Originally posted by Zahlanzi
what do we know?
big bang? doesn't disprove god and it has flaws.
evolution? doesn't disprove god, supports my metaphor theory and it has flaws. (like all theories do).
so what do we know that would make us treat this as myth?
We are not trying to disprove god here (god is not disprovable), we are discussing the Genesis creation story.
The 'big bang' theory is the best model of reality that we currently have, although I agree there are still plenty of questions and a more accurate model may well come along in the future. It describes things better than any other theory and certainly better than all the ancient creation stories.
Evolutionary theory is the best model we have for explaining the complexity and variety of life around us and through history. Again, a better model may come along but at the moment, it describes its domain better than any other theory, certainly better than all the ancient creation stories, including Genesis.
We should treat it as myth because we know that the universe is 14 billion years old and the Earth is 4 1/2 billion years old. We know the Earth took far more than a few days to form, we know that life didn't appear till nearly a billion years after the planet formed.
None of this was known at the time the Genesis story was written. We can see similarities between Genesis and many other ancient creation stories that are treated as myths. Why should we not treat the Genesis story as a myth as well? The story is entirely consistent with the religious and social environment at the time and inconsistent with the empirical evidence we have since gathered about the universe.
Note that when I say we 'know' in the above, I am obviously using the scientific meaning: it is the logical conclusion based on the evidence.
--- Penguin.