You asked for it!!
A 4.5 billion year old Earth to me is science fiction.
Really???
Towers Online - The News Service of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
April 13, 2006 By Jeff Robinson
Excerpts:
"Trustees at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary on April 11 unanimously approved the creation of two new theological study centersthe Center for Theology and the Arts, and the Center for Theology and Law, during the board's annual spring meeting.
Seminary President R. Albert Mohler Jr. said the new study centers aim at equipping pastors and church leaders to think biblically about pivotal issues which dominate contemporary culture.
"One of the ways we want to lead Southern Baptists is through helping evangelicals and Southern Baptists in particular to engage some of the most critical issues of our day," Mohler said.-
"This is not a time for Christians to be out-thought by the world, but in general that is what happens. We find the church behind the times in thinking about some of the most crucial issues of our day."
Mohler also announced the appointment of two new faculty members to lead the centers. [snip] ...
...Mohler also named Kurt Wise as the new director for Southern's Center for Theology and Science, and professor of theology and science. Wise currently serves on the faculty of Bryan College in Dayton, Tenn., where he is also director of the Center for Origins Research.
Wise earned both a doctor of philosophy and master of arts in paleontology from Harvard University. He and his wife Marie have two daughters.
Wise replaces William Dembski, who is leaving Southern Seminary to join the faculty at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary so he can be closer to his family.
"With the addition of Kurt Wise, we are recognizing that creation is a ground zero theological crisis point right now in American culture and even in our churches," Moore said. [snip] ..
In other business, trustees: .... Heard a report from President Mohler that Southern's enrollment has topped 4,000 students for the first time in the seminary's history."
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Here are a couple of interesting items I found on the web regarding Kurt Wise: [1] 7/3/2003 "Ok, I just got a email from Dr. Wise. This is what he said:
"I am a young-age creationist because the Bible indicates the universe is young. Given what we currently think we understand about the world, the majority of the scientific evidence favors an old earth and universe, not a young one. I would therefore say that anyone who claims that the earth is young for scientific evidence alone is scientifically ignorant. Thus I would suggest that the challenge you are trying to meet is unmeetable." ~ Kurt Wise
[2] December 19th 2004 Theologyweb.com
Post # 7:
"...there is new breed of YEC out there, of which Kurt Wise is an example, who recognize that there are scientific problems with their Weltanschauung. I knew Kurt was exceptional, but there are more of his stripe. Affectionately, I'd like to refer to them as neo-YECs, as opposed to the Wieland-Ham-Morris-Safarti-Jorge YECs for which I would propose the oxymoronic moniker paleo-YECs."
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Of course, that sort of stance rightly invites articles such as this from snickering, rabid atheists like Richard Dawkins:
Sadly, an Honest Creationist - by Richard Dawkins
"Conflicts between Science and the Bible arise from either a lack of scientific knowledge or a defective understanding of the Bible." ~ Moses Maimonides
Click my screen name and scroll 1/3 of the way down the page to these two items:
[1] What were Galileo's scientific and biblical conflicts with the Church?
[2] "..In many ways, the historic controversy of creation vs. evolution has been similar to Galileo's conflict, only with a reversal of roles..."
No, it's science fact. I regret to inform you that it doesn't magically change into science fiction just because you personally choose not to believe it.
- The Age of the Earth
- The Earth is accepted by scientists to be around 4.5 billion years old. But how do they know the Earth is this old? Some of the lines of evidence for an ancient Earth are presented.
- The Geological Time Scale
- Few discussions in geology or evolution can occur without reference to geologic time. In this article, the standard time scale used by geologists is depicted and described. See also Niel Brandt's Evolutionary and Geological Timelines.
- Radiometric Dating and the Geological Time Scale
- Radiometric dating and stratigraphic principles are combined to establish the conventional geological time scale. Scientists apply these principles to date rocks, which can then be used to assign ages to fossils.
- Changing Views of the History of the Earth
- How did we go from thinking Earth was a young planet to the realization that it is ancient, with a four and a half billion year history?
- Isochron Dating Methods
- The isochron radiometric dating technique (and related ones) is widely used in isotope geology, and does not fall prey to many common creationist criticisms of radiometric dating. This essay introduces the technique and shows why it is so reliable.
Radiometric Dating: A Christian Perspective
Radiometeric Dating Does Work!Are Radioactive Dating Methods Consistent With Each Other?
Breakthrough Made in Dating of the Geological Record
Formation of the Hawaiian Islands
How Old is the Earth: A Response to “Scientific” Creationism
My favorite two answers to the whole age of the Earth thing:
(1) God's day is as long as God decides that it is. His day might last one Earth day, one year, or 1,000,000,000 years. This is esp. plausible when you consider that God obviously had "days" before the Sun and Earth were created. In other words, don't take the term "day" literally.
(2) The Earth really has only been around for 5,000 or so years. It was just created old. In other words, when God created the stars, sun, Earth etc., He created a history for them, too. Why? Maybe it was more fun. Maybe He thought it would be funny to watch us ponder the issue. What, you don't think God has a sense of humor? Just look at the duckbilled platypus...