How Old is Earth? 6,000 Yrs or 6 Billion Yrs...Or?

I don't know if this is the right forum but...

I am not a Christian but am asking this question out of curiosity and not rudeness.

My question is this...If it is generally accepted that the "7 Days" of which the Earth and everything else was created is most likely Millions of years (or Billions) that make up a day...

The majority of Christians (including many Christian leaders) in the Western world, however, do not insist that these days of creation were ordinary-length days, and many of them accept and teach, based on outside influences, that they must have been long periods of time—even millions or billions of years. www.answersingenesis.org...

...Why is it that so many Christians insist that the Earth is only 6,000 yrs old in real time? Even to accuse science of fabricating anything older than that such as fossils, tools, monuments, entire villages, cities etc.

If we were to use the first 7 day formula to state the age of the Earth, we would be at 6 million years of age. (giving one day of rest) If we used the Billions, we are at 6 Billion yrs old. Close enough to be correct since the Earth is estimated to be about 4.5 Billion yrs old...so far.

Not all Christians but many have stated this as fact. So why one way of interpreting time for one thing and yet another way to interpret another?

Or am I missing something here? I am in no way schooled on this subject but the question is valid...IMO.

Peace

Originally posted by jude11

...Why is it that so many Christians insist that the Earth is only 6,000 yrs old in real time? Even to accuse science of fabricating anything older than that such as fossils, tools, monuments, entire villages, cities etc.

Simply put? Borderline retardation.




Seriously.

Originally posted by paradox

Originally posted by jude11

...Why is it that so many Christians insist that the Earth is only 6,000 yrs old in real time? Even to accuse science of fabricating anything older than that such as fossils, tools, monuments, entire villages, cities etc.

Simply put? Borderline retardation.




Seriously.

edit on 11-16-12 by paradox because: (no reason given)

I am not a Christian but am asking this question out of curiosity and not rudeness. Maybe I should have made that clear in the OP.

In fact, I will do just that.

Peace

Originally posted by jude11


I am not a Christian but am asking this question out of curiosity and not rudeness. Maybe I should have made that clear in the OP.

Peace

There is no other explanation. They believe the bible word for word and believe fossils and such are put there as a way to "test their faith."



Like I said, borderline retardation.

The whole 6000yrs thing would be debunked because there are religions and civilization that existed before!


These young age creationist are the ultimate mind washed bunch.

Hey look this Banana fits my hand perfect! it was made for my hands!

Edit:

EX

Neolithic Age India Mehrgarh civilization (c.7000-3300 BCE) = 9000yrs old. AND some villages from this era practiced early form of Hinduism.

reply to post by paradox


there are less offensive ways to state your perspective. and while i agree i think it is silly to be such a literalist as to interpret the world as being only 6000 years old, i do think there is a less "rude" way to express this. otherwise, you have derailed a thread, and devalued your argument. especially when the OP asks for civility.


btw; i do not know why the belief in a 4.5 billion year old planet and a belief in God (in whatever tradition one chooses) is mutual exclusive. a 6000 year old planet seems to me quite a limitation to be placing on the 'Infinite'.

reply to post by luciddream

The banana analogy only proves evolution, because everyone knows that bananas were made to fit a monkey's hand.

reply to post by paradox

While it would be correct to say many Christians believe the earth is only 6 thousand years old, this is not stated anywhere in the bible.
Sometimes we as Christians should look at what the bible does not say as well as what it does.
Many use the genealogy in the bible to come up with the 6 thousand year time line.
I, as a Christian do not believe that would give an accurate date by any means.
Quad

reply to post by jude11


The answer to this question should be obvious. Scientists who are paid thousands to answer this question as a fact have given a conclusive consensus that the "Earth is 6,000 year old" thing is full of crap. Do the research, if you want.

reply to post by jude11


The Earth is approximately 4.5 billion years old. Young Earth Creationists believe that the Earth is only 6,000 years old because they accept a literal interpretation of the Bible.

Originally posted by Quadrivium
Sometimes we as Christians should look at what the bible does not say.

Wow, that could cover ANYTHING

Originally posted by IEtherianSoul9
reply to post by jude11

 

The Earth is approximately 4.5 billion years old. Young Earth Creationists believe the Earth is only 6,000 years ago because they accept a literal interpretation of the Bible (mainly the Genesis account).

