How Old is the Earth?

When creation or evolution is discussed in detail, one topic that will eventually come up is the age of the earth. With modern geologic theory this is one of the most popular arguments against Genesis 1 and God’s creation.

Before we get further into this study and look at much of the evidence, I don’t know how old the earth is.

Bible accounts of would say that the earth is somewhere between 5 and 10 thousand years old. Contrary to this modern geology says the earth is somewhere between ½ a billion to 5 billion years old.

R.L. Wysong in his work, The Creation-Evolution Controversy, wrote:
“It is no secret that evolutionists worship the shrine of time. There is little difference between the evolutionist saying “time did it” and the creationist saying “God did it”. Time and chance is a two-headed deity. Much scientific effort has been expended in an attempt to show eons of time are available for evolution. Man, the planets, the universe, the galaxies, and matter are labeled as vanishingly old by geological and radioactive dating methods. Tie is not spoken of in terms of mere decades or centuries, but as millions, sextillions, quintillions, “multiquadrupledoo-pleillions” and what have you. The evolutionist says time is all that is needed to accomplish the spontaneous generation of life; the evolutionary physicists, geologists, and paleontologists assure him he has plenty to work with (1976, p.173).

George Wald, a Nobel Laureate from Harvard University agrees with Dr. Wysong’s statement. This is no “ off the shelf” scientist, Dr. Wald is recognized throughout the world as one of the finest scientists around, also an evolutionist.
“To make an organism demands the right substance in the right proportions and in the arrangement. We do not think anything more is needed-but that is problem enough. One has only to contemplate the magnitude of this task to concede that the spontaneous generation of living organisms is impossible. Yet here we are-as a result, I believe, of spontaneous generation. In such a problem as the spontaneous generation of life, we have no way of assessing probabilities beforehand, or even of deciding what we mean by trial. The origin of a living organism is undoubtedly a step-wise phenomenon, each step with its own probability and its own conditions of trial. Of one thing we can be sure,  however: whatever constitutes a trial, more such trials occur the longer the interval of time.

The important point is that since the origin of life belongs in the category of “at least once” phenomena, time is on its side. However improbable we regard this event, or any of the steps it involves, given enough time, it will almost certainly happen at least once. And for life as we know it, with its capability for growth and reproduction, once may be enough. Time is the hero of the plot. The time with which we have to deal here is of the order of 2 billion years. What we regard as impossible on the basis of human experience is meaningless here. Given so much time, the impossible becomes possible, the possible become probable, and the probable becomes virtually certain. One has only to wait; time itself performs miracles (1954, pp.45-53, emp. added).

So the evolutionist needs BILLIONS of years, they even admit that without vast amounts of time evolution is impossible.

Science has created a timeline within its different disciplines. Most astronomers, geologists, biologists, paleontologists that believe in evolution agree with this general earth age timeline.

5 billion years ago……………The solar system evolved
4 ½  billion years ago…………The earth evolved
3-4 billion years ago………….The first single celled organisms
1 billion years ago………….…Multiple celled organisms
1-3 million years ago………….humans in some form
  or
7-8 million years ago………….humans in some form
10 thousand years ago…………human civilization

Without billions of years the evolution issue is DEAD.  Even millions of years isn’t enough time for is to be possible. This is why they hold so strongly to this “OLD EARTH” idea, and push it so hard.

“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 NKJ

One can plainly see that God created the earth as we see it today, and that He did it in Six days. The fourth commandment is not a source of controversy today. It is wholly accepted as a true statement form God.

The evidence this can be seen today. Atheists and non-believers in this country fight vehemently to keep a “separation of church and state”. This is typically seen when a display of the Ten Commandments has to be removed from a government building.

There is never a question of whether or not the 4th commandment is factual in stating that God created the earth in 6 days.

This timeline supposedly comes from the geologic column. This commonly found in 5th –7th grade textbooks. Many times students are made to memorize the geologic column.

If you have a drill and took a core sample of the earth’s crust the complete geologic column cannot be found anywhere on the earth. The only place this ideal form of the geologic column is in the textbooks of our children. Drill samples have pieces missing; many times they are in different orders. The main point I want to make is they teach this geologic column, as they want to see it. They don’t want anyone to question it and they are not teaching what is found in nature, they are teaching their “model” so it will fit their needed billions of years “model”.

