The mantra theistic evolutionists (TEs) rally behind is Genesis is not literal. If Genesis is
not literal, than that means the world could’ve been created by the Big Bang. Life could’ve come
from goo. If Genesis is not literal, evolution is true.
This is why establishing Genesis as literal is extremely important. There are several
indicators for the Bible reader that Genesis is literal. I will go through one now.
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Moses repeats one phrase six times in the first chapter. Now, whenever you read the
Bible, it is important to understand that when something is repeated several times, it is important.
I’m not saying that points made once in the Bible aren’t important, but God didn’t make it an
absolute priority to get them across.
What is this phrase? “And the evening and the morning were the (first, second, third, etc.)
day.” (Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, and 31) In the Hebrew/Israelite culture, the day began with the
evening (night), and ended during the morning. This is significant because, if the word “day”
wasn’t meant to be taken literally, Moses wouldn’t have written those literal details.
In English, the word “day” can mean different things. Here is a demonstration: in my
grandfather’s day (era, period), during the day (when the sun is out), he would play all day (24
hours). While the ending is ridiculous, the point is that “day” can have different meanings. But,
as always, qualifiers are important. The first “day” meant era because I mentioned my
grandfather owning it (grandfather’s), which only makes sense if I meant era. The second “day”
was qualified by me writing “during,” which only makes sense if I meant a certain time of day
(when the sun was out). The third “day” was qualified by me mentioning “all,” which only
makes sense if I meant the entire day (24 hours).
Moses “qualified” (defined, added details to) the word “day” by adding “evening and the
morning.” The only satisfactory explanation for “evening and morning” is that Moses was being
literal.
TEs have a problem with this because they want to believe that “day” means “ages.” If
the word “day” was by itself, they would have a case. Unfortunately for them, Moses added
details to Genesis. If “day” means “ages,” does “evening” mean “half of an age” and “morning”
the “other half of that age”? Evening and morning do not fit into that definition of day. Does
evening mean half of a billion years, and does morning mean the other half?
No, in the Hebrew/Israelite culture, the literal day started with evening, and ended in the
morning. To convey the literal meaning of Genesis, Moses included those details.
How’s that for a tidy explanation?
Whenever a TE talks to me about Genesis being non-literal, I ask, “Why did Moses write
‘evening and morning’ when referring to ‘day’? The qualifiers ‘evening and morning’ do not
make sense if ‘day’ means ‘age.’”
I have yet to hear (and see) a better example than a shrug and, “Well, Moses was being
poetic.” Which doesn’t even come close to answering why he qualified “day” the way he did.
P.S. The Hebrew word for day is yom, I think.
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