10 Young earth evidences and why they’re needed 

Does the age of the earth matter to your faith? The witnessing approach known as Evangelism Explosion was known for its diagnostic questions[1], so let me take that approach and ask a few diagnostic questions. Answer yes or no to the following:

Question 1: Does the account of the creation of the universe as presented in Genesis depict literal events in a historical manner the way the gospels present the life of Jesus in a historical manner?

Question 2: Is it important to stand up for a “literal” understanding of the creation of the universe as depicted in Genesis the way we stand up for a “literal” understanding of the death and resurrection of Jesus?

Question 3:  Are you as proud and willing to stand for and defend the doctrine of creation  as depicted in Genesis – in 6 days – as you are to stand for and defend the resurrection of Jesus on the third day?

If you answered “no” to any of the above diagnostic questions you have just  provided further evidence to support the thesis of my previous article. In  that article I predicted the North American church would do little to nothing to stop the headlong rush this country is in  – in its runaway desire to free itself from the bonds of biblical morality and to embrace every form of sexual rebellion you can think of. And when I say “every form” I mean “every form.” (There is no perversion so base that someone somewhere won’t claim its their “right” to engage in it.)

Part of that rejection of God’s order is the LGBT/transgender rebellion. In a recent article one Christian thinker links the current transgender madness to the fruit of atheism and existentialism.[2] That may be so for the world, but it doesn’t explain the church’s current and impending failure in stopping or even slowing the madness.  That failure is not so much that it didn’t stop the world in it’s rebellion. No, that is a work of the Spirit to convict people of guilt in regard to sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16.8) and bring rebirth and revival. Rather the failure of the church to which I refer is the failure to stand up and be a witness to the truth. The whole truth about God’s creation – of the world’s creation, of humans – as male and female, and of course of salvation through the death and resurrection of Christ.   Of course there are exceptions, but for the most part the church is failing to proclaim the complete message. 

Many Christians think it sufficient simply to testify about Jesus and not concern themselves with “divisive” matters of origins. But is it sufficient? If you just preach Jesus, which Jesus would that be? The Jesus of the Jehovah’s witnesses – who is not the second person of the eternal Godhead, but is really the archangel Michael now known as Jesus[3]? Or the Jesus of Islam who is not the son of God, cannot be identified as God (as Christians do), nor was he crucified?[4]  Or is this the Jesus of the Mormons (Latter Day Saints), who is a separate God from God the father and is the spirit brother to all beings – including Satan?[5] Or the Jesus of some other cult or religion?

You see if you can’t (or won’t) ground your Jesus in the scriptures which speak of the origins of all things –  the scriptures which  Jesus says testify about him (John 5.39) –  then people will break the 2nd commandment (not to make idols Ex 20.4) and create a Jesus in their own image to suit their own likings.  And they will reject the Jesus who scripture says created all things (John 1.3).  Along with that  rejection of Jesus as creator – is coupled the rejection of humans as male and female. And who are you to stop them? If you reject the clear teaching on origins, are they not right to claim they can likewise reject the teaching on origins? Further, if the teaching on origins  (which includes the genesis of genders) is inconsequential, is it not also inconsequential if they form, and make up their own genders?  If you cannot bring yourself to affirm, as did the early Jews[6],  the early church[7], early Jewish historians like Josephus[8], and Jesus himself (Mark 10.6) – the foundational teaching that at the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth in 6 days, and on the sixth day, created humans as male and female; if you you cannot honor and accept that yourself , then why would you have any expectation that an unbelieving generation would honor and accept God’s design for humans?

Thus this failing of the church to honor and uphold God’s word I lay at the feet of church leaders and every day Christians everywhere who reject the clear teachings of scripture – which begin in Genesis –  in order to fit in with whatever secular teaching they feel they need to conform to. Typically that’s current secular science on origins or current morality, but it need not to be restricted to that. Given that weakness it’s no wonder that according to a recent Pew research poll[9], only 18% of Americans believe God created life as depicted in the Bible without evolution. Why should that be surprising when the church won’t even unify over how God created?

But as I noted, there will be exceptions. I would like to think my readers, who are interested enough to read this far, would be among them.  Are you? Among those standing for the truth as presented in scripture that is. And if so, can you defend it? Which returns us to the reason for this article: If we as Christians are going to unashamedly proclaim the truth, we should be able to readily defend it – starting with what God started with: Genesis. So can you quickly give 3 evidences of a young earth? You should be able to, but if not – here’s your chance to rectify that.

