Christians: Do you really believe that the earth is 6000 years old?

Question

Or do you think that there is no explicit referrence to the Earth's age? Because all those Early man skulls are freaking me out! some date back to 2.5 million years.

EDIT: How did the 6000 year thing start? did someone count the years lived by Jesus' lineage?

Schneb: Read about carbon dating and half-life, it has nothing to do with light.

Answer 1

I just know God is real. The bible could have mistakes in it. Or the scientists r wrong with there understanding of time. Humans think they r wise, but in the end God will make fools of them. Scientists trust in computers and math, and who created them, man did. but who stirs up the ground, who is the creator of time. As far as I know the creator of math could be the same as the creator of Allah, or Buddha, or any other false teachings.

Answer 2

Actually the facts disagree with such a conclusion:

First of all, Light from the Andromeda nebula can be seen on a clear night in the northern hemisphere. It takes about 2,000,000 years for that light to reach the earth, indicating that the universe must be at least millions of years old.

Secondly, End products of radioactive decay in rocks in the earth testify that some rock formations have been undisturbed for billions of years.

In conclusion, Genesis 1:3-31 is not discussing the original creation of matter or of the heavenly bodies. It describes the preparation of the already existing earth for human habitation. This included creation of the basic kinds of vegetation, marine life, flying creatures, land animals, and the first human pair. All of this is said to have been done within a period of six “days.”
However, the Hebrew word translated “day” has a variety of meanings, including ‘a long time; the time covering an extraordinary event.’ (Old Testament Word Studies, Grand Rapids, Mich.; 1978, W. Wilson, p. 109) The term used allows for the thought that each “day” could have been thousands of years in length.

Answer 3

The earth was created 6000 years ago. Scientific ideas are wrong. Just read Genesis. This planet was null and void. In Genesis it also talks about the giants on the earth, including giant animals. They all ended with the flood. Science does not hold water. Most scientists know the truth because they spent so many years trying to disprove it. The media only prints what tries to disprove the bible. People have been doing this for centuries. There is more factual info on the earth being 6000 years old than there is on the 2.5 mil figure. The way they measure the age of stuff is based on man made equipment that measures what they believe, that doen not mean that it is based on anything factual.

Answer 4

If you add up the genealogies in Genesis to Abraham, then go back in history to the time of Abraham, add it up -you come up with just over 6200 years. This is no secret-anyone can figure this out.
Now, dating fossils is not so simple. Anything over 5500 years and we get into serious dispute. Yes, a recent find did date man at about 2.5 million years-far older that previously believed. Believed is the key word here. Those older dates are determined by where the specimen was found in the geologic layer and in which one. All these old dates are speculation.

Answer 5

OK, first I have to address the lie that Carol D stated as fact: that JW's started the 6,000 year old myth.

The "young Earth" theory was NOT developed by Witnesses- another commentor gave the origin of it:
"Bishop James Ussher, in 1650, published the results of his calculations and stated that Creation took place in 4004 BC."
*Thank you cdavis999uk :D*

As Witnesses, we DO NOT believe that the Earth is only 6,000 years old. The history of mankind is about 6,000 years old, but the Earth and solar system existed long before God created mankind. (Genesis chapter 1)

The Bible says that "a day to Jehovah is like a thousand years." So the creational days weren't literal 24 hour periods- they were each 1,000 years long. And the Bible doesn't tell us how long Adam was alone in the Garden of Eden without Eve, or how long the two of them were in the Garden before they sinned and were cast out.

So putting an age on the Earth of only 6,000 years is unreasonable, especially when compared to the Biblical account. Put it next to a lot of scientific evidence, and it just looks silly.

:0)

Answer 6

No. I'm of the belief that the Bible does not say how long ago God created the universe or its contents.

Sometime, well after the creation, the angels who were inhabiting the earth (with Lucifer ruling over them), rebelled against God, and destroyed the earth.

Roughly 6000 years ago, God restored the earth, taking 6 days to do it -- creating Adam and Eve at that time. The 6000 year figure is arrived at by the ages of the people and timespan of events enumerated in the Bible.

Answer 7

MAN says that those skulls date back to 2.5 million years old. Carbon dating is right one year and wrong the next... I don't think it truly matters in the great big scheme of things how old the earth really is. What really matters is if you know Jesus or not. Once you have that in place, the rest of the factoids seem less important.

Answer 8

The earth is a few million years old but I believe God began preparing it for humans a few thousand years ago. After a few ages like ice age, age of the dinosaurs,etc., a couple of meteors whacked into the planet and caused it to be void and dark and without form. That is when the Almighty decided it was time to clear the dust (spoke the night and day to become seperated) and the preperation began. Also, a "day" in genesis may have been quite a few years because a thousand years to him is only a moment in the twinkling of an eye.

Answer 9

Yes, I think those dates on the skulls are wrong. As a careful shopper, I've found expiration dates changed on milk cartons before, so I know the date stamp isn't always right.

And yes, genealogy is the way to date the earth. From Adam to Jesus was a bit over 4,000 years.

BTW - To Christians who think they can believe in evolution but not take God out of it.... what about the fact that evolution must take Adam out of it, and without Adam, there is no need for Jesus......?

Answer 10

I'm Christian. I believe in the Bible. I believe that Adam left the garden about 6000 years ago.

I believe the creation took 7 "time periods" to create, and not 7 24 hour periods. Time is something that is relevant to us, not God.

I don't know how long Adam was in the Garden of Eden. Might have been a week, might have been a billion years. I don't think it matters either way.

I think God used his understanding of natural processes to create the earth and not a magic wand. I think that god used evolution to create the world. I think that the Christian view of the creation and science's view of evolution and the big bang are both incomplete, but when we have a perfect understanding of one, we'll have a perfect understanding of the other and they'll be the same.

The bible's account of the creation is spot on identical to the scientists. Life began in the water first, once energy (light) was introduced, life moved on to the land, and increased in order.

Evolution and God/creationism/Christianity are not mutually exclusive.

Answer 11

I personally have no idea how old the earth is. I don't really find it all that important in the grand scheme of things.

I believe the 6,000 years old thing was determined by figuring backwards from the time Christ was born by using the life span of certain people in the Bible. That's just a guess though.