What "contradictions"? You mean the fact that the bible contradicts scientific evidence? Not much can be done about that.
I suggest you refer back to my previous responses on this thread. The bible DOESN'T contradict scientific evidence. Scientific evidence actually confirms biblical truths about the universe. In order to come up with an interpretation that creates a contradiction between the bible and science, you must first create contradictions between the bible and itself. See the passages in Psalms that I've already referenced. If you see contradictions in the bible, it's because your interpretation of the scriptures are inconsistent. If your interpretation is inconsistent, then the bible is of no value at all.
I'm not disputing that. With enough hermeneutic gymnastics anyone can do this. Anyone can make the bible say anything they want it to.
Apparently they can't. That's exactly what I've been asking you (and others) to do in order to justify an interpretation that contradicts mine. Yet everyone else seems either unwilling or unable to do this. If it's so easy to make it say what you want (while being consistent and not having it contradict itself), then what's stopping you from doing so? This should be an open and shut case for you and anyone else who thinks that yom means 24 hours in each of the cases mentioned. Again, come up with a 24 hour interpretation that doesn't contradict the bible in some other way and you will have made your point. If you can't do this, then your interpretation is faulty, not the bible! You want to call reconciling scriptures "hermeneutic gymnastics", but the reason you call it that is because you don't like that I can do it in a way that corresponds to known truths, while nobody else can do it in a way that disregards known truths.
So you say, and yet the contradictions still remain. If the bible contradicts itself, then it is WRONG. And if you believe that the bible is wrong, you cannot accuse me of engaging in "hermeneutic gymnastics" simply because I interpret it in a way that contradicts your preconception of it. If you believe that the bible is right, then you must be able to provide an interpretation of it that does require it to contradict itself. You cannot have it both ways!
Maybe because we are not laboring under the illusion the bible contains no contradictions? But I've not seen what you are saying at least in what I have presented. What is it that you think I'm ignoring?
1) You (and others) are ignoring the fact that yom is used in the bible to refer to periods of time OTHER than 24 hour periods. If you ignore that, then the entire basis for your argument is faulty.
2) A "god created the sun on the fourth day" interpretation contradicts Genesis 1:1. A 24 hour interpretation of the word day in Genesis 2:17 contradicts Genesis 5:5. A 24 hour interpretation of the word day in Genesis 1:19 contradicts Psalms 19:1-4.
Again, I have YET to find anyone who can point out a contradiction in my interpretation of the creation days in Genesis 1:1.
Genesis 1 (Captainbryce Translation)
1 In the beginning God created Jesus Christ as a spiritual being [extrapolated from John 1:3 and Colossians 1:15], through which he created the entire universe and everything in it (to include the angels in heaven, the Earth, the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, the Planets, and all matter, energy, space and time). 2 The earth was formless and empty, and it was dark on the surface of the planet because thick clouds were covering the entire planet and blocked out the sunlight. [extrapolated from Job 38:4-9] The Spirit of God was hovering over the surface.
3 Then God said, Let there be light, and the atmosphere was transformed and made translucent, so that the light from the sun could penetrate the clouds. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God spun the earth on it's axis, so that once every rotation, one side of the planet could be light, while the other side is dark. [extrapolated from Job 38:12-13] 5 God referred to the period of light hours as daytime, and referred to the period of the hours of darkness as nighttime.
And these events marked the end of the first age of creation, and the beginning of the second.
6 Then God said, Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth. 7 And that is what happened. God made this space to separate the waters on the surface from the water in the upper atmosphere, thereby establishing the earth's natural water cycle. 8 God called the space sky.
And these events marked the end of the second age of creation, and the beginning of the third.
9 Then God said, Let the waters on the surface flow together into one place, so dry ground may appear. And then plate tectonics caused the continental land masses to form. [extrapolated from Psalm 104:8-9] 10 God called the dry ground land and the waters seas and oceans. And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, Let the land sprout with vegetationevery sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came. And that is what happened. 12 Over time land produced vegetationall sorts of seed-bearing plants, and trees with seed-bearing fruit. Their seeds produced plants and trees of the same kind. [extrapolated from Psalm 104:14-15] And God saw that it was good.
13 And these events marked the end of the third age of creation, and the beginning of the fourth.
14 Then God said, Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them be signs to mark the seasons, days, and years. 15 Let these lights in the sky shine down on the earth. And the atmosphere again was transformed, this time from translucent to transparent, and the heavenly bodies could now be seen for the first time. 16 God made the sun to light the day, and the moon to light the night. He also made the stars which you can now see at night too. [extrapolated from Psalm 104:19] 17 God set ALL these lights in the sky to light the earth, in different ways that help us 18 to govern the day and night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
19 And these events marked the end of the fourth age of creation, and the beginning of the fifth.
20 Then God said, Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with flying animals of every kind. 21 So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that scurries and swarms in the water, and every sort of flying animaleach producing offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 Then God blessed them, and allowed them to reproduce in great numbers. The fish and sea creatures filled the seas, and flying animals filled the skies on the earth.
23 And these events marked the end of the fifth age of creation, and the beginning of the sixth.
24 Then God said, Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kindlivestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals. And that is what happened. 25 God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God (or one of the angels that he previously created) said, Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.
27 So God created human beings in his own image. First he created Adam, who was male, but then after so much time by himself Adam became lonely so God gave him a female partner, named Eve. But this will be discussed in more detail later in Genesis 2.
28 Then God blessed them and said, Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground. And human beings eventually populated the entire world and became the dominant species on the planet.
29 Then God said, Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. 30 And I have given every green plant as food for all the animals And that is what happened.
31 Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!
And these events marked the end of the sixth age, where God completed creation, and the beginning of the seventh age where God is no longer actively creating.
