== Acceptance and reliability ==
Although radiometric dating methods are widely quoted by [[scientists]], they are inappropriate for aging the entire universe due to likely variations in decay rates. Scientists insist that Earth is 4.6 billion years old<ref>hypertextbook.com/facts/1997/MollyMoran.shtml></ref> while the Bible (the infallible word of God<ref>http://www.believers.org/believe/bel191.htm</ref>) suggests that the world to be around 6-10 thousand years old.<ref>http://www.independencebaptist.org/6,000%20year%20old%20earth/6,000_year_old_earth.htm</ref> Because [[Atheism|atheists]] commonly hold the positions of [[Naturalism (philosophy)|naturalism]] and [[uniformitarianism]], many atheists are particularly vocal in claiming that the earth is 4.6 billion years old.
{{QuoteBox|C14 dating was being discussed at a symposium on the prehistory of the Nile Valley. A famous American colleague, Professor Brew, briefly summarized a common attitude among archaeologists towards it, as follows:<br />"If a C14 date supports our theories, we put it in the main text. If it does not entirely contradict them, we put it in a footnote. And if it is completely 'out of date', we just drop it."<br />Few archaeologists who have concerned themselves with absolute chronology are innocent of having sometimes applied this method...<ref>T. Säve-Söderbergh and I. U. Olsson, ‘C14 dating and Egyptian chronology’, in ''Radiocarbon Variations and Absolute Chronology'', Proceedings of the Twelfth Nobel Symposium, Ingrid U. Olsson (editor), Almqvist & Wiksell, Stockholm, and John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, p. 35, 1970. Quoted in Lamb, 2007.</ref>}}