There are many people who consider themselves to be scientists
who also believe in the bible. How then do they explain what most scientists
claim are blatant disagreements regarding the age of the earth? Well, there
are various positions which a non-fundamental christian may take. First,
some christians interpret the bible figuratively, and therefore believe
that the creation account of 7 days simply does not have to mean a literal
7 days. Rather, they point out that numbers are often symbolic in the bible.
Therefore, the 7 day creation account was meant to depict a perfection
which is often associated with the number 7 in the bible. Also, many christians
point out that their God is eternal or not within time, therefore the 7
day account may just have been man’s construct to explain the abilities
of God in creating the earth.
Some christians do not argue with scientific data which
shows the earth to be billions of years old. But, they do point out that
their belief is that God is the generator of all the universal laws from
which scientists determine this age, and therefore God could have changed
these laws at any point in time.
In short, many christians who are also scientists probably
do not turn to the bible for a scientific account of creation, but they
also do not fully embrace the scientific account either. Many christians
seem to be unimpressed with scientists’ explanations of the more deep questions
of life and this includes most explanations regarding the age of the earth
and its origins.