Does Starlight Require Millions of Years to Reach the Earth?

First, I would dispute the chronological theory that suggests the Universe is billions of years old. I do not believe there is indisputable scientific evidence supporting that view, and I believe there is substantial evidence against it. I have discussed this briefly in my book, Creation, Evolution, and the Age of the Earth.

The simplest biblical answer to the distant light phenomenon, however, is that God created the luminary system fully functional from the very beginning, so light did not need time to reach the earth initially.

The book of Genesis states:

And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years: and let them be for lights in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so (Genesis 1:14-15).

By the very nature of the case, any supernatural creation would appear to have some degree of maturity. The trees fashioned on the third day of the creation week would appear to have been around for a while, since they were already bearing fruit and provided food from the beginning (Gen. 1:11, 29). Adam and Eve, on the very day of their origin, appeared as mature adults.

So, similarly, it is only reasonable to conclude that the light from distant stars was observable on earth from the fourth day of the creation week onward.

Abraham, not many millennia removed from the creation event, was challenged by the Lord to:

Look now toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them: and [God] said unto him, So shall your seed be (Genesis 15:5).

This clearly indicates that the millions of stars that adorn the expanse of heaven were visible from Earth at the beginning.

Here is another thought. If the heavens, including the stars (Psalms 8:3), were designed to declare the glory of God (Psalms 19:1), and if these "lights" existed for billions of years before man's genesis, to whom did they testify of Jehovah's "glory"? Certainly the Godhead did not need convincing of that truth. And the angels cannot be in view, because they were created within the same week as man (Exodus 20:11).

With our extremely limited, radically speculative, and ever-changing knowledge of time, distance, and space, we cannot set forth hard data that contradict the Bible's testimony about creation. Because a wide variety of evidence has established the Scriptures as credible, we act responsibly when we accept their record as factual.

For those interested in a more scientific discussion of this matter, I recommend D. Russell Humphreys' book Starlight and Time (Master Books, 1996).