Why do fundamentalists believe the world is 6000-10000 years old?

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If the Bible contains such empirical “scientific” truths, wouldn’t it have made sense for early Christians to have proposed these truths to the scientific community? This could have lead to some earlier advances in science, and a greatly reduced tension between religion and science, assuming that these “truths” were actually correct.

To say that Revelation, or any other book, contains such information is simply not true. If it were, then the questions I proposed above require an answer.

It’s quite easy to take modern scientific information and interpret certain verses to fit. This seems to be an effort to claim that religion had the answers before science. Like I said before, if this were the case, why did early Christians not propose these ideas to scientists and allow them to verify them? Is it most likely that science was out to conspire against religion, that these “scientific” ideas in the Bible were being interpreted incorrectly, or that there is no scientific idea there in the first place?

I’ve started a discussion in the Social Justice subforum about the tension between religion and science, and I invite you all to share your thoughts about this, as it seems like the root of this discussion is very closely related to what I’ve said here. At the very least, take a look at this thread:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=412562
There’s a line in the Bible which goes something vaguely like “do not rely on philosophers and scientists to explain the world to you: they will not”. Science is limited by what evidence is available, and, more critically, what we have the slightest chance of understanding from it. Both are limited by their material nature. I suspect your thinking is modernistically orthodox: We are taught to look to Science as the ultimate authority, but ultimately Science has made at least as many false proclamations of conclusivity as any religion, by the worst interpretation, if not more.

Science then was not what it is now, and was influenced by different ideologies. It also had not attained the level of exalted status it has today. The only reason anyone really feels the need to justify themselves to any authority is because that authority has the power and influence to demand it.

And actually, at least looking at St. Augustine, they *did * try and explain theologically revealed truths scientifically. But no religion worth it’s salt would limit itself to what Science can deterimine, or to what can be scientifically expressed. The scientific is but one among many methods of philosophical investigation, brilliant for understanding the physical mechanics of the world as of themselves, pants if/where there is anything beyond that - including the possibility of anything beyond that

Science is an industry, an authority, a power. So is religion. It is inevitable, given our sadly shallow natures, that they would conflict with each other, because they inconvenience each other
 
Copernicus proved that several observed phenomena work just as well without the Earth being at the center of the universe.

We use physics to discern the most likely actual positioning of celestial bodies- for the Earth to be at the center, every celestial body would have to be lined up 100% perfectly, lest we would be pulled one way harder than the other. Since these bodies are all in motion, this becomes infinitely complex and therefore infinitely unlikely. That’s called proving beyond reasonable doubt.
If I said “this is a fair coin” and flipped it 2 million times and didn’t get a single tails, you would probably say I was wrong about the coin being fair.
Where in God’s name did you get that ‘every celestial body would have to be lined up 100% perfectly’ tym? And who says ‘gravity’ is a pulling force? Couldn’t it be a pushing force?

Look tjm, your physics were invented by Isaac Newton to comply with heliocentrism with its ellipses in the following manner:

**‘This method, of which the germ was contained in the scientific revolution initiated at the turn of the seventeenth century by Francis Bacon and which has since been adopted by every branch of science and by countless pseudo-sciences such as politics, economics, the social sciences, and even art, religion, ethics and psychology, is as follows. Take a phenomenon that can be observed, produce a mathematical measurement for it that fits, concoct a hypothesis which, however far fetched, could possibly account for the phenomenon, and finally call the hypothesis and the mathematical formula that supports it a law and regardless of whether or not there is any theoretical justification for it whatever, apply it throughout the universe. And that is all that the famous Law of Gravitation consists of.’ **

Oh, ‘and beyond reasonable doubts’ may be ok for science where nobody gives a damn and error has little consequence, but not for faith. Actual proof is necessary according to the Church.
 
There’s a line in the Bible which goes something vaguely like “do not rely on philosophers and scientists to explain the world to you: they will not”.
That doesn’t sound familiar. Do you have a reference?
 
