Age of the Earth – Biblical Age of the Earth – Textual Evidence for the Age of the Earth
Table of Contents
Overview for the Biblical Age of the Earth
The age of the Earth is a debated subject, however for the Christian, our primary source for all truth is to be the scriptures. The Bible teaches a literal creation from nothing (Ex Nihilo) and an age for the Earth that can be dated by looking at the genealogical age of the people mentioned throughout scripture, knowing Adam was the first man created six days after creation and dating all lifespans from Adam to Abraham and so forth.
Scripture Verses that Indicate the Age of the Earth
The debate between young earth and old earth creationists over the book of Genesis is primarily a dispute over the word used for day which is ‘Yom.’ This word in Hebrew can mean day or era or period of time, however the context determines the use of the word.
The Bible does not literally tell us how old the Earth is, again it is deduced by doing the mathematics from Adam and calculating the age of all his descendants from birth to copulation, all the way to Moses. Then since we have a good historic indication of when Moses led the Exodus, we can know the age of the Earth, or at least the chronology to Adam. This subsequently is the same age that the Jewish calendar dates the Earth. As of 2024 a.d. the Jewish calendar (Hebrew calendar) states we are in year 5784 since the creation of the world.
There is an additional discrepancy to this genealogy between the Masoretic text and the Septuagint. The Masoretic text put the creation of Adam at 4000 b.c. however the Septuagint put the creation of Adam to around 5307 b.c. This is due to longer life spans being recorded in the Septuagint for some of the Patriarchs. There is currently no clear answer or rectification for these discrepancies.
Yom in Genesis
We can find in Genesis chapter one, the context concerning the word ‘Yom,’ referring to a literal day since the Bible tells us after each day, “it was morning and evening,” equating to one full literal day.
God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day (Yom). – Genesis 1.5
For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. – Exodus 20.11
Discrepancy Over the Word Yom
The discrepancy over the word primarily comes from Psalms 90.4 and 1 Peter 3.8 which states that in the Lord one day is as (or like) a thousand years. Which brings to question if the days of creation are figurative or literal.
However, it again has to be taken in context with the verses and chapter of the Bible. God will always give us the context He desires us to use for our understanding. These verses have to do with God’s patience and concern for others, and His patience endurance in waiting for the lost to come back to Him. Genesis gives us the context one literal day.
New Testament Verses
The word for day in the Greek is far clearer, for Greek has different words to distinguish day from long periods of time. Jesus tells us that in the beginning, God created mankind male and female, thus indicating mankind existed from the beginning of creation, that humanity was not created after some long eons after the creation.
(Jesus speaking) But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female – Mark 10.6
(Paul writing) For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. – Romans 1.19-21
Problems with Six Literal Days
The primary objection to the literal six days of creation is the current scientific consensus that world is billions of years old. However, with the constant changes in our understanding in the scientific fields, more evidence surmounts every year to reveal that a young earth is more and more plausible.
This tends to be a problem when people take observation to be equivalent with the word of God, people believe they have to reinterpret the Bible to make it fit with what they physically observe. Only God’s word is true, everything else we observe is subject to error and personal interpretation.
It should be asked to someone struggling with this; if there was no scientific conflict from your viewpoint with young earth creation, would you accept Genesis as a literal 6 days?
History of the Biblical Old Earth View
There are many different viewpoints that correlate to a Biblical Old Earth Creationist viewpoint. Ranging from theistic evolutionists who believe the God created the universe ex nihilo (from nothing), however used the process similar to, or same as, those who hold to a Darwinian Evolutionary point of view.
References – Biblical Age of the Earth
Answers in Genesis – Chronology Difference between Masoretic and Septuagint
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.