Age
Posted: June 9th, 2009, 3:45 pm
A physician who has made a complete examination of a person could probably make a good estimate of his age without having been told what it is because of his knowledge of how the aging process works. But what would happen if he were to travel back in time and examine Adam and Eve before the fall and was then asked to estimate their age? Because they were created to live forever they wouldn't have undergone the same aging process we do today. If he examined them just a few days after their creation he would give a high extimate of their ages because they would appear to be the same as adults he had examined in the past.
Suppose he went back to some time after their fall. Now they would be subject to the same aging process we experience today. If he was unaware of their past he would make an estimate based on the assumption that they had been born in the same was as other people and would make an age estimate based on that assumption. (I know that people lived longer then, so for the purposes of this example I am assuming that the doctor was aware of this fact and took it into consideration. I am also assuming that he didn't notice their lack of navels, since this would have warned him that there was something different about them.) His estimate of their age would probably be off, but whether it was too high or too low would depend on how much time had elapsed between their creation and their fall.
Scientist who try to figure out the age of the universe are facing the same situation as the doctor in the second example. They assume that all of the physical processes, such as entropy, have been going on since the universe began. But the Bible tells us that this is not the case. God cursed the ground because of Adam's sin. But it seems that the whole universe is under a curse, which will be lifted at the same time as the resurrection of believers. "The creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God." Romans 8:21. It is likely that the entire universe was affected by the rebellion of Satan and that is the reason for the condition it is in today. Since we don't know how much time elapsed between the creation and the fall of Satan it is impossible to discover the true age of the universe.
Suppose he went back to some time after their fall. Now they would be subject to the same aging process we experience today. If he was unaware of their past he would make an estimate based on the assumption that they had been born in the same was as other people and would make an age estimate based on that assumption. (I know that people lived longer then, so for the purposes of this example I am assuming that the doctor was aware of this fact and took it into consideration. I am also assuming that he didn't notice their lack of navels, since this would have warned him that there was something different about them.) His estimate of their age would probably be off, but whether it was too high or too low would depend on how much time had elapsed between their creation and their fall.
Scientist who try to figure out the age of the universe are facing the same situation as the doctor in the second example. They assume that all of the physical processes, such as entropy, have been going on since the universe began. But the Bible tells us that this is not the case. God cursed the ground because of Adam's sin. But it seems that the whole universe is under a curse, which will be lifted at the same time as the resurrection of believers. "The creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God." Romans 8:21. It is likely that the entire universe was affected by the rebellion of Satan and that is the reason for the condition it is in today. Since we don't know how much time elapsed between the creation and the fall of Satan it is impossible to discover the true age of the universe.