How Long have Humans Lived on Earth?

Dale said:

Everything we know about the history of humans on earth contradicts the claim that the earth could be only 6,000 years old. The Bible is a source of moral and spiritual truth, but it is not a history text.

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Hello Dale. I wouldn't say what you presented was 'everything we know'. Seems like vague and unverified dates given arbitrarily to fragmentary evidence. A better question could be how far do Historical Writings go back in time? God Bless You

Dale said:

The things I was talking about happened before written history began. While creationists tell me that the world is only 6,000 years old, I have seen one source that says that written history alone goes back 6,100 years.

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Hello Dale. Good to hear from you. So the age of the earth given by Creationists and the age of Written History more or less coincide. The outlier is the proposed dates given for fragmentary evidence of various kinds. God Bless You

Dale said:

Many creationists firmly believe that the earth cannot be more 6,000 years old. I am not going to discuss the age of the universe but I will discuss the development of civilization on earth.

When was fire domesticated?

“ Here we present evidence of fire-making on a 400,000-year-old buried landsurface at Barnham (UK), where heated sediments and fire-cracked flint handaxes were found alongside two fragments of iron pyrite—a mineral used in later periods to strike sparks with flint.”

ttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09855-6

Fire led very quickly to cooking. The application of fire to metalworking was much slower.

On Copper:
“Its use was known in eastern Anatolia by 6500 BCE and it soon became widespread.”
That is 8,500 years ago.

Bronze Age | Definition, History, Inventions, Tools, & Facts | Britannica

When were dogs domesticated?

“Dogs were domesticated from their wolf ancestors over 15,000 years ago.”

The Evolution of Dogs, Accidental Best Friends
This is Ohio Wesleyan University

When were cats domesticated?

“Together the transport of cats to the island and the burial of the human with a cat indicate that people had a special, intentional relationship with cats nearly 10,000 years ago in the Middle East.”

The Evolution of House Cats

When were sheep domesticated?

“Now, research at an 11,000-year-old settlement in Turkey shows that some early farmers kept wild sheep penned up in the middle of their village—thus setting the stage for the dramatic changes that led to today's domesticated animals.”

A Brief History of Goat Domestication - The Livestock Conservancy

When were cattle domesticated?

“All cattle are descended from as few as 80 animals that were domesticated from wild ox in the Near East some 10,500 years ago, according to a new genetic study.”

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2012/mar...mall-herd-domesticated-around-10500-years-ago
This is University College, London, England

When were goats domesticated?

“Judging by early signs of domestication, such as bones from the slaughter of male young [goats], this started around 10,500 years ago in Anatolia (Turkey) and the Zagros Mountains (Iran)

A Brief History of Goat Domestication - The Livestock Conservancy

When was wheat cultivated?

“Cultivated for 10,000 years, wheat is one of the world’s most important plants.”

Wheat 101 | National Associate of Wheat Growers
This is the National Association of Wheat Growers

When was barley first cultivated?

“Remains of barley (Hordeum vulgare) grains found at archaeological sites in the Fertile Crescent indicate that about 10,000 years ago the crop was domesticated there from its wild relative Hordeum spontaneum.”

https://www.researchgate.net/public...mestication_History_of_Barley_Hordeum_vulgare

When was rice cultivated?

“...the earliest archaeological evidence [for cultivation of rice] comes from central and eastern China and dates to 7,000-5,000 BCE.

That would be between 9,000 and 7,000 years ago.

Rice | Description, History, Cultivation, & Uses | Britannica


Everything we know about the history of humans on earth contradicts the claim that the earth could be only 6,000 years old. The Bible is a source of moral and spiritual truth, but it is not a history text.

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You've presented an interesting, diverse case against the Bible's historicity and authority - too much for anyone here to want to read actually. After glancing at 5 of the articles, I'll offer this response:

Your secular articles and sources are naturally going to oppose any Biblical world view of timelines.

The articles make a lot of date assumptions without actually supporting those assumptions with evidence.

Date evidence that is provided, such as DNA, is based upon debatable assumptions - unlike pottery dating.

Your statement that " Everything we know about the history of humans on earth contradicts the claim that the earth could be only 6,000 years old." is patently wrong. I've been reading books and articles and watching videos for 25 years that support a human history of 6-10,000 years. Perhaps everything YOU'VE read and learned negates a 6000 year old earth, but in no case does it represent everything WE KNOW. Everything I know suggests the exact opposite.

The truth is, each side can find abundant evidence to support their young versus old earth world view. Sources matter though, as does one's biased world view in interpreting the evidence.

Concerning your conclusion that "The Bible is a source of moral and spiritual truth, but it is not a history text." I understand that many people believe that, but know that Jesus, James, Peter, Paul, John and Jude didn't. Were they liars or wrong to reference the Genesis scriptures as real historical events? If so, then one would best dismiss whatever else they said or taught. In other words, if one rejects the historicity of Genesis, one rejects the credibility of Moses, Jesus, the apostles, the Bible, and the entire Christian faith.

Any serious Bible scholar knows through textual criticism that the Bible's inspired authors wrote what they beleived to be historical accounts or revealed knowledge from God. The fact that 40 authors in 3 continents, writing over a period of 1500 years, wrote thousands of specific names, places, and event details that we can now verify through archaeology, written records, fulfilled prophesies, and scientific insights demonstrates that the Bible's historical reliability and authority is as valid and true as its moral and spiritual truth.

Consider, either the whole Bible is to be trusted, or none of it is - as 2 Timothy 3:16 says:

"All scipture is God Breathed ..."