Young Earth v. Old Earth

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The speed of light has been measured by astornomers to have been constant for the last 10 billion years, and probably constant for the last 12 billion years. See Fine Structure Constant. The maximum possible measured variation is very small, less than one in 10,000.

If you want to have a changing speed of light then you have to go back at least 10 billion years and you are only allowed a very small change.

Scientists do not like assuming things, so wherever possible they measure them - that includes checking that constants really are constant. The constancy of the speed of light has been checked by observation, and there is no posibility of a young earth there.

rossum
Just to make a curious approach…

The farther we observe the universe’s spacetime, the more “red shifted” or time dilated it becomes.
Could there not be a frame of reference “somehwere” in the universe where the value might give the age of the universe in terms of days, relative to our timekeeping?

Andre
 
The speed of light has been measured by astornomers to have been constant for the last 10 billion years, and probably constant for the last 12 billion years. See Fine Structure Constant. The maximum possible measured variation is very small, less than one in 10,000.

If you want to have a changing speed of light then you have to go back at least 10 billion years and you are only allowed a very small change.

Scientists do not like assuming things, so wherever possible they measure them - that includes checking that constants really are constant. The constancy of the speed of light has been checked by observation, and there is no posibility of a young earth there.

rossum
I think I will wait a little while longer before I agree.
 
Just to make a curious approach…

The farther we observe the universe’s spacetime, the more “red shifted” or time dilated it becomes.
Could there not be a frame of reference “somehwere” in the universe where the value might give the age of the universe in terms of days, relative to our timekeeping?

Andre
Interesting question - perhaps to be found in quantum physics.

Basically the same argument still exists between heliocentrism and geocentrism. We really can’t prove one or the other until we are outside of this frame.

Can a frame be stretched or compressed? Are we flatlanders looking out into the universe?
 
Just to make a curious approach…

The farther we observe the universe’s spacetime, the more “red shifted” or time dilated it becomes.
Could there not be a frame of reference “somehwere” in the universe where the value might give the age of the universe in terms of days, relative to our timekeeping?
Possibly, but such a frame would have had to have been travelling at a very large fraction (say 99%+) of the speed of light since the instant of the Big Bang. Nothing around us has been moving at that speed for that length of time: light moves faster while everything else moves slower.

Red shift and time dilation are not exactly the same. Time dilation causes some red shift, but not all of it - the rest is due to the expansion of the universe.

rossum
 
Possibly, but such a frame would have had to have been travelling at a very large fraction (say 99%+) of the speed of light since the instant of the Big Bang. Nothing around us has been moving at that speed for that length of time: light moves faster while everything else moves slower.

Red shift and time dilation are not exactly the same. Time dilation causes some red shift, but not all of it - the rest is due to the expansion of the universe.

rossum
It was just a thought; however, wouldn’t the “expansion of the universe” involve not mearly space but spacetime as well, time of billions of years past , distorting even further our concept of time?
My point would be simply that the expansion of the universe would also be responsible,involving a dilation of our concept of time as observed relative to the beginning of the Big Bang.

Andre
 
SpiritMeadow, I found your post to me, as well as those to others here, to be rather condescending. I will take responsibility for how I “heard” your tone. I encourage you to be responsible for the possible tone you create in your messages.

Perhaps your tedium with the topic led you to be less than cautious in your word choice? Perhaps, if you find the topic to be tedious, you should leave it to those of us who have not yet participated in a conversation on this topic? Just a couple of thoughts.

Although it may take me years of therapy to get over the comments of a total stranger :rolleyes: , please feel free to respond to me as often or infrequently as you like. It does me no harm. And I’ll feel free to respond back as I wish. That’s how these forums work after all.👍

Gertie
Once will serve me for a lifetime. :eek:
 
It was just a thought; however, wouldn’t the “expansion of the universe” involve not mearly space but spacetime as well, time of billions of years past , distorting even further our concept of time?
There is neither time nor space, but only spacetime. The two are inseparable. Our usual concept of time is not correct for anything that is not suitable for classical physics. In quantum physics time can run as easily backwards as forwards - indeed it is diffucult to find a consistent definition for “forwads” in time under quantum mechanics. In general relativity, gravity affects spacetime, and hence affects both space and time. Your normal concept of time is ot correct for either extreme (very small or very massive). When you get something that is both a black hole or the monobloc - then things get very strange and unintuitive indeed.
My point would be simply that the expansion of the universe would also be responsible,involving a dilation of our concept of time as observed relative to the beginning of the Big Bang.
No. The expansion of the universe is a different effect. Time dilation is due to other causes.

