Old earth/young earth

[Winkie]

Someone started a thread in the Theological forum about this, which has been on my mind recently, since I've started looking into HS curriculums in depth. FTR, here's my POV:
Evolution has no place in my thinking (micro - yes, macro - no). But are the 6 days of Creation 24-hour days or long periods of time? I dunno - I've heard that the Hebrew word for "day" could be used either way.

I absolutely believe that God has the power to create everything in six 24 hr days. But there seems to be a lot of "evidence" that the earth is old. And that's where I'm stuck - I'm not an astrophysicist or archaeologist or any other ...ist, so I'm not doing the research & looking at the raw data myself. I figure that either way I'm taking *someone else's* word for it - their interpretation of what the science shows. Since *I'm* conflicted on the topic, I don't know what to teach my children. :/ It seems everything Christian is die-hard young-earth and everything secular is evolution. I think studying the young vs. old earth POVs would be a *great* HS project - but probably best saved for the high school years. So what do I do in the meantime? What do you teach?

[Micah]

So what do I do in the meantime? What do you teach?

Ok, my simple answer to your direct questions and since this is not a doctrine debate board:
Young earth

[Mama Bird]

What's to say God couldn't have created the earth to be the age He wanted it to be? Maybe He created it fully "grown." He is, after all, God.

[lumpofclay]

Just sticking to homeschooling, I have simply said (and we talked about it today, as we made our timeline) that it's hard to determine the exact age of the earth. From "this point", we can use dates/numbers in the Bible to trace back, so we know certain events happened at certain times. However, other events we're not completely sure when they happened, but sometime before "here." I think that's simple enough without getting over their heads. (They are 7 & 4.) I will definitely be looking into studying the different opinions in the high school years.

[chelsea]

I believe in a young earth. My Dad is really into Creation Science and has done a lot of research on this. Unfortunately, the earth's age was never a big issue with me and science is NOT my strong point :shrug, so although I've just about heard it all...I'm a real dud when it comes to trying to explain my beliefs to others. I think that's great about doing a project/debate when the children are older...it will really cause them to look and see for themself and will only strengthen their faith in the end! :clap

[Winkie]

Thanks for your replies so far! :) I'd like to hear more opinions too.

My oldest isn't even 5 yet, so I know that at this point I can say "dinosaurs lived a long time ago" & be safe. Millions vs. thousands of years doesn't matter when last month was "a long time ago". :lol Although that brings up another question - how do you reconcile whether man & dinosaurs co-existed? I think that's probably one of the biggest differences between young & old earth creationists. And since I have 3 boys, I'm sure I'm not far from dino-mania! :lol

[hearttender4]

I've just been discussing a lot of this with my 10 year old. I present it like "a lot of scientists believe..." and "most Christian scientists believe.." We have talked about how scientists and church leaders have both been wrong about things before, and how it's good to question their commonly accepted beliefs, like Galileo did. We've joked about how it's hard to believe that scientists can be certain what there talking about they tell us something is 4.6 billion year old. We have a good video by a Christain scientist that explains very well why he believes carbon dating and the geologic eras are wrong, but I've also told her that if that's how God did things, then it wouldn't be a faith-breaking thing. I guess I'm presenting both sides to her and she's already forming a lot of her own opinions. She'd have to do that someday anyway.

[Micah]

Millions vs. thousands of years doesn't matter when last month was "a long time ago".

I get what your saying, however I've seen a different experience....while I may not really matter as in the way you stated, hearing a certain belief over and over regardless of if it is millions or thousands does stick in our subconcious...and I really believe that when one is not old enough to research themselves it can pose a problem...that said I do believe that young children tend to think that if something like a 'show' or a book or adult person, whatever states something, most kids (the ones I've been around anyway) tend to believe that is truth until they can detect fallicies for themselves, which of course comes at ages dependant upon individual children.

So while I really feel that "a long time ago" is a fine way to go, that we do need to be careful as far as millions vs thousands of years....if you believe in young earth, then I'd be quite careful to let them hear millions over and over from books and shows until they have reached in themselves fallacy detection, and vise versa if you believe in old earth.

I just can't say how many times I have heard various kids say
"but my teacher said"
"but my school book said"
"but the show said"
so that's what they believe until they are old enough to research and form opinion.

:shrug

[Winkie]

Good point, Micah!

[tiglet]

Well, I'm a Christian geoscientist who doesn't believe in evolution, or "young earth." I trust my science more than translation after translation of the word "day" in the Bible, which has even very very good Bible scholars admitting it might not mean 24 hours.

I do believe that God could have made the earth in 7 24 hour days.

Frankly, I've got more pressing things to worry about than how old the earth is or isn't. Really, it doesn't bother me much. :) Sounds like it does matter to *you,* though. Sorry I'm no help!

[rosesnsnails]

I teach them both ideas. When we talk about dinosaurs and their extinction, we have talked about all of the different theories. I tell them what I see the evidence pointing to, but I teach them others thoughts as well. That is how I approach evolution or any other controversial subject.

