In our last few posts we have been looking at the effects of the Biblical Flood on our geography and topography worldwide via the evidence found in places like the Grand Canyon. (click here for part 1 and, or part 2) However, most people don’t associate the Flood with the debate over the age of the Earth, but it is probably the most important factor to consider. If the Flood was as catastrophic as the Bible describes, and if God was true to His Word, then everything changed after the Flood:

To point out some specifics (and you can read the whole story in Genesis chapters 6-9), God spoke these Words before and and then after the Flood (underline is my emphasis):

^“Now behold, I Myself am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which there is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish.” Genesis 6:17

“I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done. While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Summer and winter, And day and night Shall not cease.” Genesis 9:17b-22

Watch this week’s presentation:

Overview Notes from the Presentation

What does Noah’s Flood have to do with the age of the Earth?

If the foundations be destroyed what can the righteous do?  Psalm 11:3

What does the Bible tell us?

• The genealogies are in the Bible to give the lineage and evidence for Jesus as the Promised Messiah—adding them together results in thousands of years since Creation, not millions (even if you give some skips in the generational records)
• Yom = the Hebrew word for day, it is used 2301 times in the Bible – when used in conjunction with other numbers it always refers to a literal 24-hour day (the only time it is questioned by skeptics is in the Genesis 1 account) therefore, the six days of Creation cannot be long periods of time or eras
• The fossil record reveals death, disease, bloodshed, and suffering for both animals and humans, if any of this happened before the Fall then God’s Creation was not good as God said during the Creation week, and God’s Covenant Promise (Gen. 3:15) would be nullified—there would be no need for the sacrifice of an innocent animal to cover human sin in the Old Testament that foreshadows Jesus’ perfect life and sacrifice to permanently cover our sins providing entrance into His eternal home (John 3, 14)
• (Jesus said…) As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.  Matthew 24:37-39
• Jesus speaks many times of Genesis as fact (Mark 2:27, 10:5-9 and John 5:46-47 for example)
• Paul and the other apostles speak of Genesis as fact (Romans 1:20; Colossians 1:16 and 2 Peter 3:5-8)

We are also warned many time in the Bible that deception and evil will grow, especially in the “last days:”

• (Peter said…) First of all you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires… 2 Peter 3:3
• (Paul said…) See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.  Colossians 2:7-9

How does secular science date the Earth, and are the methods reliable?

Bias in the dating methods – questions and answers secular evolutionists don’t want discussed

• Are the current dating methods based on Darwinian assumptions about things in the past that cannot be proven by observation (scientific method)? Yes
• Do current dating methods work off of evolution’s uniformitarian paradigm (the belief that processes observed today are basically the same as they have been since the beginning of time)? Yes
• Is there an assumption that the rates of decay in the dating methods are presupposed as constant giving an old Earth date, even though they could have been slower or faster in the past? Yes
• Do current dating methods assume millions and billions of years from a man-made geological column that only exists in museums and textbooks and not in the dating of the rock layers themselves? Yes
• Do scientists date the fossils based on the rock layer they are found in and the rock layers are dated based on the index fossil? Yes (this is circular reasoning)
• Do all of the current dating methods give significantly different results on similar samples? Yes

Using the various dating tests you can get hundreds of thousands to millions of years in age for the same rock samples including samples that are known to be less than 100 years old—when this happens scientists will select the closest date that matches their paradigm from the man-made geological column.

What are the dating methods and why are they unreliable?

