6000 Years vs. Millions of Years

[Agape_CTL]

I have heard that a christian read through genisis and came up with 6000 years. Who did this and does anyone have how they came up with this many years? Could 6000 years be wrong? I believe the bible, I also know man is often wrong. We can get things wrong, even when we base our ideas on the bible. This is not a fualt in the bible (I believe the bible 100%), it is a fualt of man.

With science we know we can be wrong and it is okay. Scientist just look at the good data and start over. Why do we think we can't be wrong in the way we understand the bible?

[Joy in the Journey]

I have heard that a christian read through genisis and came up with 6000 years. Who did this and does anyone have how they came up with this many years? Could 6000 years be wrong? I believe the bible, I also know man is often wrong. We can get things wrong, even when we base our ideas on the bible. This is not a fualt in the bible (I believe the bible 100%), it is a fualt of man.

With science we know we can be wrong and it is okay. Scientist just look at the good data and start over. Why do we think we can't be wrong in the way we understand the bible?

Yeah, many will say there is "undenyable" proof that that Earth is billions of years old...but I'd rather believe in the Bible as literal; not open to man's interpretation. That being said, I simply believe God when He said that "in 6 days, God created the earth and seas and all that is in them" (Exodus 20:11). You know, modern science says that a global flood never happened, yet you'd be hard pressed to find a Christian that denies the flood story...so if science is wrong about that (which they are), why can't they also be wrong about the age of the Earth too (which they are) ?

If you trace the geneology as provided in the Bible back, you will find that in doing some simple math, it comes out to be ~ 6000 years from today all the way back to Adam (ever wondered why God put all those borring names and geniologies in the Bible ? Now you know! ) The Bible also says that there was no death before the fall and that because of Adam's sin, all death and decay is a direct result of the fall...that being said, if the fall was 6000 years ago as we believe it to be, there could not have been any death older than 6000 years- making all these alleged fossils aging millions of years old to be nothing more than a lie to pull peoples' faith from the Bible away.

Not that any of this will be well received by many, but I believe that the Bible speaks for Itself just as God intends it too.

God bless,

Tim

[OneLight]

Greetings Brother,

If you search, you will find many discussions on this topic. I'm not trying to discourage this thread, but if you seeking a quick answer ... well, there really isn't one.

OneLight

[sweetycakes]

There is an argument put forward that the geneologies mentioned in the Bible may not be the complete picture. For example, when X begat Y, that is simply showing that X fathered Y, and that before Y was born, other sons and daughters may have been produced in the intervening years.

Much like David is classed as the father of Mary.....or that Mary is the daughter of Jacob, thereby not showing all the other offspring in the intervening years.

However, I, myself, don't subscribe to this theory.

There is also much evidence that supports the 'Young Earth' viewpoint, if you look for it.

I believe that God could, and probably did, create the earth about 6,000 years ago. And until I have definitive proof otherwise, I will continue to hold to this viewpoint. And by proof, I don't mean the constant, endless stream of programmes on TV that declare all these millions of years scenarios. This just raises alarm bells in my head, and makes me think that there is probably an agenda at work here, since there are so many mentions of it.

It is a small thing for God to create the universe within just a moment, in my opinion, and He could well have done so, had He so chosen.

So, unless God shows me otherwise, I believe that He created all things in six days, and that He very likely did it around 6,000 years ago.

[MrsSealedEternal]

I copy and pasted my remarks from comments #172 & #198 in this topic...The Great Whore of Babylon

...from post #172...

Luk 16:17 "But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.

The more I study the scriptures the more I realize there is to learn, but as far as the example kansasdad used concerning the verse underlined...

2Pe 3:1 This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder,

2Pe 3:2 that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles.

2Pe 3:3 Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts,

2Pe 3:4 and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation."

2Pe 3:5 For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water,

2Pe 3:6 through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water.

2Pe 3:7 But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

2Pe 3:8 But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.

2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.

2Pe 3:11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,

2Pe 3:12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!

2Pe 3:13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

2Pe 3:14 Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless,

2Pe 3:15 and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you,

2Pe 3:16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.

2Pe 3:17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness,

2Pe 3:18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

...it is placed in scripture by inspiration of God and I do not believe it is nearly as insignificant as you propose it is. In fact, it is stressed that we should not let this fact escape our notice. The best explanation I have ever heard of the signifigance of understanding this is the cuckoo clock gears comparison. There are gears that are different sizes rotating inside a cuckoo clock. With the concept of time, we have a 24hr day gear, a thousand year day gear, and as spoken of in Revelation, an eternal day gear, and they are all working together to keep time. So yes, one day to God is eternal.

