Carbon Dating and the Biblical Timeline

Mockers reject the biblical timeline for several reasons, most of them superficial. Some will say that there were civilizations in existence thousands of years before the Old Testament was written, but scoffers accept questionable sources while rejecting biblical material out of hand. Sumerian kings were listed as living thousands of years, and the Egyptian chronologies are in doubt. Add to questionable history the inaccurate results of carbon dating, and mockers have their biases confirmed.


People scoff at the biblical timeline, partly due to carbon dating. There are several details that need to be considered.
Triceratops image source: Good Free Photos
Elsewhere, we considered dealing with discrepancies between secular geology and the global Genesis Flood. This post brings up related material. Although most readers probably know this, carbon dating does not work for deep time or the age of the earth. It only works on things that are or were organic. That means dinosaur bones and pottery discovered in rock layers that are assumed to be millions of years old can be tested, but they yield far younger ages.

Carbon dating requires several assumptions and scientists reject the influence of the Genesis Flood as well as changes in Earth's magnetic field. Indeed, living things have been dated at thousands of years old, and there have been discrepancies from samples of the same thing. When properly understood and pertinent data are included, carbon dating is not a threat to biblical chronology.
Many reporters and scientists treat carbon dates like facts. Of course, the more recent dates work well enough. But news reports, textbooks, and even movies present enormous ages like “47,000 BCE” all the time.

Yet, the Bible records only about 6,000 years from creation until today. Does the science of carbon dating disprove the Bible’s reckoning? To find out, we need to peek into the carbon dating process that specialists use to arrive at tens of thousands of years.
To read the rest, click on "Do Carbon Ages Refute a Biblical Timeline?" You may also be interested in "Dating of 'oldest pottery' from China is based on assumptions".


Each year, it’s fun to celebrate birthdays. If we’re not sure of someone’s age, we can always check their birth certificate. But can any reliable methods determine the age of an object without a historical record?