You should find the books in this list helpful. Let me know if you have any questions about the titles. I have most of them, except for a couple of the booklets.

1. Dictionary of the Bible by John L. Mckenzie, S.J.
This is one of the best reference resources for studying the bible.

2. Evolution and Creation: A Catholic Understanding by Father William Kramer
This is an excellent work written for the non-specialist.

"Published in 1986 by the Catholic editor “Our Sunday Visitor”, Evolution and Creation : A Catholic Understanding is a 155-page introduction to the Creation/ evolution debate whose non-scholarly approach is justified by its intended readership: “those parents who must react wisely when their children return from school and announce that `the Bible is wrong’.”

3. Origin of the Human Species by Dr. Dennis Bonnette

I fully agree with the following review of Origin of the Human Species from Amazon:
“Although there are hundreds of books dealing with evolutionary theory and human origins, the large majority falls into one of two categories:

"-conventional natural science that embrace either atheistic naturalism or theistic evolutionism that fails to support basic elements of Christian theology particularly the historicity of Adam and Eve and the reality of Original Sin.

"-young-Earth creationism whose scientific credentials are suspect.

“Origin of the Human Species differs in that is shows in great detail how conventional human evolutionary theory is entirely compatible with sound Scriptural interpretation and traditional theology. Dr. Bonnette explores the force of opposing views, but adds philosophical analysis that affirms the absolute need for God’s continuous creative presence in any metaphysically complete explanation of the world.”

4. The Difference of Man and the Difference It Makes by Mortimer J. Adler

The late Dr. Adler was a leading 20th century philosopher and educator who possessed an extensive background in neurophysiology.

The Difference of Man and the Difference It Makes is an indispensable resource for understanding the fundamental issues raised by science and philosophers in regard to man’s essential nature. Adler analyzes numerous critical problems in a profoundly objective manner, from the Aristotelian-Thomistic perspective.

If you are unfamiliar with Aristotelian philosophical concepts, then Adler’s book, Aristotle for Everybody is a good place to start.

5. Chance or Purpose? Creation, Evolution and a Rational Faith by Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn

6. Creation and Evolution: A Conference with Pope Benedict XVI in Castel Gandolfo

“This book documents the proceedings of the remarkable conference on the topic of “Creation and Evolution” hosted by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006 at the papal summer residence, Castel Gandolfo. It includes papers that were presented from the fields of natural science, philosophy and theology, and records the subsequent discussion, in which Pope Benedict XVI himself participated.”

Titles continued in the next post
Itinerant:

Thank you very much for both lists. Seems I own several of the books but haven’t started on them yet. Good. I’ll start with them.

God Bless,
jd
 
There are not two creation accounts in Genesis - twinc
Leave him alone he is a “theosopher”.
Anyway… When i worked at a Christian school as a young lad. I was talking to this guy who worked there. He was studying to be a lawyer. A Very smart man… He did’nt believe in dinosaurs. he said all the fossils were fake. He also didn’t believe in aliens. I said why not? God is very powerful . Highly intelligent. Seems to admire hard work. Why would someone that powerful, that intelligent, that hard working not make other worlds with living things on them? Which he thought about for a while and said yeah why not?
But back on subject… He believed the world was only 6,000 years old. He thought dinosaurs were /are all fake/never existed. Didn’t know you could see satellites with the naked eye. And he home schooled. A fine example as to why home schooling isn’t that good of an idea in all cases.
 
