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Is Belief in the Young Earth Necessary to be a Christian?
Supplemental Reading | |
John D. Morris, Ph.D.
Back To Genesis
No. 75b, March 1995
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"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Genesis 1:1).
At our seminars and in our books, we at the Institute for Creation Researchtake a strong stand on the young earth. We certainly don't do this to win apopularity contest, for this position is ridiculed by the secularists andmany Christians alike. Nevertheless, we teach this without compromise andwithout apology.
The main reason for believing in the young earth is that the earth is young!The Bible tells us so, and the weight of the scientific evidence points to ayoung earth. While the Bible may not specify a precise date for creation, itdoes indicate that the earth is only a few thousand years old. Similarly,while the geologic and physical evidence cannot give a precise age, all theevidence is compatible with the young-earth doctrine, with far greaterevidence supporting a young earth than an old earth. There is much evidenceincompatible with the old-earth idea.
Furthermore, many Biblical doctrines are based on the recency of creationand the corollary doctrine, the global flood. One cannot hold the old-earthposition and believe that the flood was global, for if the flood was global,then the entire earth's surface was altered. The flood would leave in itswake the rock and fossil record which now is misinterpreted by geologists asevidence for an old earth. All Christians who knowledgeably advocate an oldearth believe that the flood was only local. (A few still hold the bizarrenotion that the flood was tranquil and did little geologic work. Imagine—atranquil, world-wide flood!)
The doctrinal absurdities which result from a local flood and old earth arewell documented in creationist literature. The most serious fallacy involvesthe death of the vast majority of earth's inhabitants before man appeared,and before he sinned and incurred the wages of sin. Astronomer Hugh Rosseven proposes human-like animals, who buried their dead, practiced religiousceremonies, painted pictures on cave walls, etc., but did not yet possess aneternal spirit. Death before sin implies that death is natural, not thepenalty for sin. But if so, what good did the death of Jesus Christaccomplish? And what was the world like before the fall? Old-earth advocatesbelieve it was no different from our world—with death, bloodshed,carnivorous activity, fossils.
Because of ICR's stand on this all-important issue, some have suggested thatICR teaches that belief in the young earth is necessary for salvation. Thisis not the case! Salvation does not imply perfect understanding of doctrine,for then no one could be saved. God grants salvation when one repents of hissin and asks for forgiveness based on Christ's death for his sin. A sinnerdoesn't have to know anything about the age of the earth.
Nor does one have to believe in the young earth to be a Christian leader.Many Christian leaders believe and do a lot of things they shouldn't. Butbelief in the old earth, with the implied concepts of death before sin, theworld before Adam not really "very good," an inconsequential fall and curse,a local flood, etc., destroys the foundation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.Some Christians do believe in both Christianity and the old earth, but thisis inconsistent with their professed belief in the Bible. |
"Vital Articles on Science/Creation"
March 1995
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