How long ago do your believe the earth was created?
The current series by Mark Snoeberger about this subject made me think that this would be a great poll question.
I was influenced by Henry Morris, who suggested the earth was perhaps 10,000 years old. Since Ken Ham has become popular, the new creationist party line has returned to Bishop Ussher’s chronology, setting the date for creation at 4004 B.C. This, of course, raises both historical and textual questions. How dependable are the numbers/ages in the genealogies? Are these merely highlight descendants, or a complete list? How do we account for the differing numbers (regarding age) between the LXX and the Masoretic text?
A lot to talk about here, is there not? We are talking about what we believe to be true, not what we know as a fact. This is about opinion and conclusions we may have drawn, even if loosely.
Orthodox Judaism puts our year as 5782, under 6 K a bit, FYI.
Run with the ball in any of these directions, if you wish. But here is a bit of advice: keep it brief, to the point, and be thrifty with links. You can, however, comment in more detail if you wish by discussing the first (and forthcoming) article by Mark Snoeberger. That would be a great place for debating and arguing on behalf of your viewpoint. This is more of a survey to see where SI participants stand on this issue.
Poll Results
How long ago do your believe the earth was created?
The earth is approximately 6,000 years old (within a millennium or so). Votes: 6
The earth is between 7,000 and 25,000 years old. Votes: 11
The earth is between 25,000 and one million years old. Votes: 1
The earth is more than a million years old. Votes: 4
Other Votes: 6
- 2 views
Scofield’s gap theory was considered orthodox fundamentalism for decades.
Image from Old Scofield (1909) here:
https://twitter.com/jrpeet/status/1448403994531938304
AIG has boxed us in to thinking that any view other than their’s is heresy
Daniel Wonderly (Old Earth view):
https://biologos.org/series/science-and-the-bible/articles/old-earth-pr…
Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_E._Wonderly
Despite being a theologically conservative Baptist, Wonderly accepted the scientific evidence that the Earth was much older than young-earth creationists believe it to be.[5] In explaining his views on evolution and the age of the Earth, he wrote, “Christians need to reject evolutionism, but when they reject true scientific discoveries they bring disgrace upon the Bible and Christianity.”[2] He supported reconciling the old age of the Earth with the teachings of the Bible by means of day-age creationism. When administrators at Grace College learned about Wonderly’s unfavorable views of young-earth creationism and flood geology, they agreed to hire him only on the condition that he not interfere with the College’s commitment to advancing young-earth creationism. Wonderly agreed, but after some of his students found out about his views, the College’s president banned Wonderly from further discussing his views at all, prompting Wonderly to resign. Prominent young-earth creationist Henry Morris defended Grace’s handling of Wonderly’s anti-creationist views, arguing that these views were already receiving a fair hearing throughout society
https://biologos.org/articles/the-bible-rocks-and-time-christians-and-a…
AIG’s Ark Encounter’s … central message, namely, that the acceptance of a “young” earth is crucial to the gospel of Jesus Christ, and any effort to persuade Christians otherwise is dangerous to the faith. We at BioLogos share their concern for the gospel and their desire to see people in right relationship with God, but in our opinion the real danger lies in holding too tightly to one specific view of Genesis, not in any scientific claims about millions and billions of years. All too often people from solid Christian families, who’ve been taught the AIG message since their earliest years, later question or abandon their faith after becoming persuaded that the earth might be far older than a few thousand years.
My take is that the earth is probably older than 6,000 years. I think it is a weak approach to add up geneologies and use that as an age. Especially when we have proof that geneologies had gaps and/or sometimes overlaps (i.e. coregency of the kings of Israel). The purpose of the geneologies was not to define specific dates but to show lineage. I would agree that it is most likely not millions of years old. I would have to potentially fall in the 7,000 to 25,000 grouping, but again, I am not dogmatic on that. It couldn have been longer.
Discussion