Open Challenge: Evidence of a Young Earth

I'd like to throw this open to creationists and evolutionists alike.As most of us know, it is a good debating exercise to imagine that you are debating from the opposition's point of view. This is particularly good for informing yourself about certain arguments that you may not have been aware of before.Anyway, after posting a reply to Parasomnium informing him that I had indeed tried to take a young earth stance, as an educational exercise of course, quite a few times. I honestly cannot find a single thing that would support a 6000 year old Earth.The challenge is then, what would your BEST argument be for supporting a 6000 year old Earth?Remember, it is supporting a young earth, saying something like 'carbon dating is flawed' does not support your position, it may undermine the opposition, but the question is specifically asking for evidence that proves a young earth.Brian.

Hi,What I would like is tangible evidence. Something that you could show someone and say 'Here it is, proof that the world cannot be older than 6000 years'.I dont want 'ifs' and buts'. Gimme hard evidence!Brian

Hi,The question is not a strawman at all, there are countless creationists who claim that there is scientific evidence that the Earth is only 6000 years old, do a search on Google, there are thousands of sites dedicated to a young earth. Their arguments are extremely embarrassing, but they do argue that it can be scientifically proven. The 'not enough moondust' argument is especially funny. How did they get the data for calculating the depth of moondust, a man ran about a hilltop with a cotton sheet for 10 minutes!Re your biblical genealogies, these genealogies are mostly artificial. These are usually set out to follow some chronological some scheme. All theses references to 'forty' and multiples of 40 are really unknown lengths of time because 40 is normally used as a term for 'a long time' or a generation.These schematic chronologies make the Bible a pretty useless source of information in attempting to reconstruct many biblical events. The reference in 1 Kings 6:1 places the Exodus in the middle of Thutmosis III reign, the apex of Egyptian power. This chronology asks us to accept the ludicrous situation of the Israelites being enslaved in Egypt, then escaping from Egypt to wander for 40 years in another part of Egypt, then finally the rediculous scenario of Joshua's armies fighting for their right to settle into the promised land which was another part of Egypt!Clearly the biblical author didn't know that Palestine/Canaan was simply a province of Egypt. If you are interested then this information is very easy to access, the reign of Thutmosis III is well documented, visit a library and look him up, his empire was very impressive. Well the date of creation as being 4004 BCE was worked out by Bishop Ussher, so why would he lie, he was a man of God. He worked these dates out from the very genealogies that you cite, but by your calculations as well, you are asking us to believe that the universe is no older than 7000 years. Yet you base this on nothing except the claims of an ancient mutli-edited text and a probable psychotic episode that shortcircuits your rationality. I agree, so lets keep creationism in the Religious Studies classroom where it belongs, along with all the other 'faiths'.Finally, if my argument is a strawman, why are so many christians campaigning to have creationism taught in High School Science departments?Brian

Hi,Could you pick out which one you consider to have the best evidence to support a young earth.Could then give some supporting data, such as how this date was arrived at, who are the main scientists behind this claim, is the data falsifiable, is it reliable, you know the sort of thing I mean.While I appreciate your time in replying to my question, you really didnt support anything you posted. For example, the claims you make about human civilisation, what is the evidence for this, who claims that the human civilisation is only 6000 years old, who says that civilisation suddenly apears 6000 years ago on the historical record?You will appreciate that in an investigation into anything historical that I wouuld like something a bit more persuasive than you simply claiming these are true. Give me some names, give me some information that I can research myself.Many thanksBrian