In this age of entrenched belief in long ages, evolution and big bang cosmology, every Christian should be able to point to at least 3 evidences, off the top of their head, for a young earth.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: this is a key point that secularists will fight you on tooth and nail because they know if the earth is only about 6,000 years old, then  neither evolution nor the big bang can be true, and thus Dawkins and atheists around the world know they lose their delusion of being an “intellectually fulfilled atheist.” More importantly if evolution is false (as we know it is), then secularists no longer have a story to tell themselves about how they came to exist without God’s intervention. So they can no longer pretend morality is whatever they make it. And they can no longer have a basis to make up gender and sexuality norms as they see fit. The prospect of accountability to a God with moral demands becomes impossible to avoid.

Thus we need to help disabuse them of their delusion. Since they demand evidence, we should be ready with it. So here it is – 10 of my favorite evidences of a young earth. If you haven’t already, you should learn and have immediately ready 3 of them. Or choose from a larger list,  there is plenty of evidence. My challenge is merely that you always be ready to give an answer for the reason for your belief. (1 Pe 3.15) Because Christianity is a faith made certain based on conclusions from  verifiable evidence. Christians do not believe in a blind faith, we believe in a rational faith, an evidence based faith.

So without further ado I give you 10 evidences of a young earth.  If you haven’t already, pick out three for sharing anytime you’re challenged on your belief that God created as the Bible says he did – the heavens, the earth and genders. That last one (gender identity) is an easy one: God created humans as male and female on the the 6th day. (Gen 1.26-31). Thus gender is neither “assigned” nor “fluid”.  It is recognized as one of the two which God created.

Evidences of a Young Earth

1. Dinosaurs – Soft Tissue and Sightings
1a – Soft Dinosaur Tissue
Scientists are regularly finding soft, pliable dinosaur tissue in bones as well as proteins and DNA in dinosaur bones supposedly 65 million years old or older.  It is known that  none of those items can last that long.
More: Dinosaur Soft Tissue   Picture: Dino Soft Tissue

1b. Many Humans have seen dinosaurs. (Human/Dinosaur co-existence)
But this should be impossible because according to the evolutionary time line, modern man appeared less than a million years ago. But dinosaurs died out supposedly 65 million years ago. If that is true, why does ancient art depict dinosaurs and why have there been so many dinosaur sightings?
More: Why have so many humans seen dinosaurs?
Does Ancient Art Prove Dinosaurs lived with Humans

2. Earth’s Magnetic field
Earth’s magnetic field is decaying. It is decaying at a rate too fast to have lasted for the supposed 4.5 billion year age of the earth. It could not have started strong enough to last billions of years and not also have an initial strength strong enough to destroy everything.  Models to depict a theoretic  “dynamo” that is generating the field have failed. Why is it still here?
More: Earth’s Magnetic Field: Testament to more than a young earth

3. The Ten Commandments
Though this is a testimony for all, it should be particularly so for Christians who believe in an old earth. Recall what God said when he gave Moses the 10 commandments. We are told:

“And God spoke all these words, saying.” (Ex 20.1 – Note the context: God himself is speaking: )
“For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” (Ex 20.11)

To the Christian: God himself has said he created the heavens and the earth in 6 days. What more evidence do you need?
More: Six Day Creation – Written in Stone

4. Carbon14 in Diamonds,  Coal, fossils
Many people believe that radiometric dating proves an old earth. But just the opposite is true. Radiometric dating proves a young earth. Carbon14 has a relatively short half life – 5,730 years.  This makes it undetectable with the most sophisticated modern equipment after about 80,000 – 100,000 years.  Thus if diamonds, coal and fossils (such as dinosaur bones) are really millions or billions of years old as it is claimed, Carbon14 should not be found or detected in them. Yet they are. The obvious conclusion: the items are not as old as claimed – not even 100,000 years old.
More:  Diamonds – A Girl’s and a Creationist’s Best Friend

5. Saturn’s Rings
Saturn’s rings pose 2 problems for believers in an old universe: First – they’re too bright and shiny. If they formed, as the nebular hypothesis supposes, some 4.6 billion years ago with the rest of the solar system, they should be black and sooty – covered with space dust. But they’re not. They’re bright and pristine. Second, the rings are made up of dynamic individual pieces of mostly ice orbiting the planet. It is known this orbit cannot last forever. In fact they will fall to the planet in the next few hundred million years. The fact that this hasn’t happened yet implies the rings are young.
More: Saturn’s Rings are young!

