Are YEC's and literalists harmful to the faith?

[Phostenix]

It is my understanding that the idea of the earth being millions or billions of years old did not come into play until theories of evolution started to appear. Correct me if I'm wrong.

You're wrong

Evidence for an old Earth came from geology, before Darwin's time.

Yes, I realize that Darwin is not actually the father of evolutionary thought, but how long before him were people postulating about millions of years?

[The Lorax]

Yes, I realize that Darwin is not actually the father of evolutionary thought, but how long before him were people postulating about millions of years?

Not long. Uniformitarianism--the idea that the present world is the result of very slow ongoing change--only took root in the late 18th century. And even then, people weren't sure how much time was involved.

I know that Hindu cosmology involves multi-million year cycles, but they weren't evolutionists, so I guess that's irrelevant.

[Guest yod]

I've said this many times...guess one more won't hurt.

I absolutely do NOT believe in the evolutionary theory that pond scum turned into a tadpole which turned into a fish which started walking and turned into a monkey which learned how to talk and drive a Volkswagen

And yet I also don't think it is inconsistant with the bible that the universe could be billions of years old before Adam was created.

YEC comes from reading an english interpretation of hebraic scriptures through a greek perspective.

Still, they are pretty harmless unless they get arrogant.

[Phostenix]

Yes, I realize that Darwin is not actually the father of evolutionary thought, but how long before him were people postulating about millions of years?

Not long. Uniformitarianism--the idea that the present world is the result of very slow ongoing change--only took root in the late 18th century. And even then, people weren't sure how much time was involved.

I know that Hindu cosmology involves multi-million year cycles, but they weren't evolutionists, so I guess that's irrelevant.

So, is it fair to say that the idea of the earth being billions of years old originated along side theories of evolution?

[artsylady]

K-Ar dating is a FARCE.

You have to tell the lab who is actually dating the item where you found it and what age you beleive it to be, because K-AR could easily date something young at millions of years old.

When I was debating this subject a long time ago Geochron labs had a disclaimer on their front page that said this very thing. But, strangely enough, they took the discllaimer off shortly after it became a topic on our debate.

So..... if it dates everything young at millions of years old if they KNOW its young, how on earth do they know it's not all just young?

[damo1]

from damo1

thank you myco and wayne b you said what i was about to say on this as for me when i read gods word in jail i read it twice from start to finish and i stil did not want to give up my way of thinking i read from geneses looked at how the earth was formed and i questioned a lot of things as i had no one to explain this too me even though my side were catholic orthodox and my grand mother would constantly pray for me in my younger days and take me to church to wear i use to hate going to church with my mothers side but i did this to keep my grandmother happy

i found it hard to believe that god existed as a person as i could not see him as i might see one of my friends there wear times i got very angry when reading gods word yet as i came out of jail and settled into a church i found some one that could relate this to me in a way i could understand this

i also looked at the twelve disciples and saw that these men wear normal men like me they were not educated as some of the pharisess were yet when jesus said come follow me they did not question him and followed him and he taught them as he talked to them in a way that they could understand him

when i gave my heart to god a lot of my friends were trying to get me to give this up and were constantly saying this religon is flawd it is made up and would go out of there way to get me to come around my close family members even rejected me even though i had been on my own since i was 14 and i am nearly 40 my grand mother found it hard to believe that i would turn to this religon more than the orthodox religon she held close to her heart

i was constantly given a hard time my grand father even said to me not to talk to his son which was my uncle and every one that i new on my mothers side did not want to know me

i found it hard i was up set yet they were never there for me as the people i got to know in my church these guys stood by me and taught me everything i needed to know about gods word and how to apply it to my life in simple terms that i could understand and not coming from a proffeser in bible collage that educated ones understand as i was illiterate but i got around things and i find the more i learn i am able to put what i learn to good use

i find by standing my ground when talking to people that do not want to believe works i do not judge them or try to argue something i do not know about my other friends who are atheists still keep in touch and two have given therer lives to god threw what they saw in me i did not have to say a thing one is getting baptized shortly and he said i am going to a church out of my own choice

in the long run these people will face the true living god and will not be able to come up with any excuse as they will see for them selves with there own eyes

and yes we need to come up with ways that we would be able to speak there language when it comes to gods word and trying to reach out to the non believer

so i feel no its not doing anyone any harm but those that argue will try to confuse a new believer and get them to question there faith as this is what atheists are good at doing and my friends boast about how they come on christian forums and try to throw al different points a cross to confuse a new christian who is not grounded in gods word

thank you for sharing this i really do appreciate this very much i found it helpful and interesting to read

from damo1