And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
( Genesis 1:6 ) KJV
If we are going to use deductive reasoning to understand what the Bible is teaching us about creation then we have to be willing to accept what we deduce. In science the idea is to use inductive reasoning to make everything work out the way you want and promote the Star Trek universe as real.
Deduction requires that we know the end from the beginning and the beginning from the end. The major issue that is going to confront us is this: what is the firmament?
This is an issue that Christianity has refused to deal with. In part because it appears that science has rendered the firmament as below mythological status, it’s just a joke. This has had a very interesting effect on Bible versions. In general they are written so as to make it seem as if the issue does not exist.
I got saved in July 1997. Starting in 1998 I began to read the Bible. The one which I had at the time was a New International Version. I loved it. I became so interested in the Bible that I began collecting Bible versions. I went to used book stores and went directly to the Bible or Religion section to see if there were any Bible versions that I had not seen before.
At this time, 1998-99 I was struggling to understand today’s passage. The reason I struggled was that I was using Bible versions that do not contain the truth. My favorite version at the time, the NIV, translates the passage as such:
And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
( Genesis 1:6-8 ) NIV
This is how the New Living Translation renders it:
Then God said, “Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth.” And that is what happened. God made this space to separate the waters of the earth from the waters of the heavens. God called the space “sky.”
And evening passed and morning came, marking the second day.
( Genesis 1:6-8 ) NLT
The English Standard Version:
And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven.c And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
( Genesis 1:6-8 ) ESV
The New American Standard Version:
Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.
( Genesis 1:6-8 ) NASB
The Holman Christian Standard Version:
Then God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, separating water from water.”i 7So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above the expanse. And it was so. God called the expanse “sky.” Evening came and then morning: the second day.
( Genesis 1:6-8 ) HCSB
This is just a small sampling. I can’t really remember my thought process at the time but I was concerned that there was something important in the description of the second day that I was missing. In every Bible version I found I looked to see what Genesis 1:6 said. There are words, as you can see, like vault, space, expanse and we are told that this is the sky. It didn’t make sense to me.
At the time I was the Custodian at a large Presbyterian Church in a major college town in North Carolina. They were not able to help me. However, as I made my rounds every day with my trash can and my vacuum cleaner I noticed that there was one particular lounge type lobby area, parlor, in which there was a large leather-bound King James Version on a table stand. I thought it wouldn’t hurt to take a look to see what it said.
Firmament.
The more conservative a Christian you are the more likely you are to pound a Bible. If you’re pounding a Bible then it will be the King James Version.
Conservative Christians have an extensive rationalization for why the KJV is the only Bible you should use. It’s tedious and unnecessary. If your Bible doesn’t have the word firmament in Genesis 1:6 then it’s not a real Bible.
Matty (Headwind) 