[joandsarah77]

I believe in literal 6, 24 hour day creation, I also believe the age of the earth to be 6 to 10,000 years old.
And will be teaching it as that. http://www.christiananswers.net/kids/home.html is a super good site.
Jo

[chelsea]

I just found the book I misplaced in our move a year ago which is a totally readable science book (meaning even I can understand it) from a Christian perspective and I am going to go look in it now. :mrgreen I'll let you know what I find there!

[Beck]

In case this is still an issue for you http://www.reasons.org/ gives information on the Old Earth theory from a Christian perspective.

[efuego]

I believe that the translation of day is hard to figure out. So, I tend to go with the old Earth rather than young.

[ShowersofBlessings]

Well, I haven't studied this issue thoroughly, but I believe in a young earth. I would also say "a long time ago" instead of millions or billions of years ago. You can say "a long time ago" especially if you are not certain yourself what you believe. That will cover both millions/billions and thousands. ;)

I think that God could have made the earth look older than it was. He made Adam as an adult. He probably made other things mature too. The trees probably were mature enough to bear fruit right away. (otherwise what would Adam and Eve eat?) If they could see the stars (I'm assuming that they could), then God must have created the stars with an appearance of age, since light takes a certain amount of time to travel.....

I also believe that man and dinosaurs did live at the same time. I have heard that there are dinosaurs mentioned in Job. This is a theory, but some believe that leviathan and behemoth were really dinosaurs. So that might give you something else to research.

[threecubs]

I lean toward young earth, DH leans toward old earth. We are both pretty open to research and ideas, but DH is pretty set on teaching an old earth. I'm mostly the teacher though, LOL...but so far my oldest (almost 10) has a pretty good grasp on both theories. It's mostly a fascinating study for us, not a real salvation issue, so it hasn't been a heated.

I'm enjoying reading this discussion and links!

[Can Dance]

If you want to study this issue further, I believe the technical term for it is called Progressive Creation. It still believes in a God created earth, but the timeline is a bit longer.

C

[J3K]

I'm another young earth creationist here. Like with everything else I teach them about beliefs I begin it with " I believe that the earth is young because........." or " I believe that the dinosaurs were created when the other land animals were because God said animals were created and THEN man."

I teach it by leading with an "I" statement. I follow up with "many christians think differently. You need to do your own research to come to your own conclusions."

www.answersingenesis.org is one of my all time fave sites.

I also have a WONDERFUL book called Creation or Evolution A Home-Study Curriculum by Mike Snavely. It's really indepth and it's kinda for older kids , but even younger kids can get a kick out of it if you read it to them. It's a consumable book , but we I chose not to mark in it and use it as a reference book instead.

[LikeADimMirror]

I don't think that evolution really has to be studied until high school. Some scientists would say evolution should be saved for college, because of its complexity, and that the only reason it is being pushed so hard at the high school level is because of the politics involved.
Myself, I'm leaning towards a young earth and I don't believe there is any direct evidence of evolution. But it is a very complex subject. Ultimately a well-educated child will learn both points of view and the arguments against those views.

[ALmomma]

I believe in a young earth and literal 6-24hr days creation...and this is what I will teach my dc...although when they get to be HS age, I will also teach them what others believe and have them research and learn how to refute them...just as I will when it comes to faith in God in general...
Anyways...there is a company that I know of that has books, videos, articles, magazines and iven a childeren's magazine:
http://www.apologeticspress.org/
They have some great resources and the men who worte most of the creation info are scientists with many degrees.
Here's a neat series of tracts they print for children:
http://www.apologeticspress.org/catalog/index.php/cPath/35
WOW...and I just learned that they have a website for kids now:
http://www.discoverymagazine.com/

Anyways...hope this helps

[LauraK]

I think the book The Science of God by Gerald Schroeder does a good job with reconsiling the biblical with the scientific evidence. It is a hardish book to read but it is very interesting and I think a great book for a high schooler to read and an interesting read. It motivates one to learn about math and physics as well. Even if you do not agree with it, it is very interesting.

[TestifyToLove]

Personally, I believe in an old earth. And, I don't find such beliefs to be contrary to my beliefs as a Christian.

I will not actually be teaching my children one theory as THE theory. They are, afterall, both THEORIES, which by very nature means they are not proven as scientific fact.

I believe 'days' was ages. And, I believe that the scientific evidence supports those ages. Just as I believe that God is a God of nature and laws. He established this universe and except when he directly intervenes, I believe it follows the order and laws that he sent into place to govern it. Dh happens to believe in literal days, but still believes in an old earth. He points out that it is completely impossible to know how long Adam and Eve spent in the Garden of Eden and further points out that since they were the only humans on Earth during their time in the Garden that we simply cannot know how long the Earth aged outside of their isolated and protected paradise.

But, what I will be teaching our children is to actually rather simple. This is NOT a faith issue. God is the God of science and he is also the God of miracles. He could have created the Earth in any manner that he choose and it still would have been his creation. It is not necessary to know the precise way in which he created this world to know, understand and believe that he DID create this world. But, if it becomes necessary for any of my children to know details and speculate. Then, they need to examine the evidence for themselves, come to their own conclusions and supoprt those conclusions.

[Winkie]

:popcorn I'm enjoying all the different opinions weighing in!