How old is the Universe?
Christians in Isaac Newton’s day believed that the universe was a few thousand years old — created in six days in nearly its present condition. Cosmic history and human history seemed one and the same. Some clerics, and even Newton himself, made calculations based on their study of Bible passages, and announced an age of about 6000 years (they disagreed on the exact number). Other cultural and philosophical traditions thought the universe was much older, perhaps eternal. But most Europeans believed the universe was created recently. Geologists in the mid nineteenth century discovered, to their amazement, that time was far deeper. They worked out, for example, how mountain ranges erode and rivers carry the sediments down to the sea. The process is so slow that it must have taken many millions of years to lay down the great layers of shale and sandstone, adding up to kilometers in thickness. Geologists also found several other processes that must have taken millions of years. For all sci
I have enjoyed participating for some time in an Internet creation discussion group whose membership is limited to those who believe the universe is of recent origin. One of our members, a capable professor of physics, has openly stated that scientific evidence presented by creationists for a young earth is scanty and not very convincing at the present time. I had to agree with him almost line for line. My own belief in a recent creation is a result of my Christian world-view and this in turn stands on my experience in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ over 35 years (almost half my life), plus my confidence in the integrity and accuracy of Scripture. When I first became a Christian I soon saw the New Testament promises for peace, hope, guidance–and power to overcome personal evil–were all demonstrably true in my own life. One day I went to visit the pastor who had led me to the Lord. I had with me some exciting new scientific news that seemed to conflict with the Bible. To my
Until recently, astronomers estimated that the Big Bang occurred between 12 and 14 billion years ago. To put this in perspective, the Solar System is thought to be 4.5 billion years old and humans have existed as a genus for only a few million years. Astronomers estimate the age of the universe in two ways: 1) by looking for the oldest stars; and 2) by measuring the rate of expansion of the universe and extrapolating back to the Big Bang; just as crime detectives can trace the origin of a bullet from the holes in a wall.
