Where is the wise man of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 1 Corinthians 1:20
This page is based on historical records available in libraries and also in part on a summary of the following online resources:
Changing Views of the History of the Earth
Where Did the Idea of “Millions of Years” Come From?
The Origin of Old-Earth Geology and its Ramifications for Life in the 21st Century
It is important to understand that earth ages of significant length did not originate with those who believed in the accuracy of Scripture. Rather, they originated with those who could not accept the historical accuracy of the book of Genesis. New theories were therefore developed based on natural processes observed primarily in France, the United Kingdom and several other European countries.
Prior to the middle 1700’s, the accepted date of creation was approximately 4000 BC based on a straightforward reading of Scripture and in part on the work of James Ussher. Go To: James Ussher
In the latter half of the 1700’s skeptics of the Biblical account of creation and Noah’s Flood began to advance ideas theorizing a significantly older earth age than what had been previously considered. Frenchman Comte de Buffon (1707-1788) assumed in his book Epochs of Nature (1779) that the earth had been a molten ball that cooled to its present condition over a period of 75,000 years. His unpublished manuscripts declared an earth age of nearly 3 million years. The French astronomer, Pierre Laplace (1749-1827), theorized in his book Exposition of the System of the Universe (1796) that the solar system was once a spinning gas cloud that cooled over long ages. French naturalist, Jean Lamarck (1744-1829), advocated a theory of biological evolution over long periods of time in his book Philosophy of Zoology (1809). German mineralogy professor, Abraham Werner (1749–1817), believed the earth’s crust developed over approximately 1 million years by a slowly receding global ocean.
Scottish geologist and naturalist, James Hutton (1726-1797), considered to be the “Father of Modern Geology”, originated the theory of uniformitarianism. This theory declared that observable natural forces shaped the earth’s present crust over extremely long periods of time. In 1795 he published Theory of the Earth which laid out his ideas. Hutton believed there was no evidence of a beginning in the rock record thereby making earth history indefinitely long.
French anatomist, Georges Cuvier (1768–1832), believed that numerous regional floods over unknown periods of time deposited the sedimentary layers and fossil record observed today. He expressed his ideas in Discourse on the Revolutions of the Surface of the Globe (1812). British engineer and surveyor, William Smith (1769–1839), advocated a catastrophic old-earth view of earth history. He developed a method for dating rock layers based on the fossils found in them.
British lawyer and geologist, Charles Lyell (1797–1875), was an extremely influential advocate for the theory of uniformitarianism. His three volume book Principles of Geology (1830–33) effectively ended the debate concerning the reliability of the Biblical account of Noah’s Flood. His theories regarding the formation of the rock record by slow gradual processes eliminated the need for a Genesis Flood.
British theologian, geologist and paleontologist, William Buckland (1784–1856), originally believed that the earth’s crust bore evidence of a universal flood as Genesis states. But as the theories of modern geology continued to progress and influence the thinking of his contemporaries, Buckland abandoned his long-held beliefs and succumbed to the ideas of Hutton, Lyell and others. In 1836 he published Bridgewater Treatise acknowledging that geological evidence did not confirm the Biblical account of Noah’s flood.
No man in history has encouraged and promoted disbelief in the reliability of Scripture more than British naturalist and geologist Charles Darwin (1809–1882). His book On the Origin of Species (1859) singlehandedly created an environment in which a Creator was no longer necessary. This book was not created in a vacuum, but rather was built upon new theories of geology which had been and were being developed during the first 20 to 30 years of his life. The old earth principles of uniformitarianism created the incubator in which Darwin’s theories of natural selection and survival of the fittest thrived. When the H.M.S. Beagle sailed in 1831 Darwin’s personal collection of books consisted of almost 400 volumes on the topics of travel, literature, geology, natural history, atlases, reference and history. Two of the many volumes available were the Holy Bible and Charles Lyell’s Principles of Geology. Of the two Principles of Geology became the cornerstone of his thinking with regard to geology. He became a convert to the theory of uniformitarianism.