Re: Interesting contradiction in Genesis...

SftwreBuff (sftwrebuff@aol.com)
26 Jan 1995 00:37:43 -0500

Chris Woodward (PSY) (woodward@luna.ec.usf.edu.) wrote:

> If God didn't create the sun until day 4, then how did He keep
> track of days 1-3 (since a literal day was measured by the sun)?

One of the common mistakes that we English-speakers make when translating
anything is to assume that idioms and sayings have the same meaning in all
languages. For instance, to say that you are hot or cold means that your
ambient body tempurature is higher or lower than is comfortable. However,
to translate this literally into German would be a statement to the hearer
about your sexual readiness!

In Genesis, Moses saw that God performed a certain amount of labor, or
perhaps a type of labor. Then, having finished that, God paused and moved
on to something else. For lack of a better way of explaining this, Moses
interpreted these breaks as "days". So, in essense, what we read as days,
was merely seven different work periods, not literal days.

Keep questioning, though. It's the best way to expand your knowledge.

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"If you live life fast and dirty, you end up too tired to take a bath."

SftwreBuff @ aol.com

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