Age of the earth?

Does the Bible Teach a Young Earth? Claiming that the Bible teaches a young universe only adds an unnecessary stumbling block to those who are skeptical about the faith. (Matt Perman)

Evidence for an old universe:

• Absence of short lived stars from star clusters 14-18 Ga¹
• Length it takes light to get to the earth from the most distant objects in the universe (10 Ga)²
• Hubble expansion of the universe 7 - 20 Ga¹

Evidence for an old solar system

• Age of meteorites 4.4-4.6 Ga (isochron method)¹
• Age of moon 4.5 Ga (radiometric)¹
• Earth-meteorite system 4.54 Ga (lead isotope age)¹

Evidence for an old earth:

• Earths oldest rocks 3.8-3.9 Ga (radiometric)¹
• Absence of short lived radio isotopes with a half life less than 82 million years¹
• Slowing down down of the earths spin, giving 400 days in a year about 400 million years ago, which is what we observe from old coral growth rings, there are 400 growth rings a year instead of 365.²
• Astronomical Cycles tell us that the earth is at least 25,000,000 years old.
• Green River formation in Wyoming. It contains more than 4,000,000 layers, or varves.
• The Eniwetok coral reef has a thickness of 4,600 ft and since coral grows at a maximum of 0.5 inch per year it must be at least 100,000 years old.²
• Direct counting of ice layers shows the Earth has to be more than 50,000 years old. Indirectly counted layers are more than 420,000 years old.
• The bristlecone pine chronology in the White Mountains currently extends back almost 9,000 years continuously. There is also a broken chronology of trees found in Tasmania ranging in age from about 8000 BP to about 13000 BP.

References:

1. The Age of the Earth Brent G Dalrymple, 1994
2. Creation and Evolution Rethinking the Evidence from Science and the Bible, Alan Hayward, 1985

Books:

Standard textbook:

- The Age of the Earth Brent G Dalrymple, Paperback (February 1994) Stanford Univ Pr; ISBN: 0804723311

• Reviewed by Don Lawrence 12/2/96
• S. Wormley
• Review by Allan Harvey an old earth creationist
• See reviews: of 'The Age of the Earth'
• In my opinion the book is good but it relies too much on radiometric dating (rossuk)

1. A History of Modern Planetary Physics Transmuted Past : The Age of the Earth and the Evolution of the Elements from Lyell to Patterson (History of Modern Planetary Physics, Vol 2) by Stephen G. Brush
2. Lord Kelvin and the Age of the Earth by Joe D. Burchfield
3. Science and Earth History : The Evolution/Creation Controversy by Arthur N. Strahler. For age of the earth see chapters 15 to 19.

Christian books that refute the young earth hypothesis and explain why I believe in an Old Earth

1. Creation and Evolution - Rethinking the Evidence from Science and the Bible, Alan Hayward, Bethany House Publishers (1985) Amazon refutes young earth and flood geology and gives evidence for old earth, discusses Genesis.
2. A New Look at an Old Earth - Don Stoner, Harvest House Publishers (1985) on-line edition refutes young earth arguments.
3. Creation and Time: A Biblical and Scientific Perspective on the Creation-Date Controversy. by Hugh, Dr. Ross Paperback - 187 pages (March 1994) Navpress; Dr. Ross has provided empirical scientific and theological data and analyses in support of an old earth. Conservative evangelical Christians who have neither bought into liberalism nor hyper-fundamentalism, will find this book and others by Dr. Ross helpful in appreciating the high degree of intelligent design that Creation manifests. Authentically derived scientific and theological truths should be integrated for a coherent view of reality. The Holy Spirit is the author not only of soteriological truths but all truth. Assuming that radiometric and non-radiometric methods are not off by several orders of magnitude and knowing that "...truth shall spring out of the earth..." (Ps. 85:11), what would be God's agenda for antiquating the earth, giving it the "appearance of age?" Amazon
4. Christianity and the Age of the Earth by Davis A. Young, see Review by: Steven Schimmrich

Reviews/critiques of Creation and Time

1. Creation and Time: A Report on the Progressive Creationist Book by Hugh Ross(A critique of Dr Ross's book)
2. Creation and Time - The Y files
3. "Progressive Creationist" Hugh Ross, who is he and what does he believe?
4. Creation and Time - does god exist book review
5. Amazon.com - reviews of the book and you can buy it here
6. Does the Bible Teach a Young Earth? - Matt Perman - "I greatly rely on Hugh Ross's book Creation and Time in this article. This article may be considered a very favorable review of his book, which also brings in corroborating evidence from other sources."
7. An Open Letter to Dr. Hugh Ross - February 18, 1989 - Lambert Dolphin's Library (note that this was written before the issue of 'Creation and Time')

Age of the Earth Links:

