The Changing Age of the Earth

2 Peter 3:5-6
“For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished…”

How old is the Earth? If we rule out scriptural history, we are limited to determining the age of the Earth from appearances. Appearances can be deceptive.

Let’s say I wanted to compare the amount of dissolved aluminum in the oceans with the rate at which it is being delivered to the oceans by rivers. Using this method, I could prove that the Earth is only about 100 years old! You would doubt my results if I told you that. I could respond by checking how much iron is dissolved in the oceans and how long it would have taken the rivers to deliver it. This time I can prove that the Earth is 140 years old.

That’s one of the problems with trying to work out the age of the Earth without a guide. There is no shortage of information and methods. In fact, there is so much information that you can’t tell the sense from the nonsense!

Today, evolutionists say that they know the Earth is about 4.5 billion years old. Back in 1900, they were sure that the Earth was between 400 and 500 million years old. Fifty years before that, they were very sure that the Earth was between 400,000 and 500,000 years old. In the last two centuries, scientists have been positive about ages for the Earth that differ by over 1,000%!

Does this sound confusing? It is. One cannot help reaping confusion when one rejects what the Bible says. And that’s true whether the Bible is talking about salvation or about history!

Prayer:
Lord, when humans pit their wisdom against Yours and then boast, they could not look more miserable. Help me to be more impressed with the truth of Your Word than the proud claims of foolish people. Amen.

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