Quote Originally Posted by jude1:3 View Post
I wish more people would chime in and share their thoughts even if they disagree.
These are very interesting finds Jude, I'm not a scientist and haven't studied these things to great lengths, but these are my thoughts.

I believe the "days" mentioned in Genesis are creative time periods. We have no way of knowing how long each period really was, nor can we ***ume each period was the same duration of time. I believe science is important, but it evolves with man's understanding of the world around him, and with the resources and technology available. So no "facts" are set in stone IMO. New breakthroughs in science cause us to adjust previous hypotheses, and new discoveries (like what you have presented here) cause us to rethink a lot more. In short I don't think we have any way of knowing for sure how old the earth really is.

I think the "no death" before the Fall is also interesting, but I have to agree with Alan that the Fall only affected man and not animals. If the Fall had affected animal life, that would mean they were also subject to the same terms, which would imply that animals would experience a spiritual death as well as a physical, meaning they sin. Since animals are in fact sinless, this doesn't work. Plus, we were the only beings made in His image. So I believe death in the natural world was possible before Adam & Eve in the Garden.

That being said....I do not nor ever will believe we evolved from apes. Once again, we were made in His image....whatever you take "image" to mean, it does not include anything other than man. I don't believe in evolution as much as I believe in a form of evolving adaptation in the animal kingdom. Animals have always adapted to new environments and conditions, that's been recorded throughout the history of man. Dinosaurs are definitely interesting, my mom told me something she theorized once that I will not be sharing here lol.

But finally, I believe that man will never be able to gain complete scientific PROOF of the existence of God. I believe one of the purposes for us coming to earth was to come to Him and believe in Him through faith. It's part of His plan for us. I think science is fantastic (God was the Original Scientist) and it can be used to complement our faith in God and all His creations. I just know that a man without faith would never be able to simply prove God does in fact exist. That would frustrate the Master's Plan.

Of course there are many things that escape my understanding, and places where science and faith don't appear to come together at all. Thats when I fall back on faith in Him and trust His understanding, and not mans, and look to the day when these things will in fact be revealed and explained to us. So in the end, I don't sweat those things too much.
Anyway, those are my thoughts.