How Old is the Earth?
A few weeks ago I changed my opinion on the age of the earth. I had studied the matter and read all the arguments and found that there is no evidence of an old earth in either the Bible or scientific observation. That is, every so called piece of evidence was circumstantial and built on assumptions. The most convincing circumstantial evidence supported a young earth, but the old-earth people owned the propaganda machine and the message-control system. I knew that circumstantial evidence is always tentative and could be overturned with a single discovery. I also knew about the fallacy of declaring a universal negative such as “billions of years never occurred.” So I took the position that it is possible that God has hidden billions of years somewhere that He didn’t tell us about either through Scripture or scientific observation and sound deductive logic. Then, I had a conversation with a friend who was convinced of the gap theory, but I told Him that the gap theory could not be right because Jesus made a statement that put Adam and Eve at “the beginning of creation.” Billions of years in a gap would put Adam and Eve at the END OF CREATION. However, I continued to tell my friend that billions of years might be possible somewhere else, to which he replied, “NO IT CAN’T BE POSSIBLE!” He completely changed his opinion in a moment, and so did I. It was a revelation in a moment from Christ to us. That statement of Jesus makes billions of years absolutely impossible.
Someone may ask, “How do you know the Bible is right?” That’s a valid question, and here’s the answer. While there is much circumstantial evidence that points to the fact that the Bible is God’s Word without error, circumstantial evidence is never conclusive. The fact that the Bible says “The Scripture cannot be broken” is of no help if we can’t trust what’s written in the Bible. So how can we know we can trust what’s written in the Bible. We would need to know Someone Who knows ALL things and Who can’t lie, and He would have to reveal the fact that the Bible is the Word of God without error. We do know that Person. His name is Jesus, and He is the Christ. He speaks to us by His Holy Spirit to tell us that what we read in the Bible is true. And He also speaks to us through the Bible.
