The Bible, through its genealogies, indicates that the earth is very young. The inspired Scriptures say that creation happened in six literal days. What scientific evidence do we find that this is so? Let’s examine in brief detail some of the many evidences.
The Moon Dust Argument: If the earth and the moon were created at the same time, the amount of dust drifting from space to the moon’s surface would have built up very little. No erosion occurs on the moon, and we saw from the Apollo lunar missions that only about a half inch of dust is present. The moon was created not long ago.
The Moon’s Existence Argument: If the earth and the moon were not created recently, then the gravitational pull of the earth on the moon would have done one of two things. One, it would have gotten so weak the moon would have escaped, or two, it would have been pulled so close to the earth that it would have torn apart.
Oil and Gas Presence: The rock that holds oil and gas in the ground cannot keep it there forever. Small amounts of these substances are seeping to the surface all the time. How could millions of years pass without all of the oil and gas leaving? The answer is it couldn’t.
Suns Shrinkage: The sun, like a huge lump of coal, is getting smaller as long as it burns (not really about the process). This decrease in size, if remaining uniform, would cause the earth and sun to be too close together as little as one million years ago for the life to have survived.
Earth Magnetic Field: The decrease in the earth’s magnetic field is decreasing at a measurable rate. If we calculate back in time, it would put the force so strong that it would tear the earth apart. But we’re still here.
Fossil Meteorite: If the earth’s layers were forming at a known rate over millions of years, it would be possible to find in each layer large numbers of meteorites. They are falling to the earth at a known rate, and yet in the rock layers there are nowhere near the predicted number, indicating that these layers formed very quickly.
Solar Gravity Cleaning: The sun’s gravity is a tremendous force. Holding all nine of the planets in one place, it also pulls objects that are not as stable toward it, comets, clumps of ice and rock that orbit the sun. These are being pulled closer with each pass around the sun. If the sun and earth are 4.5 billion years old, these objects should not exist.
Active Planets: Volcanic activity of bodies in space indicates that these objects are not very old and hence, getting cold. The earth was thought to be the only geologically active body, but space exploration has found several others. This indicates young rather than old.
Geological Changes: The earth’s structure was thought to require millions of years to form. But, Mt. St. Helens has proven that vast amounts of time are not necessary for geologic structures to form. Changes occurred during six hours of eruption that caused rock layers and formations to form that would usually have been thought to take a long time.
These are but a few of the evidences that can be used to support the concept of a young earth. Remember, that when God created the earth, it appeared to be old just as all living things did. We would predict that some appearances of age for the earth would be expected and that is exactly what is seen.
