How Old Is The Earth 6000 Years 45 Billion Years
The earth has been around for millions of years now and there have been many claims regarding how old the earth is. A lot of scientific evidence has proven that the earth is at least 6 million years old. One of the ways this is proven is by using carbon dating, a method that allows carbon interacting with oxygen to determine the age of the world. Other evidence can be found through fossils and the discovery of extinct ancient species.
Though science is a relatively reliable method to assess the age of the earth, the discourse regarding the age of the earth is oftentimes not far from Christianity and what the Bible has to say about the age of the earth. Creationism for instance, was derived from fundamentalist sects of Christianity.
Fundamentalists believe that the Bible should be interpreted literally and according to the Bible, the earth is 6000 years old. Of course this comes with numerous disputes from scientific evidence proving otherwise.
These exchanges of information between two different approaches to the age of the earth begs the question how old is the earth according to the Bible, and how can we understand it correctly? Many people, even believers, do not give much thought regarding the creation story and what the purpose of it is.
What Is The Bible Truly About
The Bible is actually very accurate and true if we are able to understand it correctly. But first we must ask ourselves, is the Bible really talking about the creation of the physical world?
We have already established that the world is millions of years old, so how come the Bible only describes the world to be thousands of years old? Well the Bible actually talks about the creation of the world, but not in the way that we imagine it.
For example, in Jeremiah 4:23, it describes the world to be in the same condition as Genesis 1:2. So did the creation of the world happen again at the time of Jeremiah? Well if we take a look at the verses before, it actually talks about Gods people.
The Bible in fact, talks about Gods people and their relationship with God Himself. Even at the very last book of Revelation, it says in Revelation 22:21 that its Gods people the Bible is concerned about. Understanding the Bible correctly will help us reason and perceive that science and Gods Word actually make perfect sense. In order to do so, we must first examine the way we understand both science and Gods Word.
History Of The Age Of The Earth
As indicated earlier, the Bible does not fix the age of the earth, contrary to the claims of Answers in Genesis.1 Historically, their claim comes from the work of James Ussher, Bishop in the Church of Ireland, from 1625 to 1656. Archbishop Ussher took the genealogies of Genesis, assuming they were complete, and calculated all the years to arrive at a date for the creation of the earth on Sunday, October 23, 4004 B.C.2 Of course, even assuming the method was valid, such an exact date is not possible from the genealogies of the Bible . There are a number of other assumptions implicit in the calculation. The first, and foremost, assumption is that the genealogies of Genesis are complete, from father to son throughout the entire course of human existence. The second assumption is that the Genesis creation “days” were exactly 24-hours in length. It turns out that both assumptions are false.
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The Earth Is 4500000000 Years Old
The mainstream scientific view claims that the earth is about 4.5 billion years old. Scientists claim this age on the basis of various methods they use. For example, by measuring certain substances in stones. Those are seen as clocks that tell the age of the earth. However, there are no eyewitnesses who were present at the origin of those stones. Only God was present. Thus, a warning for too much confidence in science is on its place. Thats why God asks Job: Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding? .
How Old Is The Earth According To The Bible How About According To Science
The Bible says that Adam was created on the “sixth day” of our planet’s existence, so we can start there as we figure out an approximate age for the earth. We also need to assume that the Genesis account is accurate, that the six days of creation were literally 24 hours, and that there were no unknown or vague gaps in the chronology of Genesis.
Genesis chapters 5 and 11 provide genealogies, which are like family trees in a sense. They say how long people lived, who their kids were, etc. These genealogies cover all the families from Adam to Abraham. By figuring out where Abraham fits into history chronologically and adding up the ages we find in Genesis 5 and 11, it becomes clear that the Bible teaches the earth to be about 6,000 years old, give or take maybe a few hundred years.
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How Old Is The Earth According To The Bible
I preferred to start with the Bible and go out from there. When I read Scripture, I realize that the history of the world is not an unbroken linear succession of years but is rather broken up into catastrophic events that altered everything in the world. This is what the Apostle Peter meant when he said that in the last days there will be scoffers claiming that things have been as they have always been .
These mockers say that there will not be a cataclysmic in-breaking of the kingdom of God in the second coming of Jesus Christ because, they would say, “Look at history! Everything is just the same as it has always been from the beginning.”
