Dr. Hugh Ross, a leading Creationist, and anti-evolutionary, is a real and true scientist, an astrophycisit by training and profession. While I do not agree with all of his conclusions, I do agree with an article he wrote entitled "Avoiding a Dangerous Trap". Here is an extract:
Basic tenets of Christian theology also support the long-day, old-earth, older-universe view. While this issue draws less attention than the day issue, it is nonetheless significant: a recent creation date for the earth and the cosmos forces us into the gnostic-like belief that the physical realm is illusory and only the spiritual realm, real.
. . .
Humphreys' and other 24-hour-day creationists' interpretation of Genesis inadvertently leads to the suggestion that God is the one who deceives. It leads to the conclusion that all the distant galaxies astronomers observe, nearly one trillion of them, are part of an elaborate mirage or a misunderstood "mural'' painted on a nearby black background. Stellar explosions such as the 1987 supernova eruption in our companion galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud, did not really occur, it just appears to have occurred. What astronomers observe in the heavens must be, according to their view, a detailed history of events that never happened.
A Biblical basis for "appearance of age" does not exist. Adam's adult body at the time of his creation would testify of age only if we made the incorrect assumption that he entered the world through the womb of a woman. We may also ask: What memories of his childhood and youth would he have had? Would God have created Adam with memories of events that had never taken place? It is difficult to see how such a creation would not make God a deceiver of Adam, building into his body inescapable impressions of the reality of events which in fact never occurred. The universe also has a kind of "memory" of the past; it is the light emitted long ago by distant objects that shows us what was happening at those objects at the time this light was emitted. "Appearance of age" has God filling virtually the entire universe with the physical equivalent of false memories.12
From a logic standpoint, appearance of age represents what is called a non-falsifiable proposition. It cannot be proved or disproved. Taken to its logical conclusion, the hypothesis would imply that we cannot be sure of our own or anyone else's past existence. We could have been created just a few hours ago with implanted scars, memories, progeny, photographs, material possessions, liver spots, and hardening of the arteries to make us appear and feel older than we really are. In this case, even biblical history would be an illusion.
On the assumption that they truly desire to be defenders of the truth of God's word and evangelists for Jesus Christ, young earth/young-universe creationists probably do not realize the theological implications of their position. I think they would repudiate the cultic notion that, "there is no life, truth, or substance in matter,"13 though unfortunately, that's the direction in which their view leans. According to the Apostle Paul, it's a dangerous direction (see Colossians 1 and 2 especially).
The entire article can be read here:
http://www.reasons.org/resources/apologetics/trap.shtml?main
Basic tenets of Christian theology also support the long-day, old-earth, older-universe view. While this issue draws less attention than the day issue, it is nonetheless significant: a recent creation date for the earth and the cosmos forces us into the gnostic-like belief that the physical realm is illusory and only the spiritual realm, real.
. . .
Humphreys' and other 24-hour-day creationists' interpretation of Genesis inadvertently leads to the suggestion that God is the one who deceives. It leads to the conclusion that all the distant galaxies astronomers observe, nearly one trillion of them, are part of an elaborate mirage or a misunderstood "mural'' painted on a nearby black background. Stellar explosions such as the 1987 supernova eruption in our companion galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud, did not really occur, it just appears to have occurred. What astronomers observe in the heavens must be, according to their view, a detailed history of events that never happened.
A Biblical basis for "appearance of age" does not exist. Adam's adult body at the time of his creation would testify of age only if we made the incorrect assumption that he entered the world through the womb of a woman. We may also ask: What memories of his childhood and youth would he have had? Would God have created Adam with memories of events that had never taken place? It is difficult to see how such a creation would not make God a deceiver of Adam, building into his body inescapable impressions of the reality of events which in fact never occurred. The universe also has a kind of "memory" of the past; it is the light emitted long ago by distant objects that shows us what was happening at those objects at the time this light was emitted. "Appearance of age" has God filling virtually the entire universe with the physical equivalent of false memories.12
From a logic standpoint, appearance of age represents what is called a non-falsifiable proposition. It cannot be proved or disproved. Taken to its logical conclusion, the hypothesis would imply that we cannot be sure of our own or anyone else's past existence. We could have been created just a few hours ago with implanted scars, memories, progeny, photographs, material possessions, liver spots, and hardening of the arteries to make us appear and feel older than we really are. In this case, even biblical history would be an illusion.
On the assumption that they truly desire to be defenders of the truth of God's word and evangelists for Jesus Christ, young earth/young-universe creationists probably do not realize the theological implications of their position. I think they would repudiate the cultic notion that, "there is no life, truth, or substance in matter,"13 though unfortunately, that's the direction in which their view leans. According to the Apostle Paul, it's a dangerous direction (see Colossians 1 and 2 especially).
The entire article can be read here:
http://www.reasons.org/resources/apologetics/trap.shtml?main