6. The Global Flood
Secular scientists deny a global flood. Thus if evidence of a global flood is found that is support for the Biblical account – which includes a timeline. (The global flood was recent – about 4,500 years ago and the creation of the earth less than 2000 years before the global flood.)   There is plenty of evidence of a global flood.
More: The Global Flood: The Best Evidence for Creation?

7. Human Population statistics
Secularists like to challenge creationists on how the population grew to the current 7.7 billion from 2 people a mere 6,000 years ago (actually more accurately, from 6 people 4,500 years ago). But as Dr. Rob Carter from Creation Ministries puts it:  “The challenge is actually on the evolutionists. If we started just a few thousand years ago, how come we don’t have a trillion people?”[10] Even that’s an understatement. Because if you use a population growth rate of just .01% (a population that doubles every 7,000 years instead of the current rate of 1.1% – one that doubles every every 39 years), and assume people have been around for a million years (as evolutionists do) you’d get a population of 10⁴³ – more than can fit on the planet![11] Where are they all? And the remains and artifacts of all those who have died?
More: Human Population – Why You Should Believe In Creation…And Not Evolution

8. Helium in Zircon Crystals
Secularists like to tout the ages determined by radiometric dating when claiming an old age for the earth. But what if you had a rock that effectively had two clocks running  in it? The second clock would act as a check on the accuracy of the first. We effectively have that in Zircon crystals. Zircon crystals have both decaying uranium-238  – which decays to lead at a certain rate. The decaying uranium produces Helium which is trapped in the lattice of the crystal until it escapes at a certain uniform rate. Both of these “clocks” should indicate the same age – but the Helium escape or leak age indicates the crystals are much younger (a few thousand years old) than the supposed  1.5 billion or so years the decaying uranium indicates.
More: Blowing old-earth belief away

9. Spiral Galaxy Wrapping
Spiral galaxies are beautiful to behold. The spiral shape is due to the movement of the stars in the galaxy. Scientists are able to measure how fast the arms of the spiral are wrapping around the center. With that speed we can calculate how many wrappings there should be around the center. The problem for old age believers: the galaxies are supposed to be billions of years old. But the wrappings indicate they’ve only existed a few thousand years.  Here’s a comparison picture produced by Jason Lisle based on a simulation he created.
More: Are you Ashamed to be a Creationist?

10. Lunar Recession Rate
The moon is moving away from the earth. That’s because the gravity of the moon produces tides on an earth which is spinning faster than the moon orbits.  This creates  tidal bulges that pull the moon forward  – that is they make the moon go faster. As you increase the speed of an object in orbit,  you increase its orbital distance, and vice versa – decreasing speed will decrease the orbiting distance. Scientists know the recession rate and can calculate the distance the moon would have been based on elapsed time. For example, 6,000 years ago the moon would have been about 750 feet closer. Not a big deal.  Astronomer Jason Lisle explains the rest: “If you run the math and you do it right, it turns out the earth and the moon would collide in about 1.4 billion years.”[12] That’s problematic for an earth that’s supposed to be 4.5 billion years old.
More: Lunar Recession – Why You Should Believe In Creation…And Not Evolution

Duane Caldwell | July 18,  2019
Follow @rationalupdates  

Notes

1. The EE Diagnostic questions:
Question 1: “Have you come to a place in your spiritual life where you can say you know for certain that if you were to die today you would go to heaven?
Question 2. “Suppose that you were to die today and stand before God and he were to say to you, ‘Why should I let you into my heaven?’ what would you say?”
D. James Kennedy, Evangelism Explosion, Wheaton IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1983, p. 16
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2. Tom Gilson, “Transgenderism and the Failure of Atheism’s Best Philosophy”, The Stream, July 12, 2019, https://stream.org/transgenderism-failure-atheism-philosophy/
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3. Christianity, Cults & Religions, Rose Publishing, 2000, section: “Jehovah’s Witnesses (Watchtower Bible & Tract Society)”
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4. In Islam God exists as one person alone, and the greatest sin is to associate any other person or partner with him. As one historian put it:
(Regarding the Muslim creed “There is no god but God”) “No statement about God seemed to Muhammad more fundamental than the declaration that God is one, and no sin seemed to him so unpardonable as associating another being with God on terms of equality.”
D.S. Noss and J.B. Noss, Man’s Religions, New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1984 p.506

