"Your brother is a Christian, but he has come to believe in progressive creationism, in part because of the fossil record. Prepare a discussion sheet you can share with him that lists the facts regarding the geological formation of fossils, the faulty interpretations of the fossil record, and the missing transitional forms that call into question not only evolution, but the idea that a loving, omnipotent God would choose an eons-long cycle of death to form His world."
This was the assignment for an exam I had this week in my ICR Creationist Worldview course, and I thought I would share the essay I put together with y'all.
How Fossils Are Formed
Very few fossils are forming today. The ones
we do see forming now are in due to rapid burial by water. An example: what
happens to a fish when it dies? It either floats to the surface or sinks to the
bottom where it decays and is eaten by scavengers. Yet many fish fossils are so
exquisitely preserved that even the scales and organs are preserved. Obviously
there was no time for decay and bacterial action. We can certainly say that
something extraordinary happened to form the fossils. Fossils are usually found in rock formed from sedimentary layers deposited by water. Fossils require rapid burial in unusual circumstances.
Processes of fossilization include:
- Mineralization
- Carbonization
- Impressions
- Ephemeral markings
- Hard parts
- Soft parts
- Frozen parts
Where Fossils Are Found
- The majority of fossils are marine invertebrates.
- Lots of sedimentary rocks contain no recognizable fossils.
- The sedimentary rocks in which fossils are found give evidence of rapid catastrophic deposition.
- Marine fossils are found in rock layers that cover vast areas, almost always on continents.
- The fossils require extraordinary circumstances of a rapid and catastrophic nature, such as those in the Flood.
Fossil Facts that Disprove
Evolution
·
The
fossil record shows no transitional forms. Many fossilized creatures appear
strikingly alike to modern life forms with few if any physical changes.
·
Phenomenon
such as ‘Lazarus bacteria’. Lazarus bacteria is revived from salt inclusions supposedly 250 million
years old. This suggests the salt is not millions of years old.
·
Molecules such as proteins, pigments, and DNA—as well as intact cells and,
in some cases, cells still grouped together in tissues—have been found in
fossils that are supposedly millions of years old. Whole organisms are sealed
in amber deposits, and over a thousand still-living kinds of microbes have been
extracted from them. Obviously if the fossil was millions of years old, it
wouldn’t have such molecules still present. This is excellent evidence for a
young earth.
·
A newly discovered ten-foot-long mosasaur fossil in South Dakota not only
had soft tissues of its own, but also remnants of what it last ate. Other
fossilized animals have been found in the process of eating, some with their
prey not even completely swallowed. This demonstrates rapid burial, signifying
a catastrophic event such as the biblical Flood.
- Polystrate fossils—tree trunks in coal (Araucaria spp. king billy pines, celery top pines, in southern hemisphere coal) indicate a rapid burial. There are also polystrate tree trunks in the Yellowstone fossilized forests, Joggins, Nova Scotia and in many other places.
·
Evolutionary history holds that collagen-containing cartilage is supposedly
80 million years old and yet laboratory experiments demonstrate that collagen
locked in bone should not be older than 30,000.
·
Experiments
show that with conditions mimicking natural forces, coal forms quickly; in
weeks for brown coal to months for black coal. It does not need millions of
years. Furthermore, long time periods could be an impediment to coal formation
because of the increased likelihood of the permineralization of the wood, which
would hinder coalification.
·
Many people today, including scientists, have the idea
that oil and natural gas must take a long time to form, even millions of years.
Such is the strong mental bias that has been generated by the prevailing
evolutionary mindset of the scientific community. However, laboratory research
has shown that petroleum hydrocarbons (oil and gas) can be made from natural
materials in short time-spans. Long time spans are once again no longer
required!
·
Clastic dykes and pipes (intrusion of sediment through
overlying sedimentary rock) show that the overlying rock strata were still soft
when they formed. This drastically compresses the time scale for the deposition
of the penetrated rock strata.
·
Many
fossil bones ‘dated’ at many millions of years old are hardly mineralized, if
at all. This contradicts the widely believed old age of the earth.
