Water on Earth Is Older Than the Sun

Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) gathers observational data conforming to the historical account of creation in Genesis

Researchers at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory recently published their findings dating the water on Earth as older than the Sun, which conforms to the historical account of creation in Genesis 1. Ironically, it was their anti-Biblical assumptions about the origin of stars and solar systems that led them to their conclusion.

According to the article published in Nature, the researchers used observational data collected by ALMA – an array of 66 large, dish-style radio telescopes at 16,500 feet elevation in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile.¹ Water molecules detected around a star located 1,305 light-years from Earth were confirmed to have “similar composition” to the water in our solar system.² The lead author of the study, John J. Tobin, was quoted saying, “We can now trace the origins of water in our Solar System to before the formation of the Sun.”³

The researchers wrongly assume they are viewing a “young star” and the formation of a solar system. They combined their wrong assumptions with the observational data that the water molecules there are similar to the water molecules here in our own solar system. Their incorrect assumption is that our solar system formed in the same way, and that the water on Earth today was present in the clouds of gas and matter that gave birth to our Sun and home planet.

Headlines on multiple websites trumpeted the findings. Tim Newcomb, the author of a Popular Mechanics story, wrote, 

“Astronomers connected water from the interstellar medium to our water, showing distinct similarities. The research team believes the finding shows water in our solar system is older than the sun.”⁴

Mr. Newcomb’s headline is telling: “Earth’s Water Is Officially Older Than the Sun. That’s Incredible.” His tagline is prophetic: “It reshapes our understanding of… well, everything.”

It is true that the water on Earth is older than the Sun. The Bible tells us in Genesis 1 that God made water before He made the Sun. On day one of creation week, the deep waters were on the void and formless Earth (v. 1-2). Then, on day four of creation week, God made the Sun, Moon, and stars (v. 16).

Even though the researchers reached the right conclusion through wrong assumptions, the observational data gathered by ALMA does conform to the Biblical account of creation in Genesis 1. The Bible states that on the second day of creation week, God separated the waters, leaving some on the Earth and lifting others off the Earth. The expanse created between the waters below and the waters above is what we call the atmosphere and space (v. 7). It is no wonder space has an abundance of water molecules similar to those on earth! Our universe was designed.

As Christians with the Word of God, we must filter observational data – and the news headlines – through the lens of Scripture, and not the lenses of the Big Bang and Darwinian hypotheses. Our starting point for any hypothesis and the evaluation of any data must be the Bible. The secular ideas of origins are untestable and untrue. But God’s Word is true, as His Son Jesus Christ stated in John 17:17. In fact, Jesus is the Word of God according to John 1:14, and Jesus is the truth according to John 14:6. The Holy Spirit, which is called the Spirit of Christ in Romans 8 and 1 Peter 1, is also called the Spirit of truth in John 14, 15, and 16. How reassuring that, in a world where there are so many seeming versions of truth and countless ideas about every subject, we can stand on the solid and unchanging foundation of God’s Word and have a personal relationship with the Person who is Truth through the indwelling of His Spirit living inside of us!

We can be confident that observational science – the science we can do and see right now in the present – will continue to line up with what the Bible has been making known to mankind for thousands of years. Just as Mr. Newcomb implied, new discoveries will continue to reshape inaccurate ideas of origins, and we will all continue to be amazed when new discoveries are made in the heavens above. As Psalm 19:1 tells us, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (ESV).