How old is Earth?

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> Several years ago there was a well skilled craftsman that'd make 
> highly crafted *antique* look alike furniture.  Only the most skilled
> dealers were able to tell his product from truly old furniture.

Generally, this was done to defraud a customer into thinking he was
buying a genuine 1762 oak chest, when in fact he was actually
purchasing a *fake*.  

> That's how my pastor, Bro Bob Koonce, explains why the scientists
> say the earth is 6 kazillion years old......

And the problem with this theory is that this makes God a being who
would intentionally fool people into thinking the Earth is much older
than it is.  I'm not sure I can accept that.  Another way to look at
it, though, is by noting that the Lord made Adam and Eve as physically
mature individuals -- the presumption is that they weren't created as
new-born infants, but as adults.  Thus, we might further presume that
the earth was created as a "mature" planet -- one with a complete
history, as it were.  To me, though, this is stretching things.

Another theory is one advocated by Bro Blume -- the "Gap" theory, which
theorizes a rather long time span between Gen 1:1 and 1:2.  The
evidence, IMHO, is rather circumstantial, but who knows.  Basically,
Gen 1:1 declares that "in the begining" God created the heavens and the
earth.  Yet, verse 2 says there was void and chaos, implying perhaps
that there was a great destruction between verses 1 & 2 -- perhaps
Satan being cast out of heaven accompanied by judgement on Earth,
resulting in the extinction of the dinosaurs, etc.

Young-earth creationists contend that most geologists are
misinterpreting the data -- that the earth really is 6000 years old.
There are several creationist resources on the Web -- take a look in
Yahoo, probably under the Religion section, under which you can find an
index entitled "Origins."  They do a pretty good job of pointing out
the flaws in evolutionary theory, although they do have some weaknesses
of their own (but who doesn't, eh?)

I feel this is an area many young people should be trained in:  I was
in church about for maybe a month, and the "College & Career" Sunday
school class had a mock debate on the existence of God.  I was on the
atheist team and beat the pro-God team hands down -- they didn't even
know what arguments to use.  For those in a college environment who
might find their faith challenged on a daily basis, I would recommend
some books on apologetics.  Good introductions are books by Josh
McDowell (e.g. _More Than A Carpenter_ and _Evidence That Demands a
Verdict_) and C.S. Lewis (_Mere Christianity_).  Since these are a bit
dated, I would also recommend the more recent books by Ravi Zacharias
which are just absolutely profound, though they can be a little more
difficult to read since he focuses on ethics and philosophy.  I also
recently read a book by Tony Campolo on Christianity in today's secular
society: some good thoughts with an interesting perspective, though I
found it difficult to get past his politics at times.

Personally, I take it by faith that God created the heavens and the
earth and that his Word is true.  I majored in physics for a while in
college, which means I know just enough to be dangerous, but it also
means I know the methods used to date fossils; in spite of the claims
of the Institute for Creation Research and such, radiometric dating is
*not* "circular reasoning" but is in fact accurate and makes sense.
Through such measurements, fossil bacteria have been found which date
back to nearly *4 billion years*.  Such evidence gives some scientists
hope that they will be able to accomplish abiogenesis (creating life
from non-life).  Perhaps they are operating off of faulty assumptions,
as young earth creationists contend.  Personally, I'm not really sure
how to reconcile the Word of God with scientific observations.  I have
to admit that I take that "leap of faith" and know God to be true.


Richard "I see through a glass darkly" Masoner