Old Earth

1. Young-Earth Arguments: A Second Look - critique of young earth arguments - Glenn R. Morton
2. The Age of the earth- Don Lindsay - non-radiometric dating shows that the earth is old
3. The Age of the Earth (FAQ's) Talk Origins
4. The Age of the Earth by Chris Stassen (Talk Origins)
5. Isochron Dating Chris Stassen - Talk Origins (Isochron dating forms the key to Dalrymple's book)
6. A talk.origins Age of the Earth Debate It contains Bob Bales's opening statement, Chris Stassen's rebuttal, and Bob Bales's closing remarks.
7. Anti creation reading list - anti young earth stuff etc etc
8. How Good Are Those Young-Earth Arguments? A Close Look at Dr. Hovind's List of Young-Earth Arguments and Other Claims - Dave E Matson (Talk Origins FAQ)
9. How Good Are Those Young-Earth Arguments? Dave E. Matson
10. Does the Bible Teach a Young Earth? - Matt Perman
11. The Age of the Earth - various methods, see also Historical Geology Georgia Perimeter College for more articles
12. Radiometric Dating A Christian Perspective- Dr. Roger C. Wiens Division of Geological & Planetary Sciences California Institute of Technology
13. The Age of Earth Controversy - Lord Kelvin
14. Magnetic stripes and isotopic clocks - the Earth's magnetic reversals
15. On Creation Science and the Alleged Decay of the Earth's Magnetic Field - Tim Thompson
16. The Age of the Earth - part of Geology & Christianity
17. Earth and Life Sciences (PBS)
18. Geologic Time - William L Newman
19. The geology of the Southwest hints at the real age of the Earth - Walter Witschey
20. The Age of the Universe: Book - What Are the Biblical Limits? - Gorman Gray
21. Is the Young-Earth Interpretation Biblical? Evidence for God from Science
22. How Long an Evening and a Morning - Dr. Otto J. Helweg
23. A Radiometric Dating Resource List
24. Radiometric Dating and the Geological Time Scale Circular Reasoning or Reliable Tools? Copyright © 1997-1998 by Andrew MacRae
25. The Testimony of a Formerly Young Earth Missionary Dr. Joshua Zorn

Young Earth

1. The Age of the Earth (Young Earth)
2. Biblical Age of the Earth - defends literal days
3. Old-Earth Creation - Dr. Henry Morris
4. The Age of the Earth CIM Outline #44
5. Radiometric Dating of Fossils and Rocks The Failure and Inaccuracy of Radiodating and Radiocarbon Dating Methods
6. Scientific Age of the Earth - critique of radiometric dating
7. A statement concerning the ministry of Dr. Hugh Ross by Bolton Davidheiser
8. Scientific Age of the Earth - critique of radiometric dating
9. IV. Which Model is Best? - from The Revolution Against Evolution -
10. The Age of the Earth from Forerunner
11. Ancient Chronologies and the Age of the Earth After the Flood, by Bill Cooper

Misc

1. Hugh Ross and Duane Gish Debate the Age of the Earth and the Universe - Focus on the Family
2. The Age of the Earth and the Universe - Jason D. Browning

Reviews:The Age of the Earth - Brent G Dalrymple, Stanford University Press 1991, ISBN 0-8047-1569-6 [taken from: Amazon.com]

Booknews, Inc. , September 1, 1991

Dalrymple explains the evidence and logic that have led scientists to conclude that the Earth is four and one-half billion years old. Topics include the history of the universe, long lived radioactive isotopes, the oldest rocks, solar system evidence, and the age of the Milky Way. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or. --This text refers to the hardcover edition of this title

The author, G. Brent Dalrymple (gbd@oce.orst.edu) , June 26, 1997

Who am I?

I have a Ph.D. in geology from the University of California at Berkeley and spent the first 31 years of my career at the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, California, doing research using isotopic dating of rocks and minerals to solve a variety of interesting geological and geophysical problems. In 1994 I retired from the USGS and am now the Dean of the College of Oceanic & Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. In addition to The Age of the Earth, I’ve written one other book and more than 150 research papers, most of which would bore the average person silly. I am a member of various relevant scientific organizations, including the National Academy of Sciences.

Why did I write The Age of the Earth?

In the very early 1980s I was asked by the ACLU to appear as an expert witness in a very important trial in Arkansas. That state (and Louisiana) had passed a law mandating the teaching of "creation science" whenever "evolution science" was taught in science classrooms of the public schools. I thought that was a bad idea and agreed to help. The Arkansas law and all similar laws were declared unconstitutional as a result of that trial and some other judicial proceedings involving Louisiana. In the process of preparing for the trial, however, it was apparent to me that a good book explaining all of the scientific evidence for the age of the Earth, solar System, Galaxy, and Universe, would be very useful to a lot of people. The last comprehensive book on the subject was written in 1931, before nearly all of the evidence for Earth’s age had been collected, and the relevant evidence was scattered throughout a bunch of scientific papers that were difficult for the average person even to find, much less understand. So, I wrote The Age of the Earth and it was published by Stanford University Press. I don’t discuss the creationists off-the-wall ideas in the book—those are adequately dealt with elsewhere—but only the legitimate scientific evidence for the age of the Earth, Galaxy, and Universe.

What’s in the Book?

