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BlufftonBuckeye

Hall of Fame
Guys, gals,

I have an assignment for an "Origins of Life" class that I'm taking while working towards my M.B.A. (Ugh, basically, its a class that I have to take to get a degree from this online school, but its an undergrad class...)

Anyway, I'm supposed to survey a few people and get some responses on the following questions. If anyone is willing to respond, that would be awesome.

1.)In the Bible, the first book, Genesis, we read of God creating the earth in 6 days. (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+1&version=NIV) Link is for reference, did a google search.
If you are familiar with this passage, how long do you think the days were? Is it literal, symbolic etc?

1.2)Why do you come to that conclusion?

2.)How old is the Earth/life?

2.1)Why/how do you come to that conclusion?

3.) Do you believe humans and apes share a common ancestor?

3.1) Why? Why not?

4.) Do you believe the biblical characters Adam and Eve actually existed?

4.1) Why? Why not?


I figured that some of you may be interested, and this was as good a place as any to get some dialog/thoughts going.

NOTE: Mods, wasn't 100% sure if you would want this in "Philosophical Musings." If I've errantly placed this in the wrong forum, please move/delete. Want to follow the rules :)
 
BlufftonBuckeye;1900155; said:
Guys, gals,

I have an assignment for an "Origins of Life" class that I'm taking while working towards my M.B.A. (Ugh, basically, its a class that I have to take to get a degree from this online school, but its an undergrad class...)

Anyway, I'm supposed to survey a few people and get some responses on the following questions. If anyone is willing to respond, that would be awesome.

1.)In the Bible, the first book, Genesis, we read of God creating the earth in 6 days. (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+1&version=NIV) Link is for reference, did a google search.
If you are familiar with this passage, how long do you think the days were? Is it literal, symbolic etc?

FWIW, here's a better source for the passage:

http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/8165

I, personally, take it as symbolic. Granted, since time is dependent upon the viewpoint, I've kind of adopted the idea that the six days was G-d's timing, but that's neither here nor there.

1.2)Why do you come to that conclusion?

Lot's of study.

2.)How old is the Earth/life?

Earth: Approx. 4.5 billions years.
Life on earth: not certain.

2.1)Why/how do you come to that conclusion?

I follow the geologic presumptions and data.

3.) Do you believe humans and apes share a common ancestor?

Possibly.

3.1) Why? Why not?

Not certain due the possibility of multiple strains of life.

4.) Do you believe the biblical characters Adam and Eve actually existed?

Yes.

4.1) Why? Why not?

Due to the progeny stating such.

I figured that some of you may be interested, and this was as good a place as any to get some dialog/thoughts going.

I'm sure it'll be "fun". :wink:
 
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Fits better in Philo musings. So, I moved it.

FWIW - we've gone over this several times on Buckeyeplanet. You might consider looking at some of the biblical threads already in existence to get your answers. Official bible thread and the one split from the Little Known Facts thread (regarding evolution) are illuminating regarding the positions of some posters, including myself, who might otherwise want to talk about this topic, but whom are also reluctant to as we've been through it many times before.

That said... it's like heroin.. I'm sure this thread will get action. :biggrin:
 
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The noted historian Jackson Lears has said, "Distance learning [read - online learning] is to education as phone sex is to sex. It may be better than nothing at all, but you wouldn't want to confuse it for the real thing."
 
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HineyBuck;1900162; said:
The noted historian Jackson Lears has said, "Distance learning [read - online learning] is to education as phone sex is to sex. It may be better than nothing at all, but you wouldn't want to confuse it for the real thing."
With any new technology, man's first question is: "Hey, wow.. this gizmo is great. Now... how do I fuck it?"
 
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Fuck it, I'm waiting for a meeting to start, so here goes:

BlufftonBuckeye;1900155; said:
1.)In the Bible, the first book, Genesis, we read of God creating the earth in 6 days. (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+1&version=NIV) Link is for reference, did a google search.
If you are familiar with this passage, how long do you think the days were? Is it literal, symbolic etc?

