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Have you ever been asked a question about apparent contradictions between science and the Bible and didn’t know how to answer? Have you ever had a science teacher say something that you didn’t agree with but you didn’t know how to answer him? In the last ten years there has been an explosion of written and web-based resources on issues related to science and the Bible. In fact, science is becoming our strongest apologetics tool.
When I visit and speak at campus ministries, I get many questions on these topics. That gave me the idea to start a regular feature for the purpose of answering your questions. Send me your questions by email (
) and I will post your questions and my answers in the next edition of the Campus Crosswalk. I will send you answers by email as well.
Before I get to the question, I have important news. After decades of being one of the most famous negative atheists, Dr. Anthony Flew has concluded that some sort of intelligence or first cause must have created the universe. A super-intelligence is the only good explanation for the origin of DNA information for life and the complexity of nature. Unfortunately, he still does not believe in a personal God, as described by Judeo-Christianity and Islam. However, the evidence from the origin of the universe (Big Bang Cosmology) and the origins of life has convinced him of a supreme being. In an interview he said that the investigation of DNA "has shown, by the almost unbelievable complexity of the arrangements which are needed to produce [life], that intelligence must have been involved" and that "it has become inordinately difficult even to begin to think about constructing a naturalistic theory of the evolution of that first reproducing organism."
Now to the question:
Question, from Auburn, AL: “One of the ways I've always thought of it is that God made humans (Adam & Eve) full grown. Why is it impossible that he made the Earth "full grown"? Scientific dating could be correct about the earth's age. God just made it that old.”
This is a great question. What you have described is called the “appearance of age” theory. Actually, it is not recent. This theory was first proposed by Gosse in the 1850’s but was quickly discarded. The theory has been resurrected recently. Why? Well, the scientific evidence that measures the age of the universe is piling up on the side of an old universe. It is becoming increasingly difficult, if not impossible, for young earth creationists to refute these data on purely scientific terms. Therefore, if one believes the universe is young, the best explanation is that the universe just appears old but really is only thousands of years old. In that case we must totally ignore science because any measurement of nature and the age of the universe is an illusion. The response of old earth creationists to the “appearance of age” theory are the following:
- The Bible clearly states that God cannot lie or deceive. Would God give us evidence of something that is not true?
- Romans 1 (and other scriptures) indicate that God speaks to us through nature and the Bible (dual revelation). The "appearance of age" theory calls into question the character of God. For created things to show a deceptive appearance of age would seem a direct violation of God's own stated character and purpose.
- Science cannot on one hand be discarded as an illusion and then one the other hand be used as an apologetics tool.
- There are four major independent ways the age of the universe is measured. They all agree in a fairly narrow range that the universe is 14 billion years old. Why would God be so meticulous in creating the evidence of a false appearance?
- Belief in an old universe is not inconsistent with a belief in the inerrancy of scripture or a belief in a factual and chronological Genesis 1 account of creation.
- Concerning Adam, there are many ways to measure the age of a human (liver spots, memory, etc.). As we know, appearance is not always reliable. These other measurements would likely have shown Adam to be young at his creation.
Dr. Tom Mundie has a Ph.D. in pathophysiology and is a Professor of Life Science at the United States Military Academy at West Point. In addition, he has lead the campus ministry at West Point for 11 years.
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