IT'S ABOUT TIME!

Because time is so important to evolution, we are going to address the question of chronology -- the "study of time." We ask, what do physical data tell us about the age of the earth, the solar system, and the universe?

Of course all creation, the Scripture teaches, was finished in six days (see Note 2). Exodus 20:9-11 makes this claim. This means that all the creation -- the earth, the solar system, and the universe -- are the same age. Therefore any method that dates the earth also dates the solar system and the universe, and vice versa. What then do the physical data say about the age of the cosmos?

Before we go any farther, we should realize that time is not only important to evolution, but time is important to God. A study of Biblical chronology (especially Genesis chapters 5 and 11) shows that the creation is only a few thousand years old (see Note 3). It is sometimes claimed, however, that the Bible tells us only Who created, not when He did. Such a cavalier view of time is totally inconsistent with the nature of both man and God. As we have seen, evolutionists are very concerned with time. But even more to the point, man was created to be cognizant of time, and the heavenly bodies -- the sun, the moon, and the stars -- were created to be time tellers -- to mark off seasons, days, and years (Genesis 1:14).

God Himself is concerned with man's use of time in the present. He tells us to redeem the time (Ephesians 5:16). Also the Bible states that in the future, Christ will return to earth at a certain hour (Matthew 24:36, 25:13). Since God is concerned with time both present and future, why would He not be concerned with time in the past? The genealogies in Genesis, if read straightforwardly, show a chronological purpose. While Biblical genealogies have purposes other than chronology (see Note 4), this does not mean they have no chronological purpose! We conclude, then, that time is not only critical to evolution, but time is also of concern to the Creator. Being mindful of time in the past could lead us to use it more wisely in the present. After all, the Scripture does tell us to "number our days" (Psalm 90:12).

We now begin our survey of chronological data (see Note 5). We ask, do the data agree with the evolutionary time scale of billions of years, or do physical processes point to the truth of Biblical time? We will begin with processes that indicate the smallest (youngest) age estimates, and proceed to those giving longer ages. We will find that in all cases the chronometers offer age estimates less than the evolutionary consensus. For comparison in what follows, evolutionary philosophy agrees that the age of the earth is about 5 billion years, for the solar system about 10 billion years, and for the universe roughly 20 billion years. In contrast, Biblical data enable us to say that the creation is only 6000 years old or so.