Two views on the age of the earth
How old is the earth? If you asked most scientists they would tell you it is 4.5 billion years old. If you asked a Christian who believes the creation account in Genesis is literally true he would tell you it is only a few thousand years old. Those who believe the earth is old claim that their view is supported by scientific evidence and that young earth creationists reject science. Our rejection of the belief that the earth is billions of years old isn’t based on science but on history. The Bible reveals that earth was created by God and later there was a worldwide flood which created the majority of the fossils that we find today. In a previous post I showed some of the scientific evidence which supports this belief.
From what I have written so far it appears that all Christians believe the earth is young while others believe it is old. Most of you are aware that this isn’t the case. There are Christians who believe the Bible and yet at the same time believe the earth is old and for a long time I was one of them. I have been a Christian for almost 60 years and for the first 50 of those years I believed the earth was billions of years old. I reconciled these beliefs by believing in the Gap Theory. Here is an article that explains what the gap theory is and why it is unbiblical.
What is the “Gap Theory”? its origin and history?
There were two reasons why I believed that the world is old. The first is that we live in a culture which has taken for granted that science has proved that it is old. The second is that although I met many who believed the earth was young they simply said they believed it because the Bible said so. They never showed that the scientific “evidence” for an old earth was wrong. It seemed to me that I must choose between believing the Bible and believing science. When I first heard of the gap theory I saw it as a way to reconcile those two beliefs. It wasn’t until I learned of creationist organizations such as Answers in Genesis and began to study what they taught that I realized the weakness of the evidence in favor of an old earth.
I suspect that most people who believe the Bible and also believe in an old earth do so for the same reasons I did. They have been exposed to the belief that science has proved the world is old all their lives and their churches have failed to show them that the evidence actually shows the earth is young. A child who is brought up in a Bible believing home but isn’t exposed to accurate scientific instruction is likely to do one of two things when he leaves home for work or for college. Either he will conclude that the Bible is wrong or he will find a way to interpret the Bible to conform to what he believes is scientific truth.
Five hundred years ago the church had drifted away from the truth because it accepted many human traditions as equally valid with the word of God. A priest named Martin Luther challenged this acceptance of tradition and started the Protestant Reformation. Today much of the church has accepted scientific theories as truth. We need to start a new reformation.
Here are some sites that have helped me understand the truth about creation. Perhaps you will find them helpful too.
If you are a parent and want to make sure your children understand the truth I recommend that you visit the Answers in Genesis store.
You will find a lot of helpful material there.
Posted on January 24, 2017, in creation and tagged age of the earth, answeresingenesis.org, Answers in Genesis, creation, history, Martin Luther, piltdownsuperman.com, reformation, science, scienceagainstevolution.info, young earth creation. Bookmark the permalink. 3 Comments.
clydeherrin 
Great post, Clyde. It’s also important to note that people interpret evidence according to their worldview. Everyone has access to the same evidence, but they will interpret this evidence based on their presuppositions.
Atheists will interpret evidence of rock layers based on their presupposition that there is no God and everything today has been formed by the same processes in effect today. They will discount the revelation of God’s Word as historical (and therefore they do not recognize the effects of the worldwide flood.) Many Christians who believe in long ages also marginalize the teachings of Genesis in order to placate the disciples of scientism.
But as Christians, if we interpret evidence through the view that God revealed history through his Word, then we can see how all evidence truly points to the Creator and his glory. All throughout scripture (Genesis, Exodus, Psalms, Isaiah, Matthew, Mark, Acts, Romans, I Cor, 1 & 2 Peter) we see the confirmation of creation in 6 literal days about six thousand years ago, and there was a worldwide flood that created most of the fossils and rock layers. All of these examples are available at ApoloJedi.com.
This is why it is so important to know how to recognize contradictions in people’s worldview. Since people will come up with rescuing devices to protect their worldview from contrary evidence or interpretation of evidence. Jason Lisle has a tremendous book and video teaching called: The Ultimate Proof of Creation. I highly recommend that anyone interested in this subject look at his free online videos and purchase his book. It is a fantastic tool for God’s glory!
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Good to hear the story of how you changed. Answers in Genesis was instrumental in changing my mind too, and it was very humbling. And thanks for those links you provided. I hadn’t come across those sites before.
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