I have some questions on some of your dates that you put into the text I
quoted from Hugh Ross:
for 6.) you put 3.85 billion yrs ago, couldn't this have been in 2.) when
there is partial clearing of the intersolar debris and the atmosphere?
for 9.) you put 220 million yrs ago. Hugh Ross states ("Creation and
Time" pg.152):
"Another point of ridicule is the mention of land mammals (Genesis
1:25) as part of the sixth creation day, while sea mammals (1:21)
show up on the fifth creation day. The fossil record clearly shows
that the first sea mammals came on the scene after the first land
mammals. The answer to this ridicule comes from identifying the
kinds of creatures (the chayyah, the behemah, and the remes) the text
associates with the sixth creation day (1:25). The words refer not
to all the land mammals but rather to three specific classes of land
mammals:
1. Long-legged quadruped usually described as wild
2. Long-legged quadruped that is easy to tame
3. Short-legged quadruped
Apparently, these particular land mammals were designed to
coexist with human beings. The fossil record confirms that such land
mammals do not show up until after the initial appearance of birds and
sea mammals."
Here's another quote that has to do with the land plants and fish dates
(same page):
"Events of the third creation day have also been challenged. The
hebrew phrase translated as "seeds, trees, and fruit" (Genesis 1:11-12)
has been taken by some as a reference to deciduous plants.
However, the respective Hebrew nouns, zera', 'ets, and periy are
generic terms that easily can be applied to plant species as primitive
as those that appeared at the beginning of the Cambrian era
(c 500,000,000 years ago). Their early mention in the Genesis creation
account poses no scientific problem.
Scientific evidence for ocean life predating land life poses no
threat either. The Spirit of God "brooded" over the face of the water
(Genesis 1:2), possibly creating life in the oceans before the events
of the six creation days begin."
I don't know about that "brooding" bit. It sounds kind of far fetched to
me. This still wouldn't solve all of the overlap problems or the
continuous creation problem. Hugh Ross probably knows about the continuous
creation overlap but I don't know if he sees it as a problem. I don't know.
David