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HOW OLD IS THE EARTH?


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Scripture is the best interpreter of scripture. God said unto Moses, "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it." (Ex. 20:11) The Lord God Almighty commands us to rest and take a sabbath DAY, just as the Lord Himself rested on the seventh DAY. The word "DAY" is the key word here. Some might argue that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years (2 Pet.3:8), therefore there is a possibility that the Earth is billions of years old. If the Lord commanded us to rest a DAY, then so should we. If the Lord meant a long time span such as thousands of years for one day, are we  to rest a thousand years too in like manner? The word  "DAY" in the Hebrew is the word "Yom" and can refer to a literal day, or a span of time. This is debatable as to whether to take it literally. I would. As the above poster said, Carbon dating is unreliable. Just like Evolution. If we evolved from apes, where are the transitional fossils? there are absolutely None. We should have at least found thousands of skeletons (or pieces) of the evolution of ape to man, but we find none whatsoever. As for me, I look forward to a New Earth. This is not a remodeled Earth as some have suggested, it is as the Bible says, a NEW Earth with no more sea. It can be hundreds, thousands, even million times larger than the Earth we live on now. So yes, I believe in an Old Earth, because a NEW and glorious Earth awaits us.

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Omega, good points on your post with possibilty of biblical time being measured differently. As far as Transitional fossils, visit the Smithsonian Human Fossil collection. This is the best place to understand that to be evolved from animals is not unGodly, but beautiful. We as Humans have so much history. 

http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/

Here is an interesting evolutionary fact on why we get Goosebumps....The body hair of all mammals automatically stands up when cold, creating a fluffy layer of warmth. When we’re cold, the muscles around the hair follicles contract – a reflex left over from when our ancestors had long body hair. But since we don’t have much body hair, all we see are the goose bumps on our skin.

Have a blessed day!

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6 hours ago, JesusLivesInUs said:

Dear friends in Christ

I think science and religion do not have to oppose each other here. Clearly we cannot have 100% reliability in the science of Carbon Dating(67% confidence level) in anything less than 50,000 years, however we can be of reasonable, educated minds to understand how God in his infinite ability can create such a beautiful universe, more specifically our planet in the normal process of plate tectonics through subduction zones, natural sedimentation and other processes. For our planet to evolve to its current state, it takes millions, not 6 thousand years to develop. Take the Hawaiian Islands for an example of this process. These islands were created by a hotspot under the earth's crust and as plate moves inches, maybe feet westward each year, so does the volcanic activity, thus creating each of its islands. I know we want the interpretation of the Bible to be a literal interpretation of God's word, but understand that the men who wrote the books of the Bible were from the mindset of that time, which did not have the science to illuminate God's creation, so we can better understand the beauty of its origin. Let's try to keep our minds open to possibilities. 

 

If I may, lets just contrast that a little with the end times which are also predominantly taken literally, Rev 16:17-21:

17And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. 18And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. 19And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. 20And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

My point is this: None of this will occur via evolution, beach erosion, natural selection or random tectonic plates shifts either my friend. Make sure you know in your heart what you believe. The time is short......

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6 hours ago, JesusLivesInUs said:

Dear friends in Christ

I think science and religion do not have to oppose each other here. Clearly we cannot have 100% reliability in the science of Carbon Dating(67% confidence level) in anything less than 50,000 years, however we can be of reasonable, educated minds to understand how God in his infinite ability can create such a beautiful universe, more specifically our planet in the normal process of plate tectonics through subduction zones, natural sedimentation and other processes. For our planet to evolve to its current state, it takes millions, not 6 thousand years to develop. Take the Hawaiian Islands for an example of this process. These islands were created by a hotspot under the earth's crust and as plate moves inches, maybe feet westward each year, so does the volcanic activity, thus creating each of its islands. I know we want the interpretation of the Bible to be a literal interpretation of God's word, but understand that the men who wrote the books of the Bible were from the mindset of that time, which did not have the science to illuminate God's creation, so we can better understand the beauty of its origin. Let's try to keep our minds open to possibilities. 

 

Science and the Bible do not oppose each other.

 

Carbon dating has slightly higher than ZERO accuracy in anything more than 50000 years, due to the half life of Carbon 14 - how about you do some genuine research into it. At less than 50000 years there are so many assumptions required that the accuracy you quote of 67% is an absolute made up figure (not by you necessarily, but by whoever you are quoting).

As to formation of geology etc, you might want to look at the region around Mt St Helens, where you will see geological structures which, according to some qualified geologists, are indistinguishable from such structures in may other places (Grand Canyon for instance), but they were OBSERVED IN REAL TIME to have formed in a matter of weeks, rather than "millions of years". Yet evolutionary scientists dismiss the Mt St Helens structures are being the aberration, claiming that the normal way is over great spans of time.

