Many Christians. In the US alone (amongst theists and atheists), 45% of people believe the planet is less than 10,000 years old.
Well I am a Christian and I believe that the Earth WAY older than that. Genisis 1:1
1. In the beginning--a period of remote and unknown antiquity, hid in the depths of eternal ages; and so the phrase is used in Pro 8:22, 23 .
God--the name of the Supreme Being, signifying in Hebrew, "Strong," "Mighty." It is expressive of omnipotent power; and by its use here in the plural form, is obscurely taught at the opening of the Bible, a doctrine clearly revealed in other parts of it, namely, that though God is one, there is a plurality of persons in the Godhead--Father, Son, and Spirit, who were engaged in the creative work ( Pro 8:27 Jhn 1:3, 10 Eph 3:9 Hbr 1:2 Job 26:13 ).
created--not formed from any pre-existing materials, but made out of nothing.
the heaven and the earth--the universe. This first verse is a general introduction to the inspired volume, declaring the great and important truth that all things had a beginning; that nothing throughout the wide extent of nature existed from eternity, originated by chance, or from the skill of any inferior agent; but that the whole universe was produced by the creative power of God ( Act 17:24 Rom 11:36 ). After this preface, the narrative is confined to the earth.
2. the earth was without form and void--or in "confusion and emptiness," as the words are rendered in Isa 34:11 . This globe, at some undescribed period, having been convulsed and broken up, was a dark and watery waste for ages perhaps, till out of this chaotic state, the present fabric of the world was made to arise.
the Spirit of God moved--literally, continued brooding over it, as a fowl does, when hatching eggs. The immediate agency of the Spirit, by working on the dead and discordant elements, combined, arranged, and ripened them into a state adapted for being the scene of a new creation. The account of this new creation properly begins at the end of this second verse; and the details of the process are described in the natural way an onlooker would have done, who beheld the changes that successively took place.
The interisting thing to think about here is the time span between verse 1 and 2. We have no way of knowing. Why was the Earth in "conrusion and emptiness?
I would turn you to Isa. 14:12-14 "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest side of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High."
Here Lucifer was cast from the heavens because he wanted to rule over the heavens. So God more or less said fine you want to rule over something, I will give you rule of the Earth, but not before I turn it into a waste land. I believe he did this in a form of a flood because Gen 1:2 And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
I believe that the fossils that we find today are the ceatures that inhabited Earth before God laid it to waste for Lucifer to rule over..nothing basicly.
So people would then ask "Why is there no account of these so called previous creations?" Than Answer is simple, They have nothing to do with a Christains: Salvation, Santifcation, Rightousness. Basicly put, the Bible is here for Christains to understand OUR creation, survival, and end.
. well, idk, i wasn't there.
