How old is the earth?

[TonyChanYT]

Some Christians think the earth is between 6,000 and 15,000 years old, coinciding with the Neolithic Age. Astronomers think it is 4.5 billion years old. Here is an attempt to resolve this incongruity.

Jesus turned water into wine in John 2:

7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.
8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”

How old was this wine?

If you asked the human observers/witnesses, the servants would say a few seconds old.

The story continued:

9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

If you asked the expert, the banquet master, "How old is this wine?" He would say it was months or even years old.

So which answer is true?

Both are true, depending on the perspective. The supernatural perspective tells us that it was only a second old. The natural perspective tells us that it was at least some months old.

Similarly, in Genesis 1:

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

In the beginning, God created a 5-dimensional universe, 4-dimensional space-time, plus 1 spiritual dimension with dark matter and dark energy.

31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

How old is the earth?

If we ask an astronomer from a natural perspective, he can only study present-day physical data based on scientific calculations. It is 4.5 billion years old. That's the scientific 4-D space-time perspective.

On the other hand, from the supernatural angle, if we read the passage literally, the present-day earth is only some thousands of years old. That's the biblical witnessed-time from the 5th-dimensional perspective.

So which answer is true?

Both are true depending on the time perspective. God created the earth with the embedded evolutionary records of billions of years of real history. The Bible is not a scientific treatise. It focuses on the story of redemption. In terms of witnessed-time history, it is only some thousands of years old. On the other hand, from the scientific point of view, the earth is billions of years old.

This is different from Last Thursdayism because God tells me the contrary. God did not create the universe last Thursday. Genesis contradicts this. I can also contradict this. I was alive last Thursday. God was with me. God dwells in me. It happened in real live-time. I didn't see God create this universe last Thursday. I believe in the words of God, not Last Thursdayism.

Jesus spoke about it as a historical witnessed-time event in Mark 10:

6 “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’

From the perspective of scientific time, the details of this embedding are amazing:

• 24,000-year-old animal found alive, well, and ready to reproduce
• Fossils reveal what may be the oldest known case of the dino sniffles.

There are two different frameworks of time. Basically, witnessed-time started when Adam opened his eyes. On the other hand, space-time is measured by scientific calculations. Both are physically or spatially real in their respective frameworks of time. Even scientifically, there is something funny about time.

See also Adam, Eve, and evolution.

 

[makesends]

Some Christians think the earth is between 6,000 and 15,000 years old, coinciding with the Neolithic Age. Astronomers think it is 4.5 billion years old. Here is an attempt to resolve this incongruity.

Jesus turned water into wine in John 2:


How old was this wine?

If you asked the human observers/witnesses, the servants would say a few seconds old.

The story continued:


If you asked the expert, the banquet master, "How old is this wine?" He would say it was months or even years old.

So which answer is true?

Both are true, depending on the perspective. The supernatural perspective tells us that it was only a second old. The natural perspective tells us that it was at least some months old.

Similarly, in Genesis 1:


In the beginning, God created a 5-dimensional universe, 4-dimensional space-time, plus 1 spiritual dimension with dark matter and dark energy.


How old is the earth?

If we ask an astronomer from a natural perspective, he can only study present-day physical data based on scientific calculations. It is 4.5 billion years old. That's the scientific 4-D space-time perspective.

On the other hand, from the supernatural angle, if we read the passage literally, the present-day earth is only some thousands of years old. That's the biblical witnessed-time from the 5th-dimensional perspective.

So which answer is true?

Both are true depending on the time perspective. God created the earth with the embedded evolutionary records of billions of years of real history. The Bible is not a scientific treatise. It focuses on the story of redemption. In terms of witnessed-time history, it is only some thousands of years old. On the other hand, from the scientific point of view, the earth is billions of years old.

This is different from Last Thursdayism because God tells me the contrary. God did not create the universe last Thursday. Genesis contradicts this. I can also contradict this. I was alive last Thursday. God was with me. God dwells in me. It happened in real live-time. I didn't see God create this universe last Thursday. I believe in the words of God, not Last Thursdayism.

Jesus spoke about it as a historical witnessed-time event in Mark 10:


From the perspective of scientific time, the details of this embedding are amazing:

• 24,000-year-old animal found alive, well, and ready to reproduce
• Fossils reveal what may be the oldest known case of the dino sniffles.

There are two different frameworks of time. Basically, witnessed-time started when Adam opened his eyes. On the other hand, space-time is measured by scientific calculations. Both are physically or spatially real in their respective frameworks of time. Even scientifically, there is something funny about time.

See also Adam, Eve, and evolution.

Good morning, Tony! Good to see you!

I almost completely agree with you here. Where I don't know enough to agree with you, it is because I don't know enough. This is very much like the way I see the possibilities, but, as I think you would admit, this is "a weighted possible" explanation.

I have been told that it would be God lying to do this, but I say, "Here we are, writing stories and producing theories about manipulating time, and congratulating ourselves for our cleverness, but we can't allow the inventor of time to do as he pleases?"

 

[TonyChanYT]

Good morning, Tony! Good to see you!

Morning, brother.

this is "a weighted possible" explanation.

Right. Much of what I write is that.

I have been told that it would be God lying to do this,

Some people may feel that way, and I'd understand their feelings. However, according to my First-Order Logical explanation, there are no lies or contradictions.

but I say, "Here we are, writing stories and producing theories about manipulating time, and congratulating ourselves for our cleverness, but we can't allow the inventor of time to do as he pleases?"

Sure. God is infinite. My brain is finite