Flaws of Young Earth Science
Presented by a Christian Attorney
We wish to promote a new book questioning the reliance that has been put on the doctrines taught by the late Henry Morris about a young earth, which has served as a detriment for non-Christians to take seriously the words of our Lord Jesus and the Bible as a whole.
In this book, Christian Attorney, Andrew S. Balian, Esq., reveals young earth science as it is presented and practiced today "has no hope to salvage the authenticity of the Bible if it continues to insist upon the young earth view" among non-Christians. The time is ripe to abandon the effort. We as Christians can accept the view of all early church commentators that there is a long-lag between the "beginning" in verse 1 and day one in Genesis One. Hence a potentially long lag exists between "the creation of the heavens and the earth" and day one. Then what happens on days 1-6 are progressive miraculous improvements upon a creation that already existed prior to day one. Or we can adopt the view of Augustine in the 400's, Origen in the 200's and others in the early church who believed the yoms of Genesis One were indefinite periods. Or we can adopt the predominant view of the early church -- seven commentators to just three who held to the 24 hour view -- that the days of Genesis were God's days. And God's days were defined by Moses in Psalm 90:4 (yes he wrote a Psalm) and 2d Peter 3:5 as similar to 1000 years of our time--a very long time.
Specifically, Mr. Balian discusses the Hebrew word yom as it relates to Lightfoot and Ussher's precipitous and unstudied claim that it refers to a 24-hour period. As a result, the following flawed syllogism has since ensued:
- The Bible says the Earth and universe are about 7,000 years old
- Science Proves the Earth and universe are about 7,000 years old
- Therefore, the Bible is credible as the Word of God.
However, the question remains - how does this syllogism hold up if Science among non-Christians proves the earth is 4.5 billion years old and the universe is 15 billion years old? It would require non-Christians to reject the Bible, which is the only choice young earth proponents give serious minded non-Christians. This book exhorts young earth advocates to see their scientific project has never succeeded; has only weak or invalidated claims (e.g., the Moon Dust and Helium Clock claims), and that to avoid further embarassment to evangelism, the project must be abandoned. The author hopes that young earth proponents will reconsider their view of yom in Genesis and restore the historically acceptable beliefs from the early church that are compatible with an earth far older than 6000 years, e.g., the universal view of a lag between the "beginning" and day one; or the view each yom in Genesis One meant an 'age, era, period of indefinite length, or the God's day measured as 1000 years each. Thereby we can preserve evangelism to the lost on a sound footing -- a Bible they can believe in.
Table of Contents
Preface
Chapter 1: Long Days of Genesis
Chapter 2: Institute of Creation Research
Chapter 3: A Scientific Foundation?
Chapter 4: Thermodynamics
Chapter 5: Moon Dust
Chapter 6: No Meteorites!
Chapter 7: Cosmic Dust
Chapter 8: Io, Rings & Saturn
Chapter 9: Lunar Craters
Chapter10: Shrinking Sun
Chapter 11:The Big Bang
Chapter 12: The Speed of Light
Chapter 13: Radiometric Dating
Chapter 14: Halo Dating
Chapter 15: Ancient DNA
Chapter 16: Fresh Dinosaur Blood
Chapter 17:Helium: An Argument Backfires!
Chapter 18: Miscellaneous Claims
Appendix A: Heliocentricity
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