• The “Radiometric Dating Method” has about fifty different combinations of elements that can be employed to date igneous rock
• In most of the methods radioactive material is considered to be the parent element and, as it decays, it produces what is referred to as the daughter element (for example, the parent element potassium-40 decays into the daughter material argon-40)
• We can scientifically measure the amounts of both the parent and daughter elements in a particular rock and then infer the amount of decay

But, this is where the science stops and philosophical assumptions begin:

Measuring the amount of decay is not a measurement of time because of the following:

• The unobserved assumption is made that the melting process which occurred when the rock formed started the radiometric clock
• It is assumed that none of the daughter material was in the rock when it formed
• If the daughter element was in the rock from the start the dating will automatically give millions or billions of year older than what the rock really is
• Amounts of both the parent and the daughter materials can be added to, or lost from, a rock due to contamination that can easily be caused by: heat, pressure, moisture, earthquakes and more
• It is assumed that all decay rates observed today for the various parent elements have always been the same (uniformitarianism)
• To blindly assume that a rock has existed for millions and billions of years and has never been contaminated is anything but scientific

For example…

• Helium dating methods will render younger readings, thereby nullifying other radioisotopic dates, yet secularist will claim “contamination” for this method and therefore won’t use it (even though the other methods can be equally contaminated)
• Carbon dating is the best known of the isotope dating methods: The amount of Carbon-14 is measured in organic remains such as plants or animals, the less C-14 that is in the remains the older the remains will be
• C-14 can only provide dating to thousands of years, not millions, since it decays away, yet C-14 has been discovered in diamonds (the supposed oldest element known), oil, natural gas, coal, and other organic samples (which secularist tell us are millions or billions of years old)
• The Cambrian layer, the lowest strata layer containing appreciable amounts of fossils, which secular geologists claim is about 570 million years old, still contain measurable amounts of C-14 – this means that the Cambrian layer is thousands of years old, not millions
• Even more astounding is that scientific tests have found that all of the strata layers contain basically the same amounts of C-14 all the way from top to bottom, and since C-14 decays away over time, this discovery indicates all these layers formed during the same event!

Going Deeper

What is Radioisotope dating? And can we trust it? by Dr. Andrew Snelling

1. What stands out as most problematic with the secular dating methods? Why won’t they use helium?
2. PTRs: Prayer focus – Pray for scientist to be open to all forms of research when it comes to the dating of the rocks and fossils, and to consider a global catastrophe when interpreting the evidence.

Bible Study

Each week we will do a Bible study in the book of Genesis to practice our Bible study skills. This week read or re-read Genesis Chapter 8, then, to the best of your ability, answer the following questions:

Always remember to pray before reading and studying Scripture.

1. “God remembered Noah…” (Note: As the author tells the second half of the story keep in mind that Hebrew language uses terminology that is picturesque, and it is purposeful when God is given human characteristics for the reader to understand. It was at this point God stopped the flood—He had not forgotten Noah). What does the Scripture say about how and when God stopped the flood (8:1-5)?
2. How long did it take for the floodwaters to recede in order to see the tops of the mountains, and how much time did it take before the earth was dry enough for Noah to leave the Ark (8:3-14)?
3. Discuss: How do you think the flood’s “receding of the waters” would have affected the Earth and its topography especially in places like the Grand Canyon?
4. Research: How long was it between the start of the flood (go back to chapter 7) and when Noah left the Ark? Write out your timeline/calculations.
5. What did God tell Noah when they exited the Ark (8:15-19, and also in 9:7)? Why is this important to know?
6. What did Noah do after leaving the Ark, how did God respond and what specifically did God say about “man’s heart” (8:20-22)?  Discuss:  Do you think humans are born basically good or basically evil? Can you defend your answer Biblically?
7. Application: Why is it important to know God’s character and that He is true and faithful in His Word and Promises? How should that affect our relationship with Him and with others?

Join us next week as we continue our “Case for Creation and A Study in Genesis – Session 5: The Flood, Part 4 – The Geological Evidence”

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You will not find this material in the public school curriculum even though it is based on solid evidence and grounded in research. It is ironic that following the evidence to where it leads stops at the door of our public schools as they will not let a “Divine footprint” in!  Join us as we examine evidence for Christianity and learn how to become a thoughtful defender and ambassador of your faith.

Click into the resource page of this website to view many of the top Christian thinkers and apologists along with some of their work; connecting to these types of resources is essential in your Christian growth.

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Teri Dugan

TeriDugan@truthfaithandreason.com

1 Peter 3:15