The Talmud seems to address the issue of the Old Earth — since Aristotle presented evidence for the eternal age of matter. Yerushalmi Hagigah 2.1 begins with a Misna mentioning a very strong prohibition against investigating the pre-Creation history.
Yerushalmi Hagigah 2.1 XII — XV further states that “It is the glory of G-d to conceal a thing” — pre-Creation history.
How could the rabbis know that the search for that history will give rise to Atheism in the 20th century CE?