Creation account does not mention creation OF the planet.

The Genesis account of creation starts with planet Earth already created. We have no idea how long the planet was here before God started his creative works on the planet. This is a very basic and very important foundation to work from. I'm a very firm beliver in the Bible, but all the "young Earth" arguments are being based on inaccurate assumptions.

First, to the guy who told me to read the bible. Where in your quoted text of Genesis does it say that God created the Earth during the 6 creative days? It says that "in the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth." Then it goes on to describe the creative 6 days. NOWHERE is the actual creation of the planet described.Now to Coragyps. Some of what I just said applies to you too. The 6 creative days are ONLY of creation on the planet. The sun, moon, stars, and planet Earth were all here for a long time before the 6 creative days. You also need to understand how Genesis is written. Its written as if the writer were on the planet during the 6 creative days, a human point of view. So, it was on the 4th day that light from the stars could be seen, not when the stars were created.

Theres so much to address here :-) First, whats your definition of "heavens" mentioned in verse 1? Are you indicating that God created the entire universe in day 1 as well? The way it reads to me, and makes sense is that that first verse explains who created everything. Then Moses turns your attention to the creative works on the planet.

I didn't realize that posting a lot of messages on an internet message board makes you an expert. And since I'm new to this board, I must not have any idea what I'm talking about, right?

"It was created but not completed until the water was separated from the land and the living things were created."So you agree with me? The Earth was created, then the 6 creative days happen sometime after.

Lets be honest, Genesis 1:1 does not tell us when "the beginning" was. "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth." Period, next thought. Your making a large assumption that its the beginning of the 1st creative day.And light was not the determining factor for days, we're not talking about literal 24 hour days here. In the Bible, a day can represent different time durations. The Hebrew word yohm, translated “day,” can mean different lengths of time. Among the meanings possible, William Wilson’s Old Testament Word Studies includes the following: “A day; it is frequently put for time in general, or for a long time; a whole period under consideration ... Day is also put for a particular season or time when any extraordinary event happens.”This last sentence appears to fit the creative “days,” for certainly they were periods when extraordinary events were described as happening. It also allows for periods much longer than 24 hours.In Genesis 1:5 God himself is said to divide day into a smaller period of time, calling just the light portion “day.” In Genesis 2:4 all the creative periods are called one “day”: “This is a history of the heavens and the earth in the time of their being created, in the day [all six creative periods] that God made earth and heaven.”

Well, the 1st verse looks like a simple statement of fact. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth. In the 1st verse, everything is done, heaven and Earth are created. During the 6 creative days, we're not given details about the creation of the planet, like how the core, mantel, or other aspects. Just creation ON the planet. My point in all of this is that I believe the Earth could be billions of years old. A lot of religious people believe the planet was created in 6, 24 hour, days or 6 thousand years. I'm not convinced that the dating methods available to man are very acurate, I even think they could be very inaccurate. But when a scientist says that the Earth is billions of years old, there is no biblical reason to contradict him.