by Paul Kaurin – 26 July 2017
YOUNG EARTH FALLACY? What difference does it make? Or, do I hear a ‘so what’? I what my reader to understand that I had this belief system struggle. As a result, I started to ask questions of what is the truth about the “In the Beginning.” I became a YEC-Skeptic because God’s nature had conflicting answers to the YEC 6-days problem of “when did creation begin.” Thank God I didn’t become a YEC-Cynic and didn’t say “damn the torpedoes – full steam ahead – because Science is a LIE.”
If you ask me why I now don’t believe in the young earth theory of creation, my answer is, because of the General Revelation (GR) of God. This to the non-Christian is known as Nature. Here are some of the reasons why I reject a young earth (6-10 thousand years) creation event and why I embrace an old earth (long period of time) creation event.
WMAP is reason one: Thanks to the WMAP satellite, we can see with great certainty the age of the Universe to about 1%: 13.7 ± 0.13 billion years.
Four simple functions emerge from the data: 1) the universe had a beginning, 2) as it gets older and older it gets colder and colder, 3) as light photons move away from the observer, red-shift gets higher and higher, 4) the universe becomes denser and denser looking closer and closer to the beginning.
Reason two: The age of ice cores in both the north and south poles is confirmed to 750,000 years old and approaching 1 million years old. There are literally kilometers of ice cores in storage that capture historical events in the “rings” of the ice. Major volcano eruptions are seen throughout the layers. Each volcano has its own particulate signature so those are verified with the geological record. Young earth would say that each layer is a snow storm but they have no follow-up evidence to support that claim. But there’s more. Embedded in these cores are cycles of eccentricities as predicted by Milutin Milanković. The Milanković theory describes the collective effects of Earth’s orbital forcing upon climate change. It is seen in the cores as orbital inclination cycles of the earth’s orbit drifting moving up and down relative to its present orbit.
When as a WWI POW, Milanković mathematically theorized these variations but did not study the three-dimensional movement. The 3D movement is known as “precession of the ecliptic” or “planetary precession” or VSOP.[1] VSOP allows prediction of past and future orbital parameters with greater accuracy. The figure below shows past and future Milanković cycles with the vertical gray line as current conditions, at 2 kilo-years A.D. More recent researchers noted this drift and that the orbit also moves relative to the orbits of the other planets. The invariable plane, the plane that represents the angular momentum of the Solar System, is approximately the orbital plane of Jupiter.
— ε is obliquity (axial tilt).
— e is eccentricity.
— ϖ is longitude of perihelion.
— e sin(ϖ) is the precession index, which together with obliquity, controls the seasonal cycle of insolation (the amount of solar radiation reaching a given area).
— is the calculated daily-averaged insolation at the top of the atmosphere, on the day of the summer solstice at 65 degrees N latitude.
— Benthic forams and — Vostok ice core show two distinct proxies for past global sea level and temperature, from ocean sediment and Antarctic ice respectively.
The inclination of Earth’s orbit drifts up and down relative to its present orbit with a cycle having a period of about 70,000 years. The inclination of the Earth’s orbit has a 100,000-year cycle relative to the invariable plane. This is very similar to the 100,000-year eccentricity period. This 100,000-year cycle closely matches the 100,000-year pattern of ice ages.
A study of the chronology of Antarctic ice cores using oxygen-nitrogen ratios in air bubbles trapped in the ice, which appear to respond directly to the local insolation, concluded that the climatic response documented in the ice cores was driven by northern hemisphere insolation as proposed by the Milankovitch Hypothesis (Kawamura et al,, Nature, 23 August 2007, vol. 448, pp 912-917). This is an additional validation of the Milankovitch hypothesis by a relatively novel method and is inconsistent with the “inclination” theory of the 100,000-year cycle.[2]
QUESTIONS lead to TRUTHFULNESS
I notice that authenticity of truth follows the Biblical or Scientific Methods when it continues to grow exponentially in the age of information. Example: In a court of law, when many witnesses come forth and say the same thing but from different eyes, the truth becomes more compelling for a jury to decide the case in question. It is the same with the truth of any theory or with biblical understanding (Christian Apologetics).
