Introduction to Creation - Conclusion
Creation science is a study of science from the presupposition that God created the universe and life on earth as described in Bible. However, the debate between atheistic and theistic scientists involves more than just the origin of life. The Bible clearly states that God created humans, and yet the scientific community adamantly teaches that man evolved from apes. Creation science does not just challenge abiogenesis, but the origin of the fossil record as well. The Biblical creation account clearly teaches that the world was created with a functional ecosystem in 6 days, and according to Biblical chronology the earth is almost exactly 6000 years old. The Bible also teaches that a global flood-driven catastrophe destroyed the earth about 4500 years ago, and was so severe not even man could survive the event without divine intervention. The geological community recognizes neither the mature creation nor the Noachian flood, and therefore has failed to take these factors into consideration when deliberating as to the earth's age.
Old Earth Presupposition
If the Bible is correct, then the scientific community is simply unable to interpret the history of our world because supernatural effects would be assigned natural explanations. Evolution is a well thought theory, but the Bible says there was a flood that no animal could survive. If this event occurred, our scientific community could never interpret the evidence left behind because many of the animals in the fossil record are still alive today, and the scientific community must explain their presence naturally. Although the entire earth is covered in hundreds of feet of flood sediment, a naturalist must say the sedimentary deposits which comprise the geological column must have accumulated at a rate modern animals could have survived naturally, but the Bible says there was a global flood no animal could survive without divine intervention.
The old-earth perspective of the fossil record was derived from uniformitarian theory which is in opposition to catastrophism. The entire world is covered in massive layers of sediments known as the geological column, which were originally interpreted by geologists to be the result of catastrophes such as the great Biblical flood of Noah. However, early in the 1800s, Charles Lyell and others revolutionized geology by introducing the notion of the uniformity of known causes or processes throughout time. Uniformitarianism basically assumes that conditions on earth have remained essentially constant.
Although the earth is completely covered in hundreds of feet of flood sediment, it is now believed by geologists that these layers have accumulated gradually over millions of years. The ages of the various layers in the geological column were assigned dates using relative age dating techniques that compared current environmental rates of accumulation to the quantities of sediment that cover the earth. However, it has become clear that stratified layers such as those in the geological column are deposited rapidly under catastrophic flood conditions, and in fact many of these layers are now believed to have been the result of repeated catastrophes. Although it is now well recognized that catastrophes have occurred in earth's history, it is assumed because life exists, that no catastrophe was capable of destroying all life on earth as described in the Bible.
Given the extensive volumes of sedimentary deposits that cover the earth, it is plainly obvious the world has been destroyed by floods. Sedimentary rock hundreds of feet thick is all around us, but secular geologists claim they are not the result of a single massive flood. If the flood occurred as described in the Bible, the fossils in the geological column have been misinterpreted and erroneously dated. The position of fossils in relation to one another is likewise not an indication of the relative time in earth's history when they lived, but rather the sequence of events in an unrecognized global catastrophe that entombed them forever in tons of sediment.
An Impossible Interpretation for a Naturalist
If the flood occurred as described in the Bible it would be absolutely impossible for a naturalist to interpret the geological evidence as being formed by a single global catastrophe because modern animals are only here as a result of supernatural intervention via the ark. A great many of the animals entombed in sedimentary deposits are still alive today, and their presence must be explained naturally by modern scientists. Therefore a philosophical necessity exists among modern scientists for the geological column to have accumulated at rates that could be survived naturally.
However, the Bible has given us another explanation for the geological column. If the flood occurred as described in the Bible, the event would have deposited the sediments of the geological column much more rapidly than is theoretically possible from a naturalistic perspective. Techniques used to date fossiliferous sediments have been accepted or rejected based on their adherence to the theoretic necessity of gradual accumulation. Any naturalistic interpretation of the strata known as the geological column is erroneous because of the philosophical inability to accept the massive global catastrophe which required supernatural intervention for life to exist today. This philosophical inability has led to excessive age determinations when performing radiometric dating of these layers in accordance with standing presuppositions.
The evolutionary theory owes its' inception to the existence of the fossil record and the fact that organisms evolve through time. The fossil record convinced early scientists that the earth was much older than previously thought, and animals have changed so tremendously that theoretically anything is possible. God has provided all organisms with the mechanisms necessary to modify their own genomes so they may adapt to almost any possible habitat. The evolution that has occurred, did so through cellular performed genetic recombination which functions by design. However, we do not yet understand these rearrangements well enough to limit their ability, nor the extent mutations may be tolerated as a source for new information. The molecular machinery is still largely beyond our comprehension, and the evolutionary potential exhibited through classic breeding has demonstrated a range that makes it truly difficult to specifically determine the Biblical kinds.
A significant amount of evolution has occurred, but life on earth requires the simultaneous coexistence of numerous types of organisms, which is exactly what the Bible says God created. It is generally accepted by creationists that the species common to any particular mammalian Family have evolved through basic genetic recombination and selection. Each species released from the ark has essentially evolved into many unique genera with several species each. This quantity of evolution is what the evolutionists refers to as macroevolution because taxonomic groups above the species have developed. However, the fossil record does not itself offer proof of evolution beyond that evident in living population. These layer have most certainly been misinterpreted, and without their evidence, nothing more than variations within the Biblical kinds has been established.
If the evolutionist is correct, then we are just another animal. But it is possible we are the result of a special creation, and destined to live toward a much greater goal. Examine this issue carefully, and recognize that all secular scientific theory has a presuppositional basis in atheism which at times forces a conclusion against the obvious. This debate is ultimately between a naturalist and a super-naturalist with the former demanding the presentation of only naturalist evidence. The creation position begins with Biblical insight and supernatural events which the scientific community must reject as possible explanations. They will never determine the truth because they will only accept natural history of a world that has a supernatural past.
How old would the world appear after being created fully formed only a moment ago? Since the world was created with a functional ecosystem, our inability to properly assign ages to the earth independently of Biblical insight is not unexpected. The scientific community has also failed to recognize the flood occurred as described in the Bible, therefore their age calculation of these layers must be highly erroneous as is the evolutionary theory which relies upon the fossils for evidence.
In the book of Genesis, God described the creation in phases that were defined by specific lengths of time, and according to this account, the earth was created mature in six of our days. Today our world requires the simultaneous coexistence of many kinds of organism and the Bible says god created many such kinds at the same point in time, including humans. If God created humans then we are not just another animal. We may indeed be the spiritual beings the Bible describes us to be, and the world was instead created specifically for us. We may indeed be here for a purpose much greater than anyone realizes.