Before I start, I should ask a favor: please don't tell me I'm going to hell, or that we can't know, because God's ways are above our ways, or that I would understand if I were a Christian, etc. Just don't waste your time. And above all else, please do NOT use the Bible to support your view on the Bible. I am looking for honest answers here, if there are any to be had.
Here is my question, to all Bible-believing Christians out there:
How can you believe in a "good" God of the Bible, when we can see stars which are 13 billion light years away, while a literal reading of the Old Testament can only allow us to infer that the universe, including the stars, was created by God around 6,000 years ago?
For the sake of argument, let's leave aside the question of whether we can actually see stars 13 billion light years away. Even fundamentalist creationist groups, such as www.answersingenesis.org concede the fact that the stars we see really are 13 billion light years away (although they spend a lot of time trying to justify why God would let us see them today...).
Either the Genesis account of creation is
(1) not literally true, in which case the rest of the Bible should not be trusted (since faith in Jesus is predicated upon an acceptance of a literal creation occurring around 6,000 years ago, according to at least one Gospel writer, and the Apostle Paul); or
(2) it is true - in which case, either
(a) God is kind of a major dick, having constructed an elaborate deception, with the knowledge that the only people who would fall for it would be those living and educated in the past few hundred years (modern science); or
(b) God is "good" - but his definition of "good" can mean nothing to us, since it apparently involves gross, calculated sadism and deception, in which case any reference to God on our part, as "good", is utterly meaningless. Rather, we should say "God is greater" and that we should "submit" to God due solely to his being greater than us. More or less like the Islamic view of God.
My answer (to quote Eric Cartman): "You're wrong...God is not a dick." By which I mean that there must be another answer to the question of who "God" is, outside of the Bible. That God is greater than the Bible.
Now, what's your answer?
Here is my question, to all Bible-believing Christians out there:
How can you believe in a "good" God of the Bible, when we can see stars which are 13 billion light years away, while a literal reading of the Old Testament can only allow us to infer that the universe, including the stars, was created by God around 6,000 years ago?
For the sake of argument, let's leave aside the question of whether we can actually see stars 13 billion light years away. Even fundamentalist creationist groups, such as www.answersingenesis.org concede the fact that the stars we see really are 13 billion light years away (although they spend a lot of time trying to justify why God would let us see them today...).
Either the Genesis account of creation is
(1) not literally true, in which case the rest of the Bible should not be trusted (since faith in Jesus is predicated upon an acceptance of a literal creation occurring around 6,000 years ago, according to at least one Gospel writer, and the Apostle Paul); or
(2) it is true - in which case, either
(a) God is kind of a major dick, having constructed an elaborate deception, with the knowledge that the only people who would fall for it would be those living and educated in the past few hundred years (modern science); or
(b) God is "good" - but his definition of "good" can mean nothing to us, since it apparently involves gross, calculated sadism and deception, in which case any reference to God on our part, as "good", is utterly meaningless. Rather, we should say "God is greater" and that we should "submit" to God due solely to his being greater than us. More or less like the Islamic view of God.
My answer (to quote Eric Cartman): "You're wrong...God is not a dick." By which I mean that there must be another answer to the question of who "God" is, outside of the Bible. That God is greater than the Bible.
Now, what's your answer?
