How old is Earth?

[djn03045]

I am having trouble dealing with my son (9 years old) who attends a christian school, where he has been taught the earth is 6,000 years old. I am a practicing catholic and have always been told that science and religion shall not contradict one another. During the april school break we went to D.C. and he got to visit the museum of natual history, where he insisted that the scientist do not determine the age of dinosaurs etc acurately. He also insists that the dinosaurs were on earth in the first 7 days, they wouldn’t eat Adam or Eve due to God protecting them. Could you please help with this very difficult question?
Thank you
Dan

 

[Leonie_Ambrose]

Dan,

The following links should assist you in better understanding the Catholic Church’s teaching on how old the earth is. If you have any further questions or concerns that are not answered by these links, please [contact Catholic Answers (http://www.catholic.com/home/contact.asp) directly.**

****Recommended Reading: ****

• [What does the Church say about creation? (http://forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=188120)
• [Is the earth 5,700 years old? (http://forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=36861)
• [How do Catholics understand the creation story? (http://forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=264084)
• [Can Catholics believe in a literal six-day creation? (http://forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=17114)
• [Does the pope teach us that evolution is false? (http://forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=68737)
• [Why did God create dinosaurs? (http://forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=101277)
• [Dinosaurs? (http://forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=152)
• [**Dinosaurs ** (http://forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=3079)
• [Where does the prehistoric age fall in the book of Genesis? (http://forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=13345)

**