The Age of the Earth Is Shorthand
In the context of the question that leads this thread, the expression “age of the earth” is merely shorthand for a set of important issues. As for “the age of the earth” per se, I have no significant interest in it. When I use the term, therefore, I am referring to the issues it represents. Let me quote from something I wrote above.
The old-or-young earth argument is about whether creation took six days and was completed or has taken 4.543 billion years and is still not complete. It’s an argument about whether God created the universe by supernatural processes or is creating it by natural processes. It’s an argument about whether the Bible - and, specifically the books of Moses, and, more specifically, the book of Genesis - provide reliable ancient history, including information about origins, or whether we should rely instead on scientists to inform us, to the degree they can, about these things. It’s an argument about whether scientists have taken over for the prophets in drawing for us the background arc of human existence and destiny. And this is just the beginning of the sketch.
I do not think that the genealogies can give us the age of the earth. They can, however, give us the age of the human race. Add that to the six days during which heaven and earth were created, with Adam, having been created on the sixth day, as the linchpin that links the two, and you have an age of the earth.
If someone wants to say that the earth had some pre-creation existence, I’m fine with that…as long as we agree that the clock starts with “In the beginning” - that same Gen 1:1 demarcation that John spoke of in John 1:1 and Jesus Himself spoke of in Matt 19:8 and Mark 10:6.
I came to BioLogos asking “Who best reconciles the Bible and Evolution?” I was advised in my engagement here by more than one person to focus on the age of the earth first. I took that advice in launching this particular thread. I agree with @Swamidass that we may be losing focus on what’s important here. Thus my attempt in this post to clarify the reason for even using the phrase “age of the earth.” Ultimately, it’s not a question about the age of the earth. It’s a question about how we are to live in a world with both biblical revelation and scientific findings. And, again, it’s not reconciling the Bible and science I’m after; it’s reconciling the history given us by the Bible with the history being given us by science.
I see no conflict between science and the Bible. I do see conflict between the Bible’s history and science’s history…and I’m trying hard to reconcile it. And if you’ll notice the framing of the question, I’m putting all the pressure on myself to find the reconciliation. That is, I’m putting my interpretation of the Bible on the table and offering to divest it in light of a superior interpretation - not asking scientists to defend themselves to me. I thinking that’s walking the extra mile and I don’t think I deserve praise for it; I think it’s what the Lord expects us to do in such situations.