There is a war going on between standard cosmologists and plasma physics, and I am on the side of the plasma physicists. Plasma cosmology posits a steady state universe and from a purely philosophical perspective, the only tenable view in my estimation is that the universe, like God, is eternal, and that the creation stories we read in literature refer to the creation of our (present) living world within a time frame more compatible with Genesis than with Smithsonian theology.
All observational evidence, direct peripheral and otherwise, points to a universe of finite age. I don´t think God is trying to fool us in that, for what would His point be?
The universe is strange and beautiful to be sure. But it is also discernable, perhaps on many layers. Otherwise, God would seem capricious, and I don´t think He is.
Cosmic inflation seems to me like a pretty good bet, so far.