A Defense of Creationism http://www.creationism.org/genesis.htm - Ver.2.2 "A Defense of Creationism" Go to: Introduction (Version 2.2) Copyright 1998-99, Paul Abramson, Most Rights Reserved ORIGINS - THE GENESIS (Section 1 of 27) You and I arrived on planet Earth only recently. Cities and languages already existed. Art and table manners were taught to us by others; and so was history. Each person’s life touches others; as we each learn, then in turn teach (selections of) what we saw ourselves and heard from others, then die. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Slowly, inevitably things get dusty and forgotten or rewritten or lost. Our understanding of human and Earth origins builds the learned history used as the foundation for our future; it is a base of experiences, of wisdom. There is an old Russian proverb, "If you dwell on the past you will lose an eye. But if you forget the past you will lose both eyes." I do not know if Creation & the Flood as recorded in the Bible are true. But I do know that there is some very good evidence to support this scientific theory. Most other sites which deal with our ancient origins claim to "have the final word". Well, www.creationism.org will link to several of these on both sides of this Grand Canyon of controversy, but knowing the limits of my own IQ … I’ll try to share more of the evidence and debated theoretical problems than set-in-stone conclusions. You're smart; you can look at this set of arguments and then decide which direction to pursue for your own research. This (approximately 30 page long) report can be comfortably read in an evening. There are actually several creation-related theories out there, most of which compromise between strict "evolutionism" (no God, period) and strict "creationism" (no evolution, period - there were 6 days of Creation, less than 10,000 years ago). As for myself I used to believe in "theistic evolution" (one of the compromise creation-evolution theories), but more and more the evidence appears to point me to a young Earth and no evolution. There are 2 or 3 types of evolution. The first would be "guided" from above. Certainly this is possible, and we have many examples in the world (cars have "evolved" tremendously during the 20th Century, with the guiding hand of engineers and designers). Many believers ascribe to such theories, but they still compromise the literal Genesis record. Secondly, there is what is termed: "micro-evolution", which I prefer to call: "genetic remnant variation". This refers to changes made within a biological "kind", i.e. mutations and other changes related to natural selection and environmental adaptations. Let's say that two calves are born and the one with longer fur survives the harsh winter allowing it to breed the next Spring, thus perpetuating longer fur in the herd. Sure, this is scientific. Within the DNA coding God has placed varying factors; thank the Maker for his forethought in allowing for automatic adaptability! But the third type (related to the first, but with no God "guiding" the outcome), as best as I understand, is unbiblical and also unscientific. There are no fossils which prove any transitional life forms have ever come about through "natural selection" or otherwise. The third type of evolution is what is believed and preached to our children in the public schools today, but to the best of my understanding there is no scientific evidence to support its tenets. Regardless of my individual beliefs however I hope that you can glean from the evidence and ideas which are related in this report. Look at the evidence for yourself. I think you’ll be amazed at just how many holes there are in the evolutionary theory as commonly believed today. And then there are the politics involved in the discovery and classification of artifacts. If an archaeologist successfully bolsters a claim that a few one-of-a-kind bone fragments somehow fit right into ancient human lineage, rather than just another unsuccessful "spur" out there, then long term research grants are a lot more forthcoming. Debate, counter-claims, political wrangling; "Survival of the fittest" at its finest. One thing that most average people don’t know is how wildly the radio-active dates can fluctuate within different samples of the exact same specimen. It's not scientific to ignore the values which don't match current beliefs and to keep testing till they find a date they like. This topic will be discussed further in the section below titled: "Professionals, Competition & the Scientific Method". Another fact that the highly vaunted geologic column (as drawn by artists) is often stacked wrong, there are gaps, often layers lie in "the wrong order" or even upside down. And sometimes a geologist, archaeologist, or mining operation will be digging along and come across a few large logs upright and transversing what an evolutionist would have called "millions of years" but what a creationist would look at and see evidence of the Great Flood from the time of Noah - an Earth covered with a myriad of sedimentary rocks, often hundreds of feet deep and formed under great (though temporary, lasting under a year) pressure. In the forests near your home do you see dead trees that have stayed upright and undisturbed for the past few millions of years? Of course not! In some places ants won't leave picnickers alone for even one hour before moving in on the target. Insects and microbes are constantly on the look out for decay and unprotected food to take advantage of. Upright tree trunks are mute testimony to rapid, deep sedimentary deposition. Evolutionary theory, as currently believed, requires structural modification or to be completely replaced with an entirely different theory of our ancient origins. The Flood theory can readily handle strata which, by exception, stacks in "evolutionary" order. The creationist can also discuss layers which have stacked "upside-down" - since they’re not such - if the Flood is a historical event. Evolutionists though, must conjure up a myriad of exceptions when dealing with the real fossil evidence we see in the world today. (These exceptions often require more faith than does the Bible’s historical account of what happened!) Is it necessarily scientific (but not religious) to exclude God in