Genesis 1 is Consistent with Modern Scientific Discoveries

I would like to present the following, which is my interpretation of Genesis 1. My source is the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and all excerpts come from the New American Bible: (. http://www.usccb.org...) Genesis 1 is consistent with period writing of the time. During these ancient times, we did not know much about the world and since then have made immeasurable scientific discoveries, some of which the most controversial being the theory of evolution versus the theory of creationism. For the purposes of this debate, I will argue that Genesis 1 is NOT consistent with modern scientific evidence. Genesis 1:1. In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth- Let's stop here. According to the United States Geological Survey, the Earth is roughly 4.54 billion years old (. http://pubs.usgs.gov...), while the Sun is also, according to this article from Berkley University, currently estimated at about 4.5 billion years old. So if the Earth and the Sun are about the same age, then why is it not mentioned here? Instead, the heavens are created. This is specific because according to Genesis 1:16, God made the Sun on the third day. And it gets even better- Genesis claims there were actual *days* before the Sun was created. Let's continue to Genesis 1:2: -and the earth was without form or shape, with darkness over the abyss and a mighty wind sweeping over the waters- So apparently, before the earth even has a definite shape or atmosphere, there is a mighty wind? Sweeping over. .. waters? How'd the water get there? In 2013, geologists in Ontario, Canada, found the oldest yet known pocket of water. 2.6 billion years old. That's 2 billion years short. (. http://www.livescience.com...) And on we go to Genesis 1:3: Then God said: Let there be light, and there was light. So there is light before the Sun was even created, in Genesis 1:16 (Day 3 of Creation)? Where is this light coming from? The stars are nowhere near bright enough to simulate broad daylight, that's an obvious fact that could be observed at this very moment. Apparently, this "light" of an unknown source is what days are made out of, as we see in Genesis 1:5. Let's continue. Genesis 1:4: God saw that the light was good. God then separated the light from the darkness. Now, I don't know if the Bible is figurative or literal here. If it is figurative, God could be dividing good from evil. But there is no figurative language in science, so we will interpret it literally. You can't just separate light from dark. They aren't substances in a mixture. Darkness is the absence of light. Light is, clearly, the presence of it. Genesis 1:5: God called the light "day" and the darkness he called "night. " Evening came, and morning followed- the first day. Again, back to the same explanation for Genesis 1:3. Where's the light coming from? Genesis 1:6: Then God said: Let there be a dome in the middle of the waters, to separate one body of water from the other. This was the common way of thinking in the Jewish community at the time. It was believed that rain came from an ocean above the sky ("the dome"). Also, remind yourself that the earth hasn't even had a definite shape at this point, and it's already getting an atmosphere. Genesis 1:7: God made the dome, and it separated the water below the dome from the water above the dome. And so it happened. See my interpretation and rebuttal for Genesis 1:6. Genesis 1:8: God called the dome "sky. " Evening came, and morning followed- the second day. Again, without any hint of a Sun yet. Genesis 1:9: Then God said: Let the water under the sky be gathered into a single basin, so that the dry land may appear. And so it happened: the water under the sky was gathered into its basin, and the dry land appeared. Yes, in the Hadean Era (the first formation of the Earth) we had liquid oceans. But guess what the atmosphere was mostly? CO2. The gas produced so much pressure that it kept water as liquid even though surface temperatures were somewhere around 446 degrees Fahrenheit (230 degrees Celsius). There was intense volcanic activity, and that gives the Hadean its name- Hades, the Greek god of the underworld, or their hell. This is the only time the Jewish writers had gotten it right, but given their track record so far, it was probably just by coincidence. Genesis 1:10: God called the dry land "earth," and the basin of water he called "sea. " God saw that it was good. Yep, same thing with Genesis 1:9. Genesis 1:11: Then God said: Let the earth bring forth vegetation: every kind of plant that bears seed and every kind of fruit tree on earth that bears fruit with its seed in it. And so it happened: Okay, so there IS NO SUN AT THIS POINT. And we have plants. PLANTS. Plants are organisms that operate via