Age of the Earth
Offline "Current theories on the creation of the Universe state that, if it was created at all and didn't just start, as it were, unofficially, it came into being between ten and twenty thousand million years ago. By the same token the earth itself is generally supposed to be about four and a half thousand million years old.
These dates are incorrect.
Medieval Jewish scholars put the date of the Creation at 3760 B.C. Greek Orthodox theologians put Creation as far back as 5508 B.C.
These suggestions are also incorrect.
Archbishop James Usher (1580-1656) published Annales Veteris et Novi Testamenti in 1654, which suggested that the Heaven and the Earth were created in 4004 B.C. One of his aides took the calculation further, and was able to announce triumphantly that the Earth was created on Sunday the 21st of October, 4004 B.C., at exactly 9:00 A.M., because God liked to get work done early in the morning while he was feeling fresh.
This too was incorrect. By almost a quarter of an hour.
The whole business with the fossilized dinosaur skeletons was a joke the paleontologists haven't seen yet.
This proves two things:
Firstly, that God moves in extremely mysterious, not to say, circuitous ways. God does not play dice with the universe; He plays an ineffable game of His own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players, to being involved in an obscure and complex version of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time.
Secondly, the Earth's a Libra."
Good Omens
A novel by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchet
"I am an atheist, thank God." -Oriana Fallaci
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So if you have the authority to tell us that all the above ages of the earth are wrong, I assume that you can tell us how old the earth really is?
Atheism is a non-prophet organization.
Look again. I was posting a section from a book that was making fun of christian beliefs on the age of the earth. I gave the title of the book and the authors.
"I am an atheist, thank God." -Oriana Fallaci
You could've given a link. I thought you were going to blow away our minds with something scientific. But I'm still confused, are they actually saying that they also refute the other view of the earth's age? (the millions-of-years old one)
Atheism is a non-prophet organization.
It's a book by Terry Pratchet. He's a fairly well known author that does humourous fiction. It's a book a coworker is loaning me. When I read that part I thought everyone would get a kick out it.
The part that says "God plays a game that is an obscure complex version of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a dealer that won't tell you the rules" was dead on and a hilariously truthful account of how christianity works. hehe
"I am an atheist, thank God." -Oriana Fallaci
Terry Pratchett is awesome, and Good Omens was one of his best works IMO (yes I know that Neil Gaiman co-authored).
Thats the only book of his I haven't read.
Worth a read?