Where in God’s name did you get that ‘every celestial body would have to be lined up 100% perfectly’ tym? And who says ‘gravity’ is a pulling force? Couldn’t it be a pushing force?
Gravity is a pull- both objects are pulled towards their center of gravity. For the Earth to be at the center, the sum of the pulls on it must be zero. Otherwise, it would move.
Look tjm, your physics were invented by Isaac Newton to comply with heliocentrism with its ellipses in the following manner:
**‘This method, of which the germ was contained in the scientific revolution initiated at the turn of the seventeenth century by Francis Bacon and which has since been adopted by every branch of science and by countless pseudo-sciences such as politics, economics, the social sciences, and even art, religion, ethics and psychology, is as follows. Take a phenomenon that can be observed, produce a mathematical measurement for it that fits, concoct a hypothesis which, however far fetched, could possibly account for the phenomenon, and finally call the hypothesis and the mathematical formula that supports it a law and regardless of whether or not there is any theoretical justification for it whatever, apply it throughout the universe. And that is all that the famous Law of Gravitation consists of.’ **
Oh, ‘and beyond reasonable doubts’ may be ok for science where nobody gives a damn and error has little consequence, but not for faith. Actual proof is necessary according to the Church.
Can you name anything that has been ‘actually’ proven?
 
Um, no. Besides from a creation “scientist” I’ve never read from anyone who disagrees with the fact that the Earth is a little over 4.5 billion years old.
The scriptures do not tell us how old the earth is, and scientists are not certain. So no one really knows. The geneology of the scriptures indicates that Adam was created about 6,000 years ago. However, the earth is older and we don’t know how much older.

There are two creation accounts in Genesis. In the first G-d creates mankind, ‘male and female he created them’. So there may have been plenty of people on earth for quite some time before Adam and Eve.

Adam was created from the dust of the ground, a special act of creation. We really only know this about Adam.
 
And what would those things be that are ludicrous?

The Church’s understanding of the Bible has made great strides. I can’t say the same for every individual Catholic.

On what grounds do you think you know better than the majority of biblical scholars? Are you learned in the history of biblical interpretation in Judaism from pre-rabbinic times to the present, and throughout two thousand years of Christianity?

And how is your biblical Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek coming along? Are you fluent in these languages.

How well read are you in the Church Fathers? I see by your arguments, that you are not well read at all. If you had learned anything from St. Augustine’s *De doctrina christiana *you would not be saying most of the things you have said.

Very revealing of you. This is rank theology. That time is linear is not an assumption. It is the unique worldview of Christianity. Most, if not all ancient cultures believed that history is cyclical. The Incarnation itself testifies to the linear nature of history. Likewise the message of salvation, as a once and final event testifies to the linear nature of history.

Your accelerated filmstrip hypothesis is totally groundless speculation. There is no evidence for it in science or theology. In fact, all the evidence goes against it. If you had any background in classical philosophy and Catholic theology I would show how your argument degrades God’s Providence over creation.

I don’t think you are looking deep at all. Your fundamentalist/creationism represents a superficial understanding of the Bible and science. The best you can offer is totally imaginative scenario of an accelerated filmstrip. Do you have any real arguments to support your position?
When you are able to show me official Magisterial documents that show the change and the date.

Huh? Time is not linear somehow translates to cyclical? Where did you get that from?

My arguments are consistent with the constant understanding and teaching of the Church. Your claims are pure scientism.
 
The scriptures do not tell us how old the earth is, and scientists are not certain. So no one really knows. The geneology of the scriptures indicates that Adam was created about 6,000 years ago. However, the earth is older and we don’t know how much older.

There are two creation accounts in Genesis. In the first G-d creates mankind, ‘male and female he created them’. So there may have been plenty of people on earth for quite some time before Adam and Eve.

Adam was created from the dust of the ground, a special act of creation. We really only know this about Adam.
Neither creation account even remotely suggests there were humans prior to Adam and Eve. The purpose of the second account is to represent the first humans. It would be a logical contradiction to say there were humans prior to the first humans.

The two different accounts of creation actually form a unity. The difference represents different aspects of God. In the first account, God is “above” the world that he creates. The second account reveals God as also being intimately involved with His creation.

It is a mistake in genre identification to take this for a literal chronological sequence between the two stories.
 
