Why do Creationists insist on a Young Earth?
by Lenny Flank
(c) 1995
The modern science of geology tells us that the planet earth is approximately 4.5 billion years old, while the science of astronomy concludes that the universe itself is between ten and fifteen billion years old. The young-earth creation "scientists", however, reject these conclusions, and assert instead that the universe (and the earth along with it), is only between 6,000 and 10,000 years old---a view which has not been held by a scientist of any repute for over 150 years.
Although the creationists attempt to justify this date using scientific data, their writings make it apparent that they prefer a young earth because of religious factors, not because of any scientific evidence. Henry Morris, for instance, points out, "Although the creation model is not necessarily linked to a short time scale, as the evolution model is to a long scale, it is true that it does fit more naturally in a short chronology. Assuming the Creator had a purpose in His creation, and that purpose centered primarily in man, it does seem more appropriate that He would not waste aeons of time in essentially meaningless caretaking of an incomplete stage or stages of His intended creative work." (Morris, Scientific Creationism, 1974, p. 136). Assertions about the "purpose" and "intention" of the Creator have no scientific meaning whatsoever, but they do have particular religious meanings for the creationists. Morris goes on to say, "There is no sure way (except by divine revelation) of knowing the true age of any geologic formation." (Morris, Scientific Creationism, 1974, pp. 137-138) And in case we miss the point, Morris explicitly states: "The only way we can determine the true age of the earth is for God to tell us what it is. And since He has told us, very plainly, in the Holy Sciptures that it is several thousand years in age, and no more, that ought to settle all basic questions of terrestrial chronology." (Morris, 1972, p. 94)
During the Arkansas trial, Harold Coffin, a Creation Research Society member from Loma Linda University, was asked about the Burgess Shale fossil site, which has been dated to the early Cambrian period:
"Q: The Burgess Shale is said to be 500 million years old, but you think it is only 5,000 years old, don't you?
COFFIN: Yes.
Q: You say that because of information from the Scriptures, don't you?
COFFIN: Correct.
Q: If you didn't have the Bible, you could believe the age of the earth to be many millions of years, couldn't you?
COFFIN: Yes, without the Bible." (Trial transcript, McLean v Arkansas, cited in Berra, 1990, p. 135)
Duane Gish also makes the religious preconceptions of the creationists plainly apparent when he writes, "The genealogies listed in Genesis and elsewhere in the Bible, it is believed, would restrict the time of creation to somewhere between six thousand and about ten thousand years ago." (Gish, 1972, General Edition, p. 60)
The creationist efforts to demonstrate a young earth are, therefore, nothing more than a direct result of their religious efforts to show that their literalist interpretation of the Bible is correct.