Like most creationism evangelists, Ken Ham preys on the gullible for the money. Between his website (and on-line store) and his “museum”, I’m sure that he is living quite comfortably.
I have to agree with Pat Robertson here: young earth creationism makes Christians look really bad. God actually did *not* lie to us by filling the physical universe with evidence of great age and planting evidence that life not only evolved in the past but continues to evolve. Since God is not a liar, it is clear: the Bible is a moral code, not a scientific document.
How old was Adam when God created him? (Why, less than a day old, of course.) How old did Adam APPEAR TO BE when God created him? If a doctor could go back in time to that day, how old would he conclude Adam was?
What about geologic formations such as the Grand Canyon? Was it unkind of God to create such a thing? Should He have made the Earth look “new” (i.e. completely flat and level) and denied us the beauty of the Grand Canyon?
And what about the light from distant stars? We see it and conclude that it originated billions of years ago. Was it deceptive of God to create their light already on its way to (and even arriving at) Earth? Should He have instead denied us the ability to see the stars?
I agree with Robertson as to the earth being more than 6000 years old...and the bible actually allows for it!
Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Gen 1:2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
In verse 2 the words "without form" and void" are a a couple of hebrew words tohu and bohu. The grammar leaves open that it could be translated "The earth became without form and void".
In other words, there was a earth that existed prior to this and something caused it become desolate.
There's similar wording in Jeremiah:
Jer 4:23 I beheld the earth, and indeed it was without form, and void; And the heavens, they had no light.
The same words tohu and bohu are used and this is describing the state of the world in a warning to Israel if they don't repent.
Also there are events described in the bible that must take place before man was created....such as the fall of Satan and the other third of the angels. Since Satan was in the garden before Adam and Eve sinned he must have fallen at some point before then.
So essentially, there is no proof that anyone’s sins have been forgiven?
Questions a Christian must consider in this issue: 1) Is God capable of creating the earth and all we know in any amount of time He desires? Six nanoseconds, six minutes, six days, etc
2) If God is not capable of doing the events noted in Genesis 1, then He is not capable of doing anything else in the Bible. This would also require the nullification of Cross. 3) The last part is the real goal of people who deny God the ability to create ex nihilo.
You are right, He didn't fill the universe with evidence of great age.