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| Vol. 15 No. 7 July 2013 | Page 5 |
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| Vol. 15 No. 7 July 2013 | Page 5 |
Louis Rushmore, Editor
Comparatively speaking, you and I live on a relatively young earth. That is, our planet is very young compared to the claim of five billion years old for the earth made by evolutionists. God, both in Scripture and through the created universe, asserts that the celestial sphere that we inhabit is not more than 10,000 years old. Yes, true science verifies that the created universe in which earth has an important cameo cannot be more than 10,000 years old.
We need to understand that there is a difference between evolutionary theory and verifiable scientific fact. Generally, scientists happily proclaim that science relates to that which can be measured, tested and observed, and that if with man’s five senses it cannot be evaluated, then it must not be real. Ironically and admittedly, evolutionists must concede that the evolutionary theory has not been observed and cannot be demonstrated – even under laboratory conditions. Truly, the only reason that the theory of evolution exists is in an attempt to explain away God, which if mankind can do, it can liberate itself from the constraints of God-given revelation – the Bible.
First, what does God through the Bible claim regarding the age of the earth? Strikingly in the first place, our planet is precisely only five days older than our first ancestor – Adam. Jesus Christ said, “But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female” (Mark 10:6 NKJV). Genesis 1-2 record the creation of everything, including Adam and Eve who were created on day six of creation week. The first answer to the question concerning the age of the earth is that it is only five days older than mankind. The Bible teaches this throughout the volume of its 66 books, and Jesus Christ confirmed that to be factual. “…[T]he only books that do not refer to the Book of Genesis in some form are the books of Philemon, and 2 and 3 John!” (Harrub, “Age of the Earth” 40). “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. …Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast” (Psalm 33:6, 8-9).
In addition, we can be more definitive from the Bible with a high degree of confidence regarding the approximate age of the earth. The Bible provides for its students “genealogy combined with chronology” (Harrub, “Age of the Earth” 43) whereby one can ascertain from the Scriptures that our globe is about 6,000 years old. History in general and our modern calendar in particular verify that approximately 2,000 years have passed from the year of our Lord (A.D.) to the present. The genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1 and Luke 3 in conjunction with secular history attest that another 2,000 years transpired between Jesus and His ancestor Abraham. Determination of the number of years between Abraham and Adam when added to the former figures ascertain for us the approximate age of the earth. This is so since Adam was the first man (1 Corinthians 15:45), and he was created at “the foundation of the world” (Luke 11:50-51) – within five days of the creation of the world. “Since Genesis 5 provides the ages of the fathers at the time of the births of the sons between Abraham and Adam (thereby providing chronological data), it becomes a simple matter to determine the approximate number of years involved. In round numbers, that figure is 2,000” (Harrub, “Age of the Earth” 44). Hence, the biblical record provides the student of the Bible upon investigation information that our beloved planet home is about 6,000 years old.
Second, fair treatment and analysis of the created universe proves that the earth is relatively young in stark contrast to suppositions by evolutionists. A few areas of scientific investigation that substantiate a young earth include the following.
The Grand Canyon presents an insurmountable problem for evolutionists. The supposed uniformitarianism of evolutionary theory attributes the massive void of the Grand Canyon to slow erosion by the small Colorado River over millions to billions of years. However, where are the 900 cubic miles of soil missing from the Grand Canyon? It is not at the end of the Colorado River where it would have to be were the explanation of evolutionists correct. Only a catastrophic event such as the worldwide flood of Noah’s day can account for the existence of the Grand Canyon.
The rapidity with which rushing water can carve out a canyon was demonstrated in 1926 with the development of the Burlingame Canyon “in less than six days!” (Harrub, “Grand Canyon”). It is “near Walla Walla, Washington” and “measures 1500 feet long, up to 120 feet deep, and 120 feet wide” (Harrub, “Grand Canyon”). All it took for this to occur was the diversion of floodwater from a blockage to a ditch leading to a creek.
Niagara Falls even more impressively proves the impossibility of uniformitarianism of evolution as a satisfactory explanation as the origin of the universe, including our home – earth. Erosion by the Niagara River resulted in the formation of the Niagara Gorge and moving Niagara Falls back seven miles. Before the construction of water-diversion projects, erosion drove the falls back three feet per year. Three-foot increments over the nearly five billion years that evolutionists claim for the age of the earth would have pushed the Niagara Falls upstream over 13 billion feet! However, “[t]he distance around the Earth is only 132 million feet!” (Butt emphasis added).
