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There is a huge debate in certain religious circles regarding the age of the Earth. The Church made a terrible mistake with Galileo. For two hundred years, he was treated like a heretic because he had new information about geocentrism vs. heliocentrism. He brought truth to the topic; we now know what lies at the center of our universe. Many might believe the Bible is true except they can't get past the first verses that tell us the Earth is 6000 years old. I understand.
First, no place in the Bible says the Earth is 6000 years old. That is an incomplete interpretation. How can all of the narrative in Genesis make sense regarding creation timelines? I think it has to be seen through the lens of Gap Theory. That is the theory that there is a gap in time between the first couple of verses in Genesis.
In the beginning, God created the Earth.
Then the Earth became something else...it was without form and void.
After that is the creation of Adam and the creation within 6 days.
I believe the Earth is millions of years old (or billions). Young Earth Theology believes the Earth was created approximately 6 to 10 thousand years ago. I believe that it may have been re-created or restored at or around the time of Adam followed by the flood of Noah's day where the relayering of the Earth's surfaces happened again. It seems, that before Adam came along something happened to the Earth that created a "void" place.
If you think I'm creating my own story for fun, let me show you how this theory pulls the Young Earth Theory and the Old Earth Theory together. Biblical texts tell the reader that God will one day make a new Heaven and Earth. If you believe that, you shouldn't have trouble believing he's done that in the past when someone or something destroyed the Earth. It seems to be a pattern that when something good is destroyed, he eventually restores or renews.
The Young Earth Theory is based on the genealogy of Adam. James Usher, a powerful theological voice during the Reformation when the Catholic and Protestant Church were splintering, became heavily influential. He was also very influential in the Irish Parliament.
That is where we get the Young Earth interpretation.
However, if the scientific dating of ancient megalithic ruins of cities on the Earth is true, we are looking at cultures and beings that existed before the birth of Adam. We look at what was happening on the Earth in those days and ask what might have been a recreation. The words "the Earth was without form and void," have been highly debated. But looking closer at some of the words in the original text is paramount to the debate.
James Strong Concordance: The word "without form and void, comes from the original Hebrew words Tohu wa-bohu. Tohu means to "lay waste" or "a desolation of surface." Bohu means a "vacuum" or "nothingness." It can also mean an "undistinguishable ruin."
Justinian Hebrew Lexicon: Meaning of Tohu - "That which is "wasted, laid waste" and Bohu meaning "emptiness."
English Lexicon: Tohu means "confusion."
In original Hebrew, this verse would read, "The Earth became a desolated land of chaos." It also means the formlessness of Primeval Earth, of land reduced to Primeval chaos.
Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantics: Tohu is linked to a concept of "what has been destroyed in chaos and confusion," and Bohu draws meaning to a "lack of order" or "void from a prior creation."
The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Such conditions as Tohu wa-bohu would not and could not result from God's creative work.
This indicates that the Earth underwent a cataclysmic change resulting in divine judgement. Our Earth at some undescribed time, became broken and became a dark and watery wasteland for ages until out of the chaos, God made the present world we live in.
Timeline: Primeval Earth was created billions of years ago. A cataclysm happened. Look at Rahab an exploding star that came into our solar system. It may have destroyed the Earth in the ancient past. The Earth was restored and Adam created. All of this fits within the biblical text. It is an opinion.
Why was the Earth destroyed and by whom? Were there gods on the Earth at one time? Did they create the dinosaurs? Why are there no dinosaurs today? Did the gods of ancient primeval times create megalithic temples?
My job as a writer of intriguing fiction is to speculate within the boundaries of what we know as truth and what we do not have answers to.
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