With all things in life, it is better to keep an open mind and explore options without being harsh or judgmental. Most people shut out new ideas, innovations and criticisms. For example, Palestine and Israel have been at war with one another for as long as most can remember. Why? For the most part their argument stems from the \fact"" that the Bible states the two must remain separated. Religious information is not wrong, nor can it be proven right. However, sometimes new theories, which may deviate from original beliefs, may actually have substantial importance.
Arguments over religious creation and scientific evolution are not worth the debate; the controversial beliefs lead to a dead end. In the beginning there may have been a god, but when was the beginning? No one can prove how or when the earth and its inhabitants were formed. However, the Bible's teachings that the creation of the universe, Earth and man took place sometime around 6,000 years ago can be proven inaccurate. I do not want to change your mind regarding faith, but the public should consider options that need not question their support of religion.
In the first book of the Bible, Genesis, after reading the given dates of subsequent generations from Adam to the present day, an accurate calculation can be made for the creation of man. If all the correct calculations are made, simple arithmetic says ""the beginning"" was 4102 years B.C.E. (approx. 6,000 years ago).
For a moment, ignore that archaeology has placed humans and the Earth in a time period much earlier than creationists would like to believe. We can even overlook the researchers who have traced human chemistry to connect it with life billions of years ago. As a matter of fact, only a few basic scientific and factual understandings are needed to question the biblical scripture.
First, because light travels at a very high speed, it takes a long time for light to traverse great distances. As a result, when we see the light of a very distant object, we see it as it was in the distant past. This means that a certain star in the universe seen by an observer on Earth can be two million light years away, or two million years in the past'long before 6,000 years ago.
Second, before great movements by plates underneath the ocean surface, there existed a giant landmass, known as the Pangaea. After movement, at a finite but maximum rate, the plates broke Pangaea and formed today's seven continents. Is it possible, if the continents have moved at such a pace unobserved by people on earth, they have moved into their present-day positions after only 6,000 years?
Third, could dinosaurs and men really have co-existed?
Fourth, Fifth, Sixth'the list could go on.
But it still may be necessary to refer to archaeological finds. Though these sites will not prove that God does not exist, nor that evolution is correct, they will prove that Earth and man may have existed before 6,000 years ago.
Three primary sites give convincing evidence against creationist timing. First, Hadar, in Ethiopia, is where Lucy'the first hominid skeleton'was dated to approximately three million years ago. A second site, Olduvai in Tanzania, Africa, is significant because small bone remnants, limestone artifacts, shaped tools, plant remains and animal bones are dated to about two million years ago. A third and final site, Monte Verde in Chile, is dated to 13,000 years ago.
So religion may be right and God may have created the universe, but he did so before 6,000 years ago.
There are certain beliefs that make much sense and are easily accepted, but there are also those that conjure confusion, question and curiosity. So the next time you receive information from someone or read something in a book, take a moment to ""think"" about it.
