How old is the world according to Theologists?

[ndee]

OK, my question: The Theologists aren't stupid but how old do they think the world is? Do they deny the dinosaurs? I'm really wondering, not questioning.

 

[Flyermax2k3]

According to the Jewish/Hebrew tradition the earth is in it's 7th millenium (6000+ years).

 

[Kalvin00]

nm

 

[Eli]

Hahahahahahahahahahah.....

Oh boy, Here we go... Wait until petrek finds this thread. :Q

According to them, the Earth is anywhere from 6,000 to 4 billion years old.

People will believe whatever they want to believe. The amazing thing is that they will find "facts" to support them, while failing to acknowledge even bigger pieces of the puzzle.

I chose to believe that, as a society, we know just a little more than we did 100 years ago, 500 years ago, and most certainly 2000 years ago and beyond.

There is no reason to dispute the Earth's theorized age of around 4.4 billion years.

Don't let the fact that its a theory ruin it for you. It will always be a theory, unless we find that elusive plaque on some magical, unweatherable rock somewhere that says "Earth: Created 4000BC"- God

 

[Wuffsunie]

As far as the fanaticals are concerned, the Earth is as old as their holy books tell them, and no amount of scientific evidence to the contraray is going to make them think otherwise.

For the ones capable of rational thought, whatever the latest figure from science is.

 

[SilentRavens]

I actually thought they determined it to be around 8,000 years; not 6,000. Well, they were still wrong anyway.

 

[Yossarian]

I can't prove it's older than 32 years.

 

[Flyermax2k3]

Originally posted by: Wuffsunie
As far as the fanaticals are concerned, the Earth is as old as their holy books tell them, and no amount of scientific evidence to the contraray is going to make them think otherwise.

For the ones capable of rational thought, whatever the latest figure from science is.

LMFAO! Here's a newsflash for you: science cannot prove that which it cannot observe in nature or reproduce in a labroratory. To believe either *theory* you have to have faith since neither can be proven.

 

[SackOfAllTrades]

Originally posted by: Eli


unless we find that elusive plaque on some magical, unweatherable rock somewhere that says "Earth: Created 4000BC"- God

I think I saw that rock being sold at Home Depot.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Originally posted by: SilentRavens
I actually thought they determined it to be around 8,000 years; not 6,000. Well, they were still wrong anyway.

It depends on the given religion. Each religion made up their own number based on how far back they could trace things. For some religions it's 8,000 years, for others it's 4,000 years and some go back more than 20,000 years. Anyone that wants to believe in their impotent little God will conveniently ignore the facts that prove that they're wrong.

 

[Wallydraigle]

Originally posted by: Wuffsunie
As far as the fanaticals are concerned, the Earth is as old as their holy books tell them, and no amount of scientific evidence to the contraray is going to make them think otherwise.

For the ones capable of rational thought, whatever the latest figure from science is.

So the fundies will believe the earth is as old as their sacred text tells them, but those capable of rational thought will believe whatever the latest science book tells them?

 

[stormbv]

I read that Darwin had religious obsessions.

 

[Flyermax2k3]

Originally posted by: lirion

Originally posted by: Wuffsunie
As far as the fanaticals are concerned, the Earth is as old as their holy books tell them, and no amount of scientific evidence to the contraray is going to make them think otherwise.

For the ones capable of rational thought, whatever the latest figure from science is.

So the fundies will believe the earth is as old as their sacred text tells them, but those capable of rational thought will believe whatever the latest science book tells them?

pretty much. Glad I'm not the only one that caught the irony in that statement.

 

Another one of these.

 

[Wuffsunie]

Originally posted by: Flyermax2k3

Originally posted by: lirion

Originally posted by: Wuffsunie
As far as the fanaticals are concerned, the Earth is as old as their holy books tell them, and no amount of scientific evidence to the contraray is going to make them think otherwise.

For the ones capable of rational thought, whatever the latest figure from science is.

So the fundies will believe the earth is as old as their sacred text tells them, but those capable of rational thought will believe whatever the latest science book tells them?

pretty much. Glad I'm not the only one that caught the irony in that statement.

Of course. If you want to know FOR CERTAIN, the best you can do is pick whichever technique suits your mindset the best and try and work with that. Or if you don't like what exists already, make up your own and try and structure some methods around it to have it prove what you want.

Given enough time and effort I could study and learn the techniques and ideas that led people to conclude the earth was 4.4 billion years old using whatever scientific methods they devised along the way and I would likely agree with them. Or I could study whatever religion I fancied and see how their techniques for resolving the age of the earth work, and if they were convinving enough for my mindset at the time, I'd believe that.

