If the Bible is true, how old is the Earth?

Question

I have heard people say it's only a few thousand years old?

Answer 1

4.55 billion years.

In my opinion, Biblical truth is metaphorical, not literal. It is wisdom, not a set of facts. In order for an appreciation of the true wisdom of Biblical or other religious texts, one needs to let go of literal interpretations (as if one were reading a textbook) and learn to read it as poetry.

If a set of religious ideas cannot accommodate other knowledge and wisdom about the universe, it will become regressive--religious people will lose out on the wonderful ideas science has to offer. And scientists will lose out on the wisdom and inspired humanity that religious people have to offer. Religions will also have to invent more and more elaborate, delusional explanations about why the scientists are "wrong", instead of devoting energy to the basic calling of addressing meaning, love, unity, peace, joy of living, dealing with death, etc.

Answer 2

The key to your question is "if the bible is true." First figure that out and then go from there. If the bible is true, then the earth is about 6000 years old. And I suppose you have to overlook those tricky fossils, radio carbon dating, and things like facts, but on the other hand, if the bible isn't true, then it doesn't matter how old it says the earth is. The cosmology of genesis is so obviously the cosmology of that time. To suggest that the sky is "firmament" above the firmament below is ridiculous. What that means is the writer of Genesis believed that the sky was solid like the ground. I think science may have debunked that nonsense already. Oh yeah if I remember correctly, the first day and night passed before the sun was created too. And there are many other laughable examples in the bible. When the sun was made to stand still comes to mind. Guess what? The sun always stands still! It's the earth that moves. But of course they did not know that at the time so we get stories like that. Anyway, do a critical study of the bible and you'll see that there's very much wrong with it's history, science, geology, among other blunders. Read Thomas Paine's "Age of Reason" He rips the bible to shreds. Not that there's nothing good in the bible, but the same can be said of Homer's Iliad or any of Shakespeare's works.

Answer 3

The answer is not found in the Bible but in science. There are several hundred measurement tools that all point to a very young earth. Some are the helium in the atmosphere is still growing (how if billions of years old), the salt in the earth is still growing. The magnetic field decay shows that the earth is not more than 10,000 yrs. old. Look to repeatable, testable science for your answer. How can there still be dinosaur bones with flesh after millions of years? Last, I also rely on the Catholic visionary Ann Catherine Emmerett who gives the earths age at about 6000 years. The Bible does not give the age but the events reported can be tracked back about 5000- 6000 years. Before that in the first part of Genesis is God's 7 days of creation.

Answer 4

Most people who believe the earth is millions of years old assume that there is proof of this. They cite radiometric dating and the geologic column and so forth.

But radiometric dating doesn't give dates for anything, it just tells you how much of an element exists in a sample. You have to first set the machine, the same way you set a bathroom scale. If I set the bathroom scale to 100, then someone who weighs 200 lbs would think that they actually weigh 300 lbs if I convince them that the scale was set right.

There is no proof of the age of the earth, only evidence that can be presented in different ways to support different conclusions. If there were solid, empirical proof that the earth were millions of years old, than thousands of degreed scientists would not believe in a young earth as they do, and many more ‘old earth’ people would not be changing their opinions about it daily, which they are.

Up until about 200 years ago, the great scientists (you know, those people who INVENTED most of the science our modern scientist rely so much on) believed that the earth was about 6000 years old. To them it was a fact. Funny how the contemporary so called 'scientists' who mock 'young earth' creationists of today have so much respect for a bunch of 'young earth creationists' of the past, isn't it?

I did an awful lot of research on this stuff, and I found out that almost everything people assume about the age of the earth is exactly that - assumptions. Most 'science' in the area of origins and the age of the earth are totally driven by a political agenda, and the facts are almost always distorted or thrown out altogether.


I've read and listened to all the arguments evolutionist make, and they always leave out important facts, or twist the facts to suit their beliefs.

The vast majority of people, including the ones who respond to questions on this forum, are ignorant of the actual facts. For this reason, if you think you believe that the earth is millions of years old, I suggest that you do your own research. And don't be afraid of reading materials written by people who believe differently than you do. A closed mind is the sign that you don't have enough facts to form an accurate conclusion.

Even so called 'Christians' have been convinced by this relatively new idea that the earth is millions of years old. They are ignorant of the teachings of the person they claim to 'believe' in. Christ put his stamp of approval on the old testament account of creation time and again, as well as restating it himself. If you think you are a Christian and don't believe in the Bible account of creation, I recommend you study what Jesus and the apostles said about it. For example, if you believe what some people are wrongly teaching, that a 'day' could mean a long period of time, than that part about 'the evening and the morning were the first day, second day, etc' gets really confusing.

Also, it must have been on amazing 'era' that allowed the plants to live without any sun, as the Bible states that the plants were created first.

Also, the whole concept of salvation comes from the fact that there was no death until man sinned, so if there were millions of years of people and animals killing each other until Adam evolved, then the whole need for a savior is based on a lie, and given the many references about this in the Bible, that would also make Jesus and the Bible liars many times over.

No, I'm afraid you either have to believe Jesus and what he said, or you don't.

SUCCESS!

Answer 5

The first sentence says "In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth." So the Bible doesn't specify an age for the Earth.

Likewise, the creative "days" mentioned in Genesis are unspecified in length.

So, going strictly by Bible chronology, there's no way to say how old the earth is, and certainly not supportable to say 6000 years.

Answer 6

Some Christians are Old Earth Creationists. Go to www.reasons.org.

Answer 7

According to Bishop Ussher the world is 6000 years old. He came to that figure by following the "begats" in the bible and assigning 25 years to each generation.
If you don´t know what the "begats" are, they are the mention of so-and-so was the son of so-and-so, who was the son of ... etc. all the way back to Adam.

Answer 8

Depends on your translation of "Day". The way the Hebrew word as used, could mean "a 24-hour period", but it could also mean "era". For example, "In the day of King Solomon" doesn't imply that his reign was 24 hours.

Following the list of descendants back to Adam is also sketchy. In Hebrew, this is poetical, not literal. The Hebrew word that translates to "begat" in some English version does not always mean a parent-child. It is the opposite of "descendant of", and could mean a grandparent-grandchild, or even many generations. So that dating scheme is not reasonable.

Answer 9

The earth is about 6000 years old, but civilization goes back tens of thousands of years. Theologians can't do math

Answer 10

I believe the Bible once a truth refference on earth, but now so many amendment have been done in it, so what the point asking the Bible on earth age. Better seek the answer through science. huhu