The Ussher chronology, developed by James Ussher in the 17th
century, puts the beginning of creation at 4004BC based on events in the Bible
and especially the genealogies described in the Old Testament. As of this writing, in the year 2012, the
Ussher chronology puts the age of the Earth at 6016 years old. There are several other contemporaries of Ussher’s
who calculated similar beginning points and their reckonings are well received by
many modern Bible readers. A modern term
for these folks is Young Earth Creationists or YECs. Today’s post is not intended to describe the theology
of the YEC perspective but is simply to say that science disagrees.
Science estimates the age of the Earth at about 4.5 billion.
This number is not simply a frivolous guess but represents the agreement of
multiple scientific disciplines. The
most notable methods for estimating Earths age is radiometric dating. Samples from the Earth, Moon, and Mars have been
subjected to radiometric measurements and they all indicate a similar 4.5
billion year beginning.
Radiometric dating measures the concentration of certain
elements in rock samples and uses those concentrations to estimate when that
rock originally formed. The class of
elements of most interest for radiometric dating is isotopes. Isotopes are varieties of elements that are
naturally occurring but unstable.
One of the best known isotopes is carbon 14. The most common type of carbon is the stable
form carbon 12. The number following these
elemental monikers represent the mass of the atom and reveals some details of
the atoms structure. Carbon is carbon because
it has 6 protons. Along with its 6 protons, carbon 12 has 6 neutrons as well. The
mass of 6 protons plus the mass of 6 neutrons equals a total mass number of 12.
If your head is swimming with all of the numbers take a
moment to focus then see if you can figure out the number of neutrons in carbon
14… really try to figure it out… remember that carbon is carbon because it has
6 protons…remember that the mass number represents the total number of protons
plus the total number of neutrons… do you have it?
The answer is… 8!
Great job if you got it!
You may be wondering why any of this matters. Well as a
matter of fact this matter about matter matters quite a bit. Why this matters will be
a matter for another day. Matter.
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