Distant Starlight — Creation Science's "Elephant in the Room"?
by Cowboy Bob Sorensen
One of the most frequent "Gotcha!" attempts from evolutionists that I've encountered at The Question Evolution Project and other places online is the "distant starlight" problem. That is, when we bring up the many evidences for a young Earth, solar system, and universe, those get ignored and the owlhoot campfire red herring song is sung: "We see light from stars billions of light years away, therefore, the universe must be old, the Big Bang is right, and you're wrong". They act like it's the creation science "elephant in the room" that is being ignored.
First, in their efforts to slap leather with creationists, they're shooting themselves in the foot instead. The Big Bang is loaded with difficulties and ad hoc "explanations" (rescuing devices), including it's own light travel difficulty called the "horizon problem". Also, changing the subject (which was evidence presented for a young Earth) and attacking with cosmology and the "speed of light problem" is something I reckon to be intellectually dishonest, and smacks of desperation. In addition, there's another kind of arrogance in that people make dogmatic assertions, but the nature of light and the universe is not exactly thoroughly understood.
Even so, creationist scientists are addressing the question of a young universe and distant starlight. Several models are put forward, with the understanding that models are models, they can be modified or discarded, but the authors hold to the truth of the Word of God. The material is well above my pay grade, but I'm making it available for people who want to examine it. Don't forget to check out the other recommended reading links provided at these sites.
- First, "A New Creationist Cosmology: In No Time at All Part 1" and "Part 2" by Larry Vardiman, Ph.D., & D. Russell Humphreys, Ph.D.
- Second, "A new cosmology: solution to the starlight travel time problem" by John G. Hartnet, Ph.D.
- Third, "Anisotropic Synchrony Convention—A Solution to the Distant Starlight Problem" by Jason Lisle, Ph.D.
- Also worth reading is "How can distant starlight reach us in just 6,000 years?" by Mark Harwood, Ph.D.
I hope these materials prove informative and useful, and perhaps something to link to so it's available when you're asked.