Young Earth vs. Old Earth

Scientists have now established that the universe is about 13.7 billion years old. One factor that gives this estimate a great deal of credibility is that this estimate was found using a number of different methods, not just a single method. So, this estimate seems reasonably "certain," at least as certain as one can be when discussing the distant past! With my overriding principle that the Bible and science never contradict one another, I've typically believed the validity of science's concept of the age of the universe, while interpreting the six creation days in the Bible as "time eras," each of which could be billions of years long, and not necessarily all of the same length.

But something struck me recently. To the best of my knowledge, all of the methods that have been used to estimate the age of the universe have one assumption in common: The laws of physics have never changed. After all, why should we think that they had?

But they have changed! According to Genesis, before the Flood, the earth was surrounded by a canopy of water, and it did not rain - instead, streams of water (like sprinklers?) came from the ground and kept things watered. If the laws of physics had been the same before the Flood as they are now, these things would not have happened in that way.

So, we have reason to believe that the laws of physics have changed. While I have no problem with a Christian who believes in the "old earth" creation theory, the "young earth" creation theory might still be correct - each of the "days" in six days of creation might have actually been 24 hours, and God used whatever methods he wanted (including "changing" the laws of physics) to accomplish the tasks he wanted to in each 24 hour period.

The bottom line is I really don't think it matters whether one believes in the "old earth" or the "new earth" creation theory. All that is important is that one believes that God created everything in the way he chose to be best!