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Young Earth or Old Earth?
Just wondering what you guys believe in. I know its been pretty controversial, (almost to the point where you would think its the key to peoples salvation lol) But I'm just curious as to what you all believe.
So which is it? A 7,000...ish year old earth/universe?
Or a universe Billions of years old.
I personally believe in the earth that is billions of years old, but just wonder what you guys think.
So which is it? A 7,000...ish year old earth/universe?
Or a universe Billions of years old.
I personally believe in the earth that is billions of years old, but just wonder what you guys think.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Taylor Smith on -
after scouring scripture, i believe in a young earth. why do you believe in an old earth?
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Permalink Reply by Matt Hersee on -
Just through what i have come to understand about the creation story, and the universe around me. I am more inclined to believe in an old universe.
This wasn't a quickly chosen idea. I have done quite a bit of research about this whole thing, and this is just what i have come up with.
Did you want specific examples?
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Permalink Reply by Lorraine Doswell on -
Out of genuine interest Taylor, why do you believe in a young earth?
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Permalink Reply by Robert MacFarland on
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I do not know. Many of us as Christians, tend to go by the Word, and by faith (the substance of things not seen)...and frankly...I 'did not see' when 'or how' the earth was formed. Perhaps...within the 'substance of things not seen'...there could be things that the scientists 'have not seen'....and there could be things that the christians 'have not seen' of the mighty workings of God. I think it is fairly arrogant of either side to claim to understand the fullness of creation. No 'person' on this earth is able to know fully; how? what? why? I feel comfortable just saying, "I do not know, but it is beautiful". Besides...I am already believing that when I accepted the Lord and eternal life...that I stepped out of the 'bounds' of time. When we are in heaven, I do not think we will have a need to judge time by how the earth spins, or our travel around the sun in this solar system.
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Permalink Reply by Wayne Pau on -
Hm.. is that similar to the discussion from a little while back here?
http://www.worshiptherock.com/forum/topics/how-old-is-our-bible
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Permalink Reply by Matt Hersee on
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Er....Yes....only i named it something different >./body>
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Permalink Reply by Nathan Bush on -
There are some parts of the Bible that are written in allegory and metaphor. Normally it is obvious when the passage is read in context. The creation story seems to more of a narrative, instructive of how GOD did it. I believe in 6, literal, 24 hour days because after GOD establihed living things, they had to have either HIS next or previous step to continue. e.g. Grass needed the light of the sun, and dry ground to thrive. [If you think about it you can see how everything depends on the order GOD made everything.]
One explanation that may also help is what someone called "apparent age." God created the animals and man fully mature and ready to "reproduce after his kind." Adam, for instance, wasn't created as a newborn but a mature man. The earth therefore could have been made to look like it was billions of years old but it was only a few days.
There are smarter and more eloquent believers that have written books throughout the years. More recently, Henry Morris. He has formidable credentials and writes on an understandable level. He is associated with The Institute for Creation Research. Here is their website: www.icr.org/
Hope that helps.
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Permalink Reply by Matt Hersee on
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What parts are allegories and metaphors? (Besides Jesus' parables and stuff...which we assume are just examples)
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Permalink Reply by Stevo on -
I think you need more data to support 6 literal 24 hour days like the fact that the Hebrew language supports it.
But also, the idea of a Billion year old earth comes from a human understanding of what we see. It completely precludes the possibility of a God who can create things with the appearance of age. After all, from the reading of Genesis, Adam was created as a man, not a baby.
When you approach Genesis from the way it's written, it really doesn't support a billions year old earth. It's just not written that way. After all, what kind of God do we worship? One who can create something with the appearance of age and fool all the wise men of the earth? Or one who has to obey the laws of nature? No thanks on the second one.
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Permalink Reply by Matt Hersee on
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The Hebrew language supports the word "yom", which is a term denoting anything from a 12 hour period to a period of....well a very long time.
And personally, i have a hard time wrapping my mind around a universe created with "apparent age". It seems...Deceitful almost.
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Permalink Reply by Stevo on
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That's the objection that Geisler had when I was taking his class, so you're in good company. But I don't find it deceitful - it's all in how you see it. After all, was God being deceitful when he caused Moses' staff to become a snake? (One can safely assume it was the same length as the stick, indicating a certain age which was not the case.) We say "apparent age", but what we mean is "created in such a way that WE think it's a certain age".
As for creating a "stellar event that never happened", I can see Alex's point. But it's like the snake or any other miracle that God has performed over the generations - calling it deceitful assumes first that we are actually right about the age. But it also assumes that we somehow know what God was doing or exactly what His purpose is for it. And that's that the problem with relying on general revelation. Many "facts" have been disproved over the years - facts that would have been called general revelation at the time.
So I personally don't consider general revelation a strong way to interpret scripture. It should be interpreted with the same hermeneutic methods as any other literature (historical/contextual/grammatical) before anything else is considered. And after we've done that, we might find that it's in conflict with our idea of reality.
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Permalink Reply by Brendan Smith on -
God caused the plants to "grow"...doesn't seem like apparent age would apply there.
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