Most Christians think the age of the Earth and the days of creation aren’t that important. But what if that idea is costing us more than we realize? It’s easy to see these topics as side issues, but they strike at the heart of something crucial: the authority of the Bible. Compromising here can have big consequences for how we understand everything else.
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Understanding Theological Triage
Ever heard of theological triage? It’s a way to prioritize what we believe. Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, came up with the idea. Think of it like an emergency room. Doctors and nurses use a triage system to decide who needs help first. Someone with a heart attack gets immediate attention, while someone with a sprained ankle might have to wait. Mohler’s theological triage applies this idea to Christian doctrines. It helps us see which beliefs are most important.
Theological triage has three levels:
- First-Order Issues: These are the core beliefs. Think of the Trinity, Jesus’ death and resurrection, how we’re saved through faith, the full deity and humanity of Christ, and the authority of Scripture. Without these, the Christian faith falls apart.
- Second-Order Issues: These are important doctrines that can divide Christians. Different denominations often disagree on these. Examples include how we baptize, or whether women can be pastors.
- Third-Order Issues: These are doctrines Christians can disagree on and still be in fellowship. Things like different views on the end times (eschatology) or the Calvinism vs. Arminianism debate fall into this category.
So, where does the age of the Earth and the six literal days of creation fit in?
Why the Earth’s Age Isn’t a “Side Issue”
Many argue that the age of the Earth isn’t a first-order issue. After all, it’s not directly tied to salvation. The Bible doesn’t say, “Believe in Jesus and that the Earth is young to be saved.” But here’s the thing: the age of the Earth is a biblical authority issue. And that makes it a first-order issue.
Think about it this way. If we can’t trust what the Bible says about creation, where do we draw the line? What else can we decide to reinterpret or dismiss?
The Genesis 3 Connection
Remember Genesis 3? The serpent asked Eve, “Did God really say…?” That was the first attack on God’s word. The devil wasn’t just trying to get Eve to eat a piece of fruit. He was questioning God’s authority. He was saying, “Don’t believe God. Trust yourself instead.”
The same thing happens today when we challenge the biblical account of creation. We’re essentially saying, “God didn’t really mean what He said.” We’re trusting our own interpretation over God’s clear word. This leads to compromise, and just like in the Garden of Eden, it has consequences.
The “Millions of Years” Question
Where does the idea of millions or billions of years come from? It’s definitely not from Scripture. These ideas come from outside the Bible. People take these outside ideas and try to fit them into Scripture, which leads to a reinterpretation of the creation account.
If you simply read Genesis, what does it say? The Hebrew word “yom,” translated as “day,” means an ordinary day in its context. Each of the six days uses this word. A straightforward reading of Genesis, including the genealogies, points to a young Earth, thousands of years old.
Taking God at His Word
It all comes down to biblical authority. Is God’s word the foundation of our worldview? Or do we add outside ideas to it? It’s vital to start with Scripture first.
For a deeper dive into this topic, check out The Lie, available on the Answers in Genesis website.
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To whom was God speaking in Genesis 1 before He created man, and where was He? Inside or outside the universe that He was about to create? It matters in the ancient near eastern language. So does context. So do cosmological time calculations wrt location. The science is compatible with Scripture.
I don’t remember Paul mentioning the importance of the age of the universe in 1 Corinthians 15 nor does God require knowledge of it for faith in Christ anywhere else in the Bible . I’m pretty sure the most important issue was resurrection and whether or not it’s real for believers. Something about being most pitiable. 1 Corinthians 15:17-19.
Young earther is cultism. The earth is not just a few thousand years. We know this when can literally see MILLIONS OF YEARS of erosion with our own eyes in such places as the Grand Canyon, and we know for a fact that dinosaurs weren’t walking the earth just a few thousand years ago. That is absolutely ridiculous.
That is if erosion happens at the same rate 4000 years ago as it does today. Just like radium decay. We assume it is constant but is it really? Or Carbon 13. Was it always constant?
When I originally studied physics, we assumed the speed of light was constant. Now we know that is not true.
If God is Omnipotent, then He could create a pre’weathered’ earth just as we see it today. That would be no more incredible than the universality of His mathematics universally governing everything from microbiology to the multiple galaxies or the universality of life, genes and DNA.
