If God created the universe 6000 year ago...?

Question

...and it takes billions of years for light from distant starts to reach us, then why can we see them since the light has had only 6000 years to travel so far?

lol no need to get so uptight about it...

By the way, I already know the answer. I just wanted to see everyone else's answers :)

Also check out this question
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071005074724AA0T4jd&pa=FYd1D2bwHTHwLbtjHe89RYflLj0JiSnfgj77HNC7eg0tjzMwsezi1lu_cEvwQtsBEU0ketfDMknUBw--&paid=asked&msgr_status=

Answer 1

This is a proper question.

If A and B, then how come C? It is a standard way to test if a hypothesis fits with another (or within a theory -- which contains hypotheses and equations linking them).

Here, we have two statements, each one being supported by different groups. One is a hypothesis based on one system of beliefs (a hypothesis is always a supposition; it is neither true nor false by itself) and the other is based on interpretation of observations.

Each statement is taken from a distinct system; the test serves to see if the two systems are compatible, incompatible or simply independent.

The 6,000 year number is itself not solidly anchored. It is a number mostly used in English-speaking countries. That is because of James Ussher who, in 1654, came up with the version that is being pushed around by "creationists" in English speaking countries, making the Biblical creation occur during the night of what we would call 22 to 23 October, 4004 BC ("Let there be Light" would be the morning of October 23). Thus, on October 23, AD 2007, we would "celebrate" 6,010 years (there was no year 0).

However, it was very common during the Renaissance for philosophers to try and calculate the date of creation using the Bible, and each one came up with a different date. Anglophones are stuck with Ussher's. Seems the main problem was fixing the time of the Flood (proposed dates give a range greater than 1000 years either way).

In any event, the proposed age of the universe under the Judeo-Christian scheme is in the thousands of years.

So the question still stands:
If the universe is 6000 (or 7000) years old, and if we can see light from as far away as 13 million light years, what gives?

We conclude that one statement is wrong (or poorly defined). It could be that light in the past travelled at different speeds. It could be that "days" in the biblical Genesis are much longer than we thought.

It could also be that the Earth was created with rocks made to appear millions of years old and a sky loaded with photons made to look like they were billions of years old. That would say a lot about the psyche of the creator.

More importantly, in this case, is the fact that the first statement is the work of one man (Ussher) while the second results from observations by thousands, confirmed by using various means of observation.

In Hinduism, the universe is at least 77 trillion years old (making the Big Bang seem like only a few seconds ago).

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PS: The Big Bang is a theory that tries to explain how the universe evolved AFTER it was created, based on a hypothesis called the "primordial atom" (from a Christian priest), supported by the equations of Relativity (developed by a self-described Jewish atheist) and wrapped together as a self-standing theory that mathematically predicted and explained what we observe in the Universe (by a Ukranian who had twice tried to kayak his way to freedom, helped by an American of Russian descent who died this summer).

The Big Bang theory is silent about how the creation came about (or why). It can only be used AFTER the creation.

Answer 2

It sounds like a lot of work for someone who supposedly on: day one created day and night; day two made the firmament and divided the waters; day three brought forth dry land, trees, herbs, grass, etc; day four made two great lights and the stars; day five made water animals and flying animals; day six made land animals and humans; and on day seven he rested (or so it has been said). Granted the length of the days aren't specified but why go through so much work for some people to perceive that the universe started with the 'Big Bang' and has expanded since then and others to believe the Bible to be true and that the universe was created on 6000 years ago (also known as the 'Young Earth Theory'). If your hypothesis were to hold true, it would seem that 'God' wanted to create strife between people, because each camp bickers about the age of the universe (and let's heap evolution in with it because the two go hand and hand) with the same ferocity as the abortion/ anti-abortion and gun/ gun-control camps.

Answer 3

Bishop Ussher calculated that the universe was created in 4004 BC. (Others, including Lightfoot made similar calculations.)

