So I don’t have to look at values and timings. I just accept them as is. But I didn’t always. I mostly figured there was a transitional time thing happening there, but after 23 years of not really being sure, I ended up with Genesis as is. It only makes sense if you believe it as it is presented. The symbolism is in the account only as lessons of deeper things, not the actual facts.

After many years in the Lord I’ve learned a few things. Not much, but one of them is that people tend to want to order the things they believe about life. Very few escape this strong tendency. In spiritual things we all have to stretch a little beyond our understanding and true perceptions. It’s the nature of the beast. And in doing so, we may call what we have a tenuous grasp on….truth.

So we come up with many possibilities, theories and what ifs. Through poor mediums like text and challenging arenas like R&S, we all tend to solidify these possibilities a little too much. We each have somewhat valid points in here though, and that is good. Makes us all think harder about what we say to be truth. It’ll probably take a few of those "flexible" years for all of us to come round to admitting that we all are pretty much in the dark concerning a very big truckload of stuff. Adam and Eve is one of those things we can’t really say we have all the info needed to decipher everything. But, the lessons and understandings of the higher spiritual truths are there for all to see if they want. And that is the purpose of the account. Man was made perfect as a companion of God. He was given freedom of will in the form of a tree and eternal life in the form of another. He was tempted to be equal to God, called God a liar and made the choice that has plummeted us all into the mess we call life and death. Eve blamed the devil, Adam blamed the woman and God and the rest is literally…history. The reversal of these events, whether they were literal or figurative, is the account of the rest of man’s history to the present and on to the future. Trusting God, believing God, denying the validity of sin and returning to the state where we can eat of the tree of eternal life. A very long haul, but reverse it God will, without destroying the gift of free sovereign will He gave us so we could be true and valid immortal beings and companions of God.

You are correct in asking this question. We all should boil down what we know and what we think we know. And then focus on what we know, get on with the realities and start thinking about the meaning of things rather than dwelling on the exact jot and tittles. The real issues in life are not in the details, they are inside each and every one of us.

The account in genesis is very short. It was the turning away and the reasons and the results. The whole of the rest of the bible is the ongoing effort of God to reverse this very simple account of how we got into this mess in the first place. Understanding this is all that is required. Knowing that God destroyed almost everyone in the earth with a flood is important. The method and all it’s details are as ambiguous as genesis for a reason. So that we can focus on the meanings and motives for why He did all this stuff. All the details are just floor joists and walls and windows….they contain the contents which we very often overlook for fussing with our tools and measuring tapes. The building is square and level, but our eyes are hooped, so we bang at every corner and joint to make it symmetrical according to our own faulty view. And we often forget all about what the structure encases. The nature of God and man, their relationship and their dealings with each other must surely be more important that the framework through which they are presented.

Not the answer your were looking for I bet, but at least you don’t need a calculator, a time machine and a degree to follow the reasoning.

You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. John 5:39,40

Godspeed
References :
The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth. The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd. And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. Ecc 12:10-14

The seven days may be shown Biblically to be very long epochs. There is no upper limit except the earth’s age, which isn’t stipulated either. There is a minimum limit of ca 7000 years per creative day though.

Why do you think it is impossible for people to live a 1000 years (just short of) just because we live short lives?

Is there any scientific reason that you can demonstrate makes this impossible?!
Actually, the opposite is true, that is, if you did the research.
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Certainly, the writer of Genesis relied upon visions rather than actual experiences, or most likely, a story handed down by oral tradition. It is said that Adam’s grave is right beneath the execution spot of Christ….a visionary also told us this. But no one is allowed to substantiate it, due to the nature of the Holy Land.

No one knows what exactly is a "cubit" either.
References :
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03191a.htm
Mt Calvary
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Calvary
etymology "the place of the skull"

And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat (fathered) a son in his own likeness (God originally intended for mankind to procreate “sons and daughters of God” into the world; due to the Fall, sons and daughters could be brought into the world only in the likeness of their original parent, Adam, a product of his fallen nature; it is called “original sin”), and after his image (means that Adam no longer had the Image of God; the “likeness” and “image” are now after Satan [Jn. 8:44]); and called his name Seth (even though Seth was not the Promised One, still, he represented a ray of hope; through him, rather his line, the Promised One would come):
4 And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters (the intimation is, Adam was able to father children, and Eve to conceive, for some 800 years. Exactly how many children they brought into the world we aren’t told. But it had to be many):
5 And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died (the family history of this, the Heavenly Race, is marked by death; no matter how long a member of the family lived, yet three words attend the name: “and he died”).
References :
Swaggart, Jimmy: The Expositor’s Study Bible. Baton Rouge, LA : World Evangelism Press, 2005, S. 11

Personally, I believe Creation certainly COULD have been done in six literal days but whether is really was nor not is really up to interpretation. The word used in the Creation story for "day" (yom) is a somewhat ambiguous word which could mean a literal day, or it could mean a "period of time".

As for Adam and Eve living to be hundreds of years old, yes I do believe that. Some have suggested that back then the earth was either a bit closer to the sun or it went around the sun a bit faster so that years were 360 day instead of 365 and a quarter. I guess that would make for shorter years for them and presumably more of them.

But just because nobody lives that long today does not prove that no one has ever lived that long.
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Critics cannot accept the fact that the pre-flood humans lived much longer than we do now. They were able to do so because the factors that cause us to age prematurely today did not exist then. There used to be a 7th layer of ice or water above the atmosphere that blocked out the harmful rays of the sun, and increased air pressure on Earth, which made breathing easier and speeded healing. The also had a perfect, unpolluted atmosphere, perfect food and water, and perfect bodies. Under such conditions, it would be perfectly reasonable for them to live for hundreds of years.
During the Flood, the layer of water in the atmosphere came down, exposing everyone to the damaging rays of the sun, and the once perfect vegetation was destroyed. Air pressure decreased, and healing took longer. In the Bible, after the Flood lifespans dropped. Noah lived to be about 950 years old, but the ages of his descendants dwindled down to 600, then 400, then 300, then 200, and today, few people make it to 100. If anything, we have DEvolved.
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