“For conversation sake” let’s say we will listen to their “model” of a geologic column. Ask them how it really applies to the general organic theory of evolution, because it contains ZERO forms of transitional fossils. There is not a single transitional form fossil found in the geologic column. If one were ever found in today’s information age, it would be a world news event and all would have heard of it.

Mark Ridley, professor of zoology at Oxford University has written that it is a “terrible mistake” to assert the “false idea” of the fossil record providing an important part of the evidence that evolution took place. (Ridley, Mark 1981 “Who Doubts Evolution?”, New Scientist, Vol.90, June 25)

Ronald West, professor of paleobiology at Kansas State University states:
“Contrary to what most scientists write, the fossil record does not support the
Darwinian theory of evolution because it is this theory (there are several) which
we use to interpret the fossil record. By doing so, we are guilty of circular reasoning if we then say the fossil record supports this theory”. (West, Ronald 1968, Compass, May).

There are many other evidences to refute that the geologic column model and to show many inconsistencies in their “proofs”. Most are highly scientific and would take a more in-depth knowledge of geology than we can discuss in this study.

Now looking at today’s age of compromise, the political correctness movement, and people not having enough backbone to choose the truth over people’s feelings. Many ideas have come about, pushed by modern scientific opinion.

Liberal scholars tend to read Genesis as an out-dated theory dreamed up by an ancient Hebrew theologian who was attempting to answer the questions of life about where did everything come from.

Many evangelical scholars interpret the days in ways to bring them in a similar accord with current concepts of historical geology. This calls for the interpretation of Scripture that the normal rules of biblical interpretation do not allow. These people are neither serious about being a Bible believing Christian or an evolutionist.
“O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge-- by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith”…
        1 Timothy 6:21-21 NKJ
 

 Paul warns Timothy about this world’s “knowledge” and that is a warning for us today.
If we profess it we may stray concerning the faith.

Much of this blending of The Creation and The General Organic Theory of Evolution has been in how long it takes to get life as we see it today from nothing. Creation says 6 days, Evolution says somewhere around 3 to 4 billion years.

I would like to look at several ideas that are still popular today with many people who would tell you they believe in God and the Bible. Some would be known as what I would call members of denominations, and some even being members of Christ’s church.

First I would like to look at Genesis 1: 5,8,13,19,23 and 31.  They all are consistent in their description of a day. There is evening and morning. This describes a day a period of darkness and a period of daylight. Each time a day is described it is done the same way. I doesn’t make sense that one would or could read this account of creation and think it possibly meant millions or billions of years.

What I mean by that is that either the days were extremely long, or there were long periods of time between each day.

24-hour days: I want to first look at the reasons that a 24-hour period is a day. The Hebrew yom is translated as day is always used especially when it is associated with a numeral like first day or second day. It always means a 24-hour period. If longer periods of time were to be noted the words, dor, which means a period of time, or olam, which means a hidden, indefinite or unlimited time could have been used.

“By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deep in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.”
Psalm 33:6-9 NKJ

“And He answered and said to them, ‘Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female’”
         Matt. 19:4 NKJ
 

How is it possible to say these statements are true if you don’t hold fast to Genesis 1?

It is fairly simple to see that these next ideas are being read into the text, and are not coming out of it. The only statements that are lacking from most of these ideas in my opinion are “Once upon a time” and “happily ever after”.

Many views have been thought up in an effort to escape the 24-hour day. People are trying to find alternative views to the first chapters of Genesis. These views are less popular than the idea of evolution but also need to be considered because they are trying to make modern evolutionary science and modern religion exist together.

The Bible does not support any of these ideas.

The Gap Theory:
It appeared at the end of the 18th century. The world existed for a very long period of time. This idea states there is a gap in between Genesis 1:1 and the creative forming of those elements which were formed in Genesis1: 2.  This gap consisted of millions or billions of years. Satan also existed; he sinned and was thrown to earth. When this happened it destroyed everything. This was a tremendous period of chaos that happened. Then Genesis is the re-creation of the earth, the second time around, and that there is a huge period of time between the original creation and what Genesis 1 calls creation.

Creation-Ruination-Recreation Theory:
This view also assumes the gap and long chaos of the previous theory but adds the idea that there may have been many worlds before our own and these produced the geologic column and its supposed evidence for the earth being old.

