How much time has elapsed since Creation?

Answer 1

Opinions from our Contributors

• There is no way of knowing how long ago the Creation depicted in the Book of Genesis might have occurred. It is a poetic, rather than a scientific account, and in any case it is important to remember that the Bible makes no claim about the age of the Earth. The theoretical figure of some 6,000 years is modern pseudoscience, and was arrived at by counting the number of generations listed in the Bible from Adam to Jesus and assigning an arbitrary average length to them. The theory also assumes, without any proof, that the "day" of Creation was the same length as it is now.

• If we go by what the Bible says, then the time from creation to today is approximately 6 thousand years. This is calculated by using historical markers from known historical events mentioned in the Bible and then doing calculations based on other known dates mentioned in relation to those markers. It has nothing whatsoever to do with an 'arbitrary generational age', since this would only give an approximate and not exact age. In relation to Bible chronology relating to the age of the earth a number of people have done calculations, including of all people, Sir Isaac newton. Most come with dates close to the most highly regarded date of Bishop James Usher who arrived at 4004 BC for the date of creation. This is assuming no 'gaps' in the record, which, if they existed would only stretch the record a few thousand years at best. Most would understand that the Bible, while not claiming to be a textbook of science does indeed claim reliability in the history it records. The Bible record of history has also been repeatedly verified by external facts such as Archaeology.

• In relation to the literature of the Bible, some occasionally claim that the Bible creation accounts are poetic. This is not correct as they are written in prose form. The Hebrew poetic form being quite different as in Psalms, Proverbs and Job. These accounts are thus intended to be taken as a historical record and the days, in the context, are intended to be normal 24 hour days. Following on from this it is also clear that the days are normal 24 hour days as we have today as the relevant Hebrew word 'yom' (day) is qualified by the words 'evening and morning' which can mean only one thing.

• The consensus of professional scientific organizations worldwide is that no scientific evidence contradicts the age of approximately 4.5 billion years.

• If the question deals with the creation of "everything" we see, the universe as a whole, the answer is about 13.7 billion years. The earth has been around for 4.5 to 4.6 billion years.

• All of the above answers regarding billions of years pre-supposes that the rate of the elapse of time has remained constant but there is scientific evidence that it hasn't.

• Some believe Genesis was meant as Hebrew Poetry, not an historical account, and that each "day" of creation was actually thousands, if not millions, of years.
• The Earth is 6,450 years old. Look in Luke and in the Old Testament. There is this thing called the Baptism and Genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3:21. In the old testament is tells when people had their children. The genealogy tells from the creation of Adam to the birth of Jesus do the math, add 2 thousand years and you have 6,450 years. Also there is no record of anything before that time.
• Jewish Answer - As of January 16, 2010 the world would be 5770 yrs and 4 months old base on the dates and ages given in the Torah (Old Testament).

Answer 2

According to Christian belief, Creation occurred approximately 6,000 years ago. However, scientific estimates put the age of the Earth at around 4.5 billion years.