See Time Dilation for some of the relevant formulae.

rossum
 
I refer to myself as an old-Earth Creationist and accpet a mixture of theories to explain some of the unknowns. For example:
I prefer the pulsating theory rather than the big bang or steady state universe.
I think humans are a created being, not an evolutionary one and think most if not all other creatures were created as we know them with adaptation being more prevelant to explain the variations of species and the extended periods of time in geologic Earth history to have them adapt to different and changing environments. Like humans, I think other species were placed on Earth by God at different times for reasons I cannot fathom.

In one sense nature is supernatural because it exists at all. God certainly could snap His ‘fingers’ and make the universe just as we know it (with burried fossils and traveled light), but seeing God is natural I think Natural Law as we have come to understand it would rule the universe to include the ‘time’ it would take gravity and heat and light to form the planets and initiate life.

The age old question of what came first ‘the chicken or the egg’; I believe the chicken came first and not from a primordial pool of amino acids that was first an amoeba, then a worm, then a bird…

I think there is a difference in the kinds of life God created and each was created separately at differnet times or in concert with others. Suns and planets are a kind of living thing. Volcanos and rain are a kind of living thing. (Rocks do not live but a living planet must produce them). Plants are a living thing and so are animals. I can believe one miracle or many. I think there are many and like God they are simple and difficult to understand.
 
Hi, D M!

…but Moses is working from a limited perspective… God did not need to stop because He became literaly tired from all the work He had done… God simply finished executing the machinations of Creation…

There’s a fabulous passage that speaks on this very thing: Creation:

15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 16 For in him were all things created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominations, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him and in him. 17 And he is before all, and by him all things consist. (Colossians 1:15-17)

So God did not simply Create the universe and rested… but the essence of the universe remains in Him as He contains it in the form and purpose that He gave it.

Another passage that you should consider is Jesus’ declaration that He works (on the Sabbath) because His Father also works:

16 Therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, because he did these things on the sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them: My Father worketh until now; and I work. 18 Hereupon therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he did not only break the sabbath, but also said God was his Father, making himself equal to God.(St. John 5:16-18)

So while God literaly rested from Creation, the components of Creation are in an on-going cycle which God continues to renew/maintain. (This is how I can reconcile the Rest and still Working passages.)

Maran atha!

Angel
Hello jcrichton,

…you are right some things are beyond our immediate knowledge or comprehension… and admittedly on that account I’ve having difficulty trying to make sense of your argument myself

This is what I think you are saying:
  • that time is not really existent, but what exists is simply our perception of it
-That we do not literal intrepret that the Father stops working on the sabbath,

-that creation is bound together with the Trinity upon Whom it has its being, and by Whose working it exists

-that Moses’ understanding was incomplete, and God was simply speaking to Moses (as He does to all of us) in the manner that Moses would have understood

-that somehow these arguments then show that the universe was not created in six literal days…(and I’m having difficulty connecting the above with the last argument… this is where I need additional help… is what you are suggesting that there is in fact other potential interpretations to scripture? I’m not in disagreement with that, as I never stated I was convinced of either a young or old earth…but if what you mean is that scripture could not mean a young earth, than I’m not seeing this one)

God bless
 
The speed of light has been measured by astornomers to have been constant for the last 10 billion years, and probably constant for the last 12 billion years. See Fine Structure Constant. The maximum possible measured variation is very small, less than one in 10,000.

If you want to have a changing speed of light then you have to go back at least 10 billion years and you are only allowed a very small change.

Scientists do not like assuming things, so wherever possible they measure them - that includes checking that constants really are constant. The constancy of the speed of light has been checked by observation, and there is no posibility of a young earth there.

rossum
Hi, rossum!

…so… are scientists saying that the earth was created by the speed of light?

Maran atha!

Angel
 
This is what I think you are saying:
  • that time is not really existent, but what exists is simply our perception of it
Hi, D M!