When you are able to show me official Magisterial documents that show the change and the date.
I don’t know what you are talking about here.
Huh? Time is not linear somehow translates to cyclical? Where did you get that from?
That’s not even a remotely accurate interpretation of what I said.
My arguments are consistent with the constant understanding and teaching of the Church.
Oh, yes. I recall now the dogma of the speedy filmstrip. How could I have forgotten that?
Your claims are pure scientism.
You think everything that is not YEC is scientism. Gimme a break.
 
There’s a line in the Bible which goes something vaguely like “do not rely on philosophers and scientists to explain the world to you: they will not”. Science is limited by what evidence is available, and, more critically, what we have the slightest chance of understanding from it. Both are limited by their material nature. I suspect your thinking is modernistically orthodox: We are taught to look to Science as the ultimate authority, but ultimately Science has made at least as many false proclamations of conclusivity as any religion, by the worst interpretation, if not more.
Fair enough. Let me clear up my thinking though: I believe that science is the ultimate authority only on the natural, observable world. There are questions that science will never be able to answer, such as “why are we here?” Like I said in the thread I linked to in my original post, science answers different questions than religion does.
Science then was not what it is now, and was influenced by different ideologies. It also had not attained the level of exalted status it has today. The only reason anyone really feels the need to justify themselves to any authority is because that authority has the power and influence to demand it.
I don’t feel like science is influenced by any ideology, aside from the search for truth and how things work. That’s merely my perspective though.
And actually, at least looking at St. Augustine, they *did * try and explain theologically revealed truths scientifically. But no religion worth it’s salt would limit itself to what Science can deterimine, or to what can be scientifically expressed. The scientific is but one among many methods of philosophical investigation, brilliant for understanding the physical mechanics of the world as of themselves, pants if/where there is anything beyond that - including the possibility of anything beyond that
I’ve never heard of this, but then again, I’ve never actually looked up science in the early church. I imagine that it went something like religious people attempting science today though. Usually a religious person will take something from the Bible and try to find evidence to support it, while ignoring or erroneously interpreting data in order to confirm their hypothesis. I admit that some scientists do the same to try and disprove ideas with apparent religious implications. I think that what should have happened was: St. Augustine should have gone to the proper researchers with the information (in the form of a hypothesis or prediction) he had gained from the Bible and asked them to investigate it. This is generally how scientific hypotheses are approached, and it would have done wonders for science-church relations in the long run. Also, given that time in history, it’s less likely that science would intentionally draw anti-Biblical conclusions in order to discredit religion.
Science is an industry, an authority, a power. So is religion. It is inevitable, given our sadly shallow natures, that they would conflict with each other, because they inconvenience each other
True. Sad, but true.
 
Fair enough. Let me clear up my thinking though: I believe that science is the ultimate authority only on the natural, observable world. There are questions that science will never be able to answer, such as “why are we here?” Like I said in the thread I linked to in my original post, science answers different questions than religion does.
It’ll give it a good try - “because of a sheer accident” is the prevailing one
I don’t feel like science is influenced by any ideology, aside from the search for truth and how things work. That’s merely my perspective though.
Modern scientific practice is underpinned by a rather exclusive idea - specifically, that if something cannot be interpreted scientifically, it is best assumed that there is a more rational explanation, and that will neccesarily be taken as the more reasonable one. As we reach the stage where there is little of experience which is not expected to justify itself according to these principles, Science becomes universally exclusivist. This is Scientism, and it essentially rejects all other forms of philosophical interpretation and belief in attempting to find the truth. And it is an ideology which permeates modern life

