HOW OLD IS THE EARTH?

In class last Sunday, there was some discussion about how old the earth is. There are those who claim there is proof that the earth is billions of years old. Most Christians disagree, saying that while we do not know the exact age, it is probably thousands and not millions or billions of years old. Much of the following information comes from A Study Course in Christian Evidences by Bert Thompson and Wayne Jackson.

Most who insist on billions of years do so to make evolution fit. The evolutionist, assuming that evolution must be true, will try to design methods which will “prove” that vast eons of time have passed. This effort is filled with serious problems. Efforts to “prove” the age of the earth or universe, using only science, are futile.

First, there are no scientific methods which can prove the age of the earth because all scientific dating methods are based on certain assumptions. There are some things that are necessary to have an accurate clock. 1) It must be readable in units of time. 2) The clock must be accurate. 3) We must know when the clock was started. 4) We must know the reading on the clock when it was started. 5) The clock must run at a uniform rate. 6) It must not have been disturbed in any way since it was started.

Second, the assumptions used to support dating methods used to obtain old ages for the earth have not been proved. Those using these methods assume the following: 1) uniformitarianism is true (Process rates now being observed have remained constant); 2) the earth is a closed system; 3) process rates have never changed. We know that a) uniformitarianism has been proven false, processes change; b) the earth’s environment is not a closed system; c) process rates can be altered.

Third, there are more than 50 different scientific methods which indicate the earth is young. These deal with population statistics, the amount of hydrogen in the universe, amounts of atmospheric helium. Those who insist on an old earth refuse to consider these.

Just how old is the earth? Figures from science range from 100 to several billion years old. Which one is correct? While it is true that no one passage or group of passages in the Bible state(s) the age of the earth exactly, that does not mean a relative age cannot be determined. How old is the earth? Five days older than man. “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it” (Exodus 20:11). Genesis 1 declares that everything was made in six days, the earth on the first day and man on the sixth. “But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female” (Mark 10:6). How can someone insist on billions of years between the first and sixth day say the sixth was from the beginning?

Another thing to remember is the concept of “apparent age.” How old was Adam the day after God created him? He was a day old. Did he appear to be a day old or did he have the appearance of age because he was created mature? The same is true with the rest of creation. It was created with the appearance of age.

When we look at this from a biblical view, it is more reasonable to accept thousands rather than billions of years. Also, why are billions of years so important? Because it is vital to the theory of evolution. George Wald wrote in Scientific American, “However improbable we regard this event, or any of the steps it involves, given enough time, it will almost certainly happen at least once….One has only to wait; time itself performs miracles.”

--Lamar