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Reading the Bible About Origins
Part One
Bible Passages Not From Genesis About Origins
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was
made that has been made.” John 1: 1-3 The John identifies
Jesus, the Second person of the Trinity, as the Word. So the
whole Trinity was involved in creation, not just the Father.
God the Father
(Speaks the creation into
existence)
Son (The Word
accomplishing the
Father’s Will)
The things of Nature
created
Jesus Created and Redeemed Nature
“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all
creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and
on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers
or authorities; all things have been created through him and for
him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together…
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and
through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on
earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood,
shed on the cross.” 1 Colossians 1: 15-20
Jesus Made and Sustains the Universe
“… but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son,
whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also
he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s
glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all
things by his powerful word. After he had provided
purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the
Majesty in heaven.” Hebrews 1: 2-3
At the Start Things Were Made From Nothing
By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s
command, so that what is seen was not made out of what
was visible. Hebrews 11: 3
Second Testament (NT) Teachings About Origins
1. Christ plays an important role in creation and providence.
2. God created everything.
3. God created from nothing (Latin: creatia ex nihilo).
Energy, matter, space and time were not eternal but had a
beginning from nothing.
4. God sustains everything (Latin: creatia continuans). The
continuing existence of matter, energy and laws of nature
depends on His perpetual governing of things.
First Testament (OT) Passages About Origins
Teachings from Psalm 104:
1. God created all things good with order and purpose.
2. God provides for all his creatures including man.
3. The wisdom of God is reflected in the design and functioning of
His creatures.
4. God’s Spirit gives life to and takes life from His creatures.
5. God is deserving of worship and praise for what He has made
and for all He does daily.
6. We pray for evil and sin to be removed from mankind and
Concordist Interpretations of Genesis
Any concordist interpretation of Genesis views the sequence
of events recorded in Genesis as the actual, true sequence by
which God created the universe. Concordists may believe
that the sequence occurred very fast (in 24 hr days) or much
slower (over billions of years) but the order given in Genesis
is the order by which things were created.
Genesis 1 and 2: Two Different Sequences?
Genesis 1:
Genesis 2:
Heavens, earth, waters
Light
Sky
Dry Land
Dry land, rivers
Plants
Man
Sun, moon, stars
Plants
Sea creatures and birds
Land animals and birds
Land animals
Woman
Human beings
Is Genesis 1 global creation vs local creation?
Is Genesis 2 an extended description of day 6?
Are Genesis 1 and 2 nonsequential accounts?
Young Earth Interpretation
This interpretation suggests that all of creation was accomplished
in six, 24 hr days. Bishop James Usher of Ireland in the 1600s
calculated the start of our world as October 23, 4004 BC based on
Biblical geneologies (lists of ancestors given in the Bible).
Young Earth Interpretation
The method of fixing the date of creation by using geneologies is
unreliable since Biblical geneologies are often missing persons and at
times they include nations rather than persons. For example, when the
Hebrew author of Genesis wrote “Ham was the father of Canaan”, what he
meant was that Canaan was a descendent of Ham (not necessarily Ham’s
son – in this case Canaan was a nation).
What is the Meaning “Day” in Genesis?
Some Christians interpret the
word day (Hebrew, yom) to
mean long periods of time.“With
the Lord a day is like a thousand
years” 2 Peter 3:8 & Psalm 90:4
Adam lived 930 years despite
the Genesis 2:17 command, “in
the day that you eat of it you
shall die”. Justin Martyr (AD
155) and Irenaeus (AD 189) took
this to mean that Adam was
sentenced to die before 1,000
years and that the Genesis days
were therefore 1,000 years long.
Young earth creationists take
the earth to be from 4,000 –
10,000 years old.
St. Augustine : Instantaneous Creation
St. Augustine (AD 354-430) believed that God created
everything instantaneously. Along with others he noted that
light was made on day 1 while the sources of light were made
on day 4 so that the 24 hr period (governed by the rising and
setting sun) is not established until day 4. He felt this called
into question the meaning of morning, evening and day.
