[No_Foolin'?]

Is my position not clear? In several places and in several ways I've said I think he's wrong. And, yes, you're ABSOLUTELY CORRECT regarding the phrasing used in my OP that IT MAKES NO LOGICAL SENSE that "reasonable, thoughtful, serious researchers" would put trust in inherently unreliable evidence.

But the point here is that MY FRIEND DOESN'T AGREE WITH THIS PROPOSITION. For you and I, simply knowing that the scientific consensus is that the earth is billions of years old is enough evidence that it actually is (For, as you keep correctly pointing out, we're talking about reasonable, thoughtful, and serious researchers after all).

But this standard is not shared by my preacher friend. Thus, we are left in the position of having to engange him
with direct evidence.

You're missing the point.