So it's only the YEC that believe this?

Do they also believe in a literal 7 day creation?

Thanks

reply to post by VoidHawk


Lmao....

exactly the reason why they say

"oh you discovered computer? well that's already mentioned on the bible, you just don't know where and how to look for it. Here ill take you to my pastor, he will explain everything to you."

reply to post by jude11


I never really bothered to far into the YEC sect(because obviously look at their foundation is enough to put a stop into researching them any further" but i think they got the 6000 yr from assuming, 1 god = 1000 human days and he worked 6 days blah, blah etc.

There is LOTS of evidence of a young earth.

GREAT VIDEO, not boring, but light hearted and entertaining (please ignore the Christianity aspect, if you don't follow)


I can talk to you about this more, if you'd like to PM me.

Great discussion I hope to ensue

I remember a priest telling me the bible are just stories. The important thing is to understand and practice its message of love and compassion. Things would be so much better if we could just embrace the simplicity of this. Science is the magic of God and Math is his language heard in musical notes...so I imagine

I couldn't help but notice the topic here and I thought I'd throw my two cents in anyway. I've asked a few Clergy this over the years as well as my own parents. One of whom is Catholic and the other was Pentecostal. (They divorced when I was you..go figure...) The answer I've gotten has been fundamentally unchanged regardless of who I've asked and it's as unhelpful as I think it's terribly convenient. It's always been a variation of 'What is a day to God?' or 'Gods way of measuring the days for creation may be very different than our own.'. These always seemingly delivered with the gravity of some hidden knowledge or something.

So I hope this at least helps throw out the answer I've heard myself...and in short I think it all boils down to one simple truth. NO ONE knows the age for sure and some are willing to admit it while others hide behind ^^ That kind of logic so their own ignorance doesn't scare them and lose them sleep at night or something. Darned if I have any better reasoning for that kind of logic actually being pointed to.

Originally posted by jude11

Originally posted by IEtherianSoul9
reply to post by jude11

 

The Earth is approximately 4.5 billion years old. Young Earth Creationists believe the Earth is only 6,000 years ago because they accept a literal interpretation of the Bible (mainly the Genesis account).

So it's only the YEC that believe this?

Do they also believe in a literal 7 day creation?

Thanks

I believe so. I learned that scriptural interpretation differs along a continuum for creationists.

 Flat Earthism- a literary approach stating the Earth is flat
 Geocentrism- the Earth is a sphere, but the Sun is not at the center
 Young Earth Creationism- heliocentric view w/belief that he Earth is 10,000-6,000 years old
 Old Earth Creationism- the Earth is ancient (4 types)
-Gap Creationism- large temporal gap between verses 1 and 2 in Genesis
-Day Age Creationism- 6 days of creation = millions of years
-Progressive Creationism- parts of modern biology and physics are accepted
-Evolutionary Creationism- God is actively involved in evolution
 Intelligent Design- order, purpose and design in this world are proof of an omniscient creator.
 Theistic Evolution- God creates through the laws of nature, responsible for the formation of the human soul.

If you look at the 6 Days of Creation literally, the earth was created 3 days before the sun was. How can God create something in exactly a day increment without the sun being involved?

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
I couldn't help but notice the topic here and I thought I'd throw my two cents in anyway. I've asked a few Clergy this over the years as well as my own parents. One of whom is Catholic and the other was Pentecostal. (They divorced when I was you..go figure...) The answer I've gotten has been fundamentally unchanged regardless of who I've asked and it's as unhelpful as I think it's terribly convenient. It's always been a variation of 'What is a day to God?' or 'Gods way of measuring the days for creation may be very different than our own.'. These always seemingly delivered with the gravity of some hidden knowledge or something.

So I hope this at least helps throw out the answer I've heard myself...and in short I think it all boils down to one simple truth. NO ONE knows the age for sure and some are willing to admit it while others hide behind ^^ That kind of logic so their own ignorance doesn't scare them and lose them sleep at night or something. Darned if I have any better reasoning for that kind of logic actually being pointed to.

Thanks,

I understand it's interpretation so why is it interpreted differently for the 2 questions? 6 days and many Christians believe it could be millions or billions of years for one day.

But 6,000 yrs for some is just that...6,000 yrs. Not 6 Billion as it should be if using the same interpretation.

Peac