geologic strata interpretation? Is it necessarily religious (but not scientific) to include God in geologic strata interpretation? If our (supposed?) Creator could, within one of many possible dimensions, also operate as a Scientific Mathematician then the two are not at all at odds. And in that case such a belief system with no god(s) on top would merely be another false religion out there; a religion (a system of beliefs) which detracts from or denies the invisible yet obvious hand of the true Maker. Evolution, as a belief system about origins should be considered on its scientific merits, not as an article of blind faith - that it "must" have happened. There is significant evidence that the Earth’s climate used to be much more uniform and comfortably warmer than today. This is in keeping with the Bible’s record in Genesis. It is not in keeping with modern evolutionary beliefs. Fossils and some still frozen remains (the mammoths, for example) in the Arctic and (palm leaf imprints) in the Antarctic may be better explained if there was a firmament (thick cloud canopy) above the Earth prior to the Flood, as recorded in the Bible. COAL & OIL (Section 2 of 27) The existence of fossil fuels defies evolutionary theory, a primary evidence that there was a Great Flood Have you ever sat around a campfire in the woods? In the Western US many forests are at least one or two thousand years old, some are much older. Individual trees die and begin to decay but the forest lives on. After putting out the campfire did you have to worry about the soil below catching on fire? If not, then where did all of the world’s coal and oil come from? Decaying vegetation adds minerals to topsoil. When you dig down a couple feet (about half a meter) you’ll see part way down a marked change. The topsoil, that nearest the surface, the live soil actively transforms death into renewed life supporting material. Ask any diehard evolutionist who adamantly insists that there was not a global flood: "Where did coal and oil come from?, by what process were they created?" They have no logical answer. Yet oil and coal power our modern world. Buried at all sedimentary depths - they exist indeed. When a drilling rig first strikes oil it often gushes up, still under intense pressure from deep below. Entire forests and jungles of life were crushed directly from life into preserved complex carbon energy. We refine it a little to extract fuel, fertilizer, and plastics, then move on to the next deposit without giving it much thought. Discrete pockets of preserved former life, separated by wide layers of muck and rock. Then nothing grew there for millions of years?, then "bam" a burst of stored life, then nothing for millions more years, then another concentrated coal or oil pocket. A million years is a long time. Where you live can you imagine that nothing grew there for one million or more years? Please consider the fossil record itself (as it really, actually exists) when pondering our ancient origins. Modern evolutionary theory simply cannot explain why all this coal and oil is down there, sometimes at 10,000 feet or more. Folks, that depth is 2 miles (about 3km) straight down. 2 miles thick of various layers of sediment on top of a concentrated layer of crushed, preserved plant-derived carbon, and often with occasional volcanic layers interspersed in between. Peat forms in swamps containing low oxygen or almost antiseptic conditions. The partially decomposed material builds up below and hosts the penetrating roots of successive plant life above. In the theory of evolution as believed today, peat buildup and then slow burial afterwards allows for the subsequent time and pressure to slowly make coal. Peat is partially decomposed and shows damage from massive root penetration. But coal, when scientifically incinerated to determine its BTU rating or when looked at under a microscope - isn’t and doesn’t, i.e. peat and coal are not 2 different stages of the same process. Again ... please consider the real fossil record (not artist's conceptions) when pondering our ancient history. SWIFT SEDIMENTARY DEPOSITION (Section 3 of 27) The challenge of interpreting the jumbled layers of sedimentary and volcanic rock If it happened, the Great Flood (as still remembered in over 250 legends all over the world!) of approximately 4,400 years ago, must have been devastating! Tidal waves roared across the continents. Earth’s thin planetary crust hemorrhaged below; volcanoes spewed magma and ash (as seen today interspersed between various layers of debris and pressurized muck); remaining sentient life scurried to higher ground; rain for 40 days straight; (followed by 110 more days of rising waters) tidal waves rushed in depositing layers of sea shells even deep inland. Our entire planetary eco-system was left forever altered. While the evolutionist postulates that each subsequent layer down indicates a different age or episode recorded in that region and then believes millions of years of this or that, the creationist postulates that these same sedimentary layers altogether record a singular recent violent catastrophic flood. According to the Bible the Flood lasted about one year. The creationist believes that, by whatever mechanism, God judged and destroyed the old world. All these sedimentary layers are indicative of how easily continent covering strata gets sorted and redistributed when suspended in moving water. It's like panning for gold; add some water and sand, shake for a few seconds and each material soon sorts itself out. Violent waves, turbulence, and a powerful wind ... stirring, mixing, and resorting the muck and rocks and organic matter. Take your shoes off and walk in a stream. You see a sand bar; in another area the bottom has all pebbles; and look at all of the sticks collected and jammed together at a particular narrow or shallow place. The layers of sediment we see on the continents often stretch laterally for a hundred or a thousand square miles or more in every direction. Think about this; rivers today don’t lay down each layer of sediment across a wide valley. No lakes show even distribution on the bottom, the larger the lake the stronger its internal currents. Evenly laid down geological layers spanning a hundred or more lateral square miles each? Who