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Thread: Age of the Earth

  1. #1
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    Question Age of the Earth

    If this has been discussed to death on the board in the past, please ignore the thread and accept my apologies for missing out on that discussion.

    Otherwise . . .

    This thread posted by CaryC brought the topic to mind: 12,000 YO Mountian size find

    First off, I am not being critical of that thread. I am just asking a question, curious for what others think, and started a new thread not wanting to take that one off topic.

    Can an object on the earth be 12,000 years old?

    How old is the earth? Creationists say a Biblical worldview puts it at 6,000 years, give or take a few.

    Yet, there are finds all over the place pointing to one thing or another happening 10,000 years ago and longer, in some cases ridiculously longer like hundreds of millions of years.

    Is the truth of the matter, somehow, "both"?

    Or is it, as some suggest, an act of disbelief to even think that the world might be older than the 6,000 years since creation found according to the Holy Bible? For example, from https://answersingenesis.org/theory-...ons-of-years/:

    What is at stake here is the authority of Scripture, the character of God, the doctrine of death, and the very foundation of the gospel. If the early chapters of Genesis are not true literal history, then faith in the rest of the Bible is undermined, including its teaching about salvation and morality. I urge you to carefully read the other chapters in this book. The health of the church, the effectiveness of her mission to a lost world, and the glory of God are at stake.

    I have long thought, "both," and do not find the belief in conflict with the Word of God. I do not believe in evolution. I do believe the creation story exactly as it is revealed in God's Holy Word, that there have been 6,000 years in the age of man, but also that the earth itself may be much older.

    Your thoughts?

    There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us. -- I John 4:18-19


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  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by Little Fish
    I have long thought, "both," and do not find the belief in conflict with the Word of God. I do not believe in evolution. I do believe the creation story exactly as it is revealed in God's Holy Word, that there have been 6,000 years in the age of man, but also that the earth itself may be much older.

    Your thoughts?
    I believe the same as you, LF. Creation just as it's stated in the Word, but the Earth is much older. I'm sure CaryC will be along to explain what I mean by that. He also agrees. For me, I hesitate to get involved in any discussion in The Chapel anymore.

    Good topic, BTW!

  3. #3
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    I'm a 'young earther'; but not too concerned either way...

    Exo 20:11 “For in six days יהוה made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore יהוה blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart.

    2Pe 3:8 But, beloved ones, let not this one matter be hidden from you: that with יהוה one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
    "The one who says he stays in Him is indebted to walk, even as He walked." 1Jn 2:6

    Without Torah, His walk is impossible - it's Rome's walk without Torah.



  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by LittleFish View Post
    Or is it, as some suggest, an act of disbelief to even think that the world might be older than the 6,000 years since creation found according to the Holy Bible? For example, from https://answersingenesis.org/theory-...ons-of-years/:

    What is at stake here is the authority of Scripture, the character of God, the doctrine of death, and the very foundation of the gospel. If the early chapters of Genesis are not true literal history, then faith in the rest of the Bible is undermined, including its teaching about salvation and morality. I urge you to carefully read the other chapters in this book. The health of the church, the effectiveness of her mission to a lost world, and the glory of God are at stake.

    I don't agree with that statement. I don't think we should say that either you believe this particular interpretation of this passage or you are undermining the entire Bible. You may not have known, but I have expressed my opinions about the age of the earth and the first chapters in Genesis some time ago, and I would have to say that it probably is a small minority view. I don't think I want to go over all of that again because I don't think it is really important. But you probably know that one of our favorite Bible teachers believed that the earth was probably billions of years old.

  5. #5
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    I hope no one minds me contributing. This is what was explained to me a while ago.

    1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

    2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
    Heaven and earth were already around when...

    3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.


    4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.


    5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
    The point this Christian was making is there may have been a very long time between the actual creation of the Earth and that "First Day".

    He still never answered my other question. "With what matters did God concern Himself with for that eternity before He created anything?"
    Malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium.
    I prefer liberty with danger to peace with slavery.

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    LittleFish, can you check this link? It's not working for me.

    https://answersingenesis.org/theory-...ons-of-years/:



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    Hey LF,

    Well, gee whiz, just call me out. It's cool, no harm, no foul, just poking at you.

    The purpose for posting the article, down in the Root Cellar, on it's most elemental level, was to show that what we generally know as "history", in far to many cases, is called into question. Not so much in support of the age-12,000 years.

    There was also an article of a dinosaur found in China, actually looks kind of like the fake Raptors in Jurassic Park, with flesh still on the bones. Which would distort history, if found out to be true, that dinosaurs are extinct back thousands/millions of years ago. Which would support the claim of finding soft tissue in dinosaur bones.

    And this has been discussed to some degree, nothing wrong with discussing it again.

    My view:

    In total agreement with the simplest understanding of the Bible, 6 days means 6 days, etc.... It should also be noted that in most scientific studies 6 civilizations (3 in the eastern hemisphere, and 3 in the western) all started about the same time, some 3500 to 5000+ (note < 6000 years ago). Which puts all these civilizations starting after the Biblical flood.

    There are some 200 methods of dating the earth and only 10% puts the age at over 10,000 years, which means 90% place the age under 10,000 years.

    I would also note that IMHO there is nothing in the scriptures describing creation, that depicts it as fictional, or figurative. So, to me it's literal. Even as there is nothing in the Bible that would make the Flood a figurative, or fictional, or local account.

    What we don't know about that time would fill libraries, and they all would be empty.

    Concerning age and how it is determined:

    How old is Mt. Rushmore? If someone did a test of some sort, say Carbon 14 on the Mountain, and another on the faces, would they be the same? I think so, same rock, same age. However, we KNOW the faces are a recent addition, in the last 75 years or so.

    I think the same can be said of the earth. The substance that the earth is made of could be millions of years old. However, the environment on the surface, trees, humans, etc. is less than 6,000.

    That's also not to say some stuff, like the woman's face, made of stone/rock, could of survived the flood, which lasted a year (365 days).
    Wise Men Still Seek Him

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bezukhov
    The point this Christian was making is there may have been a very long time between the actual creation of the Earth and that "First Day".
    I think he might have been referring to the "Gap Theory".

    Quote Originally Posted by Bezukhov
    He still never answered my other question. "With what matters did God concern Himself with for that eternity before He created anything?"
    All we know from Scripture about that time is that sometime in eternity past, Satan and 1/3 of the angels fell.

  9. #9
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    I would enjoy talking about this, with anyone.

    However, if some one is interested in listening to a debate on this subject I will list one below.

    It's between Dr. Kent Hovind and Hugh Ross. Young earther, and old earther. I admit Hovind is a bit weird, but the facts he presents seem to be right on, even though I haven't listed to this debate, I have listened to him before. I also learn a lot from Hugh Ross.

    Hummm I keep getting an error on the vid.

    So you can google it, or search for it on youtube.com and there are a bunch of 'em, by various persons.
    Wise Men Still Seek Him

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sherree View Post
    LittleFish, can you check this link? It's not working for me.
    https://answersingenesis.org/theory-...ons-of-years/:


    Sorry about that, Sherree. It is odd, though -- I cut/paste the link out of my browser bar (did it again just now) and it goes to the 'oops' page. Didn't work. Went to page info, copied the very same link letter for letter and it works. At least it does on my machine now. Hope it does on yours and others.

    https://answersingenesis.org/theory-...ions-of-years/

    There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us. -- I John 4:18-19


    Whoever derides their neighbor has no sense, but the one who has understanding holds their tongue. -- Proverbs 11:12.

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