Geological Observations in the 1600s
During the 1600s,
observers like Niels
Stensen (Steno)
determined how
sedimentary rocks
formed as layer after
layer of river
sediments settled on
top of each other.
Geological Observations in the 1600s
Eventually through pressure and chemical reactions, mud
and sand sediments are pressed and cemented into solid
rock.

Mud
Softer Shale (erodes faster)
The Law of Superposition
In the 1600s the important geological law of Superposition
was established. In undisturbed geological layers, the lowest
layers are the oldest and were formed before the upper
layers.
Earth Crust Movements Displace Rocks
As giant rock plates on earth (called tectonic plates) collide
with each other, they create pressures on each other that
result in cracks (faults) to form, earthquakes and volcanoes.
Crust Movement Cracks and Shifts Rock Strata
Sedimentary Strata in Victoria
Other Geologic Observations in the 1600s: Fossils
During the 1600s there was much debate whether fossils
were the remains of real organisms that lived in the past.
Slowly scientists came to recognize the difference between
real fossils and crystals that looked like fossils.
Fossils Found on Mountain Tops
During the 1600s fossils were found on mountain tops.
These animal remains on the tops of mountains were
explained as organisms from Noah’s flood which were left
behind as the waters receded.
Fossils in Strata
In the 1600s-1700s,
fossils found in
sedimentary strata were
interpreted to be
organisms trapped by the
sediments of Noah’s
flood.
Predictions From “Flood Geology”
In the late 1600s-1700s, John Woodward made predictions
about the strata based on the presumed world-wide flood of
Noah. He predicted that the lowest strata would be the
densest and would have many more organisms in it. Higher
strata would be less dense with less and less fossils.
The Young Earth View Most Common Until 1840s
Until the 1840s, most Christians believed that the earth was
young based on literal or partly literal readings of Genesis 1.
Early geologists studying rocks assumed that they had been
formed by Noah’s flood. As Christian geologists in the
middle 1800s began studying sedimentary rocks in England,
they were faced with evidence of an older earth.
Angled strata
indicate miles-deep
sediments.
All from the flood?
Observations from Christian Geologists in the 1800s
1. Dense materials were found in all sedimentary layers.
Observations from Christian Geologists in the 1800s
2. The relative numbers of
fossils is the same in
lower strata compared to
upper strata. Could this
be made by a single
flood?
Observations from Christian Geologists in the 1800s
3. Some rock types like
conglomerates require
multiple wet and dry
periods. Some watereroded pebbles in
conglomerates are from
sedimentary rocks. This
requires the formation of
a sedimentary rock which
then breaks down into
pieces which then are
eroded into smooth
pebbles by water action
and then are compressed
together into a rock. This
kind of rock requires
more time than 6,00010,000 years to form.
Observations from Christian Geologists in the 1800s
4. Very thick layers of sedimentary rocks were found that
were miles deep (the layers were tipped on an angle). The
Appalachian mountains are made up from 40,000 ft (7.6 miles
or 12 km) deep sediments. Could a flood from rains of 40
days produce this much sediment?
Observations from Christian Geologists in the 1800s
5. Volcanic plains were found in France with many volcanic
layers and water erosion between the layers indicating much
more time than 6,000 – 10,000 years to form this region.
Observations from Christian Geologists in the 1800s
6. In a given stratum, geologists found fossils of just landbased life or, just marine-based life. No strata contained a
mix of land-based and marine organisms. One would expect
to find a mix especially in the lower layers if they were formed
by a global flood.
Observations from Christian Geologists in the 1800s
7. Thin, even sedimentary layers were found over large
regions of countryside. A catastrophic flood would have
stirred up deposits. The thin layers were consistent with
sedimentation in a wide, calm sea and these conditions
would require millions of years to produce the thicknesses
observed.
Observations from Christian Geologists in the 1800s
8. Sandstone sedimentary layers were found which require long
periods of time to form. First, hot magma cools to form
quartz-rich rocks like granite, then the granite erodes over time to
make quartz sand (a long slow process since granite is a hard rock
that doesn’t erode easily), then the sand is transported by wind or
water to a place where it settles, and finally, the sand is compacted
and chemically cemented into sandstone.
