YEC without the bible, possible?

I notice that 99% of supporters of a young earth (most evangelical Christians) believe what they do based on a literal interpretation of Genesis. Most conversations I've had on the topic with Creo's seem to keep coming back to the first chapters of Genesis.But what happens if we pull the rug out from under their feet? Suppose the bible was never written (or any religious document dealing with creation) and only observable evidence was available to us. Would there be sufficient reason for anyone to argue a young earth?Now I realize this is a question about a hypothetical situation, but I'm addressing it mainly to young-earthers out there. Assuming you didn't have the bible, how convinced would you be of a young earth? Would you still seek evidence for it? Would you still oppose evolution?I look forward to your replies.

Thread moved here from the Proposed New Topics forum.

I for one wouldn't know how it could exist without religion, since that is all that it is based on.But perhpas the creationists could shed some light on the subject?

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I hunt for the truth

I agree. And it is my personal theory that most resident young earth creationists on this forum would not be defending their case if they didn't have a belief in the literal interpretation of Genesis.If the bible had instead described a 14.5b year creation period, including millions of years of biological evolution, would they still be digging up "evidence" to support the idea of a young earth?

Im curious as to how you come to the conclusion that 99% of evangelical Christians are young earth creationists. If I were to guess, as I presume you have done, I'd put it closer to 10% or less. It's actually primarily a North American belief. JMHO

I would say that whatever the Bible states, they'd go with.The key point though, to support their argument, is that the Bible is quite vague in it's primitive attempt to describe our origin.No time frame, no functinal biological processes, no mention of the laws of physics, etc. So this leaves it all to interpretation.I don't know if there are any YEC's on this site with any real knowledge of science that would present you with a reasonable, scienctifc approach to their beliefs. I'd be curious to see what they have for "outside of the bible" evidence. My guess will be nothing.Are there even YEC's on this site?

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"I smoke pot. If this bothers anyone, I suggest you look around at the world in which we live and shut your mouth."--Bill Hicks"I never knew there was another option other than to question everything"--Noam Chomsky

How do you read that? Personally I read the statement as saying that most YECs are evangelical christians, not that most evangelical christians are YECs.If Mel had instead written "...99% of evangelical christians (most of whom support YEC)..." I can see your reading, but as it stands, no.

I just discovered another thread on this topic that seems to confirm my theory. I was surprised to see how in http://EvC Forum: Kurt Wise - A YAC and an old earth evolutionist? -->EvC Forum: Kurt Wise - A YAC and an old earth evolutionist? some young-earthers admit that they believe in a literal interpretation of Genesis, but understand that observational evidence is to the contrary.I'm curious as to how this kind of belief holds together. Do they see the world created in the bible as a different one than the one with the evidence in it? Do they believe that God planted evidence of an old earth deceitfully in order to "test" us? You're right GDR, I guesstimated that number. And I was referring to the American situation. I know that European Christians are a lot more keen on accepting evolution. But I've looked up several polls that seem to show how almost 50% of the American population believe in a young earth. To me, that's pretty scary.From Wikipedia: (Young Earth creationism - Wikipedia)

Well if that were his conclusion, then your curiosity would be warrented.But it's not.He said, excluding what's in parentheses: I notice that 99% of supporters of a young earth believe what they do based on a literal interpretation of Genesis.Which, to include what's in parentheses, most Evangelical Christians do as well.IOW, both YEC'ist AND Evangelical Christians, believe what they do based on a literal interpretation of Genesis.- Oni

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"I smoke pot. If this bothers anyone, I suggest you look around at the world in which we live and shut your mouth."--Bill Hicks"I never knew there was another option other than to question everything"--Noam Chomsky

Is it vague though? Isn't that a point of contention among Christians? Young Earthers tend to argue that it's pretty simple and straightforward, seven actual days of creation, and the genealogies are accurate person for person records of the generations after creation. Christians who believe that the world is indeed 4.5b years old (me, for instance) tend to read it metaphorically.But to get back on topic, I'd love to hear the opinions of some YECs on the OP question.

To clear this up for me, did you mean:

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It is far easier for you, as civilized men, to behave like barbarians than it was for them, as barbarians, to behave like civilized men.

Yes. And at the time of writing, I also assumed that most American evangelicals were young earthers. However, I may have overestimated the prevalence of that belief based on personal experience. If someone has the correct numbers I'd be happy to see them.Thanks

I can't speak for any such people. But I have heard the view expressed that it's just a matter of us having not investigated fully enough and, with the right techniques, we'll find that science and Genesis point to the same conclusion.

Which again points to what I "theorized" in the OP. If you're right, their belief is 100% faith based and would fall apart without the bible.

I'm not so sure of this myself, and think you've got the cart before the horse.The average Joe doesn't really seem to understand vast amounts of time. 10,000 years is forever to most people. Take The Immortal, Connor MacLeod, for example. He's 450 years old. How could anyone consider that "immortal", for Pete's sake?I think if the Bible didn't exist people would still intuit the age of the Earth in thousands of years, would write a book stating as much, definitely name it "The Book", and kill those who said otherwise.

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It is far easier for you, as civilized men, to behave like barbarians than it was for them, as barbarians, to behave like civilized men.