Why should you listen to me when it comes to age of the Earth questions? My words are not inspired. I am not infallible. There are sincere influential Christians who disagree with me. I don’t claim to be the smartest geologist on the planet. And I have less prestige than many geologists who have published more than me. So why should you listen to me?
First of all, I truly do honor the Bible as God’s fully inspired and accurate Word (plenary inspiration). Since my youth I have been a believer and have never wavered from the faith. My reputation and church standing in that regard are impeccable. I even have a Master of Divinity degree from Liberty Univ. in addition to my geology degrees. You might want to listen to me even if you are inclined to dislike my words just so you can hear a side of the debate that you might not have heard before.
But there is another reason I would like for you to know. I have spent all but the last 3 years of my career working for the largest oil company in the world, and by some measures it is the largest corporation in the world. Whether or not that inspires any confidence, it has done one important thing for me: it has given me direct access to fabulous amounts of data, particularly since the company has transferred me so much (often at my request). I have lived in Indonesia, Russia, Nigeria, Kuwait, Qatar, Argentina, America, now in India, and have worked the geology of quite a number of other regions that I could list. I have seen well data, seismic, gravity, paleontology, magnetics, geochem, outcrop, and other kinds of data that far exceed what most geologists see in their lifetime, and it especially exceeds what virtually all university professors and people working for small companies are able to see. There are few geologists who have seen as much as I have during my nearly 40-year long career.
In retrospect, I have become pretty familiar with the geology of this planet.
That still doesn’t make me infallible. You will have to decide who you believe and not believe when it comes to extra-biblical information, but I do wish you would consider the arguments I have made in my past communications. From a scientific point of view the Earth appears significantly older than 6000 years. It really does. That conclusion is not going to go away in the future – there is way too much interlinking information backing it. And, critically important, I don’t believe this contradicts the Bible in the slightest. I ask that you at least keep an open mind on it. And importantly, realize that your stand on this issue affects the faith of others. I personally know people who would like to believe the Bible but cannot because they think it requires them to believe in a 6000 year old Earth. We are to “be wise in the way you act towards outsiders, making the most of every opportunity” (Col. 4:5). Grace and peace, Steve Webb