Creation Science Rebuttals
Institute for Creation Research
Back to Genesis: The Prestige of Historical Geology
1 April 2007
Review by Greg Neyman
© Old Earth Ministries
In one of the latest Back to Genesis articles on the Institute for Creation Research website, William Hoesch discusses historical geology, and how it came to be that the earth is considered to be billions of years old.1
He explains that he learned in college of the old earth, and then ten years later he came to commit his life to Christ. While it is unusual for a geology student to commit to a young earth after college, it is not unheard of. In almost every case like this, the person was trained as a youth by parents who were young earth, thus they always had this underlying young earth training that clouds their objectivity. Young earth creationist organizations frequently use testimonies of how educated people came to believe in a young earth through examining the evidence. But in these cases, there is a previously existing leaning towards a young earth.
Hoesch goes on to explain in his view how billions of years became the accepted norm in Geology. He claims it was because early geologists goal was “to achieve, for the study of earth history, the kind of prestige enjoyed by the mathematical sciences like mechanics, optics, and astronomy.” In order for them to accomplish this, they had to remove the possibility of supernatural intervention (God). .To do this, they simply took the observations of today’s geologic processes, and extrapolated them back through time, assuming that they always operated in the past as they do today.
In making such an argument, Hoesch is turning away from fact and toward emotions. Yes, they looked at geologic processes, and extrapolated back through time. That is an accepted scientific process. Many of these early geologists were also Christians, who did not have a motive to remove God. However, Hoesch makes it sound like they banned God from geology.
Since a young earth does not agree with any of the scientific data, Hoesch must make such an emotional claim. In reality, the scientific data which proves an old earth is not anti-God. Scientific data is void of any religious message. Data is data, plain and simple. Young earth creationists will never be happy with the data because it does not support their belief in a young earth.
The geologic data showing an old earth is not anti-biblical.
You can believe in both the Bible and in an old earth, as
millions of Christians do today.
Progressive creationists believe in much the same way as
young earth creationists, in that God did not use evolution to
create. Theistic
evolutionists believe that God used evolution to create.
Either position is sound scripturally.
In fact, C.S. Lewis, the
great theologian and author of the Narnia series, was a theistic
evolutionist. Perhaps
the most fitting statement on creation is the one by
Billy
1 The Prestige of Historical Geology, published at http://www.icr.org/article/3230/
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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To learn more
about old earth creationism, see
Old Earth Belief,
or check out the article
Can You Be A
Christian and Believe in an Old Earth?
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