Harry Cook wrote:
>If God wanted to create apparent age, then who are we not to
>believe it?! So either way, the earth is old.
The notion that the universe was brought about with an apparent
age, or that it looks old but is really young, crumbles under its
own weight. How ironic it would have been for God to have
commanded us, "Thou shalt not bear false witness," and have
expected us to adhere to a criterion that He would have violated
from the very beginning.
From the book of Romans we find we are held accountable by the
evidence of nature. "For the invisible things of Him from the creation
of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that
are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are
without excuse" (Rom. 1:1:20). Had an artificially-dated planet been
palmed off on us by a clever sleight-of-hand artist we would not be
without excuse, we'd have a great excuse!
Inherent with the appearance of age argument is a classic
"Catch-22." If the world is old in complete agreement with the
way it looks, then why would God give us a book telling us it is
young? And if the world is young, then it had to be manufactured
deliberately and cleverly to look old.
Thus, the orthodoxy of young-earth creationism poses an insane
dilemma; if the world is old, God would be a fibber, and if young,
He would be a counterfeiter! Taking young-earth dogma to its
conclusion, if we could not trust God to give us a true history of the
world we live in, how could we trust Him to give us true history and
true prophecy in His Book? A god who could falsify nature might
falsify a resurrection!
Ironically, these implied allegations raised by those who profess
to be believers call God's very credibility into question. True words
demand true works. "For the word of the Lord is right and all his
works are done in truth" (Psa. 33:4).
I can think of only one reason that the earth would look old, and
that would be so that when we observe it, we think it is old. If
God wants us to think that, then that is what we should think. I
would rather believe it looks old because it is old. But either way,
we should continue to think that way, since that is what He expects.
And if I found any evidence for a young earth, He could trust me
not to blab about it. If God had created the earth recently, but
wanted to make it look old, the last thing I would do is bring up
contrary evidence to point out oversights.
The perplexing theme of young-earth creationism is not that
God made the earth with the appearance of age. Rather, the
inferred message is that God made a clever attempt to create
an old-appearing earth, but thanks to the efforts of those
hard-working researchers, they have uncovered His inconsistencies.
So, first they accuse Him of deception, and then they assert
He wasn't good at it! What a confused message that is.
Dick Fischer - The Origins Solution - www.orisol.com
"The answer we should have known about 150 years ago."
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