Quite a variety of opinions. Obviously each individual takes the bible differently.
THE 4004 BC is printed right at the beginning of the Genesis page. Why even put that there if it means nothing?
A dated timeline is put on ALL books of the bible, both old & new testament. Some may not even notice these when reading the bible.
Most should re-read Genesis chapter 1 & chapter 2:1-3. It is implied & clear to me that GOD only created life on EARTH before He rested.
Maybe some things should have been more clearly worded in the bible so we could all understand it the same way?
For the record, I do believe in GOD - 100%. The bible (& other religious writings) not 100%
More food for thought - ever wonder about the books they did not put into bible? The bible did not fall from the sky.
The bible was not put together and canonized until about 200 AD or so by a group of top religious leaders.
The book of Enoch was removed about the same time period.
Each individual should not look to the sky for GOD, but inside one's own heart
Those time line dates seem to be the dates thought of by whoever put your bible together. Mine says date written is between 1450 and 1400BC. I assume there is at least the possibility of bias in those numbers depending on what they believe.
As for the age of the earth, there are different theories that can support old or new earth depending on how you read and how much you read into things. The gap theory is one that makes a lot of room for an old earth and an ancient civilization.
I for one dont believe in life on other planets. Its possible, and definitely not beyond the scope of God's power. I think its probably more likely that the "extraterrestrial" life that we think of being from other planets is interdimensional. Seems odd to me that all the observations of these crafts and beings is done within our atmosphere, not outside of it despite all of the telescopes and other observation capable technology we have. To be honest though, I havent researched it that much.
As for the extra books. I am secure enough in what I believe to read them (or other religious texts for that matter). I personally believe that most people who say "dont read xyz" are not secure enough in their faith to defend it in their own minds. I recently purchased the book of enoch to see what it says. If the apostles read them and studied them enough to reference them in scripture then Im not going to say that I (or you or anyone else) shouldnt read them.