Can the Heavens Declare the Age of the Earth?

According to Dr. Hugh Ross, founder and past president of Reasons to Believe, nature speaks as authoritatively as God’s inspired Word. In fact, all of Ross’ teaching on Genesis is based on this statement: “The facts of nature may be likened to a sixty-seventh book of the Bible.”1 According to his 2023 book, Rescuing Inerrancy, Ross purportedly “provides evidence for a moderate concordist view of dual revelation—the notion that God faithfully reveals himself in the book of Scripture and the book of nature.” 2

What Ross calls dual revelation, theologians have traditionally referred to as general revelation, special revelation, and even the two books of God.

Ross’ teaching has influenced many Christians, including many evangelical scholars. In the process, he has caused massive confusion about general revelation and its relationship to questions about the origin of the universe and mankind, and the timeline for their creation.

What’s So Special About Special Revelation?

Special revelation is the truth about God, man, salvation, and God’s purposes and activities in the world. This truth is given to some people in some times and some places by God’s gracious and sovereign choice. It is revealed through direct communication, visions, miracles, prophets, inspired Scripture, and preeminently through Jesus Christ. In written form (the Bible), special revelation is infallible, inerrant, 100% truth. In personal form (Jesus), the revelation is holy and sinless. The truths of Scripture and the person of Jesus are essential for us to know God personally, to experience salvation, and to fully please God.

General revelation is given to all people in all times, all places, and all cultures. And it is understandable by all people (except, of course, by infants or those with very serious cognitive disabilities). Therefore, every person is without excuse and guilty for suppressing the revealed truth of general revelation to some extent and for failing to thank, worship, trust, and obey God. While rejection of the truth from general revelation is sufficient grounds for God’s condemnation, knowing and believing the truth of this revelation is insufficient to save anyone from the coming judgment.3

What General Revelation Is Not

General revelation is not science itself, which is a way of studying and learning about the natural world. Most people who have ever lived know little or nothing about science.

General revelation is also not the consensus view among most scientists today regarding the origin and history of the universe, the earth, rock layers, fossils, plants, animals, and mankind. That consensus view is not known by all people today, much less by all people in past centuries.

Based on the Bible’s statements, we can also say that general revelation does not require scientific training to understand it, for most people have little to no scientific training, yet they can all understand that God exists with certain attributes or characteristics.

Yet when Ross says, “The facts of nature may be likened to a sixty-seventh book of the Bible,” what he actually means is that the modern, secular, scientific consensus about the origin, history, and age of the creation is the sixty-seventh book of the Bible and, therefore, should be used as the inerrant and supremely authoritative hermeneutical grid for interpreting at least some of Genesis 1–11.

But nowhere does Scripture call creation “a book.” Creation does speak, but only nonverbally (i.e., metaphorically), whereas Scripture communicates verbally through propositional truth statements. For example, the heavens declare nonverbally that the Creator of the sun, moon, and stars is glorious. But only Scripture declares verbally that God created them by his spoken word three days after he made the earth just a few thousand years ago. Those biblical truth statements and creation’s nonverbal witness refute the lies of the scientific consensus.

Furthermore, the creation is cursed, waiting eagerly to be set free at the second coming of Jesus Christ (Genesis 3:14–19; Romans 8:18–25; Revelation 22:3). Scripture is not cursed but is holy and without error. Therefore, Scripture is superior to nature and supremely authoritative in revealing the truth about when and how God created.

Ross’ old-earth views on Genesis are not defending the inerrancy of Scripture (as he claims in his 2023 book) but subtly undermining it. All old-earth scientists, apologists, theologians, and pastors are doing the same thing. They are using secular, scientific consensus to interpret Genesis4 in a way that evades and contradicts the plain meaning of the text, which the majority of Christians believed until the idea of millions of years was invented in the minds of atheist and deist geologists about 200 years ago.5

Only One Trustworthy Book About Origins

Nature reveals neither when nor how God created the world. But God’s Word clearly reveals that he created everything recorded in Genesis 1 in six, literal, 24-hour days a little more than 6,000 years ago. Genesis 6–8 also records that God destroyed the world in the global, catastrophic flood of Noah’s day.6

Nature reveals attributes of the Creator, such as his power, wisdom, and sovereignty. However, only one book reveals when and how God created: the collection of 66 books of the Bible, the inerrant Word of God, his unique, special revelation to mankind!