SCIENCE AND THE CREATIVE DAYS OF GENESIS

Were the 7 creative days of Genesis 24 hour days? If so, we appear to have a big problem. Most scientists believe the Universe is over 14 billion years old and that the earth is over 4 billion years old.

The Bible does not say how long a period elapsed between the beginning when God created the heaven and the earth, and the beginning of the creative week used in perfecting it for man.

From this point of view, there would be no contradiction between the the age of the earth being over 4 billion years.

HOW LONG IS A BIBLE DAY?

The days in Genesis are not 24 hours days. As a matter of fact, each day could be thousands or even millions of years long.

We quote from the book, “Science and Creation,” which can be found on DawnBible.com.

“Some have been misled by the word “day” used in this statement. It is a translation of the Hebrew word yowm, pronounced, yome. While often in the Old Testament this word is applied to a literal day of twelve or twenty-four hours, the sacred writers did not thus limit its use.

“In Exodus 13:10, Leviticus 25:29, Numbers 9:22, and in other places, the same Hebrew word is translated “year.” In Genesis 40:4 and Joshua 24:7 it is translated “season.” In Genesis 4:3 and 26:8, and many other places, yowm is translated “time.” These references reveal clearly that the meaning of this Hebrew word is not limited to a twenty-four hour day.

“Besides, the Bible often uses the word “day” in a broader sense. The period of forty years the Israelites spent in the wilderness is referred to as “the day of temptation in the wilderness.” (Ps. 95:8) Isaiah refers to the era of Christ’s kingdom on earth as a “day.” (Isa. 11:10) And in Genesis 2:4 the entire period of creation is “the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.”

“It is clear, then, that the Hebrew word yowm simply denotes a time, season, or era during which certain events take place, or a particular work is accomplished.”

AGE OF UNIVERSE

How do scientists determine the age of the Universe? By the late 1920s the pioneering work of Edwin Hubble in his observations of galaxies and their associated “red shift” established that the universe was expanding and argued for a “beginning” and a “stretching,” just as the Bible asserts in Job 9:8; Job 38:31.

When the light from a galaxy which is moving away from us is observed the wavelength appears longer, it moves towards the red end of the light spectrum. This is called RED SHIFT. The further away the galaxy the greater the red shift.

The Hubble telescope has helped to measure the speeds and distances of galaxies. Because all of the galaxies in the universe are generally moving apart, scientists infer that they must all have been much closer together sometime in the past. Knowing the current speeds and distances to galaxies, coupled with the rate at which the universe is accelerating, allows scientists to calculate how long it took for them to reach their current locations. They calculate the Universe to be about 14 billion years old.

RADIOMETRIC DATING

How do Scientists determine the age of the earth?

Fossils form when organisms are buried in sand and mud. As layers of deposits build up, older sediments are compressed into rock. The organisms form fossils within the rock. The younger the rock, the higher it is in the rock layers. The fossils within the rock layer are the same age as the rock itself.

Scientist attempt to calculate the age of fossils by using Radiometric Dating methods. Radiometric dating is a method of determining the ages of fossils using radioactive isotopes. In the process of emitting radiation, radioactive isotopes decay into different isotopes, eventually producing elements that are not radioactive. For example, the radioactive isotope Uranium-238 decays into the stable isotope Lead-206. Each radioactive isotope decays at a unique constant rate described by its Half-Life.

Half-life is the time it takes for half of a given quantity of a radioactive isotope to decay into another isotope. For example, the half-life of Uranium-238 is believed to be 4.5 billion years. Scientists believe it takes 4.5 billion years for half of a sample of this isotope to decay away. Consider a rock containing Uranium-238 that formed at the time of the earliest known fossils, calculated to be about 3.5 billion years ago. Today, it would contain about 58% of the original quantity of Uranium-238. An isotope with a shorter half-life would be better for calculating the age of a younger rock, because it would decay more significantly in a shorter time. The greater change in the amount of isotope would allow a more accurate measurement of the age of a younger rock. By measuring the remaining the remaining about of radioactive isotope, scientists believe they can determine the age of the fossil.

ARE SCIENTISTS RIGHT?

Among the Christian community are many scientists with points of view in conflict with secular evolutionists. However, these issues are, as the expression goes, “above my pay grade.” I am an accountant, not a scientist and I am not qualified to render an expert opinion.

I do however take note that when the Hubble space telescope scanned the heavens outside of earth's atmospheric distortions that various established theories were radically changed or abandoned. Later, after realizing that the Hubble was damaged and then repairing it, they had a better view of the heavens and once again rejected some of their more revised understandings of the Universe.

Hence, science is only as good as the instruments and tools available AND is flawed at times by previously published conclusions and biased grant money.

Some creationists feel that the radiometric dating methods are unreliable for pre-flood dating since conclusions are not based strictly on the half-life of radioactive materials, but are rather more on what is called "Field Relationships" in which a starting date range is assumed based on predetermined assumptions about what age should reasonably be expected (based on their ideas). In other words, some believe it to be a rigged system

There are a number of technical details associated with these dating methods which render them invalid if we accept the canopy theory.

Carbon-dating assumes that the production of Carbon-14 has been constant for the past several hundred million years. If the canopy theory is correct (and the Bible strongly supports it) then there was virtually no production of Carbon-14 prior to the Flood. Therefore everything that died and was buried before the Flood appears to be millions of years older based on flawed assumptions.

CANOPY THEORY

Page 2 of the Photodrama of Creation says, "The Earth was once molten, as indicated by the igneous rocks of the Azoic period: so called by scientists, but not discussed in the Bible. When the Earth was molten, its water and minerals were thrown off a great distance in gaseous form. As these cooled and took shape, they constituted great rings at a distance from the Earth. Gradually the motion of the rings became different from that of the Earth in proportion to the distance from the center of gravity. These rings of water and mineral gradually approaching the Earth would be kept off by centrifugal force, particularly strong at the equator."

Scientists do not generally take into consideration the Photodrama concepts, that the Earth was still relatively molten at the start of the 1st Creative Day. Yet such great molten heat might invalidate the radiometric methods of dating. Perhaps it was the descent of the canopy layers (near absolute zero) which rapidly cooled the Earth's surface, formed all the sedimentary layers, and allowed for surface water to exist.

Perhaps this is a related thought at this link: http://www.asmainegoes.com/content/global-cooling-somebody-tell-al
“Metamorphic rock, by contrast, is formed from earlier rock through intense heat and pressure. Metamorphism can reset some radiometric clocks (Potassium-Argon is particularly susceptible), so that radiometric dates record the time of alteration rather than the date when the earlier rock first solidified from magma or was deposited as sediment. Other parent-daughter pairs are less susceptible to alteration.”

As I am not able to render an expert opinion on science, I can only share ideas for consideration.