The Day-Age Theory:
Which says the days of creation are vast ages of time. This is one of the most popular false teachings to Genesis 1. Each creation day is supposedly one geologic period. The major stumbling block to this idea is the modern scientist’s reconstruction of the development of life upon the earth cannot be made to correspond with Genesis 1.
Other questions remain about the long days:
1. Could plants have survived expansive periods of darkness?
2. What would the temperature of the earth be on the light side and the dark side?
  The moon has a 30 day “DAY”, it is about the same distance from the sun as the
Earth. The light side and the dark side have a 450-degree temperature difference.
What would be the difference on the earth if one day were 1 year, 100 years?
1000 years, or 100,000 years?
3. If insects and birds were created millions of years after plants, how would plants that only pollinate by direct contact transfer survive?
Many other questions can be asked to show this idea will not correlate with Genesis 1.
 

Conflicts between Creation and Evolution
A list compiled from the book: The Collapse of Evolution by Scott Hughes.

  The Bible     Evolution
1. God is the creator of all things.   1. Natural chance process can account for all things.

2.The world created in 6 literal days.  2. The world evolved over eons of time.

3. Creation is completed. (Gen. 2:3).  3. The Creative processes still continue.

4.The oceans (day 2) were created before land      4. Land was before Oceans.
    (day 3).

5. The Atmosphere was between 2 hydro-spheres. 5. We have a contiguous atmosphere and hydro-
     sphere.

6. The first life was on Land (day 3)  6. Life began in the oceans.

7. First life was plants (day 3) Gen. 1:11  7. Marine organisms evolved first.

8. Earth (day 3) was before sun and stars (day 4). 8.The sun and stars were before the earth.

9. Fruit trees (day 3) before fish ( day 5).  9. Fish before fruit trees

10. All stars made the 4th day.   10. Stars still being made today

11. Birds and fish created on 5th day.  11. Fish evolved hundreds of millions of years before
      birds.

12. Birds (day 5) before insects (day 6).  12. Insects before birds.

13. Great sea creatures (day 5) before reptiles 13. Reptiles before whales.
       (day 6).
 

14. Man (day 6) before rain (Gen. 2: 5).  14. Rain before man.
      First rain mentioned (Gen. 7: 4).
      First rain seen (Gen. 7: 12).

15. Light (day 1) before the sun (day 4).  15. Sun before light.

16. Plants (day3) before sun (day 4).  16. Sun before plants.

17. Abundance and variety of marine life  all at 17. Marine life gradually developed from a primitive
      at once. (day 5).          organic blob.
 
 

The Literal Day-Long Gap Theory:
This idea is also known as progressive creation and supposes that life developed over millions or billions of years but God started it, and occasionally intervened to announce what His next creation would be. Sort of like saying, “This is what I’m getting ready to do” and then having long periods of time to do it in, millions or billions of years.

What this view attempts to do is to avoid the major pitfalls of the Day-Age Theory.
There are reports that this has also been introduced into recently into the churches of Christ.

This idea still stretches a 24-hour day 7day week into billions of years.

It is very similar to theistic evolution, which we will take a closer more detailed look at next week.
 

There are many other ideas out there, in my research these are the most common found in our society today. One thing they all have in common is they all suppose the earth is billions of years old, or the OLD EARTH THEORY.

The evidence that is available today will support the earth only being in the thousands of years old category, not millions or billions.
1. Atomic clocks that have measured the earth’s spin rate to the nearest billionth of a second have consistently found the earth is slowing down at the rate of almost one-second per year. If the earth were billions of years old the spin rate would have been so fast that major distortions in the earth’s shape would have occurred.
2. Old earth theorists say the continents have existed for at least 1 billion years. The current rate of erosion would have leveled them after 14 million years.
3. The sun is shrinking at about the rate of 5 ft. / hr. This has been confirmed by many sources and has been shrinking at this rate for around 400 years. Using the most conservative data the if the sun existed 1 million years ago it would have been so large that it would have heated the earth so much life could not have survived.

These are just 3 examples of the more than 20 examples of evidence based on science that we have not already covered that specifically refute the Old Earth Theory.

I would like say I believe God created a mature world and in perfect working order. Adam was created a man of significant enough age that he was capable of tending and keeping the garden (Genesis 2:15). I don’t believe he was an infant on the 6th day of creation, his first day on earth. The trees were of such an age that they were capable of producing fruit (Genesis 1:11) and the animals of such an age to produce offspring (Genesis 1:22).  I am unaware of the age of rocks, soil, and other parts of the earth needed to support such a system.