Apologetics is the function of defending the truth of Christian faith and is driven by an intellectual framework of theology and seeks to find answers to intellectual obstacles. It challenges the world to take Christianity seriously by arguing a defense of General Revelation of God (GR) (truths of nature) and Special Revelation of God (SR) (truths of Scriptures). The engine of apologetics is the work of the Holy Spirit to reveal truth and legitimacy in the minds of mankind. It is important to understand that interpretation of GR or of SR must be truthful but “interpretation of the inerrant Word is not in itself inerrant.” YEC has several problems with SR interpretation that corrupts the truth of God’s GR. When GR and SR do not agree, the world has every right to reject their theory. But in that rejection of YEC theory, the world makes the mistake of rejecting God who made creation. If God is the complete essence of Truth and the interpretation of YEC makes His GR a lie, then the world has every right to say, “If God lies then God is not God?” The real answer is: nature and scripture cannot lie, misinterpretation of either can. We can say that the pure data of GR and the pure words of SR are absolutes. When interpretation doesn’t tell the truth of these absolutes then that untruth becomes an “unbelief.” Scripture says that unbelief is darkness.
Example: Apologetics uses (GR) of God’s nature as a testimony of (SR) truth of God’s Word to show the concept of the universe expanding which was first proclaimed thousands of years before Edwin Powell Hubble observed it at Mount Wilson. (Job 9:8, Isiah 45:12) [3]
When dealing with Gentiles outside of the Christian faith, The Apostle Paul, when he was in Athens, started with the Greek’s understanding of the world. He said to them, “I see where you are worshiping at an altar ‘dedicated to the unknown god’.” Now notice he started where they were in their understanding and ended up with some influential people who received the truth of the Gospel. I asked a YEC believer pastor, “can a person who still believes in a very old creation be converted and receive the gift of Salvation?” The question could not be answered! That explains volumes and the extent of this war in some Churches. This is what is keeping the seeking and unsaved from coming to God. I see this as offensive to God and his grace. So, how does God correct this untruth?
When dealing with the Christian, the Holy Spirit uses conviction to hone core beliefs and bring them nearer to the correct interpretation of the Scriptures. I would point out that we need to take the pursuit of truth and understanding seriously. We should never take the position that we already know it all. That is why we are told to test the Spirits and hold on to the good. The Holy Spirit is the giver of truth and testifies to it. It makes me sad when I see Christians resist or ignore His Holy Spirit’s work by choosing unbelief, blindness and not looking at or seeking the truth (light).
Think about it, Apologetics is a form of Spiritual warfare. 2 Corinthians Chapter 10, Paul defined the warfare as fighting strongholds and strongholds as ‘arguments’. Vs.5 [Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasoning’s and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ, (Amplified Bible)
These arguments that use thoughts, ideas, theories that have no origin of truth are used as weapons made up prepositional formulas for the purpose of shoring up a false interpretation. This is the YEC Fallacy, in that it cannot come up with truthful astronomical and geological evidence to present to the world. When these false arguments become the foundation of a belief system of an individual body of believers, it is known as a prosopon (Greek for mask) tool. The untrue belief system grows bigger for a purpose. It becomes an organization as a defense weapon to shore up these beliefs. This YEC stronghold organization is ICR (Institute for Creation Research). The distribution of misinformation is for themselves and used by YEC believers to present to the world as their “truth.” What people see is a theory without truthful and testable evidence. Those who understand truth reject the belief and the ICR. To be sure YEC will not present “fingerprints” similar to WMAP or Ice Rings as evidence in their apologetics because their “prepositional” interpretation of the Hebrew word: יום yôm – yome or in the English, “day” as just 24 hrs and not the fourth definition of the word (long periods of time) has clouded their thinking. If Jesus were walking among us today and witnessed YEC leaders of the Church, I wonder what would He say or do? Not all YEC’ers are aware of the facts and interpretations of Scripture from the Hebrew words. But if my blog has put some information into your understanding, you may want to do what I did and move away from the fallacy and ASK THE HOLY SPIRIT TO GIVE YOU THE TRUTH of this creation. He promised to give truth to us – IF we ask.
