What biblical reasons are there to accept the scientific view of the earth as billions of years old?

[Chris_Falter]

@Mike_Gantt

You’re misreading me. My point has not been that we know for sure “that the wine would have appeared identical to old wine in every possible fashion, in every perspective,” but rather that we don’t know those details and therefore can’t rule out that possibility.

This is the strongest defense of post-modernism I have ever seen. Since we can never rule out miraculous intervention (how could we?), we have no ability to make inferences about what happened in the past…if I follow the Gantt school of reasoning.

@Mike_Gantt

You and I must be using the words “naturally” and “supernaturally” in different ways. My usage was that an earth created over a 4.543B year period implies an earth created by natural processes, while an earth created over six days implies an earth created by supernatural processes.

What makes you think that an earth that is 4.543 B years old is not created by God?

@Mike_Gantt

I look at it that these histories are inferred through examination of artifacts and by other means by archaeologists, and appear impressive; however, if the word of God states otherwise, I will trust the word of God.

You aren’t dealing with the question I asked, Mike. What does trusting the word of God imply about the history of civilizations that lived, thrived, developed, and met their demise tens of thousands of years ago?

As for the convex mirror analogy: I don’t understand how it would apply to this situation. let’s examine the mirror analogy carefully.

The car manufacturer is confronted with three conflicting design goals:

1. The mirror should provide as broad a view of the roadscape behind the mirror.
2. The mirror should provide as accurate a representation of distance as possible.
3. The mirror should be quite small so as to not pose a hazard to other vehicles, pedestrians, etc.

The manufacturer can only satisfy two of the requirements; it is impossible to satisfy all three simultaneously. Therefore, the mirror is small and provides a broad view. The warning about distance engraved onto the mirror surface is given explicitly to the occupants so that they can adjust their behavior appropriately, given that the mirror distorts the appearance of distance.

So there are two key factors here:

• A design trade-off that cannot be avoided
• An explicit warning about the trade-off

In that discussion, you never identified any trade-offs. You also did not provide any documentation for your assertion that

@Mike_Gantt

just as we would be, on this view, warned by the Bible not to assume the age of the earth from scientific inquiry.

Where do you find an unambiguous warning in the Bible about scientific inquiry into the age of the earth? What the Bible says and what Mike says it says seem very different to me in this particular case.

I hasten to point out on the key message(s) of Scripture, I appreciate your faithful handling of and obedience to the God’s Word.

Grace and peace,
Chris Falter