photosynthesis. They are autotrophs (producers) who synthesize their own food using SUNLIGHT. This can't exist. It's impossible. End of story. Genesis 1:12: the earth brought forth vegetation: every kind of plant that bears seed and every kind of fruit tree that bears fruit with its seed in it. God saw that it was good. Still no sun. Somehow we get plants. I'm not quite sure how that works. That's right- it doesn't. Physically impossible. Genesis 1:13: Evening came, and morning followed"the third day. *again, without sunlight. Genesis 1:14: Then God said: Let there be lights in the dome of the sky, to separate day from night. Let them mark the seasons, the days and the years, Ah. Here we go. We get light, an entire planet without a gravitational body to orbit around, and even LIFE that depends on sunlight to even exist before we get the sun. Crazy. Genesis 1:15: and serve as lights in the dome of the sky, to illuminate the earth. And so it happened: Just to make sure, I'll reiterate. We got plants, which need sunlight, before we got the sunlight itself. And you know what's even more important? The existence of a sun is required for the Earth to be orbiting around. During the past three days of Creation, where has that gravitational force been? Nowhere. Hasn't existed yet. So somehow, there isn't even really a solar system until today. We get a planet illuminated by stars, with liquid water oceans, with plants, just floating through the void. Genesis 1:16: God made the two great lights, the greater one to govern the day, and the lesser one to govern the night, and the stars. Just to nitpick even more here. The Moon doesn't generate it's own light. The moonlight is actually a reflection of the sunlight that has passed our horizon but because the Moon is over 200,000 miles away it still receives. This is also why it is less bright and thus considered lesser by Genesis. Genesis 1:17: God set them in the dome of the sky, to illuminate the earth, You get the picture. Genesis 1:18: to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good. Again, going back to my interpretation and rebuttal of Genesis 1:4, darkness is the absence of light. It's not actually a substance. Light is the presence, of, well, light. Genesis 1:19: Evening came, and morning followed"the fourth day. The first "real" day. Genesis 1:20: Then God said: Let the water teem with an abundance of living creatures, and on the earth let birds fly beneath the dome of the sky. So birds became the first animals, along with fish. It's not like most birds eat bugs or anything. Genesis 1:21: God created the great sea monsters and all kinds of crawling living creatures with which the water teems, and all kinds of winged birds. God saw that it was good, Genesis 1:22: and God blessed them, saying: Be fertile, multiply, and fill the water of the seas; and let the birds multiply on the earth. Genesis 1:23: Evening came, and morning followed"the fifth day. The second real day. Genesis 1:24: Then God said: Let the earth bring forth every kind of living creature: tame animals, crawling things, and every kind of wild animal. And so it happened: So before humans even exist, we have domesticated animals? Something's wrong with your clock, buddy. Genesis 1:25: God made every kind of wild animal, every kind of tame animal, and every kind of thing that crawls on the ground. God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:26: Then God said: Let us make human beings in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the tame animals, all the wild animals, and all the creatures that crawl on the earth. Let us? Is he proposing the construction of Earth to a city council? He'll need a lot of red tape. Genesis 1:27: God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Remember, we had already domesticated animals before we ourselves even existed. Genesis 1:28: God blessed them and God said to them: Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that crawl on the earth. We've certainly been subduing it with air pollution, overpopulation, overfishing, and massive ecological change. Genesis 1:29: God also said: See, I give you every seed-bearing plant on all the earth and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food; That's a lot of seeds. But then again, he is omnipotent. Genesis 1:30: and to all the wild animals, all the birds of the air, and all the living creatures that crawl on the earth, I give all the green plants for food. And so it happened. Genesis 1:31: God looked at everything he had made, and found it very good. Evening came, and morning followed"the sixth day. The third real day. So really, the Bible made some serious mistakes, and I can't say I blame them. They were trying to make do with what they thought they knew about the universe Unfortunately for them, it wasn't right.