Now, the Bible, and observable data, conflict with anyone who might be tempted to join the scoffers. Those who hold to the biblical record, and the observable record in Creation, are those who hold to catastrophism. The scoffers who dont believe in a flood, in Peters epistle, hold to a philosophy of earth history called uniformitarianism.
The Bible teaches us that there was creation, which was a rather catastrophic rearranging of chaos, and then there was the fall. The earth was without form, and void and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters .
The Bible On The Flat Earth Theory: A History
Perhaps the final argument from the flat Earth camp is that up until 500 years ago the church supported the model of a flat Earth, as many still do today. Again, this is wrong.
As we will see shortly, the church never claimed that the Earth is flat, but supported the theory of geocentrismwhich says that the Earth stands still and the Sun, Moon and stars revolve around itplacing humans at the centre of creation. This generated the conflict between heliocentrist Galilelo Galilei and the church. So where did this long-standing false idea of a conflict between Christianity and science on this point come from? It comes from an attempt to discredit the Bible at the end of the 19th century, Faulkner says.
If you are familiar with the Flammarion engraving, a very well-known illustration of the flat Earth covered by a dome, you might believe it originates in the medieval period but it actually dates from the 1880s. Such illustrationsof a religious or scientific originare almost non-existent in the medieval period, because during the Middle Ages almost nobody believed in the flat Earth theory, not even the church leaders. Therefore, if the proponents of the flat Earth theory are geocentrists, it is important to know that from a historical point of view the converse is not true.
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The Biblical Evidence For A Young Earth
For the Christian who honors the testimony of the inspired Scriptures, the final word on this matter is the Bible itself.
If it can be demonstrated biblically that humanity and the earth were . And if it can be shown that mans history is to be measured in terms of a few thousand years rather than millions, even billions, then it logically follows that the earth should be viewed as relatively young. Consider the following.
The Bible Places Man At The Beginning
The Scriptures indicate that the earth and the human family are substantially co-existent in point of origin.
Moses described the creation of the earth and man as occurring within the same six-day span . That these were ordinary days of approximately twenty-four hours each and not figurative days representing millions of years is demonstrated by the fact that the prophet viewed them as the same type of day as the Hebrew Sabbath .
It is unfortunate that some Christians feel that we cannot be sure as to the meaning of day in Genesis 1 .
The prophets affirmed that Jehovahs sovereignty has been evident to man from the beginning, even from the foundations of the earth . How could this statement be remotely accurate if man did not arrive upon the planet until billions of years after earths creation?
Christ stated that male and female humans have existed from the beginning of the creation . This affirmation can never be harmonized with the notion that man is a very recent new-comer to this planet .
Paul argued that unbelief is inexcusable because the evidence for the existence of the invisible God is clearly seen in the orderly universe. These evidences have been perceived since the creation of the world .
Anyone who takes seriously the plain statements of the Scriptures cannot help seeing the importance and meaning of such passages.
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Two Views On The Age Of The Earth
To keep this article short and readable, I only give the two most important positions: the traditional Christian view and the view of most scientists in our days. There are a lot of views which are in between these positions, but I want to help you to get a quick picture of the Christian thinking about the age of the earth.
Is The Bible Silent On The Age Of The Earth
If it is true that the Bible is completely silent on this topic, then certainly we ought not to make an issue of it.
But, is the Bible silent regarding the age of the earth and the human race?
We pose these questions for reflection:
- Do the Scriptures contain chronological data that allow careful students to arrive at a relatively reliable estimate as to the antiquity of the human race?
- Does the Bible teach that the earth and mankind were created in the same week?
If these questions can be answered affirmatively and we are confident they can then the testimony of inspiration must be respected.
Or should the declarations of the Scriptures simply be dismissed because some are intimidated by the assertions of skeptical scientists who are committed to the theory of evolution?
Make no mistake about it. The lust for vast periods of time is critical in the Darwinian scenario of origins.
Dr. Robert Jastrow, one of Americas more popular scientists, said: The key to Darwins explanation is time, and the passage of many generations .
The late George Wald of Harvard University was bolder yet: ime itself performs the miracles .
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Arthur Holmes Establishes Radiometric Dating
Although Boltwood published his paper in a prominent geological journal, the geological community had little interest in radioactivity. Boltwood gave up work on radiometric dating and went on to investigate other decay series. Rutherford remained mildly curious about the issue of the age of Earth but did little work on it.
