Creation Science Rebuttals
Creation Magazine
Islands that Deceive
Surtsey Island, Volume 5, Issue 2, October 1982
Tuluman Island, Volume 21, Issue 2, March 1999
Review by Greg Neyman
© Old Earth Ministries
First Published 23 Jan 2003
Two articles of interest on the young earth creation science website Answers in Genesis are very interesting deceptions. They concern two islands that were recently formed by volcanic activity. The articles are:
Tuluman — A test of time, author unknown
The Lesson of Surtsey, by Edgar Andrews
The article on Tuluman Island tells of an island that "looks" old, yet it was formed in 1960-1961 from a volcanic eruption. The article claims that the layering of the cliff faces would make most people assume a millions of years old date for the island.
While that is interesting, this is merely an attempt to sling mud at the average "geologist." Do young earth creationists suppose that geologic dates are arrived at by the "looks" of a rock? Yet that is what they imply in this article, thus making the reader see the geologist as a person that operates by guesswork, and not by established scientific experimentation. Just because you can point to an 8-year-old island and say it looks old proves nothing! Even the use of the word "Test" in the title is deceptive. Nowhere in the article are any "tests" referred to. Exactly how is this a "test" of time?
The article on Surtsey Island is very similar in its suggestions, using the same layering of the cliff-faces argument. Again, it is implied that geologists give ages to the rocks they investigate by making an arbitrary "guess" based on looks.
It is no secret that young earth creation science theorists have such a dislike of geologists. With such a misunderstanding of geological principles, they have cast off any hope of ever winning these people to Christ. Geologists are people to be won for Christ, not people to be trampled down and insulted.
The central theme of this and similar deceptions is...if you can't provide evidence to defeat the old earth theory, then sling some mud on the old earthers so they will look unbelievable. Unfortunately, the Answers in Genesis website (and others) is full of this type of article. The end effect is this...to the uneducated believer willing to accept these weak arguments at face value, they appear to see a wide, deep ocean. However, to the person who is willing to investigate further and see if these things are true, this person discovers that the ocean is only an inch deep.
It is interesting to note that the Bible tells us to love our enemies," not "make your enemies look bad and insult them." Why young earth creation science theorists cannot live in peace with old earth creationists is beyond my comprehension.
If you are not a Christian, and you have been holding out on making a decision for Christ because the Church always preached a message that was contrary to what you saw in the scientific world, then rest assured that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, and you can believe in Christ and receive salvation, while still believing in an old earth. Click here for more.
Are you a Christian who believes in young earth creationism? Now that we have shown the many difficulties of the young earth creation science model in this and many other articles, how does this impact your Christian life? If you are a young earth creationism believer, click here.
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