A Conflict As Old As The Earth

(I’m subbing in a fourth grade classroom. The students are taking an open-book science test about the planets. About twenty minutes into the class, a young girl walks up to me with her test, looking worried.)

Student: “Miss [My Name], this question doesn’t have a correct answer!”

(She hands me the test and points to a multiple-choice question asking how old the Earth is, with answer such as 3.2 billion, 2.3 trillion, etc.)

Me: *handing the test back* “I see the answer is in there. Remember, you can look in your book to find the right answer, too.”

Student: “No, look. The Bible doesn’t tell us how old the earth is! So none of these answers can be right.”

(I’m lost for words for a moment, not expecting to hear that argument out of a fourth grader.)

Me: “Well, we don’t know how long it took God to create the world. We don’t know how long his seven days were. Do you think it took a long time for him to make the world?”

Student: *nods*

Me: “Scientists know how old the Earth is because they’ve done tests and looked at lots of stuff from a long time ago. This is science class, right?” *she nods* “Sometimes science and religion don’t match up. When you’re at church, you listen to your church leader, right?” *she nods again* “So if you’re in science class, who should you listen to?”

Student: “The teacher?”

Me: “Right.” *I hand her the test paper back* “The answer is in your book, I promise. Just do your best.”

(She went back to her test and didn’t have any more questions for me. I don’t know if it was the best way to handle that situation, but it seemed to work. Subbing in the Bible Belt is something else!)