His calculations were based upon several fallacies, not the least of which is that the English word "day" which appears in Genesis is NOT the same word that appeared in the original, and does not have the same meaning. The same is true for many other words and phrases, because the English translation was made from a Latin translation, which was made from Greek translations (done in Alexandria), of the original works which were written in the ancient Aramaic language!

Even if you believe the notion that the people who wrote the words were "divinely inspired" and that those words were therefor true and accurate, there is no reason that the same assertion necessarily holds for the various translators.

Far too many "faith-based" assertions are based, not upon what the original words actually said, but on mistranslations (and interpolations) that have crept into the re-re-re-translations (from Aramaic thru Greek thru Latin, etc.) Common examples of this are the mistaken belief many English-speaking people have that Genesis contradict the theories of Evolution or "Big Bang".

Actually, Genesis is remarkably consistent with what physicists have found regarding formation of the continents and creation of the universe (altho the biblical writers' words did not embrace modern concepts or terminology).

Even the English words are consistent with Darwin, since they that animals are born "each after its own kind". Darwin never said that pigs give birth to cats; however, offspring do differ from parents, and these differences can accumulate. (Otherwise, modern man should have no trouble fitting into the doors and beds of ancient dwellings, and all human skin should be of identical color!)

Why waste time on reconciling this silly 6000-year calculation with what we have learned about astronomy, relativity, and the speed of light? If Ussher was right, then maybe the light rays were also created 6000 years ago, maybe the dinosaur bones were "planted" in strata that fakes the ages, etc. Or maybe the stars we THINK are out there, really aren't. (It's really just a big bowl, a few thousand leagues in diameter, and every morning Apollo pulls that fake "sun" across with his chariot, just to keep up the charade.)

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Answer 4

There are a lot of assumptions that you are making on this question: 1. That the universe is 6000 years old (or that the majority of Christians and the Bible itself hold this position)
2. That everything started at the beginning. Everything was not created at the same time, according to the Bible. Simplistically that means that some things (like light) had a "head start" over other things like our earth.
Just thinking that a change in assumptions may help answer this question in a different way.

Answer 5

Where in the name of common sense did you get the idea that God created the universe 6000 years ago.
If that time span has any credulity at all, it would be EARTH that He created 6000 years ago.
Anyway, the evidence shows that both universe and Earth were created some time before 4000BC or so.


As the psalmist said, "a thousand years are as a passing day, as brief as a few night hours."

We do not know how long it took God to create our universe. The Bible says 6 days but who knows how long a day is to God? Time, after all, is a human creation.

Answer 6

While I don't believe the universe is 6,000 years old, I'm going to answer your question from the perspective of someone who does believe so. You might have better luck asking in religion, as few of the people here are well-versed in Young-Earth Creationism.

Creationist physicist Russell Humphreys was the architect of the most popular creationist model of cosmology. You can read a synopsis here: http://www.reasons.org/resources/apologetics/unravelling.shtml?main . In Russell's cosmology, the universe is was born out of a white hole. Time progresses more slowly near the center of the white hole, where Earth is located. In most frames of reference, the universe is very old. In Earth's frame, the universe is 6,000 years old. That's why distant starlight has had a long time to reach us.

You can also read a more general overview at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell_Humphreys .

Answer 7

God never created the universe before or after 6000 years of time. The universe was formed by the big bang or something that the scientists haven't figured out yet.

Answer 8

This is really a religious question.

The scientific answer is that the distance to our event horizon (beyond which we cannot see) in lightyears is the same as the age of the Universe, 13.7 billion years---no problem.

If you want a god to create everything 6000 years ago, the god has to create everything so that it looks exactly as if it had been running for 13.7 billion years, with all the photons already in flight, etc.

Answer 9

Obvious answer is god DIDN´T create the universe 6000 years ago. The universe formed about 13.6 billion years ago. No deities involved or required.

Answer 10

If you believe Barry Setterfield the speed of light has been slowing down. A lot. Of course the consequences of a much faster speed of light 5999 years ago would have been fatal to Adam and Eve so the idea isn't a good one. Maybe Bishop Ussher's calculation was mistaken. Could it be that?