Polystrate fossils are my personal favorite evidence for a young earth, and they emphatically disarm the evolutionist’s claim for eons of time for the formation and development of our planet. The evolutionary doctrine of uniformitarianism is completely absurd when it comes to polystrate fossils. These are fossils that protrude through at least two layers of geological strata, the same strata that evolutionists assert took millions of years to form. Fossilized trees extending through two or more geological layers are impossible to harmonize with evolutionary uniformitarianism. Organic material like trees would rot away (and not fossilize) long before millions of years later when geologists and other evolutionists imagine the deposit of a subsequent geological layer would occur. Only a catastrophe, such as a serious flood or falling volcano ash could produce such.
One of the more striking and interesting polystrate fossils is that of a whale skeleton nearly standing on its tail while penetrating so-called geological strata. This 75-foot discovery was unearthed in 1976 near Lompoc, California. The dirt surrounding is what is called diatomaceous earth, resulting from tiny algae that attached itself to the whale exterior. Before millions of years demanded by geologists and evolutionists for the formation of a subsequent geological layer, the flesh of the whale would have either been eaten by scavengers or simply rotted. Obviously, not uniformitarianism but a catastrophe was responsible for the encasing of the whale in such a way that it extended through more than one geological layer. Not millions of years, then, but swiftly polystrate fossils such as this one were enveloped by more than one so-called geological layers or strata.
The known rate at which the closest star – our sun – is shrinking also proves that evolution with its timetable is an impossibility. Extrapolating backward shrinkage of five feet per hour times 20 million years, the earth and the sun would have been touching each other! Yet, evolutionists want us to believe that the earth is nearly five billion years old. Time really does not make evolution a plausible alternative to believing in special creation. Our shrinking sun denies evolution.
The depletion of hydrogen in the universe as it undergoes the one-way process of conversion into helium demands a young earth. “The conclusion is, since the universe consists chiefly of hydrogen, and since we have no evidence of any kind of current hydrogen genesis, that the concentration of hydrogen speaks eloquently of a youthful universe!” (Thompson). Further, Atmospheric Helium resulting from “disintegration of uranium and thorium” likewise evidences a young earth; “there is not nearly enough helium in the atmosphere to correspond to the alleged age of the earth and the rate of escape of helium into the atmosphere from rocks forming the crust of the earth” (Thompson). The decaying magnetic field of our planet indicates that the earth is young by comparison of claims made by evolutionists. “…[T]he strength of the magnetic field is declining. If we project backwards in time, we will come to a point where the magnetic field is impracticably strong. This occurs no more than nine to ten thousand years ago” (Major). Furthermore, population statistics or kinetics when tested against suggested dates ranging in the thousands of years versus millions of years correspond to the actual population of the earth only by imputing into the equation thousands of years. The evolutionists’ assertions of humans inhabiting earth for up to three million years would call for a population so numerous that the entire expanse of the known universe literally could not hold it. Evolution is false, but biblical information netting an age of the earth of about 6,000 years agrees with the facts relative to the population of the earth today.
In conclusion, the basis of keeping the Jewish Sabbath or seventh day holy was the days of creation week. “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it” (Exodus 20:11). From the opening two chapters of Genesis forward, the Bible uniformly attributes the creation of the world and everything on it, including mankind to God during six literal days. This occurred about 6,000 years ago. Numerous scientific observations of the universe correspond with the earth and everything on it coming into being not more than 10,000 years ago. Those numbers represent relative agreement in opposition to the billions of years touted by evolutionists. Evolution is not scientific, and only special creation by a Creator can account for the universe and all that it houses.
“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1:20-21). Do you see clearly the God of creation, or is your foolish heart darkened?
Works Cited
Butt, Kyle. The Truth about Science and the Age of the Earth. Pamphlet. Montgomery: Apologetics Press, 2003.
Harrub, Brad. “The Age of the Earth.” Christian Evidences. Moundsville: West Virginia School of Preaching, 37-49.
_ _ _. “The Grand Canyon and the Age of the Earth.” Reason & Revelation. June 2002, 47.
Major, Trevor. “The Earth’s Young Magnetic Field.” Reason & Revelation. June 1993, 46.
Thompson, Bert. The Young Earth. Pamphlet. Montgomery: Apologetics Press, n.d.