Regarding Muslim disbelief in the crucifixion:
“Most Muslims do not believe in Jesus’ crucifixion. The Qur’an teaches that Jesus was never crucified but was instead substituted with a criminal for a staged crucifixion.”
Kyle R. Beshears, Robot Jesus and Three Other Jesuses You Never Knew, Kindle Edition, 2016,  Loc 3418, page 182
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5. Mormons claim Jesus as a “spirit being” and brother to Satan, see:
Christianity, Cults & Religions, Rose Publishing, 2000, section: “Mormonism (Latter-Day Saints)”
also:
Kyle R. Beshears, Robot Jesus and Three Other Jesuses You Never Knew, Kindle Edition, 2016,  Loc 59
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6. The early Jewish understanding of creation – that God created the heavens and earth in 6 days, plus 1 day of rest –  was well established by the time of the first century Jewish historian Josephus as noted by the historian who translated his works.
William Whiston, The Works of Josephus, Complete and Unabridged, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1987, p.91 (note d)
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7. The early church held to the same understanding of creation as did the early Jews: that God created heavens and earth in 6 days and rested on the seventh day. The early church also held that as part of creation, God created humans as male and female. This can be seen in the writings of the early church fathers such as Clement as well as later teachers such as St. Augustine.

Clement on the 6 day creation:
Clement states the Church existed before the sun and moon. This can only be true if members of the church existed before the sun and moon.  Angels – were created before the sun and moon (see below on Augustine) and apparently he believes they will be part of the church.
2nd Clem 14.1
The Apostolic Fathers, Chicago: Moody Publishers, Kindle Edition: Page 69, loc 769

Clement on genders:
Clement also clearly states that humans were created as male and female.
Clement’s First Letter 33.5
The Apostolic Fathers, Chicago: Moody Publishers, Kindle Edition: Page 39, loc 413

Saint Augustine:
Augustine not only affirms the heavens and earth being created in six days, and God resting on the seventh, but also affirms that the Angels were included in the initial creation of God, on the first day, since the angels existed to praise God when he created sun, moon and stars. (Job 38.4-7 – which actually speaks of the angels praising God during the creation of the earth, but since the earth was created before the stars – the angels would necessarily have to have existed during the creation of the stars as well.)

The City of God, St. Augustine, Edited by Philip Schaff, Book 11, Ch 9,
Ref from: The Complete Works of Augustine, Kindle ed. Loc 10716
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8. W. Whiston, translator of the works of Josephus notes that Josephus, following the common understanding of the Jews of his day, believed in a literal six day creation, with God resting on the seventh day. He notes in one of his works that Josephus: “…makes the seven branches of the temple candlestick, with their seven lamps, an emblem of the seven days of creation and rest…”
William Whiston, The Works of Josephus, Complete and Unabridged, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1987, p.91 (note d)
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9. On percentage of Americans believing in evolution:
“…our estimate of the share of Americans who reject evolution and express a creationist view drops considerably (from 31% to 18% of U.S. adults) when respondents are immediately given the opportunity to say God played a role in human evolution”
“The Evolution of Pew Research Center’s Survey Questions About the Origins and Development of Life on Earth”, Pew Research Center, February 6, 2019, https://www.pewforum.org/2019/02/06/the-evolution-of-pew-research-centers-survey-questions-about-the-origins-and-development-of-life-on-earth/
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10. Rob Carter ref. from Creation in the 21st Century with David Rives, episode “7 Billion People – 6 Thousand Years”, TBN broadcast 4/28/2017
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11. David Rives, Creation in the 21st Century with David Rives, TBN Broadcast 6/23/2018
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12. Jason Lisle, Creation in the 21st Century with David Rives, Episode “Astronomy Confirms a Young Universe”, TBN Broadcast 9/23/17
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Images
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Featured: Ancient people (and dinosaur) © Kovalenko | Fotolia used  by permission