[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.

[Hegemony Cricket]

Oh, I totally agree about the belligerence aspect. I anticipate that this thread will devolve into name-calling and ad hominem attacks here shortly (unfortunately, because that does nothing to further any real discussion of the issue).

As far as what God's motivation might have been, I could not possibly have a clue. My postulation was based solely on my observation that all of the living elements of God's creation were reported in the Biblical record as having been created in their mature form. It's only a small leap to the possibility that the "dead" (read that non-living, if you will) elements of creation could have and should have been created in their mature form as well.

Mind you, whatever conclusion you come to about our origins, it must be accepted on faith. Unfortunately, nobody can produce a videotape of the big bang or of creation, so you must look at what evidence we have today and decide how it got here.

I guess for me, it just fits better that the complexity we see all around was the product of an intelligent designer, rather than finished products that somehow sprang out of the random noise.