I see far too many people who claim they believe that the Bible is true and, yet, somehow are buying into the idea that the Earth is billions of years old. In this article I hope to accomplish two things. First, I want to address the reason why I believe it is impossible to believe both of these things. Secondly, I want to show you how dangerously wrong this thinking can be.
I have a pretty limited group of friends who even care about such things as the age of the earth. In fact, most of them have never really given it much thought at all. There are, however, a few who seem to have investigated, at least a little, and have come away thinking that there is “too much scientific evidence” to refute. This latter group are the ones who I will address here.
Before I really get into the “meat” of this discussion, I need to be very clear. My basis for understanding the world around me is 100% based on God’s word. I believe that the bible is true in it’s entirety. You can read a bit more about what I believe in THIS blog post. My entire worldview is based upon the inerrant word of God. What this means is that if you wish to “convert” me to your way of thinking, if it is different than mine, your only option is to show me IN THE BIBLE, that I am wrong. All quotes in this article are from the NIV translation. Now that that little bit of introduction is out of the way, let’s proceed.
There are three REAL problems with the long age belief system. The first of these involves the timing of the entrance of death into the world. At the time of God’s creative work, he called His work “very good”. Men and animals were non-carnivorous at this time. Genesis 1:29-30 reads:
Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
This is how God defined “very good”. There was no death in the earth. From the time of their creation until sin entered the world, there can be no death. I’ll talk a bit more about this in a moment, but right there in God’s word is the key to the first problem with long age interpretations of what we can see. Included in the fossil record are some fossilized animals in the stomachs of another animal. I think you’d have to agree that an animal eaten my another usually results in the death of the one being eaten. Let’s take a look at Genesis 1:31:
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
I believe that “very good” included the absence of death. Carnivorous behaviors on the part of the animals didn’t come about until AFTER the curse of sin entered the world.
The second problem is the destruction of the “goodness” that was created. Let’s take a quick look at God’s command to Adam. In Genesis 2:16-17, we read:
And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
You see, it was disobedience that would bring death into God’s “very good” creation. This judgement was passed down not only on Adam and Eve, but on the entirety of creation. The IMMEDIATE result of their sin was a broken relationship with God. Read Genesis 3:8:
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
In addition to a broken relationship (spiritual death), their PHYSICAL death became a certainty. Read Genesis 3:17-19:
To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’
“Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”
Here we see that not only are Adam and Eve broken because of their sin, but God passes judgement on the entirety of creation. I doubt very much that God would have called a cursed ground with thorns and thistles “very good”. Let’s read a couple more verses. Romans 3:19:
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
Again, the entirety of creation is judged. 1 Corinthians 15:21-22:
For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
These verses are talking about the spiritual death that we are ALL born with. In Genesis 3, Eve was given pain in childbirth as a punishment. Note what God said to the serpent in verse 14:
Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals!
In other words, the serpent is given a specific punishment (crawling around on his belly), but there is an indication here that ALL animals were changed when sin entered as well. There are other examples of God’s judgement being passed on to not only the human population, but onto the entirety of the world. One of the most prominent being the Flood. Paul certainly believed that the entire creation was judged as well. Read Romans 8:19-25:
For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
What is the hope that Paul was referring to? The restoration that will happen at Jesus’ return. How we know that creation will be returned to the pre-fall state (“very good”) will be discussed shortly, but before we get there, let me analyze just a few things. One important reality that comes “automatically” with long age interpretations is that animal death occurred BEFORE sin entered the world. In Scripture, you see the “natural order” or “very good” state of creation does NOT involve death. This includes both human AND animal life (in case you are wondering, I separated those ON PURPOSE). When sin entered and God’s judgement was passed, death resulted. Science (and long age interpretations) REQUIRES that animal death existed as the “natural order” of things on earth. Regardless of how you say it, these two views are in ABSOLUTE OPPOSITION to one another. You cannot have BOTH the Bible AND long age as “truth”. Furthermore, with long age interpretations, you have MULTIPLE mass extinction events prior to man’s appearance on the earth (and sin entering the world). Additionally, NONE of these extinction events, according to the long age interpretations, could have occurred in the last 6000 or so years. Because of this, I would have to say that the young earth (biblical) interpretation would be BETTER than the long age interpretation. By this, I mean that the world in the last 6000 years (the ONLY 6000 if you believe the biblical timeline) does not appear to have been judged at all as a result of sin. Again, you cannot have it both ways. Only ONE of these two interpretations can be true. (You can read about God’s proclamation of judgement on the earth with regard to the flood event in Genesis 6-10.)
IF God’s creation is “very good”, as the bible describes it, AND IF death is a result of sin on the part of Adam and Eve as the bible describes it, then it is easy to understand the state of the restorative work that Christ will bring upon his return to the earth. However, if you add in the pre-fall reality of death and a broken creation that can cause mass extinctions, then it is unclear exactly what a “restored natural order” will look like.
Jesus WILL restore the earth. Acts 3:19-21 reads:
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.
Also, Colossians 1:15-20:
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Both of these passages make it clear that Christ’s work on his creation is not complete. When Christ said, “It is finished” on the cross, we was not stating that his complete work was done. What he WAS saying is that he has completed his work of redemption that would allow man’s sin to be forgiven. We STILL live in a sin-torn world. Christ’s resurrection was an indication of his victory over death. The consummation of Christ’s redemptive act will include “all things” at his return. There are several references to this reality, which I will not quote here, but here is a short list of a few:
- Isaiah 11:6-9 – describes animals returning to their “natural” state, in which there was no carnivorous behavior
- Revelation 21:3-5 – describes a perfectly restored relationship between God and humans and the removal of the curse of sin (death/mourning/pain/suffering) as well as a remade creation
- Revelation 22:3 – Says “No longer will there be any curse.” It’s just that plain. The latter portion of that verse describes the relationship between God and Man restored.
As you can see, the concept of long age interpretations is in direct contradiction to biblical truths. Additionally, IF we interpret the age of the earth to be millions/billions of years we cannot hold out that the bible is completely true. If the bible is NOT completely true, then what is it’s power in our lives?
I welcome your input and feedback. As I stated in the beginning of this article, any attempt to sway my opinion will have to come from a biblical standpoint. In the end, we must rely on “faith” to dictate what we perceive to be truth when there is a lack of “provable facts”. However, in my life, there is EASILY enough evidence that the bible is absolutely true. (See THIS article for more on “Truth”.) I hope that you have found enough information in this brief discussion to help you understand that you cannot compromise your views in this area. Feel free to comment below. JESUS LOVES YOU and came to die to RESTORE you to a relationship with HIMSELF!