The Distant Starlight Problem, Solved?

Editor's Note: In the original version, I misrepresented Dr. Russell Humphreys' theory, saying that time was moving faster on earth relative to distant celestial objects. The reverse is actually true. I have updated the post.

Maybe it's just me, but it sure seems like Young Earth Creationism (YEC) is becoming an endangered species. This is the view that the universe was created about 6,000 to 10,000 years ago, based on a view of Genesis 1 as taking place in six 24 hour days. Most other Christians have accepted an old universe view more in line with the modern scientific community (i.e., the universe is 13.8 billion years old, and the earth is 4.5 billion years old). They do so by taking a less literal interpretation of Genesis 1, which can fall into several categories: Day-Age Theory, Framework Hypothesis, Theistic Evolution, and Gap Theory to name a few.

From the outset, I should say that I do not hold to YEC based primarily on scientific evidence. Rather, it's my understanding of Genesis itself that informs my view. When I read Genesis 1 in the most straightforward way possible, in the context of the rest of the book as well as the Bible, I find six 24 hour days to be the most natural reading of the text. I don't see any compelling reason from the creation narrative itself to allegorize the account. The scientific evidence for YEC is interesting to me, but it's not the driving force. All that said, there is one challenge to a young universe that has always troubled me: the Distant Starlight Problem (DSP).

The DSP, for those that aren't familiar, is a very straightforward challenge. The idea is that we can view the light from celestial objects from many millions and even billions of light years away, which is a potential problem for YEC since the light would not have enough time to travel those distances. And to the best of my knowledge, the distances are not in question. So how is this resolved?

Many men much smarter than I have attempted to explain the DSP using a YEC paradigm. Dr. Russell Humphreys has posited a time dilation theory, wherein time speeds up as space is being stretched out. So, time on earth was moving much slower relative to that of distant celestial objects. Dr. Jason Lisle has also tackled this problem, and he does so by saying that the one-way speed of light could be much faster than what we have been able to measure. Thus, the light could have arrived at earth in a shorter amount of time. While I find these views interesting, I don't see them as overly compelling.

I have resolved this issue in my own mind based on my reading of the Genesis 1 alone. I'm not trained in astrophysics, so I lack the expertise to make a scientific argument. So with the lengthy preamble now concluded, let's head to the text.

Unsurprisingly, our journey begins on Day 1 of creation week:

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.     ~Genesis 1:1-5

In Day 1, God creates light that shines on the earth. He does not create any light source, just the light. On Day 4, He will create the sun, which will then shine on the earth instead of this supernatural light, which allows there to be 24 hour days prior to the sun's inception. Note: in order to have a 24 hour day, one only needs to have light shining on the earth from a fixed location, while the earth makes a full rotation.

In pictorial form, Day 1 would look something like this, based on my understanding of the traditional YEC view:

So, we have earth, which is currently only made up of water (at least at the surface), and we have light shining on it from the direction of where the sun would eventually reside. There's no sun there, though.

I would like to add to this model by pointing out that the text itself does not place a limit on the light that was created on Day 1 (i.e., not just the light from the future sun). So while I would agree with the above diagram, I find it to be lacking. Here is what I'm proposing:

Instead of just light from the future sun, I am positing that light from future galaxies, nebulae, and stars is also created here. In other words, all light from all future light sources is created, and it is fully "mature," in that it is already reaching earth from its future source location. In the same way, God would create human beings and animals as mature adults, not infants. In this sense, the creation of light is consistent with the rest of God's plan for earth and the cosmos.

This is a variation of the light in transit theory, that God created light already fully formed as it reaches earth. The difference here is that I am proposing that all light waves in the universe were created on Day 1, not Day 4. To my knowledge, no one has proposed this as a possible solution to the DSP, but I'm happy to be corrected on that.

To complete history of light, let's move on to Day 4:

And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth." And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.     ~Genesis 1:14-19

Here is the corresponding diagram for Day 4, based on the previous diagram I created for Day 1:

So, the light waves still exist, but they are now "linked" to actual sources of light. We also have a moon to shine on the earth at night, but it doesn't have light of its own but rather it just reflects light from the sun. In summary, the celestial objects "take over" the duties of shining light, which was previously being done supernaturally via "sourceless" light!

In conclusion, I find this to be a simple and elegant solution to the Distant Starlight Problem. I am 100% reliant on the text alone and do not impose anything upon it. I'd love to know what you think in the comments below. Thank you for your time.