Young or Old Earth?

Clint - Christian Theist wrote:I strongly disagree with what YEC's say about the text. You may be interested to see the links I posted in my testimony section. Especially the powerpoint, but it requires the least time. Basically, it shows how to take the creation account as historical narrative while still being able to accept an old earth and evolution.

This is a subject I address heavily in the book I'm writing. I think the PPT link is broken. Plants before the Sun? Grass before land animals? Plants before sea creatures? Flying creatures before land animals? Stars as an afterthought?

As for the rest of your response, thank you, but I feel as if you have missed the point. What this boils down to is that, with no historical accuracy, there is nothing that sets your religion apart. Not even emotional fulfillment. I should know, I've experienced the fulfillment of two separate religions. Hell is a bad place. The guess of faith that is required is disproportionate to the penalty of getting it wrong.

Beyond that, I would like to point out what is at stake in the real world:

(1)God exists (specifically yours): We are under His rule and, whether He is good or evil, we must abide by His laws and persecute the undesirables. We must accept someone else's punishment for our crimes (although they get off cheap with only 3 days) in order to not spend eternity gnashing our teeth.

(2)There is no God: We are abiding by the Code of Hammurabi in the 21st century and persecuting undesirables for the sake of a ficticious character invented 3k years ago. We do this in spite of advances in science, debunking of miracles, and knowledge of psychiatric triggers of religious experience that might allow us to stop said persecutions and maybe, finally start living the Golden Rule for real.

I think we are living in the second world.

TheEmpiricalTruth wrote:

Clint - Christian Theist wrote:I strongly disagree with what YEC's say about the text. You may be interested to see the links I posted in my testimony section. Especially the powerpoint, but it requires the least time. Basically, it shows how to take the creation account as historical narrative while still being able to accept an old earth and evolution.

This is a subject I address heavily in the book I'm writing. I think the PPT link is broken. Plants before the Sun? Grass before land animals? Plants before sea creatures? Flying creatures before land animals? Stars as an afterthought?

Here's a link to a 6 part video on youtube that's about the same content as the audio powerpoint (but I think the audio powerpoint got the ideas across better).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6B2qTdacBY

I'll respond to the rest later. I'll be pretty busy until Wednesday night or Thursday.

TheEmpiricalTruth wrote:

Clint - Christian Theist wrote:I strongly disagree with what YEC's say about the text. You may be interested to see the links I posted in my testimony section. Especially the powerpoint, but it requires the least time. Basically, it shows how to take the creation account as historical narrative while still being able to accept an old earth and evolution.

This is a subject I address heavily in the book I'm writing. I think the PPT link is broken. Plants before the Sun? Grass before land animals? Plants before sea creatures? Flying creatures before land animals? Stars as an afterthought?

As for the rest of your response, thank you, but I feel as if you have missed the point. What this boils down to is that, with no historical accuracy, there is nothing that sets your religion apart.

Of course, I would say the Resurrection does set Christianity apart, but the first thread in this forum is the one for discussing the evidence for that. Also, quoting the order of creation in Genesis 1 does nothing to show that Genesis requires Christians to believe in an young earth.

TheEmpiricalTruth wrote:(1)God exists (specifically yours): We are under His rule and, whether He is good or evil, we must abide by His laws and persecute the undesirables. We must accept someone else's punishment for our crimes (although they get off cheap with only 3 days) in order to not spend eternity gnashing our teeth.

Christians are under command by God to “persecute the undesirables”? The crucifixion wasn’t about a quantitative punishment, but a qualitative one. The eternity of hell is also primarily about quality over quantity. Although the rejection of the Gospel is only one sin out of the many committed in life and in hell the unrighteous are sent to hell for and punished for. Of course, if you want to discuss how Jesus’ atonement and hell work together, we should start a different thread.