The greatest challenge to the Young Earth Creationist (YEC) model is the “Light-Travel Time” problem. If the King’s return is imminent and the creation is only a few thousand years old, how do we explain the arrival of light from galaxies that are millions of light-years distant?
The Constant That Isn’t
The secular model assumes Uniformitarianism—the belief that the speed of light and the rate of time have always been exactly as we measure them today. However, Einstein’s Theory of Relativity proved that time is “stretchy.” It is affected by both velocity and gravity.1 This is known as Time Dilation.
The Scriptural Exhibit
The Bible repeatedly uses a very specific phrase when describing the creation of the heavens. It does not say God “placed” the stars; it says He “stretched” them.
“Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea.” — Job 9:8
“Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out…” — Isaiah 42:5
The Historical Footprint
Creationist physicists, most notably Dr. Russell Humphreys and Dr. Jason Lisle, have proposed two primary forensic models to explain this:
- Gravitational Time Dilation: If the universe has a center and an edge (unlike the secular “infinite” model), then gravity would affect the passage of time differently across the cosmos. During Creation Week, while 24 hours passed on Earth (at the center of the gravity well), millions of years’ worth of light-travel could have occurred in distant space. Earth was in a “slow-motion” zone relative to the rest of the universe.
- Anisotropic Synchrony Convention (ASC): This model suggests that the “one-way” speed of light has never actually been measured. We only know the “round-trip” speed. Lisle posits that light from stars reaches the observer instantaneously in one direction, fulfilling the biblical command that stars were created “to give light upon the earth” (Genesis 1:15) immediately.
The Final Witness
The controversy rests on our definition of a “year.” If God “stretched out” the heavens like a curtain, He was not just moving matter; He was expanding the very fabric of space-time.
The fact that we see distant stars is not proof of an ancient universe, but proof of a Mighty Creator who is not bound by the “speed limit” of His own creation. Just as Jesus created wine that had the appearance of age (fermentation) in an instant at Cana, God created a functional universe with “mature” light already reaching its destination. The heavens do not declare millions of years of random chance; they declare the glory of a God who can bridge the span of infinity in a single day.
Stand fast, for the King is at the door.