Whom do you trust?

The US Geologic Survey or the Eyewitness account

by Pam Sheppard, AiG–USA

June 14, 2005

Martin Luther once said, “When Moses writes that God created heaven and earth and whatever is in them in six days, then let this period continue to have been six days, and do not venture to devise any comment according to which six days were one day. But, if you cannot understand how this could have been done in six days, then grant the Holy Spirit the honor of being more learned than you are.”¹

When dealing with the days of creation and the age of the earth, which do Christians trust today—the latest secular findings that use fallible dating methods or the more reliable method of consulting a history book provided by the Eyewitness account (God who inspired the Bible)?

The following questions about the age of the earth were recently posed to Dr. Richard Colling, professor and chairman in the biology department at a Christian university, and to Ken Ham and Dr. Jason Lisle in the Christian Networks Journal:

• How is the age of the earth calculated?

• What is your opinion on carbon dating related to calculating the age of the earth?

• Do you believe religion plays a role in determining the age of the earth?

• Is it possible to calculate the Earth’s age solely based on evidence given by the Bible?

• What evidence can you give to support your estimated age of the earth?

These side-by-side interviews presented in the special “Faith & Science” section show the divergent views among Christians on the age of the earth issue. So, how old is the earth? From the view of Dr. Colling, who seems to put his trust in the US Geologic Survey, the Earth is approximately 4.54 billion years old.

From the view of biblical creationists like Martin Luther (see Luther on evolution), Ham and Lisle answered, “By addition of the genealogies and other information given in Scripture, we can compute that the Earth is about 6,000 years old.”

As Ham and Lisle stated in the interview, “the best way to find out about past events is to consult a history book—especially one written by an eyewitness. That is why the best evidence (and the only absolutely conclusive one) for a young Earth is the Bible.”

While the main focus of this article deals with the age of the earth, AiG’s main emphasis is not on being a “young earth” creationist (see A young Earth—it’s not the issue!). It really comes down to the issue of biblical authority. Believing in a relatively “young earth” is a consequence of accepting the authority of the Word of God as an infallible revelation from our Creator.

So, whom do you trust—The US Geologic Survey or the divine Eyewitness?

Recommended resources

Six Days & the Eisegesis Problem Eisegesis? Ken Ham gets to the heart of the debate about the six days of creation. If we read from what the biblical text says (exegesis), it allows only one interpretation—six 24-hour days. Any other interpretation is eisegesis.	Doesn’t Carbon Dating Disprove the Bible? This little booklet provides solid, biblically-based answers to the most-asked questions about carbon dating.	Radioisotopes & the Age of the Earth Radiometric dating is a favorite “evidence” that the earth is supposedly billions of years old. Dr. Austin punches holes in the assumptions behind these anti-biblical claims …	Sea Floor Sediments and the Age of the Earth A well-documented monograph demonstrating the compatibility of the data on sea-floor sediment accumulation with the Biblical doctrine of a recent worldwide Flood.
Ice Cores and the Age of the Earth An alternative young-earth model for the formation of polar ice sheets, showing that ice core data in Greenland and Antarctica can be correlated with the biblical data on creation and the Flood.

Reference

1. Martin Luther, What Martin Luther Says: A Practical In-Home Anthology for the Active Christian. Return to text.

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