The oldest historic records on Earth date back no further than 3000 BC. A study of numerous Biblical chronologies dates the earth to a maximum of 10,000 years, with most chronologies advocating an age of 6000 years. Even if we accept a Bible-based age of 10,000 years, the discrepancy between 10,000 years and the scientifically-accepted age of 4.5 billion years is vast.

How do scientists calculate the age of the earth?

The age of the earth can be derived by applying the principle of uniformitarianism, the idea that current processes in the world today also existed in the past, and present events can be used to create models of past events.

For example, it can be observed how quickly sediments accumulate in a shallow lake. Assuming that we find that the rate of accumulation is 0.1 cm/year over our study period, then we could use this figure to calculate the approximate age of a sedimentary geological feature which we consider to have developed under similar circumstances. A layer of sediment 10 meters thick could then have taken 10,000 years to form. It is easy to see that geological age can be considered vast indeed.

The conclusion reached in the above scenario is, however, only correct if the uniformitarian principle applies. What if there had been a catastrophic flood that washed vast amounts of sediment into the lake within one day? Whole villages can be buried in sediment in an instant after catastrophic floods.

Our assumption that the sedimentary layer took 10,000 years to develop might be based on logic, but it need not necessarily be right. It could have formed rapidly.

Interestingly, the more data is accumulated, the more the age of Earth theories come into conflict. In fact, recent arguments on rates of evolution have produced a storm of scientific papers, slashing millions of years out of the geological time frame in order to accommodate new ideas. If this is acceptable in the scientific world, then surely it is an admittance that their time frame is not as rigid as they would have us believe. 

Read about the accuracy of current carbon-dating methods

Updated January 2009.