“Millions of years” thinking—where did it come from?

War of the Worldviews sneak preview series: part 6

See table of contents and list of authors.

by Pam S. Sheppard, staff writer, AiG–USA

January 21, 2006

Compromising theologians hold a special place in Dr. Terry Mortenson’s heart. In fact, he considers some of them dear friends and prays regularly for them.

Through his work as a popular AiG speaker, researcher and writer, Mortenson has experienced numerous opportunities to share biblical arguments for a young earth with some of these influential theologians, some of whom are his former professors.

Mortenson, who addresses the issue of “millions of years” in the seventh chapter of this book, says that many times it’s the seminary professors who buy into the false idea of the earth being millions of years old. Sadly, they are the ones who have a great influence over the next generation of pastors and missionaries, he says.

And theologians who have “bowed the knee to science” rather than trembling at the Word of God are the ones most difficult to reach.

“It’s hard to reach many theologians because they are compromised and intimidated by the scientific establishment,” says Mortenson. “Many have been brainwashed into thinking that scientists have proven that the rocks are millions of years old. The Bible just can’t mean what it clearly says, many think.”

When he was a seminary student, Mortenson said he saw many students come into school as young-earth creationists and go out either with a compromised view of God’s Word or thinking that the age of the earth issue wasn’t important. Many times, this was due to students becoming “wowed” by their professors who knew multiple languages and had written numerous books. In other words, the students weren’t properly equipped to defend their belief in a young earth, he says.

Mortenson said that during his seminary days, he had seen professors who either taught compromised views or who didn’t address the origins issue at all. He compared it to the idea of having an elephant in the living room but no one notices.

“Here, we’ve got this massive debate in our culture about evolution and they’re not connecting Genesis at all to what’s going on in society, even when they teach Genesis,” Mortenson says.

He says this treatment of origins sends a silent message to the pastors and missionaries who are being trained at the seminary that it’s not an important issue. Many think the origins issue is totally irrelevant to their future ministry because of the model of their professor.

So, just where did the idea of the earth being millions of years old come from? That is the question that Mortenson explored while working on his Ph.D. in the history of geology and which he covers in chapter 7 of War of the Worldviews.

It was during the late 18th and early 19th century, considered the “great turning point in history,” when the idea of the earth being millions of years old developed in geology (and astronomy). This destructive idea did not arise from an unbiased scientific investigation of the creation, but rather from anti-biblical assumptions used to interpret the creation, Mortenson writes.

As Mortenson points out, knowledgeable Christians at that time opposed this idea with biblical and geological arguments. Sadly, most Christians then and now have blindly accepted what the evolutionary scientific establishment says rather than believing the plain teaching of Scripture—leaving behind a catastrophic effect on the church and her witness.

Mortenson says he hopes that Christians come away with the following knowledge after reading this chapter:

• That the young-earth creationist view was the dominant view of the church for 18 centuries and was defended by geologically competent young-earth creationists in the early 19th century before Darwin.
• That the idea of millions of years did not come from an unbiased study of the rocks and fossils but from anti-biblical philosophical assumptions used to imagine a history which was then imposed on the rocks and fossils.
• That many godly and sincere Christian leaders and scholars have misled the church over the past 200 years by bowing the knee to science rather than trembling at the Word of God (Isa. 66:2).

In summary, readers will see that the real conflict over the age of the earth is not a conflict of science vs. religion, but rather a conflict of man’s fallible ideas vs. the Bible. It is time for the church, especially her leaders and scholars, to stop ignoring the age of the earth and the scientific evidence that increasingly vindicates the Word of God, Mortenson writes. The church must repent of her compromise with millions of years and once again believe and preach the literal truth of Genesis 1–11. It is time to take our culture back!