e only 15.71 years for light to reach us from that distance! The following table gives an idea of the distance-to-time conversions:
in light years
in Actual Time
Notice that, by the nature of the formula, the upper limit in time in Riemannian space has a definite limit, and even if the radius of curvature is modified by new discoveries, it will never get very large.
Conclusion: It appears that light may take a "shortcut" as it travels through deep space, and even if we grant that the uniformitarian distances are valid, the time for light to get here from the uttermost part of the universe would be only about 15 years.
(3) It is possible that the speed of light was considerably faster in the past.
There are different approaches to this theory. One suggestion is that the speed of light has been slowing consistently over the last 300 years, which extrapolates to a speed 5 x 1011 (500 billion) times faster 6000 years ago. 3 If this is true, light from a 5 billion light-year star (assuming the distances actually are that great) would have reached us in 3 days! Another suggestion is that the speed of light at the time of the Creation was infinite, and that a "shock wave" went out from the earth at the time of the Curse, slowing the speed of light down to its present value. 4 Light currently being emitted from these distant stars would take a long time to reach us, but at the time of the creation it would have arrived here almost instantaneously. Yet another suggestion is that the permittivity and permeability of free space changed at the time of the Flood, slowing the speed of light by a factor of 513 from its previous value. 5
Conclusion: Creationists differ on their interpretations of how, when, and by what factor the speed of light changed in the past, but there does seem to be some agreement that this is a real possibility. This third factor can either be used independently or in conjunction with the first two points. In other words, it may not only be that the distances are smaller than commonly claimed, but it may also be true at the same time that light travelled faster in the past and took a "shortcut" as well.
(4) There are Biblical indications that the earth and the universe were created with the appearance of age. There are several examples of this:
The plants (Gen. 1: 11-12)—They were created mature and bearing fruit at the moment of their creation. What would have taken years to accomplish by uniformitarian processes took place in seconds.
The animals (Gen. 1:20-25)—Fish, birds, and the three categories of land animals were created fully mature, having the appearance of age, and were immediately capable of reproduction on the first day of their existence (v. 22). The Bible therefore allows us to answer the otherwise-unanswerable question: "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" Evolutionists would take the endless trail back to the first life forms, but the Creationist can say that the chicken was created first, and then laid its eggs.
Man (Gen. 2:7)—Adam was created as an adult, with an inherent storehouse of knowledge and vocabulary, and was capable of articulate speech and reproduction on the first day of his existence (Gen. 1:28-29; 2:8, 16-20, 24). Whether Adam gave the appearance of being 20 or 50 years of age is irrelevant—a person walking into Eden five minutes after Adam's creation would have been able to converse intelligently with him and would probably conclude, on uniformitarian assumptions, that Adam had been around for many years.
Eve (Gen. 2:21-23)—Likewise, Eve was created fully mature and ready for marriage to Adam immediately (Gen. 1:27-28; 2:22-25).
The stars (Gen. 1:14-19)—The sun, moon, and stars were created on the fourth day of the creation week. Individually and collectively they were to have different functions: dividing the day from the night, serving as navigational aids, as chronological indicators, for illuminating the earth, as well as for declaring the glory of God (Psalm 19:1). What is not often noticed is that "it was so" on the very day of their creation (Gen. 1:15). Granted,