Answers to objections about Biblical creation, The "Starlight Objection"

The "Starlight Objection" to the Biblical assertion that the earth, and the entire universe, is young (approximately 6000-7000 years old) is that since light travels at approximately 186,000 miles per second, and since we now know of stars billions of light years distant from earth, and since the light from those stars is visible on earth, then the universe must be at least those billions of years old to enable the light from those stars to travel to earth.

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The answer to this objection lies in the essence of time itself.  Since time is a continuum, any point in time appears to have a preceding point.  Consider time as a continuous process, like sand falling from the upper to the lower chamber of an hourglass.  Anything that begins to exist in time, like those grains of sand falling from the top to the bottom chamber, comes into existence possessing an apparent past that didn't actually occur.  The nature of time itself requires that every material thing that exists in time must exist in a state that looks like it existed, in some form, previously.  Anything created, or coming into existence, will at the point of the start of its existence appear to have existed previously. But the fact that every object must look like that doesn't mean that it necessarily had to exist in that previous state.

    Or if time is viewed as a line, a "timeline", with everything in existence continuously moving along the line from left to right at a steady rate, then anything that abruptly comes into existence at one point on the timeline would appear to have occupied an earlier point on the timeline at an earlier time -- an apparent past that didn't actually occur.  And since everything that exists is in motion, and even the most static-looking piece of, say, stone is composed of molecules vibrating (in motion) and themselves composed of atoms composed of nuclear particles in motion and electrons orbiting around them, when the object came into existence on the timeline the motion of every minute component of that object suggests a previous position, a past, that didn't actually occur.

    So here's the principle stated succinctly: Anything created, anything coming into existence, will at the point of the start of its existence in time appear to have existed previously.

Let's apply this principle to the days of creation and see if it logically holds true:

<ul>

<li>On Day 1, the light that began to exist was moving at about 186,000 miles per second, suggesting that one second previous to its creation it was 186,000 miles distant ... an apparent past that didn't actually happen.</li>

<li>The terrestrial waters and atmosphere created on Day 2 (granting that the waters themselves preceded Day 1, but were separated from the air on Day 2) very likely exhibited water movement (currents and waves) and atmospheric airflows caused by the earth's gravitational and rotational forces as they do today -- all such movement suggesting previous positions and locations of water and air molecules that didn't actually happen.</li>

<li>Every plant and tree, every item of vegetation on Day 3 came into existence in a state of movement and growth, and at some stage of maturity.  For example, the wood of the tree trunks probably had annual rings as all trees have today.  All this movement and maturity had the appearance of a past that didn't actually occur for this flora.</li>

<li>All the astronomic bodies created on Day 4, the sun, moon, and stars, came into existence possessing movement.  Many of them, perhaps all of them if we had the instruments to sense it, were rotating on their own axis; they were each travelling within their solar systems and galaxies, and their galaxies themselves were moving relative to each other and outward relative to an approximate center of the known universe.  Also, most of the bodies, and all of the stars, were giving off radiation, sometimes in the visible light spectrum, which itself was moving through space.  At the instant of their creation those stars and planets visible from earth had an age, and an apparent past, suggested by their maturity in the lifecycle of stars and by their distance from earth -- an apparent past that didn't actually happen.</li>

<li>The Bible says that God created the fish and birds on Day 5.  All those creatures came into existence with an apparent past suggested by their levels of physical maturity and their movements.  Do you suppose, for example, that when God created the birds and they instantly came into existence, that some of them were flying, or flapping their wings, or breathing in and out?  All these movements contained an apparent past state of existence -- a past that didn't actually happen.</li>

<li>The Bible says on Day 6 Adam was created as an adult.  He was able to do adult things like name and rule over animals, fish, and birds, tend the Garden of Eden, and have a conjugal relationship with Eve.  Let's speculate Adam's apparent age when he first opened his eyes was 30.  So even though Adam was only 1 day old, he appeared to have been alive for 30 years.  His creation at this hypothetical age of 30 suggested a 30-year past that didn't actually happen.</li>

</ul>

So the answer to the "Starlight Objection" for the old age of the universe, over the Biblical age of approximately 6000-7000 years, is that the very properties of time require an apparent past, even if the past didn't actually happen.  Since everything was created in a space-time continuum, everything, including starlight, had to possess an apparent past that didn't actually happen.