How long ago was the world created?

Question

Surely, if the world was created 4,000 years ago - according to the Bible - when did dinosaurs appear?
Is there any actual scientific proof of how long ago the world was created?
Lorna

Answer 1

Take a look at Gen. 1:24ff. Here is a basic form of logic called a syllogism: T. Rex is a land animal. Land animals were made on day 6. Therefore, T. Rex was made on day 6. So, according to the Bible, dinosaurs lived beside man. Dinosaurs were made on day six of the creation week the same as man; they were beasts of the earth.

A simple, straightforward reading of the Bible indicates that this is the first creation and the cosmos was created in six solar days less than 10,000 years ago (the Bible provides impressive chronological data that actually points to about 6,000 years ago).

So what about the dating methods that give millions and billions of years? These are far from infallible—they are indirect methods based on quite a few assumptions, and evolutionary geologists themselves will often not accept a radiometric date unless they think it’s correct (i.e. it matches what they already believe).

There are plenty of scientists who question their accuracy. For instance, the “RATE” project has discovered several striking examples of contradictions in these dating methods. If you want, you can get their book or movie called Thousands...Not Billions and learn about some of their remarkable results.

If you do a bit of research, you will find that there is a lot of evidence of radiometric dating not being accurate (like dates of millions of years for lava flows that occurred in the past few hundred years or even decades). There are many examples where the dating methods give ‘dates’ that are incorrect for rocks of known historical age.

Another problem is the conflicting dates between different methods. For example, in Australia, some wood was found that was buried by a lava flow. The wood was ‘dated’ by radiocarbon dating at about 45,000 years old, but the rock it was in was ‘dated’ by the potassium-argon dating at 45 million years old (45 thousand and 45 million)—just a little discrepancy there.

Many people are confused because they think there are hundreds of dating methods that prove the earth is billions of years old. What you have to realize is, not only are all dating methods based on assumptions, but the majority (over 90%) contradict the idea of billions of years. There are hundreds of dating methods that contradict the billions of years.

For instance, the amount of sodium accumulating in the sea. Using uniformitarian assumptions, the sea is less than 62 million years old, but it is suppose to be 3 billion years old—that’s a major discrepancy there. Now, I don’t think it’s 62 millions years old—We don’t know how salty it was when God created it and Noah’s Flood definitely would have upset the salt content in the sea.

And take the amount of sediment accumulating on the sea floor. Using uniformitarian assumptions, the sea is less than 12 million years old. But again, it’s suppose to be 3 billion years old. Now, I don’t believe it’s 12 million years old—Noah’s Flood would have added a lot of sediment to the sea floor.

The thing is, all dating methods are fallible, based on assumptions about the past. No one can prove the earth is young and no one can prove the earth is old. We live in the present and when we extrapolate back, we have to make a lot of assumption. None of man’s methods are infallible.

Dr. Jonathan Sarfati put it well: “Creationists admit that they can’t prove the age of the earth using a particular scientific method. They realize that all science is tentative because we do not have all the data, especially when dealing with the past. This is true of both creationist and evolutionist scientific arguments—evolutionists have had to abandon many ‘proofs’ for evolution as well. For example, the atheistic evolutionist W.B. Provine admits: ‘Most of what I learned of the field in graduate school is either wrong or significantly changed.’ Creationists understand the limitations of these dating methods better than evolutionists who claim that they can use certain present processes to ‘prove’ that the earth is billions of years old. In reality, all age-dating methods, including those which point to a young earth, rely on unprovable assumptions.”

Answer 2

There is a theory out now that says that, bibilically speaking, that dinosaurs existed around the same time as men. Noah built the ark and dinosaurs were actually on the ark. I believe if you go to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, there is an exhibit in the Natural History Museum at the Passion Play grounds that will explain this particular theory. As far as the age of the world you can either try to guesstimate based on the ages of the patriarchs of the Old Testament.

Answer 3

Probably 2 -3 billion years. I don't think there is any rock solid proof. The number given by scientists changes every so often, but as of now, everyone agrees the Earth is at least more than a billion years.

Answer 4

Yes, isotopic dating puts the oldest rocks on the planet at about 4.3 billion years ago.

Background radiation in space suggests the unvierse developed sometime between 12 - 20 Billion years ago.

Answer 5

The Bible doesnt say the world was created 4000 years ago. It doesnt say when at all.
It was created more like 4 billion years ago.

Answer 6

The earth formed from dust, comets, and debris that formed around the Sun about 4.5 billion years ago. There is lots of scientific evidence from examining millions of layers of sediment that formed (daily or yearly), by examining fossils, by measuring isotopic concentrations to determine the decay rate, and other things as wells.

Answer 7

Hi. Somewhere between 4 thousand and 4 billion years ago. My belief leans toward the longer time.

Answer 8

When God created the earth, he didn't make a boiling ball of primordeal (sp?) soup. He made a mature world with rock already formed. This stone would then look like it's been around for a while if studied.

Answer 9

About 4.5 billion years ago. The oldest rocks we have are about 3.5 billion years old; we extrapolate another billion from meteorites. Evidence is from ratios of radioactive elements to their decay products.

Answer 10

It was never created according to the steady state theory. The earth has always existed; it just changed over time.