Summations Only

I do not think the single land mass interpretation is required by the text. When I look at the earth as it exists today, the bodies of water we call seas are all connected together into a single global sea. Yet the land is separated into continents.So saying that the water is gathered in one place does not mean that there are not multiple seas, and it does not even require that there is only a single land mass, because we are not told anything about the shape formed by the gathered water. In fact even if we were told that the land was gathered in one place, that would not rule out having multiple continents like North and South America, although it would rule out Australia and Anarctica. But we are not told that the earth was a single land mass.Further, I don't see anything in Genesis that requires that the configuration of land at the time of creation lasted until the Flood.You rely on Genesis 10:25, but the division spoken of in that verse is not necessarily a geological division of the land. Even if the division is geological, the division in question need not be the only such division.I'm also a bit dubious that gathering of the waters in one place is intended to imply that there were no lakes or rivers.

I don't.Those things aren't seas in the same way that the Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean, etc. are seas. For the purposes of my argument we can image them to be filled in with dirt. Those bodies of water don't serve as boundaries for continents.Surely you can see that having the water in one place still allows multiple continents. The major oceans are all connected into one large super-ocean. I'm not arguing that current geography matches the Biblical description. I'm saying that current geography shows how we can have one ocean and multiple continents. Wrong, I could just rule out the land locked seas.

Exactly! Those changes to geography would be enough to produce an earth with multiple major continents and one body of water. What was your objection to my description of the same modification as filling in those seas with dirt? It seems you are arguing just to be difficult.

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9And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

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And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

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There are a number of possibilities.The description could well describe something like earth's current geography absent any inland seas or other bodies of water. The verses might also describe earth in the condition God created it, with that form only existing termporarily before the seas flowed back over portions of the earth to produced rivers, lakes, and inland bodies of water. In fact we all seem to agree that the geography of creation was not permanent.Or the verses might describe the arrangement you propose.I don't need this. I'm outta here.

Apparently this single four letter word is not being given its due by a small percentage of the participants of this thread. Let me cite a few definitions. Note that the word land may have other definitions, but these preferred definitions are the ones most people are correctly referring to in this thread.From Dictionary.com

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noun
1. any part of the earth's surface not covered by a body of water; the part of the earth's surface occupied by continents and islands: Land was sighted from the crow's nest.

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Oxford online dictionary

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the part of the earth’s surface that is not covered by water, as opposed to the sea or the air:
the reptiles lay their eggs on land
after four weeks at sea we sighted land

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Cambridge online American English dictionary

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the surface of the earth that is not covered by water:

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Merriam-Webster

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1.
a : the solid part of the surface of the earth; also : a corresponding part of a celestial body (as the moon)
b : ground or soil of a specified situation, nature, or quality
c : the surface of the earth and all its natural resources

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American Heritage Dictionary

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1. The solid ground of the earth.

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Just for grins, here is an American Heritage Dictionary definition for the word earth.

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1.a The land surface of the world.

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My personal impression is that none of the participants in this thread are unaware of the use of the word land to collectively refer to all of the earth's non-wet surface in exactly the way illustrated above. Further, all participants are likely aware that words like island are not so used.If your argument depends on any of the above definitions being either wrong or disfavored, then you should not be surprised when your argument is not found to be either logically inevitable or convincing. You probably shouldn't be surprised if continuing in this vein causes you to be thought foolish if not dishonest. That's certainly the impression that's being made on me.Edited by NoNukes, : No reason given.Edited by NoNukes, : No reason given.