has more to be afraid of by closely examining the fossil record - the creationist or is it the evolutionist? The question before you is this: does the fossil record we see today show millions of years this, billions of years that, with almost everything getting buried slowly - or does the fossil record show us evidence of a barely remembered ancient tale of massive global destruction? The old world was destroyed due to sin, according to Genesis. After a horrible re-birth, life on Earth began anew. Did this happen about 4,400 years ago (as per Biblical chronology)?; or are we advanced primates with a long illiterate history of swinging from trees, scratching and picking lice off of each other, and then for whatever reason(?) inexplicably growing and developing into civilization, beginning slightly over 4,000 years ago? Hmmm, that timing works out pretty closely, doesn’t it? A Flood about 4,400 years ago; then new civilizations arising around 4,000 years ago. WHO DREW THE ANCIENT MAPS? (Section 4 of 27) A few ancients did think the world was flat, but far more civilizations knew it to be round Then there are those ancient maps…. Who drew the original version of the Piri Reis Map? (a famous map - with sources pre-dating the time of Christopher Columbus, which displays Antarctica!…) - it even shows mountains and rivers on the Antarctic continent. Scholars today concede that the ancient Greeks "believed" that there was a "legendary" continent far to the south (which Admiral Cook mistakenly identified Australia to be, in 1770). But the evidence shows that they knew far more. The Piri Reis Map, and other ancient maps will be discussed separate from this article. Suffice it to say that naval navigation in extreme latitudes is treacherous even today. Modern man only recently began exploring the Antarctic Continent (after its official initial discovery in 1818). How the heck could any ancient civilization have reached, mapped, and returned from there? Maybe some believe that UFOs helped. But if humans didn’t evolve on Earth then probably no ETs out there have either. Since Creation man has been intelligent but often unwise. We have forgotten most ancient history except for fragments from Sumeria, Babylon, China, Egypt, Israel, and Central America. Sin begets death. So much has been lost. The pages of our ancient history have become faded. According to the theory of evolution, as commonly believed today, our ancestors slowly became smarter, invented the wheel, learned to control fire, and only recently got pretty good at making clipper ships and jumbo jets. The creationist though could point to an ancient world from before the Flood, with about 1600 years of history and possible exploration. Whereas we today are barely 550 years beyond the invention of Guttenberg’s first printing press and only in the last 170 years (using steam locomotives) have we achieved land transportation speeds exceeding that of riding donkeys or horses. The ancients, according to the Bible, had some 1600 years of history and much longer human life spans. Where did they go? What did they learn during that time? The fossil record shows us many old barefoot tracks, but that does not reliably indicate that they were devoid of technology. In our modern age much of mankind remains relatively poor and uneducated, yet we have reached the Moon and returned. Many today are still barefoot, yet a few of us are web addicts too. Please consider this. Since Roman times of 400 AD till now human population and technology have grown tremendously; that’s a span of about 1600 years. Please temporarily add a bookmark to this web page, so you can come back; thanks. Then - go out to http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/figures/21.html and look at this photo of pre-flood shoeprints, the left heel crushing a trilobite. Miraculously, a few creationists got word of this find, near Delta, Utah. Oh, according to evolutionists trilobites became extinct some 200+ million years ago, long before man invented comfortable footwear with heels. They don’t know that as a fact, but in order for their religion's charts and artist drawings to come out right they need such timetables. Consequently, it sure seems pretty rude of this pre-Flood dude (wearing size 10 shoes) to have stepped on that poor defenseless trilobite … less than 5,000 years ago. LOGIC & THE EVOLUTION OF IDEAS (Section 5 of 27) Evolution is a valid developmental process. Products improve because they get developed further. Old cars used to have hand cranks to start their engines. Now we just sit down and turn a key for a few seconds. The cars did not improve themselves of course, but we can see that they have evolved. Ideas evolve. The contents of this web page are evolving. Entire societies evolve too. The first version of a new movie script is subjected to massive rewriting. The ideas and scenes get improved; they develop (or evolve) because intelligence and effort acts upon the words to improve them. But even then there sure are a lot more mediocre movies which come out each year than the few which become hits. In any event, the paragraphs do not improve if randomly retyped. No, a quality script is the mark of quality time and effort invested in its creation. There is no other logical explanation. If the evolution of life forms happened on planet Earth we should see plenty of evidence of transitional improvements. But instead, another evidence which confounds the theory of evolution is the virtually complete lack of fossil ancestors; that’s to say that in reality there is a tremendous lack of transitional forms, as shown by the fossil record. Dogs today come in all different shapes, sizes and temperaments. There are purebred huskies, poodles, pit bulls, and labradors, to name a few. And there are many friendly mutts out there too. Horses today are also bred and live in many climates, all different sizes; some are fast on a racetrack, others are strong when pulling a plow, and a few are smaller than some dog breeds. None of the extant widely varying dog and horse breeds are transitional (evolutionary) forms of one leading to another, not to say that there hasn’t been modern inter-breeding of course. This is obvious though, right? But… Imagine a… truncated (100,500 more characters in archive)