As in any warfare, there are two sides. Let me point my reader to an organization that is dedicated to using both (GR and SR) or the “two books” of truth. Reasons to Believe in http://www.reasons.org/ uses these two Revelations to explain the convergence of Science and Faith. They do not complicate or distort the inerrant truths of our universe. They use the Biblical and the Scientific methods and they do this without contortions or a parade of unproven theories and complicated adjustments.
I am reminded of a warning about playing games with unbelief. If we force our mind to reject something long enough, however close to the truth it is, our heart of hearts will eventually reject and lose that understanding of truth. This includes knowing the difference between good and evil. What mankind wants to see is authenticity and honesty. Again, In the Greek theater, actors used masks (prosopon from the Greek) to portray different people in the play to ‘Play act’ (hypókrisis from the Greek) or in the English ‘hypocrisy.’ This mask is a man or a woman in the play who conceals the real gender of the person. It is safe to say that most people can detect truth when they see it. I ask my Christian brothers and sisters to not play act in the game of unbelief and investigate and search for the truth of Creation with Scripture in hand. Non-Christians are watching and waiting for the truth of God’s universe and His word. When the truth is revealed from both GR and SR, then salvation is more inviting and legitimate for those seeking God.
WHAT IS TRUE APOLOGETICS?
A real apologist should be characterized by authenticity and purity – “hate the evil, cling to the good.” This choice of anger does not sin. The heart of a true Christian Community is honesty in love. The first sin of the New Testament church was dishonesty. I pray that real and honest teachers of truth will show up and take steps to embrace the truths of GR and SR. Words coming from truthful beliefs should be honorable and real at every level. What’s at stake by saying false theories is the loss of hearers and seekers for God’s love and the free gift of salvation.
For suggested reading, see the following:
A Matter of Days – author and astronomer Hugh Ross addresses questions and explores how the creation-day controversy developed. History, theology, science, and Scripture reveal creation’s big picture.
Why the Universe Is the Way It Is – “Why?” may be the most common and emotionally charged question in human experience. With the Bible in one hand and the latest scientific findings in the other, astronomer Hugh Ross tackles many of our most pressing cosmic “whys.”
Improbable Planet – In this pioneering book, Hugh Ross helps readers uncover the countless miracles that undergird the exquisitely fine-tuned planet we call home—as if Someone had us in mind all along.
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[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VSOP_(planets)
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milankovitch_cycles
[3] Bible verses say that God stretched out the heavens and is still stretching out the heavens (continuing action):
- Who alone stretches out the heavens, And tramples down the waves of the sea; (Job 9:8)
- Covering Thyself with light as with a cloak, Stretching out heaven like a tent curtain. (Psalm 104:2)
- It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. (Isaiah 40:22)
- Thus says God the Lord, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and its offspring, Who gives breath to the people on it, And spirit to those who walk in it, (Isaiah 42:5)
- Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, “I, the Lord, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself, And spreading out the earth all alone” (Isaiah 44:24)
- “It is I who made the earth and created man upon it. I stretched out the heavens with My hands, And I ordained all their host.” (Isaiah 45:12)
- “Surely My hand founded the earth, And My right hand spread out the heavens; When I call to them, they stand together.” (Isaiah 48:13)
- That you have forgotten the Lord your Maker, Who stretched out the heavens, And laid the foundations of the earth; That you fear continually all day long because of the fury of the oppressor, As he makes ready to destroy? But where is the fury of the oppressor? (Isaiah 51:13)
- It is He who made the earth by His power, Who established the world by His wisdom; And by His understanding, He has stretched out the heavens. (Jeremiah 10:12)
- It is He who made the earth by His power, Who established the world by His wisdom, And by His understanding, He stretched out the heavens. (Jeremiah 51:15)
- The burden of the word of the Lord concerning Israel. Thus declares the Lord who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth and forms the spirit of man within him, (Zechariah 12:1)