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by Bill Seng

We just wrapped up another session of Bible 101 and I remained in the lounge area and lingered as the same old questions filled my head. I thought that everyone had left, but then I heard a voice behind me, “So you like to hang out here when we’re all done?”

I turned around and it was Nick. I responded, “Not always. Normally I return to my room. But looking out these windows from this high up and looking down on the city relaxes me and helps me to think.”

“So what are you thinking about?”

“Nick, do you ever wonder about evolution?”

Nick grew noticeably excited about what I had just said. “You might say that. I have actually studied it quite a bit. Why do you ask?”

“I have this professor who seems to really hate what the Bible says about the creation of the world. I did a little bit of research on my own regarding the theory of evolution and right when I thought I found the answers to refute what he was saying, he destroyed my arguments.”

Nick, a little puzzled asked, “What did you read?”

“ID and Me.”

“I think I understand now. You know that the author of that book believes in evolution, right?”

“I do now. Unfortunately I didn’t know that someone who believes in the Bible could believe in evolution. It kind of confused me.”

“Yeah, I really don’t blame you. It confuses me as well. And that’s because the Bible and evolution do not fit together.”

I was a little frustrated. “I understand that, but it seems to me like we really have no evidence that trumps the evidence that is used for evolution.”

Nick got a mischievous grin on his face, “How old do you believe the world is?”

“I can’t remember for sure, but I believe that my professor said it is a couple billion years old.”

“Yeah… no.”

I was confused, “What do you mean?”

“This might surprise you, but if you read the Bible only for what it says you will see that the world is probably in the ballpark of 6,000 years old.”

“Oh come on, you really believe that? Where does it say in the Bible that the world is only 6,000 years old?”

“It doesn’t actually tell you the age of the earth, but it traces the genealogies of mankind starting from Adam onward. When you add up the genealogies you can get a good idea how old the earth is.”

I was perplexed, to say the least, “Okay, I think I have heard of this before but I didn’t think that anyone actually believed that stuff. I mean, there is so much evidence to prove that the earth is much older than that.”

“Oh yeah? Like what?”

“For one, fossils. Fossils prove that the world is at least millions of years old. And then you have the geologic column. Rocks are billions of years old. That’s not to mention the fact that if the world is only a few thousand years old, people would have been alive to see dinosaurs. If that’s true, wouldn’t we know what happened to the dinosaurs? And maybe the best evidence for the age of the earth is carbon dating. I mean, carbon dating pretty much proves that the world has to be billions of years old.”

“Ryan, we have a serious problem. The problem is that your professors have told you these things and you don’t even bother to question whether or not they are telling the truth about them. Now, let me ask you some questions. Is that fair?”

“Sure.”

“First, when did death enter the world?”

“I think that it has always existed. But I believe that spiritual death occurred when Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, right?”

“You are half correct. If you read the Bible only for what it says, without allowing other people to tell you things that it does not say, you will notice that death itself entered the world when Adam and Eve ate the fruit. It does not call it ‘spiritual death.’ It refers to it is bare bones stone cold death.”

“But wait, Nick. Why has no one ever seen a dinosaur?” I thought for a moment. “Do you believe that the flood wiped them out?”

“No. If you read Genesis God preserved at least two of every kind of animal by placing them on the Ark. That would have included the dinosaurs.”

“Dinosaurs would have eaten the other animals though!”

“Not necessarily. This is the true problem that you have right now, and don’t take this personally: essentially, you have been brainwashed. You have been taught these things in school for so long that you believe them blindly. Think of it this way: For the first eighteen years of your life you have been wearing glasses that have been tinted green. What I have done is I am now telling you about roses that happen to be red and you just think that I am out of my mind. You only think I am crazy though because you cannot see red for what it really is. All you see are various shades of green. What I am doing is taking those glasses off of you.”

I was very skeptical. “How do you know that you are right?”

“Ryan, who do you think is telling the truth: your professor or God?”

“Can’t they both be telling the truth?”

“You are correct. They could both be telling the truth, but what your professor is saying directly contradicts the Word of God. Tell me, how long does your professor say it took for the earth to form before it was habitable for life?”

“I think a few billion years.”

“What does the Bible say?”

“Six days.”

“Okay, you can do the math. Who do you believe: the Bible or your professor?”

“I definitely see what you are saying now. And I suppose if God is powerful enough to create everything in billions of years he is certainly powerful enough to create everything in six days. I believe what the Bible says. But what about my other questions?”

“You are in luck, Ryan. I have some videos I want you to watch. Some of them are purely informational, others actually have debates between this creationist guy and college professors. I think you will like them especially with the classes you are taking.”