[Hegemony Cricket]

Good questions. I don't claim to have all the answers, or even to be able to argue the issues conclusively, but here are a couple of points to ponder.

1) Carbon dating makes an assumption (key-word) that the naturally occurring levels of C-14 have been consistent throughout all of history with what we can measure today.

2) If you can believe that God is powerful enough to create the kinds of very complex life forms that we observe around us every day, why is it so difficult to believe that He was powerful enough to create it instantaneously, or that He could have created a mature planet, complete with fossils?

3) How do folks who believe the world is billions of years old explain the discovery of items such as a fossilized (petrified) tree trunk that extends vertically through a number of layers of strata, that would otherwise be described as representing "millions of years" of layerization?

[Modernman]

I'm really not qualified to argue the scientific aspects. However, in response to your second point, I don't see why God would create a world that looked billions of years old, with fossils and everything but that was only 6000 years old. I know God moves in mysterious ways, but such a move seems almost like He would be playing a joke on us. What would be his motivation for doing so?

Appreciate your answers, though. I've been hesitant to get involved in the C vs. E discussion because some of the proponents (on both sides) on this biard are too belligerent.