What just happened? How long did it take?
What just happened? How long did it take? How long does "now" last ?
Posted on 08/12/2007 8:51:38 AM PDT by SirLinksalot
The January/February 2007 issue of Academe, the journal of the American Association of University Professors, features an article by a college teacher named Alvin Saperstein, of Wayne State University, about how his introductory astronomy and physics courses are attracting many young-earth creationists.
These may be very good students, but they frustrate him because he cannot convince them that the universe and all it contains, including our planet, came into existence in a natural evolutionary process over billions of years, rather than in the six days of creation a few thousand years ago, as creationists calculate from the literal words of Genesis.
No problem arises when the professor explains how the universe works now. It is only when he lectures about cosmology, or evolutionary theory in geology, biology, or anthropology, and asks his students if anything he has said bothers them, that discomfort begins to appear. The class skeptics are not disruptive or rude; they express their contrary opinions only after the professor asks for their reactions to his exposition of orthodox scientific theory.
Saperstein infers that the few students who openly voice their doubts represent a much larger number of silent creationist students. He asks himself, “Are they silent because of fear of professorial retribution, because they don’t know whom to believe, or because they just don’t care?” Clearly, the students who openly express their doubts deserve more respect than the apathetic ones (if there are any) who just don’t care.
Saperstein reports that “a serious, dedicated student asked me, ‘What am I supposed to believe? You have spent the semester explaining to us why I should believe that the earth is 4.5 billion years old in a universe created 13.5 billion years ago.
(Excerpt) Read more at touchstonemag.com ...
No posters as yet? Maybe they are still in church.
Creationists could do themselves a favor by getting off of the “young earth” kick.
How does a creationist explain the light hitting us from a distant star that left there 100’s of thousands of years ago?
It’s worse than that. They sound a lot like Know-sticks.
Some ignorant folks might be (OK are) guilty of that, but it is a broad brush indeed for a presumably thoughtful article that I'll compel myself to finish.
Another explanation is that the speed of light has been exponentially slowing down since the creation of the universe 6,000 years ago. The speed of light used to be instantaneous, but now it is much slower.
Sounds lame I know, but that seems to give them enough cover to still believe in young Earth creationism while studying real science.
What do creationists say about radio carbon dating? What do they say about drill cores taken from glaciers? What do they say about geology? What do they say about the Toba eruption 75,000 years ago? One can argue the merits of evolution as a theory, but it seems to me to be a proper creationist, one has to disagree with almost every branch of scientific discovery.
Their view is so rigid it doesn't allow them that luxury.
Translation: If science gives inconvenient answers, just bend things around until it gives the answers you want -- no matter how silly the results.
What just happened? How long did it take?
What just happened? How long did it take? How long does "now" last ?
That's easy! All the worn stones, the partly-popped deposits of Carbon-14, the glacial moraines in New York City, the Sinagua pictographs, were created as is 6,000 years ago. Or, this all could have happened five minutes ago.
Evolution, cosmology, etc., which are supported by various scientific disciplines like stratigraphy, sedimentology and radiometric dating, are all part of the world of physics.
Since God created everything in the universe, He created physics as well.
Those who deny cosmology and evolution, and the scientific disciplines that support them, are denying the laws of physics ... and hence denying the existence of God.
Actually it's worse.
It is interesting that some hold to the literal interpretation of the Creation in spite of the evidence God has provided to the contrary. After all, how long is a day before the earth and sun were created anyway?
C.W.
GR>Another explanation is that the speed of light has been exponentially slowing down since the creation of the universe 6,000 years ago. The speed of light used to be instantaneous, but now it is much slower.
Translation: If science gives inconvenient answers, just bend things around until it gives the answers you want -- no matter how silly the results.
10 posted on 08/12/2007 10:21:01 AM MDT by Coyoteman
That won’t work with that crowd. They have their interpretation of the Bible to point to, including such presumptions as a “day” during the Creation was identical to the 24-hour rotation of the Earth on its axis. There’s no reasoning with these people. One can be convinced of Creation without being a Young-Earther, but once you accept the presumptions of the Young-Earthers, there’s just no room for any further cogent thought.
The same way you explain that Adam and Eve were not created with a pack of seeds but full grown trees and all plant life.
Don’t limit God by your standards.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.