But the earth looks old!

Christians are divided between Young Earth Creationists and Old Earth Creationists.   The first group believes that the days of creation in Genesis 1 are literal days; the second believes that there is scientific evidence that the earth is billions of years old and the creation account must be interpreted to conform to this evidence.  In fact the research that leads to the belief that the earth is old fails to take into consideration the possibility of divine intervention in the running of the universe.  One of my previous posts deals with this subject:

It’s history, not science

There is scientific evidence that the earth can’t be as old as is generally believed and at the end of this post I list some sites where you can find this evidence.

Some people claim that young earth creation can’t be true because the earth looks old.  The earth does look old and there is a very good reason for that.  It is old.

There is no contradiction between believing in young earth creation and at the same time saying that the earth is old.  “Young” and “old” are comparative words and a person or object can be young from one perspective and old from another.  For example, when I was a teenager I considered anyone who was 40 years old to be old; now I am 73 and I consider a 40 year old to be young.  “Young earth creation” is the belief that the earth is much younger that the billions of years most people believe it to be.  In fact it is over 6,000 years old.

Age isn’t the only factor that has caused changes in the earth’s appearance.  The people God created sinned and their sin has affected the whole world.

The first effect was relatively minor.

And to Adam he said,  “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.  By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Genesis 3:17-19

Adam’s descendants all followed his example of sinning and eventually conditions got so bad that God sent a flood which covered the whole earth and wiped all of the human race except for Noah and his family.  This flood completely changed the geography of the earth and produced most of the fossils that we find today.  It brought about permanent changes in the earth and atmosphere that are the source of storms, earthquakes, and other natural disasters that we experience today.

People who engage in unhealthy lifestyles such as excessive use of alcohol and tobacco often look older that people the same age who don’t follow these practices.  Perhaps this same principle applies to the earth.  It looks much older than is really is because its inhabitants have adopted a lifestyle of rebellion against God and his laws.

Many people accept the claim that the earth is very old because they don’t know that there is scientific evidence that refutes it.  Here are some sites where you can find out about this evidence.

http://www.answersingenesis.org/

http://www.piltdownsuperman.com/

http://biblicalgeology.net/

http://scienceagainstevolution.info/

http://sixdaysblog.com/