Each day of the valid Christian Creation must have been a literal 24 hour period.

I will use this round to respond to my opponent's argument and respond to his criticism of my arguments. Also, I ask my opponent to limit his final turn to rebuttal and conclusion, and refrain from additional arguments since I will not be able to respond. Thank you for being cooperative in my first endeavor! "My opponent stated that "Death was not known in creation until the original sin of Adam. " This ignores the fact that many herbivores must have been consuming entire plants: plenty of whales eat millions of microscopic plant organisms, and moles eat the roots of plants, thereby causing their death. " The Bible is very clear about a vegetarian diet before the fall for ALL creatures. [1] Also, in Genesis 4:2-5 [2], God favored Abel's offering of sheep over Cain's offering of fruit. Animals were more sacred because of their blood, and the role blood would play in the sacrifice Jesus was to make on behalf of mankind. Genesis 1:29 states: 29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. Genesis 4:2-5 states: 2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. 4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: 5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. “The redemption that Christ gives to humanity does not apply to animals; the punishment of original sin did not apply to them either. The Bible does not say anything to suggest that animals had to change their eating habits to include carnivorous activity when Original Sin was committed. ” While I agree with my opponent Christ does not come to save the animals, the Bible does give reasons to believe animals were included in the punishment of original sin. Romans 8:22 states: 22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. [3] Also, the Bible establishes exactly when creation can eat meat. God allowed meat to be eaten once the flood was over. Genesis 9:3 [4]. 2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. 3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. "The Hebrew words for morning and evening are also used in Psalm 90:5-6: "In the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew. In the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew; Toward evening it fades and withers away. " Grass cannot sprout, flourish, fade, and wither away all in one day. Therefore, it must be inferred that the words "morning" and "evening" can be assigned to metaphorical beginnings and endings; here, it most likely refers to spring and fall (2). This invalidates any argument that uses those words as evidence. " My opponent has cited one example when the Hebrew word "yom" was used without a number and has concluded 'day' does not refer to a 24 hour period. I agree with his assessment in the case of Psalms 90:5-6. However, Genesis 1 does use the word ‘day’ with a number, and every other time this happens in the Bible it refers to a single day. In fact, the creation story matches every single criteria below, and all cases point to a literal day. [5] “• Whenever the word day is used with a number it always means an ordinary day with no exceptions (410 occasions). • The term evening and morning used together without day outside of Genesis 1 always means an ordinary day (38 occasions). • When the words evening or morning are used together with the word day outside of Genesis 1 it always means an ordinary day (23 occasions). • When the word night is used with the word day outside of Genesis 1 it always means an ordinary day (52 occasions)” “Through my argument, I will attempt to prove that the Bible actually invalidates the idea that Creation happened in one week, rather than supporting it. In 2 Peter 3:8, this is said: "But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. " I agree with my adversary, we finite beings cannot comprehend the temporal understanding of an omniscient being, but we can understand how words are interpreted from other areas of the Bible, and I point to my argument immediately above. [5] I have shown in the "long creation" model, death would have existed before the original sin thereby invalidating the necessity of the redemption of Christ (since death was the curse of original sin). My opponent has not established why a long creation would be valid, and I have illustrated why a literal translation of Genesis is a much more viable interpretation of the creation story. I thank my opponent for a very interesting debate and look forward to his rebuttal and conclusion. Whether you are a creationist or an atheist, I hope you have enjoyed my argument and found it compelling. Vote Pro! ! [1] . http://www.biblegateway.com... [2] . http://www.biblegateway.com...[3]http://www.biblegateway.com... [4] . http://www.biblegateway.com... [5]. http://evidenceweb.net...