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Televangelist Pat Robertson challenged the idea that Earth is 6,000 years old this week, saying the man who many credit with conceiving the idea, former Archbishop of Ireland James Ussher, “wasn’t inspired by the Lord when he said that it all took 6,000 years.”

The statement was in response to a question Robertson fielded Tuesday from a viewer on his Christian Broadcasting Network show "The 700 Club.” In a submitted question, the viewer wrote that one of her biggest fears was that her children and husband would not go to heaven “because they question why the Bible could not explain the existence of dinosaurs.”

“You go back in time, you've got radiocarbon dating. You got all these things, and you've got the carcasses of dinosaurs frozen in time out in the Dakotas,” Robertson said. “They're out there. So, there was a time when these giant reptiles were on the Earth, and it was before the time of the Bible. So, don't try and cover it up and make like everything was 6,000 years. That's not the Bible.”

Before answering the question, Robertson acknowledged the statement was controversial by saying, “I know that people will probably try to lynch me when I say this.”

“If you fight science, you are going to lose your children, and I believe in telling them the way it was,” Robertson concluded.

Forty-six percent of Americans believe that God created humans in their present form at one point within the past 10,000 years, according to a survey released by Gallup in June. That number has remained unchanged for the past 30 years, since 1982, when Gallup first asked the question on creationism versus evolution.

The Gallup poll has not specifically asked about views on the age of the Earth.

Ussher’s work, from the mid-1600s, is widely cited by creationists as evidence that Earth is only a few thousand years old. Answer in Genesis, the famed Christian creationist ministry behind the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, cites Ussher as proof of Earth’s age. They describe the archbishop as “a brilliant scholar who had very good reasons for his conclusions concerning the date of creation.”

For Christians who read the creation account in Genesis literally, the six days in the account are strictly 24-hour periods and leave no room for evolution. Young Earth creationists use this construct and biblical genealogies to determine the age of the Earth, and typically come up with 6,000 to 10,000 years.

Most scientists, however, agree that the Earth is 4.5 billion years old and the universe is 14.5 billion years old.

The idea of creationism has been scorned by the mainstream scientific community since shortly after Charles Darwin introduced "The Origin of Species" in 1859. By 1880, The American Naturalists, a science journal, reported nearly every major university in America was teaching evolution.

The question about Earth’s age has been in the news recently. Earlier this month, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida attempted to walk the line between science and faith-based creationism in remarks that that provoked the ire of liberal blogs and left the door open to creationism.

“I'm not a scientist, man,” Rubio told GQ’s Micheal Hainey. “I can tell you what recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says, but I think that's a dispute amongst theologians and I think it has nothing to do with the gross domestic product or economic growth of the United States.”

frigidmagi wrote:This is odd because in the past Pat Robertson has defended creationism. Either he's changed his mind or his senility is finally getting out of hand.

Norseman wrote:Pat Robertson has also defended legalizing or at least decriminalizing marijuana

Norseman wrote:he seems to be going left on many key issues recently

frigidmagi wrote:What, you're only upset at his African profiteering?

fgalkin wrote:Uh guys? Young Earth Creationism is only the silliest brand of creationism, but hardly the only one. Pat Robertson didn't challenge creationism, he's still very much a creationist, just an Old Earth one.

Have very nice day.
-fgalkin

frigidmagi wrote:True enough. Frankly in my view, Pat Robinson has devoted his life to profiteering off of Christianity and Christian believers. He's one of the guys who not only came up with the Megachruch but got out back and pushed for it. Whenever attention on him waned, he did something to keep the spotlight (like running for President). He's made alot of money doing what he's doing and he's been willing to do shady shit to keep making the money. He's about as trustworthy as a hungry dog is with a ham sandwich.

And that's a slur on our canine friends. At least a hungry dog never pretends to be anything other then what it is. Nor does it sling bullshit to so it can pretend in public that it's act was perfectly moral and everyone after him is an agent of Satan.