[asa] New interp of distant starlight

Hi,
Could someone look at the article of the day from Answers in Genesis and tell me if it is as radical as it sounds. By radical I mean that the proposed explanation for distant starlight brings a very different perspective to Genesis 1 than is typical of creation scientists. They way I read this article it would make a literal reading of Genesis 1 as 6 days of creation into an "apparent" six days of creation when in reality God had been at work much longer (billions of years). Yet, to us it would appear as 6 days of work. It seems to me if the logic of this article were to actually be taken seriously by other creaton scientists it would undermine the typical form of literalness that they have so long held fast to. This was 2001 article but I never saw it discussed here. Does anyone remember discussion this particular nuance on the old starlight question?

I've quoted the most relevant section of the article below:
(http://www.answersingenesis.org/tj/v15/i1/starlight.asp Distant Starlight and Genesis)

Joel
Akron OH

Selected quote:

"Since the Bible indicates that the stars were visible on Day 4, we now compute the (calculated) time at which they were created. Alpha Centauri (a star 4.3 light years away) must have been created about 4.3 years ‘before the beginning’ (before Day 1) in order for its light to have reached Earth on Day 4 of the Creation Week. Likewise, a star 10 light years away must have been created about 10 years before Day 1. A star one billion light years away must have been created about one billion years ‘before the beginning’ and so on. So, we see that more distant stars were created earlier than nearby stars. The time of creation depends on the distance from Earth. So what appears to be simultaneous according to observed time, now appears to be spread out over a long period of time. Which view is the ‘correct’ picture? They both are—each according to the chosen convention of time measurement.

But how can a star be created before the beginning? We must remember that the Bible’s statement ‘In the beginning’ (Genesis 1:1) is a measure of time, and therefore must be the ‘beginning’ as measured according to observed time. So although the beginning of the universe occurs simultaneously everywhere on Day 1 according to observed time, the beginning of the universe (just as with the stars) occurs at different calculated times depending on the distance from Earth. Day 1 occurs much earlier for places in the universe that are more distant from Earth than nearby places.

So, we present the following picture of Creation as described in Genesis, but converted from observed time to calculated time—first, God creates the most distant sections of ‘space’. This occurs billions of years ago. About14 four days later, stars are created in those areas of space. As time passes, this creation process moves inward; space is created nearer to Earth, and stars are created four days later. About 4.3 years before Earth is created, ‘the beginning’ occurs for the space near Alpha Centauri. Four days later Alpha Centauri is created. Finally the Earth is created, but the starlight has not yet reached Earth; God provides a temporary light source. Four days later, God creates the Sun, the planets and the moon. At this point, (thanks to God’s innovative method of creation) all the light from all the stars reaches Earth at exactly the same time. This may seem an unusual method by which to create a universe, but then is there a ‘usual’ method by which universes are created? This method is compatible with the Word of God; and it is compatible with all astronomical observations of which I am aware. The God who created space and time should have no difficulty creating and placing the stars where and when He desires.

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Received on Wed Jul 5 14:49:44 2006