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Author Topic:   The Unacknowledged Accuracy of Genesis 1
subbie
Member (Idle past 1254 days)
Posts: 3509
Joined: 02-26-2006


Message 27 of 302 (352278)
09-26-2006 12:03 AM


Illogic in genesis.
At a minimum, if one wanted to display even the slightest amount of logic, I would think one would create the sun, moon and stars either before or at the same time as light.
Furthermore, knowing that plants rely on sunlight, one would have to assume, if one were trying to give an accurate description of how things came to be, that the sunlight was there before plants.
Given these obvious facts, I find it nearly impossible to believe that the people who wrote the bible thought they were accurately transcribing how things came to be. They were either irretrievably stupid, or they knew they were telling a story, not a history.

Those who would sacrifice an essential liberty for a temporary security will lose both, and deserve neither. -- Benjamin Franklin

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 Message 28 by kuresu, posted 09-26-2006 12:07 AM subbie has replied

subbie
Member (Idle past 1254 days)
Posts: 3509
Joined: 02-26-2006


Message 32 of 302 (352314)
09-26-2006 6:41 AM
Reply to: Message 28 by kuresu
09-26-2006 12:07 AM


Re: Illogic in genesis.
there is a third option--they were just ignorant
In the absence of compelling evidence, I reject out of hand any suggestion that the writers of the bible didn't know that light came from the sun, the moon and the stars. (Of course, they were incorrect to the extent that they believed that the moon generated light, instead of reflecting it, but I don't think this diminishes my point.)
Also, it's my understanding that people had been farming for thousands of years before the bible was written. I find it very unlikely that in that time nobody realized the connection between the sun and plants. Even though they may not have known about the mechanism that made that connection significant, it seems probable that the connection was known.

Those who would sacrifice an essential liberty for a temporary security will lose both, and deserve neither. -- Benjamin Franklin

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 Message 28 by kuresu, posted 09-26-2006 12:07 AM kuresu has not replied

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 Message 33 by PaulK, posted 09-26-2006 7:15 AM subbie has replied

subbie
Member (Idle past 1254 days)
Posts: 3509
Joined: 02-26-2006


Message 34 of 302 (352325)
09-26-2006 7:51 AM
Reply to: Message 33 by PaulK
09-26-2006 7:15 AM


Re: Illogic in genesis.
Certainly if the writer intended it to be an accurate narrative of the creation of the universe, it would be enough to show that the writer didn't understand that light came from the sun. On the other hand, if the writer instead intended it to be a sytlised or metaphoric narrative, one cannot come to that conclusion.
I can easily imagine why a writer, putting together some sort of metaphorical account, would create light on the first day in the way that it is done. The account describes the process in terms of what is done on each day. Obviously, in order for there to be days, as understood at the time, there would have to be a light/dark cycle.
I'm having more difficulty understanding a metaphorical or stylised reason why the sun, moon and stars were not created until the fourth day, but literary exegesis was never my strong suit. In any event, as I said previously, the mere fact that daylight came three days before the light sources is not enough to convince me that the writer didn't understand that the sun was the light source.
I agree that a naive viewer might think that the day sky was itself a light source, but I don't think it necessarily follows that that is what the writer believed.

Those who would sacrifice an essential liberty for a temporary security will lose both, and deserve neither. -- Benjamin Franklin

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 Message 35 by jar, posted 09-26-2006 11:27 AM subbie has not replied

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