Christians, if the Universe is only about 6000 years old...?

Question

Christians, if the Universe is only about 6000 years old (as the bible says), how can we see light from billions of light years away? The light must have been set heading already towards (and close to) Earth by a creator for us to be seeing it now (If christianity is true).

Do you think God would have set light rays ALREADY heading towards Earth when he created it? So that we would have more things to look at when we developped telescopes? (sarcasm)

If you don't understand what I'm saying, you should educate yourself before attempting to answer my question.

Answer 1

Great point!... but christians won't get any of it...

If anyone had a full brain they would know all these illogical things about Christianity.

Answer 2

A creative day is a period of time not a literal day weather 24 hours or a 1000 years. It is indicated when describing that on the seventh day God rested, during this time when man sinned and & the sixth creative day ended Gen 3:15, God's 1st prophecy is decreed. The interesting thing about this 1st prophecy when examined is that a 1000 year reign would have to take place before the 7th creative day ends, this could indicate a creative day is 7000 years. We know searching documented dates that 1975 can be understood as 6000 years since Adam was created, what we don't know is how many years was involved between Eve's creation, Adam sinning and the starting of the seventh creative day. But let's ponder this, all of the heavenly creation knows of these dates yet Jesus himself said no one knows the day nor the hour when the end comes, only the Father, Jesus' Father knows so NO ONE can use any number of years as to what, why or when. A force that can create the sun and every thing else can not be scrutinized by imperfect man as to "time spans" or the lengths of time, it is really not what is at issue but as long as Satan can keep you arguing about dates and times the weighty matters of God's laws escape you and when the end does come you will say you were never told when all you really have to do is listen to the message Jehovah's Witnesses are preaching from door to door throughout the inhabited earth(Matthew 24:14)

Answer 3

The age of the earth was not known one way or the other in Jesus time, so it has no bearing on being a Christian. None.
And the idea of the earth being 6000 years old is above all things a matter of interpretation, and whether any interpreation is binding on a Christian. You have to believe God created the universe to be a Christian but how, when, even why to an extent, is open.
"in essentials, unity; in doubtful matters, liberty; in all things, charity."

Answer 4

Bishop Ussher, based on his reading of the Bible in the 17th Century, calculated that G-d created the Cosmos in 4004 B.C. Ussher predated Newton, to say nothing of Einstein and Hawkings, and has not gone down as a great figure in either the history of science or the history of theology. Ussher, like a very small minority of today's Christians, read the Bible to be literal natural history. This position is not accepted by most Christians, who understand that the Bible is not a scientific text. It is the position of most mainline churches, of whatever denomination, that there is no conflict between modern science and religious faith. Pope John Paul II, in his encyclidal Ratio et Fides, specifically said that true religious faith cannot be incompatible with reason or modern science. In fact, it has been the position of the Catholic church, in its various branches since the 13th Century, at least since the time of St. Albertus Magnus, the teacher of St. Thomas Aquinas, that the scientific effort to understand nature is one way of glorifying G-d and His Creation. One of the most distinguished Anglican theologians writing today, Sir John Polkinghorne, is not only a member of the clergy but holds a doctorate from Cambridge in physics, worked for over 20 years as a theoretical physicist, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society, England's most prestigous scientific organization. I would be willing to bet that he does not accept the 1st-century cosmology that is reflected in the Bible.

Although the Church has had some unfortunate encounters with science (one immediately thinks of Bruno and Galileo) and some small groups of Christians reject modern science, particularly the theory of Darwinian evolution, this is definitely a minority position. In fact, the man who did much to support Darwin's theory of evolution and founded the science of genetics was an Augustinian priest by the name of Gregor Mendel.

The validity of Christianity, as a system of religious belief, does not depend on reading the Bible as a textbook on natural science or as literal history, but as a system of beliefs--often expressed in metaphoric or symbolic language--that effects people's lives for the better, by realizing the relatedness of all the bits and parts of creation, and encourages people to treat each other with respect, sympathy, and (to use the Biblical term) charity.

When people confuse science and religion, they confuse 2 different ways of talking about reality. These 2 ways of talking ask different questions, provide different answers, and make different truth claims and different ontological commitments, although they both speak about the same mind-independent reality. It is unfortunate that so many people on both sides of the science vs. religion debate don't understand--or claim not to understand--this fundamental point. If it's of any comfort, very few believing Christians think that science stopped in the 1st Century, that the earth is flat, or that the Special Theory of Relativity and Quantum physics are atheist plots. On the other hand, as I read basic relativity theory, it doesn't invalidate the idea that you should treat others as you yourself would want to be treated.

Answer 5

How did god create light first without creating the objects to create light?

Where did the light come from before he started doting the sky away with stars?

I'm guessing they will think he placed the light a lot closer to the earth 6000 years ago so it will get here right on time... or that there are heavenly wormholes that allow light to get here in the fraction of the time that science dictates.

Answer 6

If you believe what God has said in the bible, then that is your precept and everything that you hear lines up with it, or you dismiss it as inaccurate.

Have you heard of the variable speed of light theory? Cosmologist João Magueijo proposes that light travelled at a much higher speed at the beginning. That would mean that light has reached the earth in less time than is theorized possible by other perspectives.

Answer 7

Even today science has learned that there are rays from our own sun that travel faster then the speed of light. These bursts of energy science have not been able to completely explain nor measure their speed.
Science doesn't have the complete answers and I do believe that science has some of the answers. Yet, there are so many unexplained natural occurances that have not been determined as how they work. Take gravity for instance.

Answer 8

Good point. I agree.

But a counterargument most will make is that since the Christian God is supposedly All-powerful, he could easily have created a cosmic background before he created stars capable of illuminating a similar light.

Answer 9

If you had bothered to read your bible you would know that the earth being 6000 years old was in the old testament. When Jesus came along he made the earth much older.

Answer 10

Could you point to the passage that says the "universe" is 6000 years old? You said the Bible says this, prove it. We believe living creatures have inhabited the earth for about 6000 years.

Answer 11

Hopefully you know that only a small portion of Christians subscribe to the idea of a young earth. The vast majority of Christians have no objection to science.

I know you did not say ALL Christians, I'm just sayin' ...