·
Many
creatures exist that are known as ‘living fossils’ - jellyfish, graptolites,
coelacanth, stromatolites, Wollemi pine and hundreds more. The fact that tis
phenomenal amount of different species could remain so unchanged, for even up
to ‘billions’ of years in the case of stromatolites, speaks against the
millions and billions of years being real. Once again – where are the
transitional forms that are declared to be present?
·
Discontinuous
fossil sequences. E.g. Coelacanth, Wollemi pine and various ‘index’ fossils,
which are present in supposedly ancient strata, are missing in strata
representing many millions of years since - but still living today. Such
discontinuities speak against the interpretation of the rock formations as vast
geological ages—how could Coelacanths have avoided being fossilized for 65
million years, for example?
·
In 2009, UK paleontologists found ink sacs intact within squid fossils.
What makes this an interesting hint to a young age of the earth is the presence
of eumelanin, in the ink. Eumelanin—a biochemical with a complicated
structure—is an abundant pigment that serves many purposes in animals and other
organisms, including darkening a mammal's skin and hair. It is also notoriously
difficult to work with in the lab since it refuses to dissolve in common
solvents. However, because all systems tend to become disordered over time, no
knowledgeable chemist or physicist would expect eumelanin's complicated
structure to have persisted for 160 million years—the age assignment given to
the rock formations containing the fossil ink sacs. The eumelanin found in the
ink sacs was chemically intact. This should not be so, if the fossil were as
old as it’s claimed to be.
·
Scientists recently found blood remnants in a mosquito fossil trapped in a
supposed 46-million-year-old rock. Publishing in the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the researchers reported that they
detected iron three times inside the fossil mosquito's abdomen, which strongly
suggests the presence of still-fresh hemoglobin. No scientific evidence
supports the assertion that heme groups can last, even under circumstances that
would maximize their preservation, for one million, let alone tens of millions
of years. In fact, all longevity studies of biomolecules like hemoglobin, DNA,
and collagen show decay rates in ranges that demonstrate total sample
disintegration in a matter of months to a maximum of several hundred thousand
years—assuming reasonable Earth surface temperatures.
·
Fossilized human and dinosaur footprints have been found alongside
eachother in several locations across the globe, throwing into question the
notion that man evolved millions years after the dinosaurs.
·
Fossils are found on all levels of rock strata. The earth is covered with
layers of sedimentary rock, much of it containing microscopic fossils such as
plankton, pollen, and spores. Marine invertebrates are some of the most
commonly found in the fossil record; yet the majority of these fossils are not
found in the deep ocean basins, as would be expected, but on the continents. There
is no great variation between the rock layers of fossil complexity. Fossils on
the bottom levels are no less complex than those on the top layers. This
disproves the claim of macro evolution.
These
are only a few examples. You can find more on sites like ICR.org, creation.com
and the Answers in Genesis website.
In
conclusion – geology clearly demonstrates signs of a young earth, and a global
flood. Between the two theories – Biblical creationism, and naturalistic
evolutionism, I believe the fossils align best with the former.
Occam's Razor is the principle that says, when several theories are present to solve a common problem, to always go with the simplest. Which is simpler - and more reasonable? An all-powerful Godhead calls to creation every structure in the universe, in merely six, literal 24-hour days. Or, all the matter in the universe created itself out of virtually nothing, and life stemmed from non-life?
God’s
Word states that the He, the Maker is not a God of chaos. (1 Cor. 14:33) Some Christians argue that
since He is so powerful He could do whatever he pleased, even if that included
using evolution and naturalistic processes that are pushed by humanists and
evolutionists.
I, however, disagree adamantly with this line of thought.
Yes, God is all-powerful, but He cannot create imperfection. He is the
author of every good and perfect thing and it’s impossible for Him to mess up!
Why, when He is capable of creating beauty, order and peace, would He opt to go with something so preposterous as the evolutionary framework?
From what I have read and studied in His very Word, such an action would not align with His character. He is a God of love, peace and brilliant order! Why would He purposely allow His creation to warp and suffer through millions of years of pain and death - exactly what evolution requires?
Search
the Scriptures – and the fossil record – and surely you will be forced to
agree.
YHWH, Jesus Christ, the Almighty Creator and Savior, is not an evolutionistic being.
Nor could He possibly initiate such a process.
Geology information taken from
the Institute for Creation Research and Creation Ministries International.
