Age of the universe

inquiry

Greetings,

I believe that the scriptures are the inspired word of God and as such
contain no error in fact or teaching. 

From this starting point I believe that the universe was created out of
nothing by God in six literal days and that man was created sometime on
the sixth day.

It also seems reasonable from looking at the scriptures that the earth
is only about 6000 years old.

From time to time I look at the Hubble space telescope web site and view
pictures which confirm in my mind the incomprehensible size of God's
creation.  Not only the size is beyond comprehension by my mind, but the
lavish detail in its design and function is stunning.

After looking over this information, reading about supercomputer models
of galactic development, etc. and reading about all the things out there
which make the universe 'sort of look like' it is very old, I end up
with some questions.

I see Galaxies tens of millions of light years away, pictures of
Galaxies which have collided and spit stars all over the place, pictures
of Neutron starts supposedly 10+ billion years old, etc.

Those closest to the research must think that I am crazy to think that
the universe is not 'old' at all.  (Though recently I have read that in
the realest sense, the universe is really very old, even as much as 6000
years old).

I know that the idea that the universe evolved so that it could sustain
life and that we evolved is not even a possibility.  Hydrogen is a
colorless gas which if given time, does NOT turn into people.

So I am not troubled by what I do not understand.

However, I am looking for a good set of answers to questions concerning
why God created a universe which 'looks' so old? 

Why would he create Galaxies which have already finished colliding 100s
of millions of years ago? 

Does the universe actually 'look' old or is this a idea resulting only
from current evolutionary thought?  

Can you give me some suggested reading for further study?  Either books
or links?

I believe that God created the universe within the timeframe and
scenario he outlined in Genesis.  During the creation of the cosmos
there is no reason to assume that there was any consistency to the
regular laws of physics as we know them now. Space, time, matter,
energy, light, laws, etc. can be stretched and altered on any type of
dynamic continuum that God felt like using.  He is the creator and this
gives him liberty to create in any way he wills.

However, to tell an evolutionist that God created Galaxies which have
already finished colliding 100s of millions of years ago could be
received much the same as when we consider that the Church once said
that 'isn't it wonderful how God created the universe to appear the
earth revolves around the sun when in fact we 'know' that the earth is
at the center?"


Thanks

response

Thank you for writing. I'll share your email with my email team 
members as one or more of them may well have additional comments for 
you.

I think the true age of the universe may be indeterminate. See 
http://ldolphin.org/Uage.html and http://ldolphin.org/approach.html

But I am inclined towards a young universe for several reasons.

I am quite convinced that the speed of light is not a fixed constant 
of the universe and has actually dropped by many orders of magnitude 
since creation. This changes the radiometric dating clock by a factor 
of about 10 million. This evidence alone suggests the universe is 
less than 10,000 years old. The evidence for a changing speed of 
light is strong and has withstood the critics for a dozen years or 
more now.

See http://ldolphin.org/barrychron.html for what I consider a 
reasonable Bible chronology since Adam.

The speed of light data is all on my web site, 
http://ldolphin.org/constc.shtml and 
http://ldolphin.org/cdkconseq.html and 
http://ldolphin.org/setterfield. This material is a bit technical.
I have quite a few articles on Genesis and Biblical creation on my web site.

Let me know if you'd like to discuss any of this further.

Sincerely,