If you want to conceive of God as a Master Deceiver that is your prerogative. All indications are, however, He is truthful about Himself while the rest of us foil and fumble along.
"If it is the essence of God to be eternal, how is it deceitful for Him to create a universe that to us appears very old?"
Because the appearance would be a lie if the universe was really 6,000 years old?
Come On -- even you can't believe what you are posting. A 2006 car's parts might date back to 2004. NOT 11 million BC. The idea of "what IS time" is best left to drunk college sophomore philosophy students.
If you want to conceive of God as a Master Deceiver that is your prerogative. All indications are, however, He is truthful about Himself while the rest of us foil and fumble along.
Well, since the first part of your argument can't carry its weight, your conclusion falls. I am saying that it would be strange, to say the least, for God to put tons of fossils in the ground that provide a pretty clear picture of history (from a broad perspective) just to... to what? To what end? If the data have been jiggered then what of other things that can't be directly examined? All of quantum physics might be equally false. Remember, a God that predates artifacts can (and probably would) also mess with indirect observations in chambers.
Not an omniscient God who can put the whole thing together to a level of detail that we won't begin to comprehend until we are dead and He lets us in on it (assuming He wants to).