in 6 days.

"God creates no thing void and full of chaos" - Isaiah
....

You see God took 6 days to restore/renew/re-create the Earth from the destroyed state it was in to a living state suitable for mankind to be created upon it.

edit on 25-10-2013 by ElohimJD because: (no reason given)

I'm sorry, but I in no way remember any of this being in the bible. Is it apocryphal? Is this found in other books not held in the bible? Can you please provide your sources, or is it merely speculation?

Thanks

If possible I would like to try a small experiment.

If you could picture yourself as a child...........
Now as a child you do not have the experience and/or knowledge that you now have.
Imagine a college professor sitting down and explaining to you how the world was made and the order in which life came to be. He might show you a video (vision) of the process as well.
The professor then asks you to write down what he just explained to you.
Imagine what you would write using your limited experiences and knowledge base. If your an intelligent child and the professor did a good job of explaining it, you may get it coherent enough for others to understand but would it be just like the professor explained it?

When I read the bible I see the story of creation and believe it or not, it actually fits rather well with science and biology.
Quad

Imagine you write a detailed essay on your early childhood, and you start by mentioning your favorite cartoon shows INSTEAD of the events at the hospital where you were born. Just because your essay is chronologically ''off'' and missing a few details, it doesn't mean your essay is all wrong and therefore, ''debunked'', does it? ................................................................................................................,,,,,,,,,,,,,Similarly, the genesis account of creation, isn't exactly a scientific paper detailing the exact events of creation. Its an extremely primitive record of the beginning, based off oral traditions, Its a memory of a memory of a memory.... at best, a few lines describing the events of creation. Its pointless to even attempt to study it in the light of science so as to be able to ''debunk it''.

reply to post by Shadow Herder


Interesting OP.

I'm not sure how a day is an allegory for millions of ages. I wonder how many millions of ages we lost when God rested? Further, there is no need for an author to use the word day as an allegory for anything other than a day.

Nonetheless, you are correct in a sense that the only way we can take the bible as rational is to further invent allegories and interpretations until we can shoehorn it back into our current paradigm.

sk0rpi0n
Similarly, the genesis account of creation, isn't exactly a scientific paper detailing the exact events of creation.

Kind of makes sense. Hehe, can you imagine:

WHO IS THE BETTER SCIENTIFIC REPORTER - THE CANDIDATES:

-Einstein

-Bohr

-Moses

VOTE NOW!

One mustn't forget that the story of the Flood itself is also present in nearly all religions, including babylonian, vedic and irish accounts. I feel that, hey, maybe there was some truth to it.

Shadow Herder
The Biblical Account of the Creation

The question of the personality of Adam, regarded as the first man, and sole progenitor of the human race, is not the only one in regard to which the religious convictions of the world have necessarily undergone modification. The hypothesis of the rotation of the earth round the sun appeared, at one time, to be in such utter opposition to the letter of the Bible, that every species of persecution was directed against it, and against those who advocated it. Yet the earth continued to move on in its orbit in defiance of anathemas; and no one, at the present day, could contest the fact of its movement without doing violence to his own powers of reasoning.

Science says we have a common ancestor....Adam and Eve anyone? Whether Adam and Eve are specific individuals or an allegorical substitute for "mankind" is a whole different cookie...

As per the times(read OT times 6000-3000BC), you have to understand that in the time of the biblical accounts, a flat earth was a very typical belief, this is demonstrated by the common flat earth map....In regards to the strong opposition against the spherical earth once it was postulated...that is also a whole different cookie which just goes to show that people don't like to admit when they're wrong...In fact, it ANGERS some individuals when they are wrong...

The Bible also tells us that the world was created in six days, and fixes the epoch of this creation at about 4000 years before the Christian era. Previously to that period the earth did not exist. At that period it was produced out of nothing. Such is the formal declaration of the sacred text, yet science, positive, inexorable steps in with proof to the contrary.

Disputable...Not everyone agrees that the genealogies used to "date" the creation of the Earth are complete...Also there is the preexisting earth theory in which earth was actually created and inhabited long before and that the creation account is a creation of mankind rather than the earth itself....the days are disputable as to whether they are literal or figurative...Either way, when we diverge from the real message of the texts this is where we end up...that's why it's best not to use the Bible as science...We don't take a toothbrush and try to explain origins....nope, we use it to brush our teeth(hopefully)....The Bible wasn't written so that we know how old earth is, or if man and dinosaurs coexisted...so why try to use it that way?

The history of the formation of the globe is written in indestructible characters in the worlds of fossils, proving beyond the possibility of denial that the six days of the creation are successive periods, each of which may have been of millions of ages.

Plausible

Are we therefore to conclude that the Bible is a mere tissue of errors? No; but we must admit that men have erred in their method of interpreting it.

This. Absolutely.

Good post. S&F
A2D

Side note: your title is misleading....this does not debunk the biblical account, but rather it very strongly debunks the early interpretations thereof...

Eve is our Universe. There is more you must not know. You are not ready.

tkwasny
Eve is our Universe. There is more you must not know. You are not ready.

Best contribution ever.

Instead of pretending to have some knowledge nobody else is capable of intellectually handling....why don't you put some facts, or at least a little logical reasoning, behind your statements...

A2D