Robert Strutt tinkered with Rutherford’s helium method until 1910 and then ceased. However, Strutt’s student Arthur Holmes became interested in radiometric dating and continued to work on it after everyone else had given up. Holmes focused on lead dating, because he regarded the helium method as unpromising. He performed measurements on rock samples and concluded in 1911 that the oldest was about 1.6 billion years old. These calculations were not particularly trustworthy. For example, he assumed that the samples had contained only uranium and no lead when they were formed.
More important research was published in 1913. It showed that elements generally exist in multiple variants with different masses, or “isotopes“. In the 1930s, isotopes would be shown to have nuclei with differing numbers of the neutral particles known as “neutrons“. In that same year, other research was published establishing the rules for radioactive decay, allowing more precise identification of decay series.
There Is No Scientific Proof For Billions Of Years
There is no scientific proof that the earth is billions of years old. The average layman thinks there is, but he is mistaken.
Dr. Stephen Moorbath, an evolutionist associated with the University of Oxford, wrote:
No terrestrial rocks closely approaching an age of 4.6 billion years have yet been discovered. The evidence for the age of the earth is circumstantial, being based upon . . . indirect reasoning .
Dr. John Eddy, an evolutionary astronomer, stated: There is no evidence based solely on solar observations that the Sun is 4.5 to 5 billion years old . He continued:
I suspect that the Sun is 4.5 billion years old. However, given some new and unexpected results to the contrary, and some time for frantic recalculation and theoretical readjustment, I suspect that we could live with Bishop Usshers value for the age of the Earth and Sun . I dont think we have much in the way of observational evidence in astronomy to conflict with that .
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Approaches To Genesis 1
Old Earth Christian creationists may approach the creation accounts of Genesis in a number of different ways.
| Day 1: Light day and night | Day 4: Sun, moon and stars |
| Day 2: Sea and heavens | Day 5: Sea creatures birds |
| Day 3: Land and vegetation | Day 6: Land creatures man |
The framework interpretation notes that there is a pattern or “framework” present in the Genesis account and that, because of this, the account may not have been intended as a strict chronological record of creation. Instead, the creative events may be presented in a topical order. This view is broad enough that proponents of other old earth views have no problem with many of the key points put forward by the hypothesis, though they might believe that there is a certain degree of chronology present.
Day-age creationism is an effort to reconcile the literal Genesis account of creation with modern scientific theories on the age of the universe, the Earth, life, and humans. It holds that the six days referred to in the Genesis account of creation are not ordinary 24-hour days, but rather are much longer periods . The Genesis account is then interpreted as an account of the process of cosmic evolution, providing a broad base on which any number of theories and interpretations are built. Proponents of the day-age theory can be found among theistic evolutionists and progressive creationists.
What Does This Mean
In short, God is God and we are not. Trust in God. The creation of the world was a miracle of Almighty God just as the resurrection of Jesus Christ was divine intervention. I do not fault those who struggle to affirm a specific dating of the earth’s age. But as for me, I am content in knowing that God knows, that God cares, and that He will provide for me what I need to know with unquestioned clarity. This I know:
God loves us so much that he sent His only begotten Son to live the life we could never live and die the death that should’ve been ours. And on the day that I confessed that truth, God created a new person in me. The earth began for me on that day.
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One Event To Measure All Else By
There is one final cataclysmic event that will happen in the earth and the cosmos: the second coming of Jesus Christ, the judgment of the world, and an extraordinary molecular rearrangement of all things that will bring about a New Heaven and a New Earth. And here is the most important thing I could write: your faith or unbelief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ determines whether you will be part of that New Heaven and New Earth. I cannot date the age of the earth because so many things have changed. But I can say with certainty that because Christ is risen from the dead so we will rise again from the dead. We will live with him in a new heaven and new earth forever. I do not fully understand even that. But that’s the whole point, isn’t it?
Faith is trusting in God the things we cannot see: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” .
At the end of every great question in the Bible , the Holy Spirit appeals to the incomprehensible divide between man’s finite existence and God’s infinite reality:
But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, Why have you made me like this ?
God loves us so much he sent his only begotten Son to live the life we could never live and die the death that should’ve been ours. And on the day that I confessed that truth, God created a new person in me. The earth began for me on that day.