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Is it possible, that "in His Image" is referring to an eternal spirit. This would certainly be consistent with the rest of the Bible since it's purpose is the salvation of our spirit. If that is how God defines man, then it would be possible that the bodies we inhabit took a long period of time to become as they are now, but Adam did not become a living Soul, until God created him in His Image, if His Image is an eternal spirit."

You know, I have had the same thought in the past. The point is that God (being who He is) had unlimited options in the matter; and it is utter conceit to discount them all (and the evidence for them) for an account written by/for men who had little knowledge of their immediate world, and no capacity for comprehension of things on a molecular/atomic level;

It is equally apparent to me that God certainly has allowed us to expand our knowledge of the universe (Isaac Newton was also a minister, if memory serves)...finding out about the formation of the earth and its history of life is a part of that process...to me, science has basically been pulling back the curtain to allow us to see a little more of the machinery of the universe and of creation itself...if you choose to believe in God, then you can think of it as God's creation, or not; but to deny mountains of scientific evidence and the great advances wrought by the same is to remain willfully ignorant...my faith is not threatened by it...

Sometimes I'm not sure where I fit in with these threads. I think that evolution may very well be a part of God's creation. If so, I think that it's probably designed to follow a pattern of God's making, which is somewhat like ID. I don't think ID should be taught as science, however, since it doesn't meet the testing criteria. I think God is powerful enough to have created the universe by any means he saw fit, so I suppose I don't conclusively rule out other interpretations of creation either. I do have have a view that I'm leaning toward, which is the one we are discussing. I have come to this view through several courses of study. The first, is the Bible. This particular verse stands out to me.

Romans 1:20 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

20For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

I find "invisible qualities" to be very curious! If nature is God's creation, and also the mechanism he used to bring about His creation, then why should we expect to find Him working apart from it. Could He work apart from it? Yes! Did He work apart from it? Don't know. From the evidence,it doesn't look like it. Did He guide it? I believe so, but that it a matter of Faith. The more I study, the more humbled I am at how powerful God is. I simply think that there is much about Him , and His perspective, that we cannot understand. Therefore, I am hesitant to push my interpretation of Genesis, or anyone else's as absolute. I think the fear, among some Christians, is that if Genesis is not taken literally, then Christians will use it as an excuse to bend other scripture to their liking. I can understand their point. However, on the matter of salvation, which I believe to be the purpose of the Bible, we have much more direction, and clarification. I do wish to support my fellow Christians in their belief of God as our Creator, and I always enjoy reading scripture that is intended for encouragement, and insight. I don't wish to denigrate any of them, even though my view may differ from some of theirs.

I don't think Genesis is a detailed account for several reasons.

First, the details of Creation were not meant to be the focus of the Bible. This doesn't mean I think God lied, in the Genesis account. I don't believe that is consistent with God. I think He left out involved details for the reason I just mentioned.

Second, for me to accept Genesis as a detailed account, I must either believe that a) God created the Earth to look old and science to corroborate that. This, to me, seems kind of tricky. I don't find this to be consistent with God's character either. b) Fossils, nature, and the means by which we study it were created by satan to deceive us. I don't believe that either. We are dealing with the study of nature,which is God's creation, not satan's. or c) There is a vast conspiracy amongst the scientific community to cover up proof of God's existence. For this, I simply ask, Why? What motivation would there be to do such a thing?

My personal view is that Genesis is an outline of creation, written for a common understanding. You said something very interesting in your post.
( an account written by/for men who had little knowledge of their immediate world, and no capacity for comprehension of things on a molecular/atomic level;)
I have thought that very thing. Something that stood out to me in Genesis is the phrase, "the earth produced life". It is phrased this way in regards to plant, and animals. There is of course the phrase, "created from the dust of the earth." If creation was revealed to Moses in a vision, or dream, it may very well have had the appearance of being produced from the earth.