Why the Old Age of the Universe is Almost Certainly False.

The old age of the universe attained through the empirical sciences is estimated to be about 13.8 billion years. The estimated age of the universe is almost certainly false for the following five reasons -

1) The empirical sciences can only estimate the age of the universe based upon what is currently observed in the universe. If the universe is posited to have developed via only natural causes, and there is a multitude of possible arrangements of natural causes, then there are a multitude of possible estimates of the universe's age. As there are multiple possible answers to the age of the universe within the empirical sciences, there is little, or no certitude regarding the estimated age of the universe. 

2) The empirical sciences have only a limited number of possible scenarios for the age of the universe. If the universe's age is finite, the universe must have undergone development through only natural causes. If so, the universe has developed in accordance with the false principle of more from less. Therefore the empirical sciences can only posit an age of the universe as through a false principle. And any answer obtained through a false principle is itself false. Therefore the age of the universe attained through the empirical sciences is most certainly false.

3) The empirical sciences can only estimate the age of the universe based upon what is currently observed in the universe. Therefore the empirical sciences cannot observe the principal cause of all of the natural causes observed. For the principal cause of all natural causes is ontologically prior to all secondary causes. Therefore the observation of only secondary causes does not provide enough information about the principal cause. As the principal cause is unknown, the effects of the principal cause and influences of the principal cause on the secondary causes are unknown. Consequently, the empirical sciences are agnostic about the time taken for the principal cause to act with the secondary natural causes to produce the universe.

4) The empirical sciences can only estimate the age of the universe based upon the assumed principles of materialism and naturalism. As both materialism and naturalism are both false, the causes considered within the empirical sciences will always exclude preternatural and supernatural causes which can and have acted in history. As only natural causes are used within the empirical models, the age of the universe is most certainly false.

5) The empirical sciences can only estimate the age of the universe based upon the assumed principles of materialism. If materialism is true, then there has always been something material that exists and then the universe has an age that is infinite. And yet the empirical sciences currently estimate a finite age of the universe, in contradiction with the assumption of materialism within the empirical sciences. Therefore the finite age is incompatible with materialism and is then almost certainly false.

Objection - The universe may still be old, having been created many billions of years ago. Hence the problems associated with materialism are irrelevant, and the empirical sciences have faithfully reported the age of the universe even though the materialist foundations of the sciences are false.

Answer - If the created universe is old, the creator should have revealed the age of the universe. As revelation from the creator of the universe can be located and is known to include a universe of about 6,000 years, the claim that the universe was created 13.8 billion years ago is false.

We know that God has made a general revelation from the sources of revelation that coincide with the power of God acting through the Blessed Virgin Mary to enact miracles are Fatima, Guadalupe, La Salette, and other places. Divine revelation attests to the incarnation of Christ, as the Son of God who became flesh, which is confirmed via the same power of God manifested in the Christian miracles. As divine revelation is true, the universe is about 6,000 years old.

Conclusion - The currently understood age of the universe as 13.8 billion years is false. Because the age of the universe cannot be determined by the empirical sciences, the real age of the universe can only be known as a revelation from the creator of the universe.