How is this scientific? True science is based in observation, and the plain fact is that the so called science that leads to a belief in millions of years is 100% speculation and 0% observation.

Add to this that there is no known natural biological mechanism to add information to DNA, and it has never been observed to happen (as per true scientific method), and therefore there is no scientifically acceptable way that evolution could possibly happen - if you put aside the speculation and storytelling that is normally associated with evolutionary teaching, and you are left with ABSOLUTELY NO RATIONAL REASON to accept either millions of years, or evolutionary theories.

Read the Bible.

Test what it says against genuine science, using true scientific method.

Ignore the so called experts who tell you to trust them.

They are no different to the Catholic priests throughout time who told people that the Bible was too difficult for the normal to understand and just to trust them.

This is exactly the argument that is used by so called scientists today - it is too difficult for a non-expert to understand so just trust me.

The Bible says to trust no-one, except God.

1 John 4:1
(1)  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
 

 

 

 

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13 hours ago, DaveW said:

Science and the Bible do not oppose each other.

 

Carbon dating has slightly higher than ZERO accuracy in anything more than 50000 years, due to the half life of Carbon 14 - how about you do some genuine research into it. At less than 50000 years there are so many assumptions required that the accuracy you quote of 67% is an absolute made up figure (not by you necessarily, but by whoever you are quoting).

As to formation of geology etc, you might want to look at the region around Mt St Helens, where you will see geological structures which, according to some qualified geologists, are indistinguishable from such structures in may other places (Grand Canyon for instance), but they were OBSERVED IN REAL TIME to have formed in a matter of weeks, rather than "millions of years". Yet evolutionary scientists dismiss the Mt St Helens structures are being the aberration, claiming that the normal way is over great spans of time.

How is this scientific? True science is based in observation, and the plain fact is that the so called science that leads to a belief in millions of years is 100% speculation and 0% observation.

Add to this that there is no known natural biological mechanism to add information to DNA, and it has never been observed to happen (as per true scientific method), and therefore there is no scientifically acceptable way that evolution could possibly happen - if you put aside the speculation and storytelling that is normally associated with evolutionary teaching, and you are left with ABSOLUTELY NO RATIONAL REASON to accept either millions of years, or evolutionary theories.

Read the Bible.

Test what it says against genuine science, using true scientific method.

Ignore the so called experts who tell you to trust them.

They are no different to the Catholic priests throughout time who told people that the Bible was too difficult for the normal to understand and just to trust them.

This is exactly the argument that is used by so called scientists today - it is too difficult for a non-expert to understand so just trust me.

The Bible says to trust no-one, except God.

1 John 4:1
(1)  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
 

 

 

 

DaveW,

There are actually special preparations that would ensure accuracy of Carbon Dating of objects greater than 50,000 years. My 67% confidence level is from memory. So as to the Zero level of confidence you quoted, you are incorrect. I would suggest you do as you had suggested and read one of the various publications on the subject. The reliability of the results can be improved by lengthening the testing time. For example, if counting beta decays for 250 minutes is enough to give an error of 80 years or more with 68% confidence. 

As far as the reference to Mount St Helens/ Grand Canyon events, you have to understand the science of Geology. The Hawaiian versus events you stated are completely different types of geologic processes. There are several volcano types. My St Helens was a Composite type,  which is typically steep-sided, symmetrical cones of large dimensions, oftentimes very explosive. Hawaiian islands were formed by what is called a Shield Volcano which is composed more of fluid rather than explosive lava flows, forming the islands over the hotspot I have previously mentioned. This is a process that formed these island over millions of years. This is all scientific fact that is verifiable. The sudden changes you mention from the Mt St Helens events has happened many times over the course of history all over the world. God's creation is wonderful. Next you will be telling me Earth is the center of the universe or some nonsense about us not animals.  Just because we believe in Jesus does not mean we have to be blind to scientific facts, which is also God's creation.

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JesusLivesInUs

When science disagrees with the Bible, the Bible is always right. It's amazing how the Bible ends up proving Science wrong. At one point, Science said the earth was flat. The Bible said it was round.

There is significant Biblical and Scientific evidence of a young earth, Probably around 6-10 thousand years old, not billions or trillions.

If you want to say evolution is true, do it from Scripture, not faulty science and I am happy to engage in a discussion.