Because Science can only interpret things based on the assumption of material causality. Concepts and experiences of the supernatural are inevitably rejected as unprovable, since, well, there’s no way to scientifically investigate them as thoroughly as any alternative material causation
I’ve never heard of this, but then again, I’ve never actually looked up science in the early church. I imagine that it went something like religious people attempting science today though. Usually a religious person will take something from the Bible and try to find evidence to support it, while ignoring or erroneously interpreting data in order to confirm their hypothesis. I admit that some scientists do the same to try and disprove ideas with apparent religious implications. I think that what should have happened was: St. Augustine should have gone to the proper researchers with the information (in the form of a hypothesis or prediction) he had gained from the Bible and asked them to investigate it. This is generally how scientific hypotheses are approached, and it would have done wonders for science-church relations in the long run. Also, given that time in history, it’s less likely that science would intentionally draw anti-Biblical conclusions in order to discredit religion.
Part of Darwin’s inspiration, as I understand it, was that he thought various forms of life too cruel to have been created by God. Although I’ve covered that before, I think…

Scientific authority? But that’s the thing - there wasn’t much in the way of scientific authority! In fact, St. Augustine was probably as much of a scientific authority as anyone else, at the time. Most of the most learned men for many years were Church scholars.St. Augustine, incientally, was also probably one of the first to consider evolutionary possibilities!

one-eternal-day.com/2009/05/st-augustine-scripture-and-evolution.html

Which is why the Church is rather amenable to the idea of evolution - but allows skepticism about it also!
True. Sad, but true.
“Best laid plans” and all…
 
Gravity is a pull- both objects are pulled towards their center of gravity. For the Earth to be at the center, the sum of the pulls on it must be zero. Otherwise, it would move.

Can you name anything that has been ‘actually’ proven?
There are many theories for gravity tym, you just believe Isaac Newton’s. If you want I can give you an account of another proposed at the time of Isaac Newton. But the Masonic Royal Society of London wanted one that would get the earth moving and contradict the Bible and the Church’s stand on it.

Of course I can, dinosaurs do exist, their fossils have been found and their tracks along with human footprints were sold by the Indians for years…

What cannot be proven however is how old is the world, did life evolve, did man evolve, where did he get intelligence that give him choices, that the earth is part of the solar system, that the Solar system was formed from a Gas ball, that the world began 14.5 billion years ago with a big bang, how far away the stars are. etc., etc.

Now note it is with unprovable science that the Modernists attack the literal revelations in Scripture and the traditional understanding of creation, the fall, original sin etc.

So far tym, you have given this thread the best case for the FAITH we creationists hold.
 
Don’t get me wrong the rest were nearly as obtuse, but this is a classic!

You do realize we have sent probs to almost all the major planets??

youtube.com/watch?v=p86BPM1GV8M

http://bonkbonk.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/pbd.jpg
Albert old pal, The ‘SOLAR SYSTEM’ is the name given to the hypothesis that the earth is but one of the planets orbiting the sun.

The EARTH SYSTEM, that I hold, has the sun with its orbiting planets orbiting the earth.

Now both are hypoteses in the sphere of science. Not so in the sphere of faith wherein geocentrism is confirmen by revelation.

So, when I say the earth cannot be proven to be part of the Solar System in future you will now be able to understand the language I use.

As for the ‘you are here’ I have no problem with that picture. All it shows is the earth, sun and planets. My Earth system - your Solar system.

Viewed the video Albert. I enjoyed it, the music was superb, and the narrative was very pleasant. Sagan was like yourself Albert, a noner, wasn’t he, so he would leave out that it was God’s FOOTSTOOL, the place He created before the universe to accommodate the greatest act of His love, mankind, and thereafter their salvation by way of His becoming a man only to die for us. Accordingly, I would think the ‘blue dot’ deserved its proper name and place in the universe. Can you guys even imagine a geocentric wording to this video. Alas, you never will, not on your lives, yes?
 
Gravity is a pull- both objects are pulled towards their center of gravity. For the Earth to be at the center, the sum of the pulls on it must be zero. Otherwise, it would move.

Can you name anything that has been ‘actually’ proven?
Gravity is the consequence of space being warped by the presence of concentrated energy forms, notably matter.

The geometry of the universe may not be such as to allow a center to be mathematically defined. Draw a long, rambling, squiggly line that meets its origin, thereby describing an enclosure. Try to find the center of it.

