Creationists: are the Genesis "days" literal, or figurative?

One of the biggest challenges to young-earth creationism is the idea that the sun was created on Day 4, because we have God dividing light from darkness on Day 1. Now I know that some say the light was God's own glory, but I note that God calls the light "day" and the darkness "night." Now, without the sun there would be no day or night/morning and evening in the sense we know them; so it seems that:



- either the sun already existed and God was just clearing the Earth's atmosphere to allow the light through (as old-earth creationists think),

- or the "day/night" and "morning/evening" references must be figurative



Old-earth creationists argue: "The Hebrew word for 'made' (asah) refers to an action completed in the past. Thus, the verse [Gen 1:16] is correctly rendered 'God had made' rather than 'God made.' This indicates God 'had made' the Sun, Moon and stars earlier than the fourth 'day'." (http://www.reasons.org)



What think ye?

Creationists: are the Genesis "days" literal, or figurative?
Here you go (your question is dealt with under "objection 2"): http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles...
Reply:actually the sun and the moon were made



matter for them created on day one



the rotation of the earth seemed to have begun on day one too.



light (electromagnetic) energy (maybe gravity too) was created and separated on day one too.



it seems God chose to limit his making and creating to the time period of a day which we know as between morning and evening, so defined in this way at this point for a reason.
Reply:I don't think it takes millions of years to have an evening and a morning, and if it did, God would have told us it took Him millions of years. Did He rest for millions of years? Are we supposed to work for 6 million years straight, and then rest the seventh million? Why did the bible say "in Adam all die", and that Adam was "the" first man if it wasn't so? Why do we have to make the bible fit evolution when God told us how He did it? Trying to fit it together creates more questions than it answers.
Reply:I seriously doubt whoever wrote that passage 4 thousand years ago didnt put as much thought into it as you have and likely wasnt able to do so.
Reply:literal, in the original bible, it used the word "yam" meaning one literal day
Reply:If any believer responds with figurative I am going to snap.
Reply:probably figurative