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I find the L.D.S. scriptures enlightening on this topic of time and God. In The Book of Mormon, we are taught “all is as one day with God, and time is only measured unto men.3.183 If, in explaining or showing the creation process to Moses - a man learned in the ways of the Egyptians, God presented the portion of the creation about Adam and Eve as a one day event - from God's perspective, it certainly could have been written down by Moses in a way which does not match our understanding of a standard time-line. Taking this understanding of time to the next level, in a revelation recorded in the Doctrine & Covenants we are taught "Satan will be bound and time is no longer."3.184 There will be more discussion building on these concepts of time in Chapter 4, The Performance, and in Chapter 6, Incomprehensible.
Scientists treat time as either a linear fundamental part of the structure of the universe, or as a fundamental intellectual structure (along with space and number) within which mankind sequences events, quantifying their duration and the intervals between the events.3.185 In physics the only definition of time possible is where time is defined by the process of measurement and by the units chosen. Periodic events, like the movement of the sun or the phases of the moon or the swing of a pendulum or heartbeats or transitions in Cesium atoms have provided the basis for measuring time.
In biological organisms, time is related to the lifetime of an organism, which lifetime becomes a time measurement unit. Giant Sequoia redwood trees can be 3,200 years old, based on ring counts3.186 and using the same criteria Bristlecone Pine Trees can be over 5,000 years old (see Figure 57). Both of these ages are very long compared to the 100+/- year lifetime of a man, or even when compared to the 930 year lifespan attributed to Adam in the Genesis.3.187 And these 100-1,000 year time frames are extremely long compared to the 2 week metamorphic cycle of a housefly, or even the 13-17 year metamorphic cycle of Periodical Cicada.3.188
From both a religious and from a scientific standpoint, the extent or different types of life on earth is more important than the age of the life. How did such a wide variety of life come to exist on planet earth?
Some scientists ask: Did all of the different kinds of life evolve from simple proteins and bacteria which developed in the liquid soup of primeval earth? Was this evolution based on natural selection, as proposed by Darwin?
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paradoxes