Estimates of the age of the Earth:

Visualizing the difference
between and old and young Earth

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This is a brief note comparing the age of the earth as estimated by most scientists and by most new-Earth creationists.

Currently, there is a near consensus among earth scientists that the age of "Earth and [the rest of] our solar system is 4.54 billion years, plus or minus 0.02 billions years." ₁ This estimate is based on the age of some ancient rocks found in Australia, and the age of meteorites found having landed on earth. Both have been measured using radiometric techniques. The age of moon rocks, and estimates of the lifetime cycle of stars supports this value.  Many old-Earth creationists accept this value. In accepting such an age for the Earth, most scientists reject most literal interpretations of the Book of Genesis in the Bible -- those which assume that the Hebrew word "yom" (day) as found in the early chapters of Genesis refers to a 24-hour day.

Some new earth creationists estimate the Earth's age at 6,009 years. This is based on the calculations performed by John Lightfoot and Bishop Ussher in the 17^th century CE. They concluded that the earth was created on 4004-OCT-23 - some 6,009 years ago. However, those estimates were imprecise. They are based on the age of fathers in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) at the time of the birth of their sons. In some cases, the Bible ignores entire generations of families, thus introducing the potential for a considerable error into the calculations.  This indeterminacy has persuaded most new-earth creationists to accept a range of 6,009 to 10,000 years for the Earth's age.

The difference between either 6,009 or 10 thousand and 4.5 billion years is enormous. The ratio of 6,009 years to 4.54 billion years is about 755,500 to 1. Even the using the longer 10,000 year estimate, the ratio is 454,000 to 1. This is an enormous difference. 

Perhaps it could be more easily visualized by comparing to commonly seen items: paper and a football field

The ratio of 6,009 years to 4.54 billion is equivalent to the thickness of one sheet of paper to 82.7 yards: e.g. from a set of goal posts to the 50 yard line and continuing to about eight feet past the 20 yard line.

The ratio of 10,000 years to 4.54 billion is equivalent to the thickness of one sheet of paper to about 49.7 yards: e.g. from a set of goal posts to about a foot short of the 50 yard line.

If the only alternatives were the range of earth ages proposed by young-Earth creationists, and the much larger figure proposed by most scientists, one would think that a test could be devised which would convince both sides which of the two estimates is closer to reality. However, centuries of debate, disagreement, conflict, and a tiny bit of dialogue, have shown that this is naive. This is because the two sides have different standards for truth:

There appears to be no possibility of resolving these differences of belief in the foreseeable future, unless one side changes their fundamental criteria of truth.

Reference:

1. "Evolutionary age of the Earth: 4.54 billion years," ChristianAnswers.net, at: http://www.christiananswers.net/

Copyright © 2004 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Originally written: 2004-APR-24
Latest update: 2004-MAY-13
Author: B.A. Robinson