No I am sure it isn't but I don't think the deptiveness of appearance of
age is as simple as believing that things have to appear to have some age
even if they were created instantaneously. The problem is not just the
appearance of age but the appearence that many events in this created past
occurred in a very coordinated fashion.
Here is an example of appearance of age from the Hawaiin Islands. Could we
not hypothesize that some of the islands were created to appear old while
others were created by ordinary means over the last 4000 years. This would
set up a scenario in some place that one could be walking accross lava that
at one time actually flowed from a volcano but at some exact point the next
step you take, takes you onto lava that actually was never in a liquid
form. Or possible there is a continuum of states, some lava could have been
created hot and the features in the lava the result of escaping gas from
lava crated in place while other lave just created to appear as if gas
escaped from particular points. I can forsee only one real answer to this
proposition and that is that it is not important what the real history of
the rock was but what God intends us to learn from studying that rock.
Maybe it need not matter what the origin of the rock is but we can learn
how lava behaves by studing different lavas from around the world. This
enables us to understand our present environment better and how what to
expect (i.e. how God acts providentially in the here and now).
To my own answer I would respond that there is one significant problem that
does not allow me to accept this possibility. Notice that I say that is
not important whether there is a REAL history behind the rock but what God
intends us to learn from studying the rock. Does this not sound like: It
is not important if Genesis represents a real history but it is the meaning
of Genesis that God wishes to convey to us. This is why I can not buy into
the use of appearance of age arguments from many YECs (though not all), it
seems somewhat contradictory. And for myself I do believe in a literal
Genesis not just a meaningful story.
joel duff
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
,-~~-.___.
Joel and Dawn Duff / | ' \ Spell Check?
Carbondale IL 62901 ( ) 0
e-mail: duff@siu.edu \_/-, ,----'
or virkotto@intrnet.net ==== //
or nickrent-lab@siu.edu / \-'~; /~~~(O)
* * * * * * / __/~| / | * * *
\\\/// \\\/// =( _____| (_________| \\\///
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
http://www.intrnet.net/~virkotto/joelduff.htm
http://www.intrnet.net/~virkotto/index.html
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/