The more you study science, the more you understand that our understanding is never complete or final. There is NO settled science. My favorite story is how the US Patent Office in the 1890s wanted to close since everything of note had been invented. Or, the early scientists would not accept that the stars were earth centric.
Only a complete moron looks to the Bible for the age of the earth. The age of the earth isn’t at all mentioned, and it’s not what the Bible is about.
The Bible is not a geology book, it’s not an astrophysics book, it’s not an astronomy book or an astrology book, it’s not a book about ANYTHING ELSE except what is stated in Genesis 5:1. There is NOTHING about the age of the earth being billions of years that in any way, shape, or form that violates scripture. Anyone that believes that has completely mis-read the Bible and knows NOTHING about what it’s actually saying.
And yet, what is geology, astrophysics, or astronomy? They are nothing but man’s attempts to understand God’s creation. And, they are not separate have unifying mathematics under all of them. One way to look at it is that God is the ultimate Scientists and we are just trying to figure out how he did it all.
If believing in a young Earth (and other “Biblical authority” items like the Noah’s Ark story) is a foundation for Christianity, you’ve got big trouble. Such tales were made by and for people at a time when there was virtually no scientific knowledge. We know now that such things cannot have been true, and people who cling to them make the rest of us, who would be their allies on virtually all secular issues, pull back and wonder if they are a little bit nuts.
How do we know for sure that these things couldn’t be true? Noah’s Ark was known to be on top of a mountain for 1000s of years (historical writings) and they have recently ‘rediscovered’ it. Mountains have sea shells on their tops – I have personally seen this. Everyday, we are uncovering evidence that supports the historical scripture in all aspects. There are fossilized tracks of dinosaurs over bare foot tracks. I have seen the photographs. The problem is the secular scientists don’t want to believe this and cover it up.
we’re laughing at your superior intellect
Exactly, that’s what stupid people do instead of think, they laugh at those with superior intellect. I rest my case.
Modern science is its own religion, and the scientists are its preachers. Real science questions everything we think we know about the universe, but try questioning anything from Big Bang to evolution today and science preachers will label you a heretic. Dating fossils is based on atomic decay, and has been proven questionable. DNA research is destroying Darwinism, and modern technology has dismantled the Big Bang, but instead of looking for truth the preachers of science religion demand we accept their word as unquestionable fact. At least the Bible implores you to seek the truth yourself.
If God is eternal, 4.5 billion years is “young”. A “day” on Earth is approximately 24 hours. It differs on different planets, of which there are trillions in the known universe. How long is a “day” for the eternal Creator?
“A day is as 1,000 years”. That “1,000 years” is synonymous with “eons”, or, an unlimited amount of time.. however long or short a span it is. So, go ahead and attempt to put YHWH in a box, if you like. Did he create the heavens and the earth? Yes, of course. Here we are, yeah?
It’s not what God wrote that counts because He didn’t. We have to depend on human ears to hear and then repeat what he heard doesn’t understand. So, they just made something up that sounded right to the reporter and said it came from above. Who’s going to argue?
But God gave man curiosity and communications so we’re still ‘listening’ and hearing things we still don’t understand, but we talk a lot about it.
Creation time is a lengthy dialogue of evidence from God’s Word, from GENESIS through REVELATION.
In short, if God said it, then it is settled, what ever one may choose to believe.
GEN 1: 1 says that God created the heavens and the earth.
JOHN 1: 1 says that in beginning was the Word\logos, that IT was with God, and indeed was God.
I’ll go with God.
The genealogical record God has provided through the OT Scriptures, notably GEN chs 5 & 11, run the
Bible time line from Abraham back to Creation, or vice versa. That is about a 2,000 year summary.
We know from Abraham’s time to present is about 4,000 yetars. So, back to the Creation year is about
6,000 years.
Well, enough said.
\\fch sends
There are some questions scientist. For instance if the universe is some 13 7 billion years old and the speed of light is a universal constant: How is it that the radius of the universe in place seems to be some 23 bIllion light years? This has led some scientist to speculate that time passes at different rates in different places within the universe.
God is in control. He can make a “day” whatever he wants it to be.