Perspectives on the Age of the Earth and Why They Matter

Polls show almost half of US adults believe that Earth is only 10,000 years old, whereas scientists consider our planet to be 4.56 billion years old. Examining these conflicting views illuminates aspects of the perceived conflict between religion and science, and helps us understand the battles between “evolutionist” and “creationist” advocates. This book examines how we approach knowledge, and how we look at certainty. It disentangles the threads of the traditional knowledge we are taught from the knowledge we gain from our own investigation of truth. It argues that nature, the basis of science, and scripture, the basis of religion, derive from a single source. Because of their shared origins, religious and scientific perspectives grounded in verifiable truths must be in harmony. The book presents the science behind the reliability of isotopic dates, and critiques young-earth creationist attacks on isotopic studies. Though the nature of time is a philosophical issue, its measurement is a scientific venture that has affirmed that Earth is 4.56 billion years old. The harmony of science and religion, based on recognition of their single source, is a prerequisite for the progress of humanity as a whole. Table of Contents 6 Preface 8 Section I 16 Chapter One 18 Chapter Two 29 Chapter Three 35 Section II 38 Chapter Four 40 Chapter Five 49 Chapter Six 61 Section III 66 Chapter Seven 68 Chapter Eight 72 Chapter Nine 78 Chapter Ten 81 Chapter Eleven 85 Chapter Twelve 87 Chapter Thirteen 93 Chapter Fourteen 100 Chapter Fifteen 104 Chapter Sixteen 110 Chapter Seventeen 128 Section IV 144 Chapter Eighteen 146 Section IV 144 Chapter Eighteen 146 Chapter Nineteen 149 Chapter Twenty 157 Chapter Twenty-One 159 Chapter Twenty-Two 168 Chapter Twenty-Three 174 Chapter Twenty-Four 177 Chapter Twenty-Five 180 Chapter Twenty-Six 187 Chapter Twenty-Seven 190 Chapter Twenty-Eight 192 Chapter Twenty-Nine 196 Chapter Thirty 198 Section V 202 Chapter Thirty-One 204 Chapter Thirty-Two 208 Chapter Thirty-Three 220 Chapter Thirty-Four 223 Chapter Thirty-Five 233 Chapter Thirty-Six 241 Chapter Thirty-Seven 256 Chapter Thirty-Eight 260 Chapter Thirty-Nine 274 Chapter Forty 299 Chapter Forty-One 310 Section VI 316 Chapter Forty-Two 318 Chapter Forty-Three 322 Chapter Forty-Four 339 Chapter Forty-Five 345 Chapter Forty-Six 352 Chapter Forty-Seven 358 Chapter Forty-Eight 377 Chapter Forty-Nine 386 Chapter Fifty 391 Chapter Fifty-One 404 Chapter Fifty-Two 420 Section VII 424 Chapter Fifty-Three 426 Chapter Fifty-Four 431 Chapter Fifty-Five 451 Chapter Fifty-Six 461 Notes 466 Glossary 548 Bibliography 562 Index 572