[net.origins] What do Creationists believe

johno@tekchips.UUCP (John Ollis) (03/06/85)

Is there a consensus of opinion among creationists as to when Creation
occurred?  How long Creation took (if time meant anything)?  Why did the
Creator do it?

John R. Ollis
tektronix!tekchips!johno

jackg@tekchips.UUCP (Jack Gjovaag) (03/06/85)

I think that Bishop Ussher decided that the world was created in exactly
six days on October 14th (a Monday) 4004BC.  This came from the 
family tree information (or data) in Genesis.  The date may not
be quoted exactly.  I will look it up sometime and we can have 
an earthbirthday celebration.

ccc@bu-cs.UUCP (Cameron Carson) (03/08/85)

>From: jackg@tekchips.UUCP (Jack Gjovaag)
>I think that Bishop Ussher decided that the world was created in exactly
>six days on October 14th (a Monday) 4004BC.  This came from the 
>family tree information (or data) in Genesis.  The date may not
>be quoted exactly.  I will look it up sometime and we can have 
>an earthbirthday celebration.

In the play _Inherit_the_Wind_, a "docu-drama" based on the
Scopes trial, when the Clarence-Darrow character asks when the 
creation took place, the William-Jennings-Bryan character gives 
the above information and further pins it down as having
begun precisely at 9:00 am.

-- 
Cameron C. Carson
Distributed Systems Group
Boston University ACC

UUCP: ...!harvard!bu-cs!ccc
ARPA:  ccc%bu-cs.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa

dan@scgvaxd.UUCP (Dan Boskovich) (03/09/85)

In article <339@tekchips.UUCP> johno@tekchips.UUCP (John Ollis) writes:
>Is there a consensus of opinion among creationists as to when Creation
>occurred?  How long Creation took (if time meant anything)?  Why did the
>Creator do it?

    The age of the earth is not agreed upon by all Creationists. Some
    believe the earth was created about 6 to 10 thousand years ago,
    some believe 100,000 years, and some say the earth could be millions
    or billions of years old.
    This is not the primary issue in Creationism and most creationists
    will not be dogmatic on it.
    The length of time for creation would be relative to which view of
    age one holds.
    The reason for the creation has got nothing to do with science.(As
    if you didn't know that)
    A creationist could easily ask the question: Why did things evolve?
    But any answer on the part of a scientist would be purely conjecture.

dan@scgvaxd.UUCP (Dan Boskovich) (03/09/85)

In article <340@tekchips.UUCP> jackg@tekchips.UUCP (Jack Gjovaag) writes:
>I think that Bishop Ussher decided that the world was created in exactly
>six days on October 14th (a Monday) 4004BC.  This came from the 
>family tree information (or data) in Genesis.  The date may not
>be quoted exactly.  I will look it up sometime and we can have 
>an earthbirthday celebration.

 Sounds like Bishop Ussher can join the ranks of some of those great
 men who built great transitional models out of pig teeth and ape jaws.
 Incidently, it is impossible to determine the age of the earth by checking
 the family tree in Genesis. Why?
 1. It does not contain a complete uninterrupted family line. (Those who
    are mentioned are because of necessity. Not all patriarchs played a
    key role in biblical history.)
 2. The hebrew word "beget" implies blood line but not specifically "son".
 3. This does not take into consideration the gap theory. (The gap between
    verse 1 and 2.)

johno@tekchips.UUCP (John Ollis) (03/11/85)

[John Ollis]
> >Is there a consensus of opinion among creationists as to when Creation
> >occurred?  How long Creation took (if time meant anything)?  Why did the
> >Creator do it?
>[Dan Boskovich] 
>     The age of the earth is not agreed upon by all Creationists. Some
>     believe the earth was created about 6 to 10 thousand years ago,
>     some believe 100,000 years, and some say the earth could be millions
>     or billions of years old.
>     This is not the primary issue in Creationism and most creationists
>     will not be dogmatic on it.
>     The length of time for creation would be relative to which view of
>     age one holds.
>     The reason for the creation has got nothing to do with science.(As
>     if you didn't know that)
>     A creationist could easily ask the question: Why did things evolve?
>     But any answer on the part of a scientist would be purely conjecture.

Thank you, Dan.  I will move the third question over to net.religion.
So defensive!  :-)
How much of what we have around us was part of the "initial conditions" after
creation?  There was life, so there must have been air, soil and water.  How
about sedimentary rock?  Were fossils part of the initial conditions, or did
they actually derive from once living creatures?  It would seem that
especially with the "short timers" (<10,000 years) there wouldn't be much
time.
John Ollis
tektronix!tekchips!johno

friesen@psivax.UUCP (Stanley Friesen) (03/11/85)

In article <340@tekchips.UUCP> jackg@tekchips.UUCP (Jack Gjovaag) writes:
>I think that Bishop Ussher decided that the world was created in exactly
>six days on October 14th (a Monday) 4004BC.  This came from the 
>family tree information (or data) in Genesis.  The date may not
>be quoted exactly.  I will look it up sometime and we can have 
>an earthbirthday celebration.

	Very interesting, except that even *assuming* that the
"begats" list *every* generation in unbroken sequence, and the
times can be accepted as true -- Bishop Ussher was *still* wrong,
he made several arithmetic and textual errors which invalidate his
conclusion, on *biblical* grounds alone!
-- 

				Sarima (Stanley Friesen)

{trwrb|allegra|cbosgd|hplabs|ihnp4|aero!uscvax!akgua}!sdcrdcf!psivax!friesen
or {ttdica|quad1|bellcore|scgvaxd}!psivax!friesen

dubois@uwmacc.UUCP (Paul DuBois) (03/12/85)

> >From: jackg@tekchips.UUCP (Jack Gjovaag)
> >I think that Bishop Ussher decided that the world was created in exactly
> >six days on October 14th (a Monday) 4004BC.  This came from the 
> >family tree information (or data) in Genesis.  The date may not
> >be quoted exactly.  I will look it up sometime and we can have 
> >an earthbirthday celebration.
> 
> [Cameron C. Carson]
> In the play _Inherit_the_Wind_, a "docu-drama" based on the
> Scopes trial, when the Clarence-Darrow character asks when the 
> creation took place, the William-Jennings-Bryan character gives 
> the above information and further pins it down as having
> begun precisely at 9:00 am.

Perhaps he said it in the play.  The more relevant question is
(perhaps) whether he said it in the *trial*.  ITW is not, I
believe, the exemplar of documentary accuracy.

-- 
Paul DuBois	{allegra,ihnp4,seismo}!uwvax!uwmacc!dubois          |
                                                                  --+--
"It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but                     |
the honor of kings is to search out a matter"                       |
                        Proverbs 25:2