Yes. Yahweh God identified Himself as the I AM–He is both the Beginning and the End and He Created us in His image and likeness. Time is immaterial.
-That we do not literal intrepret that the Father stops working on the sabbath,
No. I meant to convey that He actually and literaly rested from Creation; that is that He rested from setting into motion the universe and all that exists in it… but not rested in terms of being depleted of energy and needing to renew His strength. And that He is still active in the workings of the universe (i.e.: the Church that Christ built is organic hence the need of the Holy Spirit to continue to nurture and lead it.)
-that creation is bound together with the Trinity upon Whom it has its being, and by Whose working it exists
Yes, but more… that the Holy Trinity continues to work as the universe continues to expand or mutate, in terms of change and growth–remember what Jesus said about the turmoil of the end of time “in respect for the elect not all will happen at once.” (paraphrased)–this indicates a constant vigil and interaction.
-that Moses’ understanding was incomplete, and God was simply speaking to Moses (as He does to all of us) in the manner that Moses would have understood
Correct.
-that somehow these arguments then show that the universe was not created in six literal days…(and I’m having difficulty connecting the above with the last argument… this is where I need additional help…
…I think that this part was from the other post where I cited the narrative of Genesis’ Creation: at the beginning the heavens (universe) and the earth were Created, then several cycles were applied to the various unfolding of Creation; the Sun and Moon being brought into existence not on the first day but on the fourth suggests that the cycles were not necessarily based on six twenty-four-hour periods.
is what you are suggesting that there is in fact other potential interpretations to scripture? I’m not in disagreement with that, as I never stated I was convinced of either a young or old earth…but if what you mean is that scripture could not mean a young earth, than I’m not seeing this one)
What I am suggesting is that there is no actual time frame in Creation as there are two periods (the first states that at the very beginning of Creation God frames the universe and sets an earth devoid carbon based life; the second, which is broken down into 6 stages where the earth is prepared for life and where the various life forms are brought into existence–Scriptures are quite opened for interpretation as myriads of years could have elapsed between the various periods; conversely, knowing that God is Spirit and that He brought everything into existence, I reason that carbon dating the materials could offer exagerated readings as science would not be calculating the actual materials but the residual energy (due to Creation) embeded in them.

Hope this clarifies my previous post.

Maran atha!

Angel
 
…so… are scientists saying that the earth was created by the speed of light?
No. Scientists are saying that the Fine Structure Constant (which includes the speed of light) has been constant for at least the last 10 billion years and probably the last 12 billion years.

For the origin of the universe, there are a number of hypotheses, one of which is String Theory. For a non-mathematical introduction to String Theory see: The Myth of the Beginning of Time.

For the origin of the planet earth the standard explanation is an Accretion Disc.

rossum
 
There is neither time nor space, but only spacetime. The two are inseparable.
I agree; It’s what I awckwardly was trying to say.
Our usual concept of time is not correct for anything that is not suitable for classical physics. In quantum physics time can run as easily backwards as forwards - indeed it is diffucult to find a consistent definition for “forwads” in time under quantum mechanics. In general relativity, gravity affects spacetime, and hence affects both space and time. Your normal concept of time is ot correct for either extreme (very small or very massive). When you get something that is both a black hole or the monobloc - then things get very strange and unintuitive indeed.
Right; so, wouldn’t this mean that,to say the universe is 13 billion years old, although not wrong, would nevertheless be a biased answer?
No. The expansion of the universe is a different effect. Time dilation is due to other causes.
My problem would be that if time can be dilated by the gravitational warping of spacetime, why would it not be affected by the stretching of spacetime due to the expansion?
In other words, what evidence do we have in order to claim that the expansion of the universe does not affect time flow in any way?

Andre
 
Right; so, wouldn’t this mean that,to say the universe is 13 billion years old, although not wrong, would nevertheless be a biased answer?
It is the correct answer in our frame of reference. In other frames of reference the answer can be anything from 0.0 nanoseconds after the Big Bang upwards. There is no overall preferred frame of reference, unlike in classical physics. From our own point of view our own frame of reference is the most convenient.
My problem would be that if time can be dilated by the gravitational warping of spacetime, why would it not be affected by the stretching of spacetime due to the expansion?
It would, I made a mistake. The effect is there, but small; as with red-shifts local effects tend to dominate over universal effects unless you are looking at very distant objects. Special relativity is local, not cosmological; general relativity is cosmological and the expansion of spacetime is a general relativistic effect.
In other words, what evidence do we have in order to claim that the expansion of the universe does not affect time flow in any way?
It does, my apologies for my mistake.

rossum
 
Hi, D M!

Yes. Yahweh God identified Himself as the I AM–He is both the Beginning and the End and He Created us in His image and likeness. Time is immaterial.

No. I meant to convey that He actually and literaly rested from Creation; that is that He rested from setting into motion the universe and all that exists in it… but not rested in terms of being depleted of energy and needing to renew His strength. And that He is still active in the workings of the universe (i.e.: the Church that Christ built is organic hence the need of the Holy Spirit to continue to nurture and lead it.)

