Creation Science

Creation Science Book Review

Is the Big Bang Biblical?

Question #12.  Why do seminary professors believe in an old earth?

 

Review by Greg Neyman

© Old Earth Ministries

Review Published April 2006

 

     I know the answer to this.  Because they are smart! 

     Morris starts out by saying that old earth proponents appeal to one of the church fathers, in this case he mentions Augustine, and claims that they believed in old earth ideas.  While interesting, I do not do this, nor do I recommend others do this.  We have the evidence ourselves...we should not have to appeal to other people to support our belief.  For more on this, see the article Church Fathers.

     Morris says of the seminary professors...

The one thing they are unable to do, however, is to show how Scripture, using standard methods of Scripture interpretation, directly points to an old earth.

     One must interpret this to get the true meaning.  What Morris views as "standard methods" are anything but.  Theologians who interpret the Bible to be young earth will naturally have rules of interpretation that supports their viewpoint.  One great example is the use of an ordinal with the Hebrew word "yom", as in "first day", referring to the first day of creation.  Someone noticed this pattern, and it became a rule...an argument for the young earth interpretation.  However, this rule did not exist prior to the creation science debate of our present time. 

    What Morris is really implying is that young earth interpretation is the "standard."  There are plenty of seminary professors who would disagree with his position.

     Morris is correct in one thing...the Bible does not directly point to an old earth.  However, it does not directly point to a young earth either!

     From this point, Morris moves into the scientific world, saying that science claims and theories are self-correcting.  When a claim is put forth, others examine it, and will tell the original author if it is right or wrong.  This is known as peer-review.  He contrasts this with evolution, which in his viewpoint is not scientific, and this "peer-review" is not happening.  One look at scientific literature will dispel this myth.

     Morris makes the fantastic claim that "catastrophism is the rule in geology."  If one tries to interpret the rocks of the earth in light of a young earth global flood, this is true, but this theory is full of problems.  Geology does show evidence of catastrophic events within a uniformitarian framework, but it certainly is not the rule of geology.

     Morris finishes by saying that they accept or condone old earth interpretations because of their wrong training, or their desire to be accepted by their peers.  Actually, they accurately examine the evidence.  Nothing that Morris presents lends credence to his claims.  And, since God does not care what you believe about creation, neither should you.


 

     If you are not a Christian, and you have been holding out on making a decision for Christ because the Church always preached a message that was contrary to what you saw in the scientific world, then rest assured that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, and you can believe in Christ and receive salvation, while still believing in an old earth.  Click here for more.

 

    Are you a Christian who believes in young earth creationism?  Now that we have shown the many difficulties of the young earth creation science model in this and many other articles, how does this impact your Christian life?  If you are a young earth creationism believer, click here.