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The bible is the most historically accurate book on the planet. Leading scholars will attest to this. What may seem like a contradiction with science in the bible, it is because of the lack of understanding of what the words meant back in those times. When the bible speaks of the 4 corners of the Earth which many bible teachers translate it to as 4 quadrants, or as I would say...North, South, East, and West. Why would God need thousands or millions of years to create sea creatures and birds? When Jesus walked the Earth, He said such things as..."be healed." and they were healed in an instant by His "Spoken Word". Peter cut off Malchus' ear and Jesus replaced it like Mr. Potato head (my apologies, I couldn't think of another example). The wisdom and knowledge of man is at times unreliable. Even if 500 leading scientists disagree with the bible, well guess what? It is written: let God be true, but every man a liar. (Rom.3:4)

Edited by (Omega)
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I Tim 6:20: O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: Which some professing have erred concerning the faith.

Any attempt to reconcile God's Word to humanism (the worship of man & science) is simply masking shame in Christ, the Cross and God's Word. To have shame in God's Word among the heathen is to have shame in Christ. Christ is the Living Word who framed the worlds, The Bible is His Direct and Complete Revelation to man. Without the Word, there is no redemption.

He that believes in Me, shall NOT BE ASHAMED (Romans 9:33 & 10:11)

John 1: 10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Hebrews 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

Hebrews 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear (IOWs: no evolution, no big bangs, no beach erosion, no formation of mountains by tenonic plates, nothing on this world naturally created or contributed to the creation of anything else on this world). If you can see it here, God put it here Himself.

Unregenerate "faith" is not saving faith. Most last days "professing christians" will hear "I never knew you" at the Great White Throne. That is all this thread is really about, this man is crying out for help IMO.

 

Edited by wretched
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Due to the half life of Carbon 14 there is insufficient amounts of it remaining to give any worthwhile readings beyond 50000 years. There simply isn't enough left to measure.

You try to sound like you know what you are talking about, but you clearly do not.

I do not know much about geology, but I do know that qualified geologists state that the structures are indistinguishable.

The kind of volcano is irrelevant to my point, but it does show that you are not interested in truth.

And therefore I am no longer interested in your opinion.

Would you mind giving your salvation testimony in the intro section?

I would be interested in reading that.

Edited by DaveW
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10 hours ago, JesusLivesInUs said:

This is a process that formed these island over millions of years. This is all scientific fact that is verifiable.

How is it verifiable? Who observed it? 

Have you performed the laboratory tests yourself? Are you speaking from your personal lab results? Did you calibrate your instruments correctly and use Standard Methods to obtain your results? Did you use a known standard? Did you verify the Chain of Custody (and sign it) in order to prove that the samples hadn't been tampered with? Did you forget to fix the font when you copied and pasted parts of your posts? 

I mean no disrespect, but we are more interested in knowing your own thoughts from your own personal experiences. If you personally have proven evolution, then please share that with us. 

At this point, you are telling us that we're wrong in our belief, yet you've told us nothing which proves such. In fact, much of what you have stated directly opposes the Lord's own words; of whom, you have professed belief in.

I beseech you to reassess what you are placing your faith in.

 

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On 11/28/2017 at 6:50 AM, JesusLivesInUs said:

. Next you will be telling me Earth is the center of the universe or some nonsense about us not animals.  Just because we believe in Jesus does not mean we have to be blind to scientific facts, which is also God's creation.

First, I don't believe there are any geocentrists on the board (I may be wrong), although there are creationists who are, wrongly, geocentric in their universe eye-view.  But what I want to address is "some nonsense about us not animals..." Now, it is obvious that you accidentally left out a word or two and so this clause is not self-explanatory. So forgive me if I jump to the wrong conclusion as to your intent. Were you saying that humans not being animals is nonsense? Because, I'm sorry to tell you (well, no I'm not) that, if that is your intent, the nonsense lies on your side of the court - we are not animals. Humans were created in the image of God, with a soul. Animals were not. Humans were given dominion over the animals.

Just because we don't have to be blind to scientific facts, it does not follow that we have to blindly accept the unbliblical teachings of "science falsely so called." In fact, we are commanded to avoid them: 

"O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: Which some professing have erred concerning the faith..." 1 Tim. 6: 20, 21

Believing in Jesus means accepting Him at His Word - and His Word is very explicit in teaching us that He is the Creator. 

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I don't usually watch David Attenborough's nature  progammes on TV, but last night i saw a few minutes of Blue Planet. He said there was a barren Island in the Galápagos  Islands.  There is a lizard there that he said is the only sea going lizard anywhere in the world,  he said they arrived on the island on driftwood, and when there was no food they evolved into sea going creatures to be able to get food.  They must have evolved as soon as they arrived or they would have starved.  OH no wait!  Evolution takes thousands or millions of years.  

Of course there is no evidence for any of this and they call this science.

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