Southwest USA Sandstone Formations: Wind
Erosion
Southwest USA Sandstone Formations: Wind
Erosion
Observations from Christian Geologists in the 1800s
9. Some river valleys are carved into granite or other types of rock
that are hard and difficult to erode. While flooding can explain the
erosion of a valley if the rock is soft (like sandstone or limestone),
granite and other hard rock types do not erode quickly unless they
previously contained many fractures. A single year-long flood
would have made only a small dent in unfractured hard rock; it
would not have carved an entire river valley.
Geologists Conclude Earth is Millions of Years Old
By the 1840s almost all practicing geologists (including
Christian geologists) believed the earth was millions of years
old.
Geologists Conclude the Genesis Flood was Local
Geologists also concluded that the Biblical flood of Noah’s time
must have been a local flood in the region of Mesopotamia rather
than a global flood over the entire earth since there were no
uniform flood strata in all places on earth. Considering the bodies
of water around the lands of the Bible writers, some ancient
tectonic or climatic catastrophe could have released local flooding
waters.
Does a Local Flood Seem More Plausible?
Present estimates for animal species range from 1-3 million
(conservative). While on the ark, they would require food. An
elephant eats 160 kg of food per day (96 metric tons over the
days the ark was afloat). If the flood was local, species like
elephants, polar bears, lions etc. would not have been on the
ark.
New Flood Theory From Creation Science Group
The Creation Science group in 1961 presented a new global
flood theory in which they argued that nearly all of earth
sedimentary strata are the result of the flood during Noah’s
time. In their theory, the Grand Canyon strata are virtually all
from Genesis flood sediments.
Grand Canyon Strata
The Creation Science group includes all Grand Canyon Strata
as Genesis Flood Strata except the Precambrian Strata.
Canyon Features Inconsistent With a Flood Theory
The Cambrian period should show fossils of terrestrial plants
and animals – lots of them if there was a global flood and
massive deaths of organisms. The Cambrian shows only
marine organisms, most extinct today and in no larger
numbers than strata higher up.
Canyon Strata Inconsistent With a Flood Theory
The rocks between the Tapeats sandstone and Unkar/Chuar
groups are weathered into soils. A flood would have washed
these away. These are explained by weathering and erosion
over long periods of time, not consistent with a year-long
flood.
More Canyon Strata Features Inconsistent With Global Flood
The Redwall limestone
layer has some deep
erosion channels filled
with mudstones,
sandstones and
limestones with
embedded redwall
pebbles. To have
formed this way, the
redwall layer must have
been lifted above water,
been eroded and then
some of its eroded
gravels deposited in the
erosion channels and
then resubmerged and
pressurized to beome
rock.
More Canyon Strata Features Inconsistent With Global Flood
The Coconino sandstone was formed from desert sands
(pure quartz not forming during floods). Vertebrate tracks
have been found in this sandstone layer.
More Canyon Region Strata Features
The Wingate sandstone layer also was formed from desert
sand dunes.
More Canyon Region Strata Features
The Navajo sandstone layer of pure quartz (no debris
contaminants as with a flood) is 2,000 ft thick (compressed
and cemented desert sands).
More Canyon Strata Features
The Supai, Moenkopi, Chinle and Morrison layers contains
fossils of mud cracks. Mud cracks form when mud shores
dry up, shrink and curl. This is evidence for many alternate
periods of submersion below water and then lifting above
water with subsequent drying and then resubmersion.
A Modern Explanation
for the Grand Canyon
Strata
The tectonic plates making up
the surface of the earth slowly
moved, bumping into each
other and sliding away from
each other.
A Modern Explanation for the Grand Canyon Strata
The tensions of bumping into each other and moving away from
each other caused the plates to deform, rising up and emerging in
some places from the oceans or submerging under the oceans in
other places.
A Modern Explanation of
Grand Canyon Strata
The Grand Canyon strata built
up over millions of years as this
part of the tectonic plate system
was underwater. The years
when it was above water, no
strata formed and erosion of the
then upper layers took place.
Many Strata in the
Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon has
been submerged for
many millions of years
and then has emerged
from the waters during
recent geologic times
and is still rising today.
End of Presentation
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