It is possible to be a true Christian if I believe that the Earth and the Universe are billions of years old.?
971218
Of course they are.  It was a man who "decided" how old the universe was and he used man's lenght of Time to determine it. We have no idea how long God's day is. it may have taken 7 "days" but God's day may just be several billion years of our Time. I beleive in both evolution and creation and they both make perfect sense. Blessings and good luck.
490604
That I absolutely have to disagree with. There are many scientists, including particle physicists, who believe in God. The web site below has articles by a number of them.\n\nMany of them argue against the evangelical 6000-year-old earth proposition. They maintain that the Evangelicals are driving people away from Christianity by insisting that people ignore the evidence of their own eyes.
2620
Somewhere around 4 or 5 billion years. Or if you choose the biblical version, around 6,000 years, depending on which religion you subscribe to.
171103
The official estimate now is 13.7 plus or minus 0.2 billion years old.\n\nBut this continues to be a tricky number to pin down. It depends primarily on the rate of expansion of the universe. Recently it has been found that the rate of expansion is increasing (that is the universe is expanding more today than it it did a billion years ago, and will be expanding faster a billion years into the future).\n\nHaving said that this continuing field of study in cosmology is no consolation for Young Earth Creationists. I mention that because some have a habit of jumping on any disagreement in science as a way to promote their own. The universe is clearly between 10 and 20 or 25 billion years old. Not 6,000 years old.
746456
Sure. Here are a few possibilites\n\n1. There is an all powerful , omnicient being whom created the universe - perhaps we're part of their 4th period cosmology class experiement. Lets help God get an "A" and not fubar ourselves into oblivion. Maybe it's a Universe sized version of Sim Earth where you get a better score depending on how many intelligent species survive or something. This implies that other aliens would be just as good as us but let's be comic racists and say you get "extra-credit" if Humanity survives. \n\n2. There is no God, the universe was caused by an unknown/unknowable event from an ultradense soup of subatomic matter energy. Aliens and Humans all alone in a big universe 14 billion light years across.\n\n3. Maybe it's all about Star Trek, Maybe there is a God or race of Gods (think the Q from Star Trek) who evolved in our Universe and  are so powerful they can engineer whole star systems and promote or kill off species as they see fit. \n\n4. Star Trek again, Maybe there's an advanced human species which , to a bunch of primitive herders,merchants and farmers, someone who beams up to heaven and is "from Heaven" and "Goes up to the stars" really is just some crewman on a starship. Perhaps Jesus or Mohammed were just an really just a xeno-archeologist who came from an advanced race that is guiding our civilization. \n\n5. There are God like entities or god-civilizations in the universe but they are too busy doing other God-like things to bother with us. Perhaps when they find us or we find them we won't even be able to communicate with them. \n\n6. God is a consciousness or energy based being who can move backwards and forwards through time and cohabitate or live inside us - experiencing the world as we do. That would make the statements that "we are all God", that "God lives in every one of us for as long as we live" perhaps literally true. The Christian Trinity could be explained by this situation.
606791
You appear to be a free-thinker. "Christian" and "free-thinker" mix like oil and water. \n\nAnswer: The easy way out for lazy buggers who don't know how to think and want to wrap everything up today is to invent an omni-everything man who lives in the sky.
816392
Im pretty sure an athiest would convert to Christianity before believing in that. If you were truly saved all that time, you would know the truth.\n\n**EDIT***\nI am certainly not at all saying that you were not saved during that time (I have no right to decide that)- I just meant that since you were saved all that time-you know the truth if you have kept your spiritual conncetion with God.
72923
According to bible proficy we are living in the time of the end. 2 Tim 3, 1-5. However God created the earth to be inhabited by mankind so we know it will be preserved but the now reighning governments are about to be replaced by a theacratic government of which Jesus Christ is king. SOON now Satain and his wicked influences are to be removed from the earth and sickness and death will be no more. I will gladly send you more information, free of charge, if you or anyone else requests it.
80460
If you address this question from a scientific perspective and not necessarily a theological perspective, you will realise that originally the earth was nothing more than a big lifeless rock.\nSome people believe that life was brought here on earth from extraterrestrial origins.\n\nIf this be the case, then even if all life on earth is destroyed, there is a definate possibility that the seeds of life that were brought to earth countless millenia ago may also restore life countless millenia in the future.\n\nShould you wish to disagree with this theory, then scientifically speaking, it is probable that the process which caused life to erupt on earth - a lifeless rock eons ago, might reoccur in the future.\n\nSo, is there a possibility that a new life may be created if all life on earth was to end? Yes, there is a possibility.
181725
depending on who you ask....\n\ni'm a christian, who's looked into and studied the past and how to explain the existence of dinosaurs and how it could correlate with the bible.\n\ni believe the earth was made in 6 days and adam and eve and the "dinosaurs" were made.  and like someone else said, basically back then the earth was like a huge greenhouse... everything was much larger than they are nowadays.  and also like someone else said, there has been proof found that humans coexisted with dinosaurs (that link above).  and there is also proof that carbon-14 dating can be highly inaccurate (they tested a bone and the skin attached to it... they came up with millions of years difference between the skin and bone of the same animal!!!).  so just because all these scientists say this stuff doesn't mean that the bible can be easily discounted...\n\nscience is what you make it and can be easily skewed... i know this, i'm a science major!!!!  also from all my science classes... i really really don't find the whole evolution idea plausible.... to me, personally, having a belief in a superior being creating everything is more likely than everything evolving from an amoeba.  but hey, that idea runs better with other people and they have no room for believing in a being and hey, that's their choice.\n\nso i personally think that when the floods came (also when that greenhouse effect i mentioned earlier ended) that maybe the dinosaurs habitats were too effected that they died out and became extinct?\n\ni do agree with animals and such becoming better adapted over time.  i mean, we have too... if the environment changes, we need to keep up, otherwise we'll go the way of the dinosaurs.\n\nand for reference, the bible puts the earth at around 12,000 years old.