Yes, but more… that the Holy Trinity continues to work as the universe continues to expand or mutate, in terms of change and growth–remember what Jesus said about the turmoil of the end of time “in respect for the elect not all will happen at once.” (paraphrased)–this indicates a constant vigil and interaction.

Correct.

…I think that this part was from the other post where I cited the narrative of Genesis’ Creation: at the beginning the heavens (universe) and the earth were Created, then several cycles were applied to the various unfolding of Creation; the Sun and Moon being brought into existence not on the first day but on the fourth suggests that the cycles were not necessarily based on six twenty-four-hour periods.

What I am suggesting is that there is no actual time frame in Creation as there are two periods (the first states that at the very beginning of Creation God frames the universe and sets an earth devoid carbon based life; the second, which is broken down into 6 stages where the earth is prepared for life and where the various life forms are brought into existence–Scriptures are quite opened for interpretation as myriads of years could have elapsed between the various periods; conversely, knowing that God is Spirit and that He brought everything into existence, I reason that carbon dating the materials could offer exagerated readings as science would not be calculating the actual materials but the residual energy (due to Creation) embeded in them.

Hope this clarifies my previous post.

Maran atha!

Angel
Hi jchrichton!

Yes, thank you, that does clarify things a bit.

So, to repeat then if I have it right: God told Moses on Sinai to keep the sabbath on the seventh day on which He rested, which did not imply that the universe was created in six literal days, but was in reference to a metaphorical or other understanding of how God created the universe in six stages, which are openly interpreted, and that this creation week is perhaps then symbolically marked by the instituted sabbath (in perhaps the same manner that… I don’t know… people observe a minute of silence on Nov. 11th in the British Commonwealth to mark the end of the first world war, even if that war technically took four years, that is it is a symbolic marking of time to remember something that lasted longer than the amount of time it is remembered by).

If I’ve gotten that right, I would say I would agree that does seem like a possible interpretation.

Although I still think a literal six-day week is still possible as well from a scriptural point of view. God is outside time, but that does mean that the six-days in creation, would not have appeared as six-literals days if we had been there (if as you suggest time is simply our own perception that is.)

Radiological dating may suggest that there are rocks on this earth that are 4.6 billion years old. Carbon dating may suggest that life has been on this earth for at least 50,000 years. And archaeological and historical records may suggest the existence of civilization before Adam and Eve supposedly walked the Earth in Genesis. Although as is wisely pointed out, people have been wrong about the facts before (blood-letting for instance), and one should not think that any of these facts are beyond questioning or doubt (it also tends to make better scholarship when we question, and seek further).

In my view, anyone who claims a scientific fact (and even moreso a historical fact) is beyond question, does not understand the nature of scientific facts. The entire method is based on trying to disprove what is thought to be true.

God Bless,
 
I would still be interested to know why you think that considering science proves it is over 4 billion years old and there is NOTHING in the Bible about the age of the Earth.
It makes God to be a deciever if what appears to be very, very old, is actually very, very new.
 
Not - we can be interpreting things wrong or just not have enough information.
But that does not sound reasonable to do such a thing. Since our faith must compatiable with reason, it can’t be young.
 
But that does not sou reasonable to do such a thing. Since our faith must compatiable with reason, it can’t be young.
There is a truth out there no doubt. However, we observe things and then try to best interpret what we observe. We gather data and then try best to interpret that data.

Faith and reason cannot be opposed.

What we know - Revelation is true.

Science can say nothing about the supernatural. Science by its own definition has a limited say about the universe.

One can try to fit Revealed truth to scientific theory (scientism) or one can test science to revealed truth.

There is much in this thread - Catholic Traditon vs Science - are we looking deep enough
 
It makes God to be a deciever if what appears to be very, very old, is actually very, very new.
But that does not sound reasonable to do such a thing. Since our faith must compatiable with reason, it can’t be young.
I totally agree that faith and reason are not contrary.

However, scientific “facts” are constantly changing. Scientists in the past have been sure the earth is the center of the universe, that “humors” cause illness, that native Africans are intellectually inferior to native Europeans, and so on. Their beliefs shaped what they looked for and what they saw, until some “crazy” (like Galileo) came along and had proof of some new idea.

Science is about questioning, not about dogma. Until God reveals his truth to us, there’s room for both creationism and evolution. Just put God at the center of it all.

Gertie
 
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