"If all of our experiments show the Earth is 4.5 billion years old , then that is how old it is . If the Bible says something different , then either God meant Genesis for peoples past and now uses scientists to explain things better ( though I am uncomfortable with this idea as many scientists are atheists ) , or our puny minds , compared with God 's , have n't yet worked out how Genesis and an old Earth tie together"
"Such as what ? It is not like putting two electrodes into the Earth and getting a measurement on some sort of gadget . The only way to measure how old something is , is by using a set of arbitrary assumptions . There are few things that you need to take into account , such as the rate of decay , and so on . Creationists know that there is something seriously wrong with the radio-metric dating methods . Explain this then , carbon dating of wood under lava that was erupted from Rangitoto ( an island volcano near Auckland , NZ ) indicates that the erruption was around 200 years ago ( the name is said to mean `` Red Sky `` , suggesting that the Maoris , who have been their for 1000 years at the most , witnessed this event ) . Yet potassium-argon dating of the lava rock has given ages of up to half a million years old ! Now this alone is a big flaw . Any person who uses their logic can tell that the result of the potassium-argon is way out , it should be less than 200 years . The radio-carbon date is only restricted to thousands of years , because even after several hundreds of thousands of years , there will be no more radio-carbon left . The above came from Snelling , A. , `` Dating Dilemma : Fossil wood in `` ancient `` sandstone `` , Creation 21 ( 3 ) :39-41 . Creationists do n't have ( by their own admissions ) all of the answers when it comes to radio-metric dating methods , but they can see enough that there is something seriously wrong with the underlying assumptions . Professor Richard Mauger says : `` In general , dates in the `` correct ball park `` are assumed to be correct and are published , but those in disagreement with other data are seldom published nor are discrepencies fuly explained. ``"
"If all of our experiments show the Earth is 4.5 billion years old , then that is how old it is"
"The only way to measure how old something is , is by using a set of arbitrary assumptions ."