The creation of planet earth may not have been during those six days. Many believe that Genesis is a brief summary of an unspecified period of time—perhaps a minute or billions of years, since the Hebrew word for beginning, like its English translation, refers to inauguration rather than to a specific timeframe—that preceded the six literal days of Genesis during which God prepared Eden on the already-created earth as the dwelling place of mankind.
In the end, the date of the earth cannot be a closed-handed issue. It seems to us that those who strongly advocate either young- or old- earth dates are inferring a position from the Bible that the Bible simply does not state unequivocally. It must also be admitted that the age of the earth is not of great concern in the Bible. The great authors of the Bible, including David, Isaiah, and Paul, and Jesus himself, never referred to the age of the earth, even though they asserted God as Creator.
As Augustine rightly said, the Bible is not a scientific textbook seeking to answer the ever-changing inquiries of science but rather a theological textbook seeking to reveal God and the means by which he saves us. What the Bible actually teaches is inerrant truth from God that must be believed, but it does not teach everything we want to know.
We must be courageous to receive and teach unashamedly what it does say as closed-handed issues1 but humble enough to let unclear and unrevealed matters be open- handed issues, avoiding unprofitable controversies. The question persists as to how we deal with the widespread scientific consensus that the earth is 4. Many solutions have been offered, including the following:. This last view is quite compelling for five reasons. This age was arrived at using the chronology given in the Bible.
According to recent creationism, the creation story in Genesis is to be taken literally. Thus, God created everything in six days. If the Earth is only 6, years old, why does radiometric dating techniques used by geologists suggest the age is around much older? Well, AIG answers this exact question by explaining that radiometric dating is based on erroneous assumptions and cannot be trusted.
AIG suggests that while it seems constant to us, this is a massive extrapolation of data to assume that the rate would have been constant back at the beginning of the earth. However, the reality of radioactivity is that we know the rate of decay is constant based on both physics and mathematics check out this video for how we can use mathematical proof models to demonstrate constant rates of decay.
Therefore, the AIG argument that we do not know that decay rates are constant demonstrates a profound misunderstanding of empirical data and mathematical relations that describe the natural world around us. Similar kinds of problems are seen in the case of potassium-argon dating, which has been considered one of the most reliable methods.
Andrew Snelling, a geologist, points out several of these problems with potassium-argon, as seen in table 7. These and other examples raise a critical question. If radiometric dating fails to give an accurate date on something of which we do know the true age, then how can it be trusted to give us the correct age for rocks that had no human observers to record when they formed?
It is far more rational to trust the Word of the Godwho created the world, knows its history perfectly, and has revealed sufficient information in the Bible for us to understand that history and the age of the creation.
Cultures around the world give an age of the earth that confirms what the Bible teaches. Radiometric dates, on the other hand, have been shown to be wildly in error. People complain about The New Answers Book. Well, we listened! Many view the original New Answers Book as an essential tool for modern discipleship. Both of these books answer such questions as: Can natural processes explain the origin of life?
Can creationists be real scientists? Where did Cain get his wife? Is evolution a religion? Answers in Genesis is an apologetics ministry , dedicated to helping Christians defend their faith and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. Donate Now. View Cart. Chapter 19 How Old Is the Earth? Share: Email Using: Gmail Yahoo! Outlook Other. The primary sides are Young-earth proponents biblical age of the earth and universe of about 6, years 1 Old-earth proponents secular age of the earth of about 4.
Table 1. The Annals of the World , A. Floyd Nolan Jones B. The Chronology of the Old Testament , A. Table 2. Jones Chronologist When Calculated? Date B. Michael Maestlinus c. Spondanus c. Cappellus c. Greswell 18 E. Faulstich 19 D. Petavius c. Dolen 24 E. Longomontanus c. Melanchthon c. Salmeron d.
Scaliger d. Beroaldus c. Helwigius c. Table 4. Table 5. Age of the Earth When Was This? Table 7. Etna basalt, Sicily B. Etna basalt, Sicily A. Helens, Washington A.
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