The authors may have thought it to be literal, but Creation is similar to other traditions of civilizations older than the ancient Hebrews, so maybe they had this discussion back then as well...

1.2)Why do you come to that conclusion?

Not sure I concluded anything.

2.)How old is the Earth/life?

2.1)Why/how do you come to that conclusion?

Basically what MD said... I trust the coaches. (yes, still)

3.) Do you believe humans and apes share a common ancestor?

Yes.

3.1) Why? Why not?

Depending on how general or specific you want to be, seems that virtually all animals can be traced back to the same very basic creatures... maybe the question is too general.

4.) Do you believe the biblical characters Adam and Eve actually existed?

As the only 2 people on earth? No. The Bible is very palestine-centric...

4.1) Why? Why not?

There were other peoples other places 6,000-7,000 years ago :lol:

I figured that some of you may be interested, and this was as good a place as any to get some dialog/thoughts going.

NOTE: Mods, wasn't 100% sure if you would want this in "Philosophical Musings." If I've errantly placed this in the wrong forum, please move/delete. Want to follow the rules :)

Good luck.
 
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I didn't mean to "re-inflame" a debate, I am hoping to keep it pretty generalized, more "survey" than "debate."

And seriously, thanks for the replies. Gives me something to start on with regards to my paper.

And, a quick note regarding Distance Learning: Besides that fact that much of schooling is a waste of time, I've found mickey-mouse or "fluff" courses are better when taken online. The real core classes? Highly recommend a classroom. Just my $.02.
 
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BlufftonBuckeye;1900155; said:
1.)In the Bible, the first book, Genesis, we read of God creating the earth in 6 days. Is it literal, symbolic etc?

Most likely 6 literal days as we know them now; but I leave the possibility that the first three days might have been something different.

1.2)Why do you come to that conclusion?
Believe the writings of the Torah are a divine revelation of knowledge from God to Moses. With that understanding as a common answer to all of the follow-ups you ask, let me elaborate on this one.

The Hebrew word translated as day is yom, which typically means a day as we understand it, but can refer to a period of time or age. However, Exodus 20:9,11 state

six days thou dost labour, and hast done all thy work

for six days hath Adonai made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that [is] in them, and resteth in the seventh day; therefore hath Adonai blessed the Sabbath-day, and doth sanctify it

Therefore, from what was revealed in Exodus by God as a reason why the weekly Sabbath was established, I take yom to mean day rather than age or time period.

My qualification regarding the first three days being different days comes from the fact that the Genesis account says the sun, moon, and starts, by which we are to account for seasons, days and years, where formed on the 4th day. Therefore, I leave the possibility open that a day may have been something much different than what a day is after these time-measures were created.

2.)How old is the Earth/life?
Life is approximately 6000 years as we understand time--earth is either the same or could be older as we understand time because of the first three days as explained above.

2.1)Why/how do you come to that conclusion?
Account of the years of the generations in the Tanakh (i.e. Old Testament).

3.) Do you believe humans and apes share a common ancestor?
No.

3.1) Why? Why not?
While I accept evolutionary processes as understood today to be a good model for explaining "mirco-evolution" or the variation of species within a "kind" of animal (e.g. all canines probably descend from a common, ancestral wolf); I do not accept the extrapolation of those processes to the macro level where different "kinds" of animals evolve from others. Whereas different species of apes may have a common ancestor from which they evolved; I hold man to be a unique creation.

4.) Do you believe the biblical characters Adam and Eve actually existed?
Yes

4.1) Why? Why not?
Again, believe the Torah to be a divine revelation of knowledge given to Moses.
 
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Taosman;1900338; said:
:horse:
This is basically asking people to take sides and defend their belief system. Do we really want to go there, again? :tongue2:


Who says we have to debate anything? Why can't people just answer the guy's questions without commenting on others?
 
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