Scientists are confident that this earth is billions of years old. Many Bible scholars assure us that Scriptures indicate earth and heaven and all that is in them were created by God only a few thousand years ago. If God’s word is incorrect regarding this, it is incorrect from the very first verses of the Bible. The words of God tell us: “Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.” It would be totally unacceptable that the words of God could be incorrect about the age of the earth.
So how do we explain this apparent discrepancy? Bible scholars argue in several ways. (1) Scientists are dishonest, they are clearly not to be trusted if they contradict the true and righteous God. (2) Scientists are basing their arguments upon scientific evidence that cannot mean what they think it means. For example, dating methods they use to measure the time of events in the past are unreliable because of the necessarily unproven assumption that clocks we use to date recent events ran at unchanged rates in the far past. (3) Some scholars argue that since God specifically told us the date of the universe, He was free to make the universe with an apparent age older than its actual age as a way to test who would believe Him and who will not.
But Scripture also tells us: “For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth.” The works of the Lord surely include creation. So creation must manifest the truth of God. Scripture claims that “The heavens declare the glory of God….” It is hardly possible that God purposefully created the heavens deceptively. Furthermore, God declares that the heavens themselves manifest enough truth about God that men who do not believe in Him are without excuse. They would hardly be without excuse if the heavens are deceptive in what they say about God.
Scientific evidence of an old earth does not depend only upon dating methods and incorrect assumptions about the past. There is evidence that is very hard to refute that the earth is older than a few thousand years. With a little study we can see that the words of God are entirely consistent with His works as they should be. Whereas the Noahic flood neither made new heavens nor new earth, an old earth destroyed by water allows us to explain the physical evidences on earth without denying the words of God. The PowerPoint Slides The Old Heavens Perished is a study to demonstrate consistency between the evident works of God and the available words of God.