The Creation "Days" Were Not 24 Hours Long

DayThe crux of your argument comes from assigning the word "day" one singular definition to fit the entire Bible. For example, by comparing this use of the word day to that in the gospels you are attempting to say that once "day" appears one time in the Bible that definition is set throughout its duration. Words have more than one definition for a reason and you cannot assign a single unchanging definition to a work, especially one as long and deep as the Bible. There are 33 definitions of the word "raise" according to www.dictionary.com. Now which did Jesus do? Was he set upright? Placed in a higher position? Now, if we use taken up as the definition does that mean that we can only use that definition for every other instance of the word raise in the Bible thus making the other 32 definitions moot? No, we cannot. Now, you have already conceded that day can mean an indefinite period of time but then incorrectly pair it with the creation of the day-night cycle. The creation of day-night does not mean that it happened in one day. It then separates each portion of creation by saying "evening and morning" to show different blocks and separating the "days" and parts of creation. God I already addressed your claims about God's nature in my first argument. I am well aware that God is all powerful and can create things in an instance but in your argument you have ignored my point I made earlier about the wording of the text. We can tell from the text that God did not directly interfere with the planting process but merely oversaw it as it grew through the process because of this clause "And the earth brought forth vegetation", God did not bring vegetation forth from the Earth but the Earth brought forth the vegetation on its own from the seeds that God created and sowed. Again, this completely destroys the idea of a 24 hour day because of the language and words used we can tell that God planted the seeds into the Earth and watched them grow forth on their own. This is made apparent by the use of the word dasha which means to sprout from seed and grow out of the Earth. It did not say God placed the plants or created the plants but rather planted and watched them sprout. The Earth brought forth the plants on its own from a sprout. For someone who was harping on the specifics of language you have ignored this very important use of it here. Now, your arguments about God's temporal nature actually helps my case as well because it can go both ways. While you say that God could have done all this in a microsecond or in a single day, he could have also done it over millions of years, eons for us but only a short period of time for him. It is actually more likely that God carefully created the Earth and paid attention to each little detail over a vast period of time (that is no matter to God) and He could call it a day. Also, just because God created the Earth over a long period of time doesn't mean he didn't create the day. Why does Creation's time frame have to be hingent upon the creation of a day-night cycle? Your last paragraph of your God argument makes no sense. Yes, God created the day-night cycle first but that doesn't mean that he then fit the rest of creation into 6 of those cycles. The two aren't connected.Negations Na) We have already addressed that the language of the text and the specific wording used shows how God most likely resided over the Earth as it grew and sprouted on its own without supernatural help. (See above)Nb) Are you suggesting dinosaurs didn't actually exist? Well, this isn't a debate about dinosaurs even thought I would love to have one about them, you cannot fabricate extraordinary claims with no evidence to back it up and expect it to be taken seriously. History, palaeontology and geology show how dinosaurs did indeed once walk the Earth. Your claims mean nothing if you don't have evidence to show how they were never alive. Nb1) "At last!" is usually a statement used after a long period of time. Adam said this, not God. Adam did not create Eve so it would not be his own creation that he was applauding which would take the satisfaction part out of the equation. When someone builds you a house in 6 hours you don't say "At last!" you say "Wow that was quick!". The statement "at last" at the appearance of Eve suggests a long period of not a 12 hour period of loneliness accumulating in this statement. Adam wasn't wowing over God's creation because he was part of it, just created "hours" before in your view. Thus, how could he long for a partner so quickly and come to see God and his Creation so quickly and then develop enough to enjoy and appreciate it. In a matter of hours. No, this statement came after a long period of growth, appreciation and development over a span not in mere hours. Nc) The word yom when referring to a long period of time was used only in Creation because it is the only event in history that could warrant such a use coming from God. We can see from the wording of the text, the expressions used by Adam and the nature of creation that this word was specially used to describe this wondrous, long, period of time. The text clearly shows evidence, far greater evidence, that the days in questions were long blocks of time and not 24 hour days. Thank you for a great debate.