Chapter 1 is a brief history of the Universe as it is presently understood so the rest of the material in the book can be viewed within the framework of the larger picture. Chapter 2 is about the history of early attempts to find the Earth’s age, none of which were successful. Chapter 3 is an explanation about how modern dating methods based on the decay of long-lived radioactive elements work. Chapter 4 is a discussion of Earth’s oldest known rocks, which are not as old as Earth itself. Chapter 5 presents the evidence for the age of the oldest rocks found so far on the Moon, and Chapter 6 is about the age of meteorites, the oldest known objects in the Solar System. Chapter 7 explains the simple and elegant method, based on the evolution of lead isotopes, that provides a reasonably accurate figure for the age of Earth. Chapter 8 explains the current evidence for the ages of the Milky Way Galaxy and the Universe, and Chapter 9 is a summary of what we know and don’t know.

Who was the Book Written for?

I wrote it for me and I like how it came out, but I’m pleased that others have found it useful and enjoyable as well. Anyone with a little knowledge of science should be able to understand it just fine. I did put in the most important equations, but I also wrote the text in such a way that if the math puts you off you can just skip those parts and not miss anything really important. If you do decide to buy the book, I hope that you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

G. Brent Dalrymple, College of Oceanic & Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331-5503, gbd@oce.orst.edu

gvhill@accel.net Dr. G.V. Hill MD from Ontario, Canada , June 27, 1998

The same information could be given in much less space. The first few chapters are marred by religious intolerance. Mr Dalrymple portrays christians as an impediment to the advancement of science while ignoring the contributions of such noted christian scientists as Kepler, Mendel and Newton. He appears to see all christians as young earthers and promotes the myth that the bible teaches that the earth is six thousand years old, a view which is bad theology as well as bad science. Chapter three and chapter eight are well worth the read. The rest of the book could easily have been condensed into half its length. Chapter four was particularly agonizing. I gave the book a three because it does contain some interesting and useful information.

bridges@his.com from Washington, DC , May 2, 1998

Give this to your young-earth friends I am a Christian, and I have a high view of the Bible. I also have a high view of nature, as it is God's creation. God made the rocks, just as He wrote the Bible. They should both agree. Dalrymple summarizes in this book what the rocks have to say. To ignore this massive and consistent set of data is unreasonable. The only option is to conclude that the days of Genesis are not 24 hours long. (This is not a modern view; Augustine taught it in 400 AD in The Literal Meaning of Genesis.) The book would benefit from some more color graphics and specific responses to creationist arguments such as the notion of apparent age. The author says he wrote it 'for himself'. It might have been better if it were focused on the objections and misconceptions of others.

A reader , December 19, 1996

spectacular!

How old is the Earth? Dalrymple gives the answer, 4.54 billion years, in the Preface. The rest of the book is a patient, thorough, clear, and utterly compelling account of how Science has arrived at this answer. To determine the age of the Earth, one must determine the ages of rocks. The basic idea in dating a rock is to measure the ratio of a radioactive "parent" isotope and a "daughter" isotope the parent decays into. Plug this data into a simple exponential equation, and solve for t. The basic problem with this idea is that in order to write down the correct exponential equation, you need to know how much of the daughter isotope was present when the rock was formed. If there was some daughter isotope present, and you assume there wasn't, your computed age could be far older than the rock's actual age. Intuitively, this seems like an insoluble problem: how could you possibly measure how much daughter isotope was present when a rock was formed billions of years ago? There is a stunningly beautiful variation of the basic idea, called the "isochron method", which can tell you the age of a rock, regardless of how much daughter isotope was present originally! The isochron method also *tells* you how much daughter isotope there was at formation! As if that weren't spectacular enough, the isochron method *also* tells you how reliable your answers are: the closer the data points for a rock are to a straight line, the more confident you can be about the rock's age. The book begins with descriptions of early attempts to find the age of the Earth. Each theory is carefully explained and put in historical context, and the fatal flaws pointed out. Next is a survey of experimental evidence indicating that the radioactive decay rates used in radiometric dating are virtually constant over time. The isochron method is then explained, along with some of its variations. Then comes the real meat of the book: a sampling of how these techniques have been used to date rocks from the Earth, the Moon, and meteorites. Literally hundreds of these computations are discussed (thoroughly referenced to scientific literature, of course). Finally, Dalrymple gives a summary of indirect corroborating evidence. For example, the age of the universe is currently thought to be 10-20 billion years-- a figure which fits nicely with the age of the Earth, but which was arrived at by different scientists, using completely different methods. One thing that struck me repeatedly as I read this book was how fair Dalrymple is. This is clearly a scientist in search of Truth, not a man with an ax to grind. For example, one experiment he discusses arrived at exactly 4.54 billion years as the age of some meteorite; but Dalrymple dismisses that particular computation as unreliable, for various technical reasons. This is quite possibly the single best book I have ever read, period. When I finished, I felt like I was holding a couple of pounds of pure distilled Knowledge. This book is just plain beautiful. Read it.