1167301
Yes.\n\nThere are 3 earth ages (II Pet.3:5-7), same earth but different ages. We are now in the 2nd earth age. Between Gen.1:1 and Gen.1:2 is a vast amount of time, if time existed. Between these 2 verses is Satan’s rebellion (Rev.12:3-4) and “his tail” drew 1/3 of God’s children. Between these 2 verses also belongs all fossils and remains, such as Dinosaurs.\n\nIn Gen.1:2 we have the of the end of the 1st earth age and the beginning of the 2nd. For clarity Gen.1:2 needs to be divided (see below).\n\n(A) Gen.1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. \n\n(B) Gen.1:2 And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.\n\nIn (A) Gen.1:2 the first occurrence of the word “was” has been corrupted and is “became”. It reads “And the earth became without form, and void”. The end of the 1st earth age.\n\nIn (B) Gen.1:2 we have the beginning of 2nd earth age, the one we live in now. Man did not exist in flesh till this earth age.\n\nBetween (A & B) Gen.1:2 is also a vast amount of time, if time existed. Between (A & B) Gen.1:2  is; a global flood (not Noah’s which was a local flood), the destruction of Atlantis, the breakup of Gondwana Land, and the Ice Age. \n\nTime means nothing to our Father. He is very patient and loves His children. Instead of destroying Satan and 1/3 of His children, He destroyed that first earth age. Now in this 2nd earth age we all are born innocent in the flesh. Father came in the flesh Himself, Jesus Christ, and paid the price for all. Father defeated Satin, that is death, legally. So now His children have a decision, to choose life or to choose death. It’s your decision. Choose life!!
173290
Franklin try to keep things in perspective, man has been around much longer than the bible or Christianity these are the people who brought you Santa Claus,The Easter Bunny, and the Tooth fairy all of which are a myth as stories in the bible are mix in with some truth! Also don't forget humans all over our planet believe in other Theology Buddhist,Hindu etc. I am a unbiased Methodist christian by birth never saw the need to change but realize religion is just a way of life especially for those that are searching for direction.Some people would like you to believe God speaks to you in many ways myth, again no proof, I,ve have Christian's tell me they have spoke directly to God again myth no Proof! So that's it for my realist,materialistic,tangible perspective with Independence and free will! God or Jesus may have help me but i have no physical evidence to prove that but we do know the reality of Santa Claus!
669746
While it's certainly nice to want to embrace some of the tenets of Christianity the cost of actually believing is far too great.\n\nI could never put aside my belief in reason and embrace intolerance just because some book has levied a threat against disbelief.\n\nEvolution is undeniable. We see it at work every day. Dog breeds, anti-biotic resistant strains of germs are both evidence in favor of evolution. I know, I know microevolution versus macroevolution. However, seeing it in any capacity lends credence to the greater argument. \n\nOur knowledge base is still in its infancy. Six-hundred years ago the Earth was flat and the center of the universe. Now we know better. What will we discover in the next six-hundred years?
319134
According to the Word of God, Adamic mankind has been in existance, in this World as we know it, for about 6000 years.\n\nIt also says that a day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as a day, with the Lord.\n\nSo no one knows how old the earth is. It could be millions of years old. It could also be a little more than 6 thousand.\n\nJOB 38:4\n   4    Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.\n   5    Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?\n   6    Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;\n   7    When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?\n\nTo know more, go here...\nhttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/bibletruths_forbelievers/
545884
wow I see a lot of people have commented on this and given their opinion on what they think is right.\n\nThe truth is it boils down two options\n1. The Universe is 6,000 thousand years old and G-d made it look older for some reason\n\n2. The Universe is Billions of years old.\n\nTo believe in the second answer you need to explain what the six days of Creation are right? One can simply argue that they are an aligory or one can say that they have some deeper meaning. \n\nI chose the latter because I find that it answers more questions and give a deeper insight.\n\nThe best answer to this question I find was a book called the Science of G-d by Gerald Schroeder.\n\nhere is an excerpt of the part you are interested in.\n\nhttp://www.geraldschroeder.com/age.html\n\nhope this helps
165948
Ask ourself ,would you want to live FOREVER? thats a long time if you think about it... And as for the other part of your question, I'm a Christian so I believe in heaven and hell but if you are unsure you should talk to religious leader, one that you feel confortable with, and ask them.
329737
Actually the Bible(of Christ)is provable.  Even 'scientists' admit that the Old Testament is 3000-4000 years old.  The Old Testament fortells of the Christs coming.  When Jesus came he satisfied every prediction of the OT(hundreds)when he was born.  Christ did in fact come which can be harmonized from religious sources and non religious.  Even people/kings that arent Christaian talk of Jesus and Christians at that time and can be found in writings.  Even today, artifacts are dug up in the Holy Land that reinforce that Jesus and the NT people of the Bible actually existed.  All of this comes from non Christian/non religious sources.   A coffin was dug up recently in the Holy Land that said in script;  Here lies James, brother of Jesus.\n  And the Bible fortells the end of the earth and the events that precede that.  Including the jews return to thier home(1945 Israel) and the nature of people in the last days.\n\nMat24 [6] And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.\n[7] For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.\n[8] All these are the beginning of sorrows.