Z factor
Forked and Z-shaped coal seams present a huge challenge to traditional 'swamp forest' theories of coal formation.
To my surprise, Pastor X shifted from gap theory to a ‘day-age’ view, saying, “Ah, but doesn’t Scripture say ‘a day is like a thousand years’?” I began to point out that 2 Peter 3:8 is simply teaching that what might seem like a long time to us waiting for the second coming of Christ is as nothing to the eternal God, and has nothing at all to do with the meaning of ‘day’ in Genesis 1, otherwise you might similarly invoke Psalm 90:4 to argue a night watch is a thousand years long!5 But before I had a chance to utter more than a few words, we were interrupted by an abrupt knock at the door, which immediately burst open, and a well-dressed gentleman aged about 50 said to Pastor X, “I need to ask a question.”
Then the man turned to me, saying, “Your presentation today has been incredibly useful to me, answering so many of my questions, and I’ve just bought these books you recommended which I expect will answer more. But I need an answer to this question right now: What about coal?”
