Old or Young Earth?

So much talk about “Young Earth” and “Old Earth”. If only people would just take the Scriptures as they read and not get bogged down with theories & non Scriptural traditions.
Verses 1&2 of Genesis 1 simply tells us the basics (All we need to know) That God is the creator of Heaven & Earth. Verse 3 then starts with the words “Then God said” or equivalent in different versions. All 6 acts of God to prepare the Earth for human habitation commence with these same words. Therefore it must be obvious that God was making it clear that the 6 creative acts commence at verse 3. --- Some call this the “Gap Theory” but there is nothing theory about it, it is simply reading as is. Verse 3 simply flows on from the previous statement.
For instance, If I say I purchased a house, then go on to say on the 1st day on the property I planted trees. On the 2nd I planted lawns and on the third I planted flowers. -- All this does not mean I commenced the gardening as soon as I purchased the house. No, for I moved into the property 6 months later. ---Likewise God does not tell us when He made the Heavens & Earth for we don’t need to know that. In those 1st 2 verses God just wants us to accept in faith that He is the Creator.
If only people would stop reading into Scripture that which is not there
After God’s 6 acts He instituted the Sabbath. Then over & over again throughout Scripture He empathized that the Sabbath was a sign between God & Israel forever. The Gentiles never get included in this sign. It is a sign that Israel are forever God’s chosen people (no matter what).

Genesis 1:1-2, “In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth. And the earth came to be (H1961) formless and empty, and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of Elohim was moving on the face of the waters.”

H1961 הָיָה hayah (haw-yaw) v. 1. to exist., 2. to be or become., 3. to come into being, i.e. to happen, to occur (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary). [a primitive root] KJV: beacon, X altogether, be(-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, + follow, happen, X have, last, pertain, quit (one-)self, require, X use., Compare: H1933


If we consider the original language of Genesis 1:2, word #H1961 הָיָה , And the earth came to be (H1961) formless and empty,

“Elohim created the heavens and the earth.

And the earth came to be formless and empty”

It seems the earth was created some time before Adamh and Hawwah, and became formless and empty, however the amount of time is not stated. Bot for it to become empty something had to be here before, or would not have to hayah (become) empty.

Could be translated as the Earth came into being formless and empty.

Prior to the fall, man was eternal. It wasn't until the fall that sickness, death, and I believe time began. Thus I would theorize that the earth has aged 6,000 years since the fall.

Too, when God created "on the 1st/2nd/etc day", is that one of our days or one of His 1,000 years kind of days?

So much talk about “Young Earth” and “Old Earth”. If only people would just take the Scriptures as they read and not get bogged down with theories & non Scriptural traditions.

So much talk about “Young Earth” and “Old Earth”. If only people would just take the Scriptures as they read and not get bogged down with theories & non Scriptural traditions.
Verses 1&2 of Genesis 1 simply tells us the basics (All we need to know) That God is the creator of Heaven & Earth. Verse 3 then starts with the words “Then God said” or equivalent in different versions. All 6 acts of God to prepare the Earth for human habitation commence with these same words. Therefore it must be obvious that God was making it clear that the 6 creative acts commence at verse 3. --- Some call this the “Gap Theory” but there is nothing theory about it, it is simply reading as is. Verse 3 simply flows on from the previous statement.
For instance, If I say I purchased a house, then go on to say on the 1st day on the property I planted trees. On the 2nd I planted lawns and on the third I planted flowers. -- All this does not mean I commenced the gardening as soon as I purchased the house. No, for I moved into the property 6 months later. ---Likewise God does not tell us when He made the Heavens & Earth for we don’t need to know that. In those 1st 2 verses God just wants us to accept in faith that He is the Creator.
If only people would stop reading into Scripture that which is not there
After God’s 6 acts He instituted the Sabbath. Then over & over again throughout Scripture He empathized that the Sabbath was a sign between God & Israel forever. The Gentiles never get included in this sign. It is a sign that Israel are forever God’s chosen people (no matter what).

It matters because the Genesis account is the reason that many people turn away from Christianity, especially when they are taught evolution as if it were a fact. It is possible to reconcile the apparant age of the earth with the time line that Genesis covers. It's much more than the age of the earth, it is also about the fossil records that are older than the Genesis account states.

Christians should indeed read God's word and take it at face value. However, "face value" allows for a creation prior to Adam and an earth much older than the young earth people believe it to be. No, we are not a product of evolution. We are created in the image of God. I'll get that out of the way. Evolution made no sense to me even before I became a Christian. The pre-Adamic creation theory at least gives an explanation as to why the earth appears to be much older than the 6,000 years estimated by Bishop Usher.