...from post #198...

I think it is reasonable that most of us could comprehend the concepts of God's measurements of time. We keep track of time and use calendars, and that is evidence of this.

Gen 1:5 God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.

Gen 1:14 Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years;

Gen 2:2 By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.

Gen 2:3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

As a note of interest, that is the only creation day in the Genesis account that does not end with an evening and morning statement.

Ecc 3:11 He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

Heb 4:3 For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, "AS I SWORE IN MY WRATH, THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST," although His works were finished from the foundation of the world.

Rev 22:5 And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.

...An eternal day.

...I am seeing a clear picture in the scriptures that do set the size of the gears that have been put into motion in God's time keeping cuckoo clock.

Hope this helps.

God Bless

[lifeQuest]

This view, taken from a literal interpretation of the first few chapters of Genesis, and which states that God created the Earth in six literal days and no more than 6,000 years ago, is called Young Earth Creationism. This is the position, I believe, of many churches, and is the reason for the supposed conflict between Christianity and the theory of evolution. Personally, I grew up with this view, and never thought anything could change my mind. However, since entering college I've come to realize that one can very well be a true believer and also believe in the theory of evolution and its implications, such as the old age of Earth. And even if these things aren't true, to say that God could not have used the theory of evolution to create what we have now is, I believe, a sin; it limits God. I did not say that it's a sin to believe either of these views, but to say that God was and is incapable of using evolutionary theory--or of creating the world in six days with nothing different then from what we have today--to say that He was and is incapable of it is, I believe, wrong. These are, as you probably know, very controversial issues. Although we should try and find out what is true---indeed, Christians should be the leaders in investigating for truth---we also need to keep these things in perspective. When Christ Jesus comes again, will believing in Young Earth Creationism save us? Will believing in evolutionary theory? No---only God's grace and our belief that our salvation was effected in Christ's death and resurrection will save us.

For more information on these subjects, I recommend Francis Collins' The Language of God. Collins is a Christian geneticist who was the head of the Human Genome Project. I found him very helpful, because he explained confusing and complex scientific concepts in everyday language, with few exceptions.

Hope I've helped!

[MorningGlory]

I believe that God could, and probably did, create the earth about 6,000 years ago. And until I have definitive proof otherwise, I will continue to hold to this viewpoint. And by proof, I don't mean the constant, endless stream of programmes on TV that declare all these millions of years scenarios. This just raises alarm bells in my head, and makes me think that there is probably an agenda at work here, since there are so many mentions of it.

It is a small thing for God to create the universe within just a moment, in my opinion, and He could well have done so, had He so chosen.

So, unless God shows me otherwise, I believe that He created all things in six days, and that He very likely did it around 6,000 years ago.

I has struck me, over the past few years, that there really is no evidence of civilization before about six thousand years ago. Coincidence? I don't believe in coincidence.

[Jorge S]

I have heard that a christian read through genisis and came up with 6000 years. Who did this and does anyone have how they came up with this many years? Could 6000 years be wrong? I believe the bible, I also know man is often wrong. We can get things wrong, even when we base our ideas on the bible. This is not a fualt in the bible (I believe the bible 100%), it is a fualt of man.

With science we know we can be wrong and it is okay. Scientist just look at the good data and start over. Why do we think we can't be wrong in the way we understand the bible?

It looks that Irish Bishop James Ussher was amongst the first publishing an influential Bible-based chronology that has been blamed for the 6000 years. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ussher). Several Church Fathers believed in a young Creation based not on biblical chronology but on some other exegetical issues.

At once it occurred to me that the carefully annotated chronologic genealogies of Genesis served the purpose of dating Creation and I endeavoured to follow them up. While researching the subject I found several articles on the internet which used datable events -like the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians- as pivots for calculations. (See http://www.nwcreation.net/biblechrono.html)

This historic approach (Genesis + Archeology) seems to me more valid than everything else and has scientific support. The billions of years proposed by evolutionists are a combination of Bible scepticism and overrated naturalistic paradigms.

[Jorge S]

... to say that God could not have used the theory of evolution to create what we have now is, I believe, a sin; it limits God.

Are you serious?

[ollkiller]

... to say that God could not have used the theory of evolution to create what we have now is, I believe, a sin; it limits God.

Are you serious?

Why not. If your is god is as powerful as you say he(she) is he(she) could have done it easily. To life quest i though that was an excellent post. Especially your point about when jesus returns will it matter if you believe in young or old earth. I'm not a believer myself but if Jesus existed and did return i think it would be whether you were a good person and teated others as you would treat yourself that would matter not how old the land you are standing on is.