It seems like one of those open-ended debates where we can't ever progress beyond what we believe to be true about the age of the Earth. "Belief," no matter how strong one's conviction, is not the same as "fact." And I say that in the context that asserting that the Earth is billions of years old seems no more or less "provable" than saying the Earth is 6000 years old. What if "God" created Earth using really old raw materials?
Who knows? If we believe in "creation," we can only state that the Earth was created, not how. Meanwhile, scientists theorize that the Big Bang created the Universe 13.8 billion years ago. In spite of whatever collective wisdom we may have, we might assert "that" it happened, but how is little more than theoretical speculation.
How do we know that "God" isn't merely a species of super-advanced aliens whose civilization and technology is advanced to the point where our interpretation of "life" is little more than slime mold? And Earth, and humans, are just one of their science experiments? "Hey Bob, let's see if we can grow life near this G2 class star! Do we have any more rocks in the back?"
I tend to not engage in these discussions much because they tend to be extraordinarily "human centric," meaning that we don't consider possible answers in which we humans are not "center stage," but just tiny "bit players" in a much bigger production.
Bright Blessings!
I've heard the "God created the Earth to look old argument" as well. Right I agree we can only say that is was created. Even the when is up for debate. Which is why I said I believe. This is my opinion.
When people say they want to know truth but then I state that the Bible makes claims about it being the Word of God and the ultimate truth in which God revealed himself then it gets thrown out without testing it. At least this is how it is when I talk about this with other people.
I agree with you that the human centric nature can get in the way. At the same time if that is the case then we should look for someone or something much more intelligent than us to convey Truth. If we can't ever know truth then what's the point of any of this. Then it's all relative.
Bright Blessings all the same!