Creation and the Bible

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Creation and the Bible

• Was it really six literal days?

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Introduction

• In the beginning God created the heavens and the
  earth.
• Genesis 11

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Introduction
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Introduction

• A bold claim
• If we dont believe in six literal days then we
  open the door to the collapse of Christian
  morality.

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Authority of scripture

• All Scripture is given by inspiration of God
• 2 Tim 316

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Language and context

• Put in six cups of flour

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Language and context

• Back in my fathers day it took 10 days to drive
  across the England during the day.

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Language and context
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Language and context
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Inspired or inscribed?
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Inspired or inscribed?

• 8"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
  9Six days you shall labour and do all your work,
  10but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD
  your God. On it you shall not do any work,
  neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your
  manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor
  the alien within your gates. 11For in six days
  the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea,
  and all that is in them, but he rested on the
  seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the
  Sabbath day and made it holy.
• Exodus 208-12

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Inspired or inscribed?

• All Scripture is given by inspiration of God
• 2 Timothy 316
• When the LORD finished speaking to Moses on
  Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the
  Testimony, the tablets of stone inscribed by the
  finger of God.
• Exodus 3118

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Inspired or inscribed?
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Why only question Genesis?
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Why only question Genesis?
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Questions

• Please be kind!

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Objections

• Were going to look at three objections
• Dating methods
• Aren't we limiting God by not allowing billions
  of years?
• Isnt a day like a thousand years?

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Objections Dating methods
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Objections limiting God

• Dont we limit God by not allowing him to create
  over billions of years?
• No we dont limit God, we limit ourselves. We
  dont tell God what he did but instead let him
  tell us what he did.

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Objections thousand years?

• 8But, beloved, do not forget this one thing,
  that with the Lord one day is as a thousand
  years
• 2 Peter 38

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Objections thousand years?

• Problems with this objection
• Takes the passage out of context
• A thousand is not a million so it wouldnt help
  anyway!

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Objections thousand years?

• 8But, beloved, do not forget this one thing,
  that with the Lord one day is as a thousand
  years, and a thousand years as one day.
• 2 Peter 38

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Which is fallible?
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Which is fallible?

• The Days of Creation Were Ordinary Days in
  Length. We must understand that these days were
  actual days, contrary to the opinion of the holy
  fathers. Whenever we observe that the opinions of
  the fathers disagree with Scripture, we
  reverently bear with them and acknowledge them to
  be our elders. Nevertheless, we do not depart
  from the authority of Scripture for their sake.
• Martin Luther, What Martin Luther Says

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Which is fallible?

• How long did the work of Creation take? When
  Moses writes that God created heaven and earth
  and whatever is in them in six days, then let
  this period continue to have been six days, and
  do not venture to devise any comment according to
  which six days were one day. But, if you cannot
  understand how this could have been done in six
  days, then grant the Holy Spirit the honour of
  being more learned than you are.
• Martin Luther, What Martin Luther Says

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Which is fallible?

• For you are to deal with Scripture in such a way
  that you bear in mind that God Himself says what
  is written. But since God is speaking, it is not
  fitting for you wantonly to turn His Word in the
  direction you wish to go.
• Martin Luther, What Martin Luther Says

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Questions

• Please be kind!