The Bible does not teach that the Earth is only 6000 years old.

It isn’t just me and others who have a science background who are saying this.

It isn’t just theological liberals who deny the inspiration and authority of the Bible who are saying this.

A number of Bible believing Christian scholars and pastors are saying this. Like John Piper, the popular Baptist pastor and author.

I’ve written about Piper’s views on the age of the Earth before. What I had read at that time led me to write

“I am not saying that John Piper accepts either an old Earth or evolution,  just that he doesn’t consider the age of the Earth or evolution (apparently) to be issues in terms of Christian orthodoxy.”

I was wrong. Piper clearly states that he accepts an old age for the Earth, and that this is completely compatible with Genesis 1. Read what Piper has to say:

“When it comes to the more controversial issues, such as how to construe Genesis 1 and 2, about how God did it, and how long it took him to do it, there I’m totally sympathetic with a pastor who is gonna lay his view down, having studied it, and is gonna say to his people, “Here’s my understanding of those chapters, these six days, there can’t be any other understanding of 6 literal days, and so that’s how long God took to do it, and this earth is about ten or fifteen thousand years old, or this universe is. And though it looks old, that’s the way God made it, He made it to look old, or something like that.”  Or, he might take another view that these days are “ages.”  Or he might take Sailhammer’s view, which is where I feel at home, namely, that all of creation happened to prepare the land for man in verse 1. (In the) beginning, he made the heavens and the earth, that’s everything, and then you go day by day and He’s preparing the land. He’s not bringing new things into existence, He’s preparing the land and causing new things to grow, separating out water and earth, and then when it’s all set and prepared, He creates and puts man there.  And so that has the advantage of saying that the earth is billions of years old, if it wants to be, and whatever science says it is, it is.” (Video transcription from Sola Sisters: Dr. John Piper Okay With “Old Earth?”)

Watch for yourself (YouTube: John Piper – What should we teach about creation?):

Grace and Peace