Rather, your argument is that he didn't say one way or another
Correct.
so it's the way you'd like.
Incorrect.
Here's why:
The way we determine what it means is by context, not just of the passage, but of the entire Bible.
The way you're attempting to interpret it is according to what men said who lived after the Bible was written, rather than letting the Bible speak for itself.
You do this by constantly referring to Augustine, Spurgeon, and even White, hardly ever quoting Scripture.
Contrast that with the fact that not once have I or any other YEC on this thread or others used anything other than Scripture itself to defend our beliefs.
Based on that alone, who's view is more Biblical?
Right. He just doesn't say, either way. Could be literal, or it might not, as far as scripture goes.
Context context context, Barb.
Jesus, said more that determines what he's talking about:
And He answered and said to them, [JESUS]“Have you not read that
He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said,
‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”[/JESUS]They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?”He said to them, [JESUS]“Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives,
but from the beginning it was not so.And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”[/JESUS]His disciples said to Him, “If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” - Matthew 19:4-10
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew19:4-10&version=NKJV
Jesus directly quotes Moses:
Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. - Genesis 2:24
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis2:24&version=NKJV
It would be an error to say that he claimed it was figurative.
Who said anything about anything being figurative or literal?
That fact does not change whether what is being talked about is literal or figurative.
There's a figure of speech called a "synecdoche," which is when part of something is used to refer to the whole.
From Wikipedia:
A synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a term for a part of something refers to the whole of something or vice versa. A synecdoche is a class of metonymy, often by means of either mentioning a part for the whole or conversely the whole for one of its parts. |
Jesus was using "the beginning" as a synecdoche to refer to the entirety of creation.
But it would be correct to say that he didn't say one way or the other.
Rather, it would be correct to not assume one way or the other without considering the facts.
And the facts are that God created the heavens and the earth, then light, then the continental crust in the midst of the waters (what we call "hydroplates"), then the seas, then grasses, herbs that yield seeds, and fruit trees that yield fruit, then the stars, the sun, and the moon, then aquatic creatures, then birds of the air, then land animals, then man.
In order to claim billions of years, you would have to rearrange that order.
(Barbarian mentions that that he now realizes that Moses didn't say the Genesis story was literal)
You know, it would help greatly if you didn't refer to yourself in the third person.
Who is "he"?
You or me?
Because you said it was me.
Twice in fact.
Which is why I suggested that you were going senile.
Would you like to retract your claim?
When people realize they messed up, and don't want to admit it, they often become angry and verbally abusive. You're not unique in that.
The only one who messed up here was you.
See the above image.
I could equally say you're calling God a liar.
You could say a lot of things. Doesn't mean they'll be true.
But, I do deny that I am calling God a liar.
In fact, I'm the one asserting that God told the truth when He said "for in six days the LORD made the heavens, the earth, the seas, and all that is in them."
Here's what Jesus said:
And He answered and said to them, [JESUS]“Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’[/JESUS] - Matthew 19:4
:thumb:
And here's what God says:
Gen. 1:1 In the beginning God created heaven, and earth. [2] And the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God moved over the waters.
:thumb:
But see, here's the thing:
Genesis 1 records more about the beginning than that.
It also says:
Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.”Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so.And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.So the evening and the morning were the third day.Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years;and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so.Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also.God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth,and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.”So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so.And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so.Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. - Genesis 1:3-31
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis1:3-31&version=NKJV
Which, if we consider Exodus 20:11, and the context in which "yom" is used in that verse, means six literal days.
Which means that your position doesn't fit at all.
So, either God is contradicting Himself, or these aren't the same beginnings. One or the other
False dichotomy.
God is not contradicting Himself, because "the beginning" is referring to the entire six [literal] days of creation.
See above. They can't both be correct if they are talking about the same beginning.
Why not?
If Jesus is talking about the beginning of creation ("creation" being the entire period of existence of the universe), and Moses wrote about the first six days of that creation, then there's no issue at all.
You're getting agitated and abusive now. Perhaps you should take little time to calm yourself. Take a little time, get that pulse down, and come back when you can do this embarrassing yourself.
You're confusing "agitated and abusive" with "passionate about the truth."
Second (and final) warning. Show a little more respect for others.