It is interesting to see what Calvin says about the age of the earth in the 16th century. Speaking of objections to the preaching the doctrine of Predestination, he gives other doctrines which are mocked by the ungodly:
A rebellious spirit will display itself no less insolently when it hears that there are three persons in the divine essence, than when it hears that God when he created man foresaw every thing that was to happen to him. Nor will they abstain from their jeers when told that little more than five thousand years have elapsed since the creation of the world. For they will ask, Why did the power of God slumber so long in idleness? In short, nothing can be stated that they will not assail with derision. To quell their blasphemies, must we say nothing concerning the divinity of the Son and Spirit? Must the creation of the world be passed over in silence? No! The truth of God is too powerful, both here and everywhere, to dread the slanders of the ungodly, as Augustine powerfully maintains in his treatise, De Bono Perseverantiae (cap. 14ñ20).[4]
In the debates and discussions about the age of the earth between Christians, I have never yet heard someone bring up Christians from the past who believed the earth was millions of years old. It is the common and traditional Christian position that the earth is relatively young. In a lot of old literature (commentaries or books), people would reference events from the creation of Adam, and these numbers would not be in tens of thousands or millions. Even the Jews, seeing how Josephus does his chronology in The Antiquities of the Jews, believed in a relatively young earth. The reason to doubt the age of the earth was not exegetical, but was external and I believe, forced on the text of Scripture. While it may be possible that there are gaps in the chronologies of Genesis, I have not studied the issue deeply, still, this wouldn’t give us an earth which is millions of years old, or indeed, 4,6 billion years old according to modern scientists. To fit the data that modern scientists have discovered about the earth, some Christians have been more comfortable to doubt the Bible’s account than that which the modern scientists, with their (almost always) secular presuppositions, give.
Presuppositions
It is very important when thinking about the creation account that we test our presuppositions and see what is moving us to have a particular view. What has “science” revealed that trumps our Creationist view? Are we anti-science? What presuppositions are used in these scientific findings? Are they consistent with themselves? Are they consistent with Scripture? Do they contradict the proper interpretation of Scripture? These are all important considerations which all of us bring to every topic, but especially in this hotly debated subject, and we should be made aware of them. We are absolutely not anti-science. We simply do not accept everything that is labeled “science” by fallible men and then doubt the infallible account of the Creator. Ultimately, I b...