A center of the universe could be defined in several ways, if it actually is definable. You seem to like null gravity and apparently zero relative motion of a body at the center. Both are impossible. If the body contains any mass, its own space is warped, which prevents it from being at the center of anything whatsoever.

Moreover, such a centered planet will be perceived to move from the perspective of any other planet or observation point. Thus it will be impossible to verify that the planet does not move and is not subject to gravitational forces.
 
Excerpt from The Triumph Of The Heliocentric Theory

The next major development [after Galileo] was the generalization of Kepler’s laws in 1687 by Isaac Newton (1642-1727). His generalized form of Kepler’s laws showed that the Sun and planets all revolve around the solar system’s center of mass. Telescopic observations of solar system objects gave indications of their size and when used in the generalized Kepler’s laws, soon showed that the Sun is much larger and more massive than even Jupiter (the largest and most massive planet). Thus the center of the solar system, around which Earth revolves, is always in or near the Sun. Earth orbits the Sun much more than the Sun orbits Earth.

Another demonstration of Earth’s orbital motion is the aberration of starlight. Astronomical observations and celestial mechanics indicate that Earth should have a 16-19 mi/sec (25-30 km/sec) orbital velocity around the solar system’s center which continuously changes its direction due to the gravitational effect of the Sun. James Bradley’s (1693-1762) attempt to determine the parallaxes of stars starting in 1725 with a telescope rigidly fixed in a chimney soon found that the apparent positions of the stars shifted along elliptical paths. These ellipses were 90° out of phase with the parallax ellipse for a nearby star on a distant background that is expected to be produced by Earth’s motion around the Sun.

Moreover the ellipses’ semi-major axes were always 20.5", with no variation from the different distances of the stars. These same size ellipses were soon understood to be the yearly paths of the aberrations of the apparent positions of the stars caused by the addition of Earth’s constantly changing orbital velocity to the vacuum velocity of the light arriving from the stars (whose true positions are at the centers of the aberrational ellipses). These ellipses show that Earth does indeed have the expected orbital velocity around the solar system’s center of mass.

Final proof of the heliocentric theory for the solar system came in 1838, when F.W. Bessel (1784-1846) determined the first firm trigonometric parallax for the two stars of 61 Cygni (Gliese 820). Their parallax (difference in apparent direction of an object as seen from two different points) ellipses were consistent with orbital motion of Earth around the Sun.
 
Leave him alone he is a “theosopher”.
Anyway… When i worked at a Christian school as a young lad. I was talking to this guy who worked there. He was studying to be a lawyer. A Very smart man… He did’nt believe in dinosaurs. he said all the fossils were fake. He also didn’t believe in aliens. I said why not? God is very powerful . Highly intelligent. Seems to admire hard work. Why would someone that powerful, that intelligent, that hard working not make other worlds with living things on them? Which he thought about for a while and said yeah why not?
But back on subject… He believed the world was only 6,000 years old. He thought dinosaurs were /are all fake/never existed. Didn’t know you could see satellites with the naked eye. And he home schooled. A fine example as to why home schooling isn’t that good of an idea in all cases.
Why are dinosaurs always brought into this discussion? I have been asked this question many times. If the empirical sciences can show that the dinosaurs existed, then they probably did exist. Pope John Paul II is quoted as saying, "God is the creator, and we’ll leave the explanation up to the scientific community to help us understand the world”.

The Earth is over 4 billion years old. The covenant between man and God began around 10,000 or 6,000 years ago. God’s covenant with man is the Bible. That is the documentation of God’s covenant. The dinosaurs lived on the Earth and became extinct before God’s covenant with man, so they don’t necessarily need to be in the Bible.

Don’t forget the Vatican has had The Pontifical Academy of Sciences since around 1603. The last two Popes have had no problem with the empirical sciences. Remember what Pope John Paul II said, “FAITH and REASON are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to contemplation of truth”. 😃
 
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