Jerry Shugart said:
We can understand that the "creation" spoken of there is referring to time when the LORD "began" to make humans both male and female when we look at the following verse which speaks of the very same thing as Mark 10:6:
So... According to you Jesus was not referring to the beginning... But a beginning? You think Jesus was referring not to the beginning, but to a different time when he began to make humans?
Jerry Shugart said:
Then the sixth day cannot be considered the absolute beginning because five days preceded that day.
"The beginning" is described in Genesis chapter 1. It was a period of 6 days. It was the absolute beginning. It was not a re-do or a recreation of anything pre-existing.
Again looking at Mark 10:6 "But from the beginning of the creation, male and female made he them". As mentioned already the word beginning in Greek is 'arche' signifying an absolute beginning along with the word 'ktiseos' indicating the sum total of all creation.
'A New Testament Commentary' says "Unquestionably the language puts humankind at the very dawn of creation to reject this truth, one must contend that (a) Christ new the universe was in existence billions of years prior to man, but accommodated Himself to the ignorance of his generation, deliberately misrepresenting the situation, or (b) the Lord living in pre-scientific times was uninformed about the matter.
Jerry Shugart said:
In the absolute beginning the LORD created the earth and He created it at that time to be inhabited
Yes... Genesis 1
Jerry Shugart said:
When the Lord created the earth it was made in such a way whereby it wasn't created in darkness and it was created with form. But you say that the following verse describes how it was created despite the fact that that verse decribes an earth that is not inhabitable:"And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep" (Gen.1:2).
Yes... It is very straightforward. God formed and filled the Earth over the course of six days. "For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited"(Isa.45:18) cf Genesis 1
Jerry Shugart said:
What is said in "bold" in the following statement refers to the earth being inhabited before it was in a state described as being without form:"Of the origin of our world the first chapter of Genesis tells us nothing save that 'in the beginning,' whenever that was, God 'created' it. It may be, as Tyndall said in his Belfast address, that 'for eons embracing untold millions of years, this earth has been the theatre of life and death.' But as to this the 'Mosaic narrative' is silent. It deals merely with the renewing and refurnishing of our planet as a home for man" (Sir Robert Anderson, A DOUBTER'S DOUBTS About Science and Religion).
That statement is a sad rejection of Scripture... And, apparently a misunderstanding of the Gospel.
That statement is a rejection of scripture which tells us that in six days God created the heavens and the Earth and everything in them. It is a rejection of Christ's teaching was taught that humanity existed from a time near the foundation of the world... Not billions of years later.
That statement a misunderstanding of the Gospel. If there was eons of physical death, before first Adam sinned, then the physical death of Last Adam would be meaningless. (Romans 5 and 1st Corinthians 15). Furthermore it is the misunderstanding of scripture, in that if there was already millions of years of death, then that would mean that Satan was already the ruler of this world... When God declared it was all very good..