Creation Science Rebuttals

Institute for Creation Research News Report

Dinosaur Skin Looks Young?

First Published 15 Jun 09

The daily news article from the Institute for Creation Research for 30 July brings up some interesting conflicts with previous claims from young earth creationists. The article "Mummified Dinosaur Skin Looks Young" tells about dinosaur skin that looks fresh, and must in fact be 'young,' and not millions of years old.¹

The dinosaur involved is called Dakota, a well-preserved hadrosaur that dates to about 66 million years. As the author, Brian Thomas, notes, it contained soft-tissue replacement structures, and even organic compounds. Thomas makes the claim that "The very presence of such materials counters the "millions of years" assigned to them." At first glance, this might seem true, except that the discovery and study of such replacement structures is new to science, and we have only just begun to examine how such structures could be preserved. The authors give a plausible explanation, which is mentioned by Thomas, but not rebutted.

Considering that the dating techniques used to date such finds are valid (although not accepted by YECs), we can only surmise that organic material may indeed survive for millions of years, when given the right environment.

What is interesting, however, is that Thomas is implying that he can tell that the dinosaur is young because of its looks. This is exactly the claim that is made against old earth creationists, who view geological formations as "looking old." For example, the islands Surtsey and Tuluman have been claimed by Answers in Genesis to look old, when in fact they are very young.² Therefore they are arguing against dating something based on looks.

Yet when dating something based on looks is advantageous for the young earth position (such as this dino skin), it is perfectly acceptable to do so. This just goes to show that its OK for a young earth creationist to be hypocritical, so long as it supports the YEC viewpoint.

Notes:

¹ http://www.icr.org/article/4811/

² Islands that Deceive

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.

More Institute for Creation Research Rebuttals

Visit Old Earth Ministries on Facebook.

Did you know that you can be a Christian, and believe that the earth is billions of years old? You can even believe in evolution and be a Christian. There is no conflict between science and the Bible...all one needs is a proper understanding how to merge science and the Bible. 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?

Feel free to check out more of this website. Our goal is to provide rebuttals to the bad science behind young earth creationism, and honor God by properly presenting His creation.