How old is the earth?

[Sun Tzu]

Great post by Jim.

My serious thought process here is...Faith-based beliefs on the age of the world are flawed from a logical perspective at their very core. You're appealing to ignorance if you follow this reasoning -

Premise: Nobody can prove that God didn't create the world X number of years ago.
Conclusion: God must have created the world X number of years ago.

[BrianD]

I'd be very interested in hearing an interpretation of the evidence which points to a 6000 year old earth, and for the sake of this discussion, I'd accept the Bible and all of its evidence. From my reading of the Bible, I can't see where a young earth comes from...or any age at all. I also haven't been able to find a religious person near me (in Wisconsin) who holds to the idea of a young earth. I'm genuinely curious where people get that age from.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by BrianD

I'd be very interested in hearing an interpretation of the evidence which points to a 6000 year old earth, and for the sake of this discussion, I'd accept the Bible and all of its evidence. From my reading of the Bible, I can't see where a young earth comes from...or any age at all. I also haven't been able to find a religious person near me (in Wisconsin) who holds to the idea of a young earth. I'm genuinely curious where people get that age from.

It derived from simply adding up the genealogies from the Bible. YAC'ers believe in a strictly literal interpretation of the Bible.

Except when it comes to eating bacon.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by BrianD

I'd be very interested in hearing an interpretation of the evidence which points to a 6000 year old earth, and for the sake of this discussion, I'd accept the Bible and all of its evidence. From my reading of the Bible, I can't see where a young earth comes from...or any age at all. I also haven't been able to find a religious person near me (in Wisconsin) who holds to the idea of a young earth. I'm genuinely curious where people get that age from.

It has its basis in ancient Hebrew texts that place the date of creation anywhere from 5500 BC to 3500 BC.

[Sun Tzu]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

Except when it comes to eating bacon.

:Looks about a 1/2 inch lower than the letters on this line...right here:

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by BrianD

I'd be very interested in hearing an interpretation of the evidence which points to a 6000 year old earth, and for the sake of this discussion, I'd accept the Bible and all of its evidence. From my reading of the Bible, I can't see where a young earth comes from...or any age at all. I also haven't been able to find a religious person near me (in Wisconsin) who holds to the idea of a young earth. I'm genuinely curious where people get that age from.

I was under the impression it came from adding up all the begatting.

[BrianD]

Originally Posted by mckerney

I was under the impression it came from adding up all the begatting.

This was my first assumption too, but it assumes that the lineage is complete with nothing left out, and it assumes an age of procreation. Understanding that men stay fertile throughout their lives, and some of these guys lived multiple-hundreds of years, that leaves quite a bit of variation.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by BrianD

This was my first assumption too, but it assumes that the lineage is complete with nothing left out, and it assumes an age of procreation. Understanding that men stay fertile throughout their lives, and some of these guys lived multiple-hundreds of years, that leaves quite a bit of variation.

Hence the YEC estimates tend to vary from 6,000 years to 10,000 years.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by BrianD

This was my first assumption too, but it assumes that the lineage is complete with nothing left out, and it assumes an age of procreation. Understanding that men stay fertile throughout their lives, and some of these guys lived multiple-hundreds of years, that leaves quite a bit of variation.

The young earth belief is based on the bible being the absolute and perfect word of God with 100% accuracy so I don't think they have much of a problem assuming the lineage is complete.