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Creationism #4: The Age of Earth & Other Stuff Introduction: Scientist are very popular of dating things like rocks, trees, and bones. They tend to date things as being very old and scoff at the Bible. Let us look at the Evolutionary Time Line: 4.6 billion years ago earth was formed 3 billion years ago photosynthesis 2 billion years ago complex cells 1 billion years ago multicellular life 600 million years ago simple animals 570 million years ago arthropods 550 million years ago complex animals 500 million years ago fish 475 million years ago land plants 360 million years ago amphibians 300 million years ago reptiles 200 million years ago mammals 150 million years ago birds 130 million years ago flowers 65 million years dinosaurs died off 2 million begining of man 200,000 humans start to look like we do now I) Questions A) How do we come up with these numbers? B) How do they know their numbers are accurate? C) What assumptions are they making? D) What does the Bible say? II) Dating Methods A) Radioactive Potassium Dating 1. Rocks contain radioactive potassium a. This eventually becomes argon gas. b. They determine the rate of change and by measuring the amount of radioactive potassium and argon gas, come up with a date of formation. 2. Assumptions a. A constant rate of change b. A "close system" meaning no loss or gain of either radioactive potassium or argon gas. c. The original amount of radioactive potassium and argon gas. 3. Results of this dating method. This is done by taking rocks that we know when they were formed and comparing the results to what we know to be true.
4. The results tells us when the dates of the rocks are known the dating system is not trustworthy. 5. Evolutionist say, when we don’t know the dates, we can trust the system. B) Carbon 14 dating 1. Carbon 14 (radioactive carbon) turns into carbon 12. 2. Radiation in plants is eaten by animals and eventually winds up in humans. At death the species ceases its intake of carbon 14. By measuring the carbon 14 and carbon 12 they date the species. 3. Basic assumptions. a. C14 is at a steady rate in our world. That is not true, it does fluctuate. b. A "close system" nothing happens to the species after its death. c. C12 can be increased in our world by natural events such as volcanoes, storms, and can be man made. 4. This dating system come the closest to being right. a. Freshly killed seals have been dated at 1,300 years old. b. Wood taken from growing trees has been dated as being 10,000 years old; the oldest know tree is only 4,900 years old. C) Dating Rocks on Fossils inside the rocks and Fossils based on the rocks 1. In other words circular reasoning. 2. Basic assumptions: a. simple life forms were first and complex later; therefore, rocks with simple life forms are older and complex are younger. b. it takes millions long periods of time for rock strata to form. 3. Rock strata can form quickly. Ex. Mt. St. Helens had three different rock strata to form within two years. D) Over estimating the time necessary for coal and oil to form. 1. Examples: a. Geologist say it takes 1,000 years to make 1 inch of coal. b. Grand Canyon took 10,000 years to form. 2. Geological data say vegetation used to form coal and oil was collected by great water currents, dumped and covered with sediments. In many places there are fossil trees spanning several layers of coal. a. E.S. Moore, a coal geologist, "From all available evidence it would appear that coals may form in a very short time period… if conditions are right. 3. Canyons have been formed in short time periods. In 1926 the Burlingame Canyon was observed to have formed in less than six days. III) What the Bible Says and What It Means A) The Bible was not written to confirm the age of the universe 1. From Adam to Jesus one can trace about 4,000 years, Luke 3.23-28 2. There are "gaps" in the time line, for instance, Ezra 7.3-4 and 1 Chronicles 6.6-10. The length of those gaps is relatively short. 3. The age of earth and man is relatively the same, Genesis 1.1, 26-27. B) Change tends to be rapid rather than steady and slow. 1. The flood of Noah was rapid and changed the world a lot, Genesis 7.11, 12. 2. Earthquakes and floods are two great change agents in nature. C) God created the earth and all that is in it in 6 days. 1. It did not take millions of years for God to make coal, or oil. 2. The earth was already "mature". We tend to equate age and maturity but they are different. a. How old were Adam and Eve in Genesis 2? b. They were 1 day old but they were mature enough to name the animals, understand God, speak, and have children. IV) Important Points A) Evolutionist argue from the "micro-evolutionary" to the "marco-evolutionary" B) They claim order can come from disorder – ‘we are not in a closed system’ C) The Theory of Evolution does not depend on how the first life began. Conclusion: The God were serve is in Acts 17.22-34. He created everything; Lord of heaven and earth; does not dwell in temples made with hands, is not worshipped with men’s hands; made from one blood of every nation of man; determined mans times and boundaries; is not from away from us; in Him we live and move and have our being; is of Divine Nature. The children’s song "Our God is So Big" is true. D.T. @ Westside Church of Christ 02.03.08 |