How Old is the Earth?



If Evolution is true, the Earth has to be billions of years old.  If the Bible is true, the Earth has to be only a few thousand years old.  Is it possible to tell how old the Earth is?  Yes, there are several limiting factors that indicate how old the Earth is.

Limiting Factors

If you went scuba diving and found a shipwreck with a treasure chest full of gold coins, how would you know when the ship sank?  Well, look at the dates on the coins.  If there is a coin in there from 1695, one from 1710, and a coin from 1750, you ought to be able to figure out that the boat sank after 1750.  The youngest coin, or the coin with the most recent date, is the limiting factor on when the ship sank.  There are several limiting factors that indicate that the Earth cannot be billions of years old.

The Sahara Desert

Did you know the Sahara Desert has what is called a prevailing wind pattern?  The wind almost always blows the same direction.  But that creates a problem because as the ground dries out and turns to desert, it keeps spreading.  The Sahara Desert is growing.  Right now it is growing 4 to 5 miles a year.  Well, the Sahara Desert is only 1300 miles north to south.  It can only be a few thousand years old.  Now, that does not prove the universe is a few thousand years old, but it is interesting that it fits what the Bible says.  The Bible says God created the world about 6,000 years ago.  4,400 years ago there was a flood.  It is pretty hard to have a desert under a flood and so the desert had to start forming after the flood was gone.  So if the earth is billions of years old, why do we not have a bigger desert some place?  Why is it only a few thousand years old?  Interesting!

Oil Pressure

Did you know when they drill down into the ground sometimes they hit oil? The oil is under incredible pressure down there. It will sometimes come squirting up out of the ground like a big zit, because oil wells sometimes have 20,000 pounds per square inch. The people who study the rocks on top of the oil say that the rocks cannot handle that pressure for more than probably 10,000 years. The rock should have cracked; the pressure should have leaked off.  So, where did the oil come from and why is it still under pressure? If the pressure can only last for 10,000 years, why is there still pressure down there?

 

Well, nearly all scientists agree that oil comes from plants and animals that are buried and squeezed and changed by heat and pressure. But, why do we still have pressure down there?  Well, according to the Bible, about 6,000 years ago God created the heavens and the earth; 4,400 years ago there was a Flood that destroyed the world. In that Flood, lots of critters drowned; and people and their carcasses got buried by the sand and rocks and gravel and mud and they got pretty heavy after awhile and it squished them into oil. So the oil is down there from the people and animals that drowned in the Flood.

Population Growth

 In 1985, the world population had 5 billion people in it. In 1800, there was only one billion. Just 200 years ago, only one billion people. Population is growing rapidly, nobody argues about that. Everybody agrees that about 1800 there were one billion people in the world.  All the textbooks and population statistics indicate about 1800 there were one billion people in the world. What they do not do, though, is put it into perspective and say wait a minute, the earth cannot be billions of years old, there are not enough people here.

 

Now there are a lot of people, but the world is not overcrowded. The whole world’s population could fit inside the city limits of Jacksonville, Florida, twice, that one city has 25 billion square feet. You could easily crowd everybody in there, probably three times. The whole world’s population! No, it is not overcrowded. And, it looks like, from the population graph, that the whole population started about 4400 years ago. Well, the Bible teaches 4400 years ago there was a Flood that destroyed the world; 8 people survived on board Noah’s ark. Starting with 8 people having kids and grandkids and great grandkids, you can get a population of 5 or 6 billion in a few thousand years, not a problem at all.

Magnetic Field Decline 

The earth has a magnetic field around it. Now this magnetic field around the earth acts as a barrier to protect us from ultraviolet radiation, a lot of stuff is coming off the sun and stars besides just light. A lot of this UV light and the high energy radiation hits the magnetic field and is deflected to the poles, that is what causes the northern lights and the southern lights.  Well, this magnetic field protects the earth, but studies have shown consistently that the magnetic field is getting weaker and weaker. We are slowly losing the magnetic field. This means it used to be stronger obviously; however, there is a limit to how strong it can be or life cannot exist here. 

Earth’s magnetic strength has declined 10% in the last 150 years and 40% in the last 1,000 years.  There is pretty overwhelming evidence that the earth’s magnetic field is getting weaker.  If the earth’s magnetic field is getting weaker, this creates a problem.  If we go back in time, about 25,000 years, the magnetic strength would have been too great for life to exist here because of the heat generated.

 

So if the earth is billions of years old, the evolutionist has to have an answer for that. He says, 'the magnetic field is reversing, it is in a cycle.' Well, we have never seen that; we have seen it decline and that is all we have seen. Now if you want to pretend or imagine that it is reversing, you are welcome to. If you want to use the jumbled up lines at the bottom of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge for your evidence, you are welcomed to do that, but that is not conclusive proof that the magnetic field is reversing at all. There are lots of other explanations for those magnetic lines at the bottom of the earth and Mid-Atlantic Ridge. We have seen the magnetic field decline, which could indicate that the earth is not billions of years old.

Erosion Rates

When it rains, 30% of the water runs into the oceans. As the water runs in it brings with it not only salt, but it also brings with it soil. The mountains are eroding; everything is washing away. At the current rate of erosion, the continents will be flat in 14 million years. Plus, the oceans are filling in with sediments and there is only enough sediment out there for a few thousand years. If the fossils are really millions of years old we have a problem because the continents would have eroded away 5 times since the dinosaurs were supposedly here. How come we still find their bones on land? The erosion rate proves the earth is not billions of years old.

 

Niagara Falls

The textbook in the image below shows a picture of Niagara Falls, and how Niagara Falls is eroding. All waterfalls eat away at the bank and it slowly erodes back. The Canadians built a concrete wall on the far side to make sure it erodes American soil instead of Canadian soil. This textbook says, “Niagara Falls has been eroding for nearly 9,900 years.” Now how do they know that? Well, the rocks are breaking off the edge, which is pretty obvious you can stand there and watch it. As it breaks rocks off the edge, the waterfall is moving south. It is moving, according to the museum guide, 4.7 feet a year. So, it is moving nearly 5 feet a year. Now, in 1930’s they diverted most of the water for hydroelectric power, so the erosion rate has cut way back. They can actually dry up Niagara Falls by diverting all the water if they want. So the erosion rate is not much today, but up until 1930’s, about 4 to 5 feet a year.