Though, really, not many people have enough time on their hands to become in depth experts in the various different fields and understand them fully, and so just accept what they're told by those who have had the time to study it. It's the most pragmatic solution.

The "rational thought" comment arises from believeing in a system of that puts testing of a hypothesis (with necessary controls) above indoctrination, a system that is flexable and accepts falibality and change. Not something contained in a book or two.

 

[miniMUNCH]

depends who you ask...some Theologists (Jewsish and Christian Theo's included therein) believe in the big bang, evolution, etc. as the mechanisms of creation.

So in their thinking, the world is as old as scientists say it is.

And if you think about it...the big bang and and evolution don't explain why the world IS or why life IS. Which is why I have no problem with being both religious (Eastern Orthodox Christian) and scientific (I'm working on a PhD in chemical engineering).

Science seeks to explain "how"..religion and philosophy (in it's pure form) deal with the "why".

 

[Ameesh]

i really dont care what faith you have if you think the earth is < 10,000 years old you are a complete idiot.

 

[Wallydraigle]

Originally posted by: Wuffsunie

I know full well what you meant, I just got a chuckle out of how you said it

 

[Flyermax2k3]

Originally posted by: Ameesh
i really dont care what faith you have if you think the earth is < 10,000 years old you are a complete idiot.

I'm sure Columbus was told the same thing when he said the earth was round

Calling someone an idiot because they have different beliefs than you makes you an idiot, my friend.

 

[Gyrene]

Well, considering the Neolithic age started c.10,000 BCE, it's safe to assume that the earth is much older than that.

edit: redundancy

 

[Alkaline5]

The Earth was created at 9 AM on October 23rd, 4004 BC according to Dr. John Lightfoot (a 19th century religious scholar). I assume he added up all of the known time intervals detailed in the Bible to arrive at that number (ie: Adam had Abel when he was Y years old and died when he was X years old, etc...). ...And no, that's not my personal belief.

Edit for relevance: Lightfoot lived prior to the study of modern earth science, so he didn't have things like dinosaurs to worry about. I don't think any sane religious person would deny their existence today. I consider myself religious and don't particularly care how old the world is.

 

[Alphathree33]

(Almost afraid to write something in this thread...)

This business about "sacred texts versus science texts" is a good point -- why would you believe either one?

But sacred texts are religious documents that have been around for ages and have little to no basis in fact. Science texts, or rather the field of science in general, whose findings are placed in texts, are not infallable either. But science is based on precedent and evidence and laws -- things that we've seen to be correct many times before.

We know that carbon decays at a certain rate, for example. We know because we see carbon everywhere and when we measure it decaying, it always decays at about the same right.

So if I perform carbon dating on some earthly object and find that it is 500,000 years old, there's a pretty darn good chance that it is 500,000 years old (or maybe 400,000, or maybe 600,000, but certainly not 4000.) In other words, there is room for errror, and room to be utterly wrong a few times, but the age of the earth has been tested over and over again, all the time arriving at an age in the billions of years.

I don't really see how you can dispute this. I suppose if you were a religious sheep, you could simply say that "god made it so it would look that way." Why? So we could have this stupid argument? You're right, I can't argue whether or not "god made it look that way". I don't know if there is a god. I certainly don't think "god" has anything to do with a bunch of brainwashed religious right-wingers, though.

 

[ThreeLeggedGnome]

Originally posted by: Flyermax2k3

Originally posted by: Ameesh
i really dont care what faith you have if you think the earth is < 10,000 years old you are a complete idiot.

I'm sure Columbus was told the same thing when he said the earth was round

Calling someone an idiot because they have different beliefs than you makes you an idiot, my friend.

Actually, I think he was just stating the obvious: People who believe in idiotic facts are known as idiots.

 

[Flyermax2k3]

Originally posted by: ThreeLeggedGnome

Actually, I think he was just stating the obvious: People who believe in idiotic facts are known as idiots.

"idiotic facts"?

I don't see how they can be idiotic if they're facts. Once again, one man's facts may be lies to another man, it's all a matter of opinion.

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Originally posted by: Flyermax2k3

Originally posted by: Wuffsunie
As far as the fanaticals are concerned, the Earth is as old as their holy books tell them, and no amount of scientific evidence to the contraray is going to make them think otherwise.

For the ones capable of rational thought, whatever the latest figure from science is.

LMFAO! Here's a newsflash for you: science cannot prove that which it cannot observe in nature or reproduce in a labroratory. To believe either *theory* you have to have faith since neither can be proven.

4.55 billion years is the age of the earth observed in nature.