You might remember my crazy age of the earth theory I wrote about a couple of years ago. In that post, which you can read here, I argued that since we measure time by the earth’s rotation and since that rotation is slowing down a little every year, it follows that time, at least as we used to measure it, is not constant. Therefore it is possible that the first seven days were seven literal days as marked by one full rotation of the earth on its axis, but measured in thousands of days as measured by the cesium second, which is constant. In this theory then, God gradually set the earth in rotation rather than set it at top speed from the beginning.
As I wrote in the article, the theory is just that; theoretical. It is pure conjecture. Additionally, I have no stake in the age of the earth arguments. My theology, worldview, salvation, and security—none of these things hinge on how old the universe is. As for those who say the Bible would be invalidated were the seven days in Genesis not literal? Well, I’ve already offered one possible reconciliation between the two sides, but nevertheless even if the days were not literal, my faith would not be shattered and neither should yours be. Why not? You might ask.
Scientists from 33 countries convened in Paris in 1967. They had a problem.
The earth was slowing down.
This wasn’t a new revelation by any means. Newton’s 1st Law of Motion states plainly that an object in motion will stay in motion with the same speed and direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.1
That force just happened to be ocean tides.2 But by the scientists' measurements, the earth’s rotation only slows about 2 milliseconds per revolution around the sun,3 not exactly a stunning figure. So what was the problem?
