A Bible talk considering the evidence for seeing Evolution as a 'belief system' rather than a discipline haveing a science basis and therefore examining the validity of the Biblical account. A companion Audio for this talk and other talks and seminars available at: http://openbiblelearningcentre.com/audio-mp3-resources

1. Big questions – Creation or
Evolution?
January 15th 2017

2. Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven
and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and
void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the
waters

3. Gen 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had
made, and, behold, it was very good. And the
evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Ex 20: 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and
earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the
seventh day

18. .

19. .

24. On May 18, 1980, a tremendous landslide on the
northern side of Mount St. Helens in Washington
state uncapped a violent volcanic eruption,
completely altering the surrounding landscape. It is
the most studied volcano in history and has
reshaped thinking regarding catastrophic earth
processes. The Institute for Creation Research has
studied the volcano over the past three decades,
conducting research that has provided a suite of
informative lessons with broad-ranging implications.

25. For example, the rapid outflow from the volcano
caused massive amounts of sediment to fill in the
entire valley adjacent to the mountain. And a 1982
dam breach of the snow-melt lake that had formed in
the mountain's crater caused a catastrophic flood that
tore a gash through those fresh deposits from two
years earlier. To this day, the resulting steep-sided
canyon walls can be seen,2 showing that horizontal
sediment layers hundreds of feet thick were formed
within hours during the eruption. This sparks the
question: what other layered sedimentary rocks in
earth's crust were formed rapidly?

26. The mountain also provided a clear reason to
distrust the reliability of radiometric dating. A new
rock cap atop the mountain that formed after the
1980 eruption should have shown it to be on the
order of tens of years. But standard analysis gave the
totally incorrect date of 350,000 years.3 What other
rocks have been dated incorrectly by following those
standard dating protocols?

27. And in a strange but profound way, Mount St.
Helens offered a significant new interpretation of
coal deposits. Many logs were transported by the
blast to nearby Spirit Lake. As they jostled and
shifted in the water, the bark rubbed off and sank
to the bottom of the lake to form a sheet of
waterlogged bark. Elsewhere, extensive masses
of coalified deposits are also made of tree bark.4
Could the tree bark-rich coal beds have been
formed by a catastrophe even more massively
destructive than Mount St. Helens?

28. Experts at the time of the 1980 eruption predicted
that the area would take perhaps hundreds of years
to rebound. Yet after only 20 years, biologists noted
the speedy recovery of plants and animals on what
had been a vast moonscape.6 Today, the 30-year-old
blast zone is a lushly treed forest. Creation science
models based on the records of Genesis expected to
see this happen, since Genesis discloses that God
created creatures for the very purpose of “filling”
the earth,7 and since after the Flood the creatures
aboard the Ark were able to quickly adapt to the
new environments produced by the cataclysm.

29. Because of the Mount St. Helens eruption,
scientists know that sedimentary rock layers can
form in only hours, rather than requiring millions
of years. It also showed that radiometric dating is
not necessarily accurate and that God gave
animals and plants the ability to rapidly re-
colonize barren land. And the improved seismic
prediction techniques that Mount St. Helens
facilitated have also increased scientific
understanding of earth's geologic activities.

31. How is carbon-14 produced?
Cosmic rays enter the earth's atmosphere in large numbers
every day and when one collides with an atom in the
atmosphere, it can create a secondary cosmic ray in the form
of an energetic neutron. When these energetic neutrons
collide with a nitrogen-14 (seven protons, seven neutrons)
atom it turns into a carbon-14 atom (six protons, eight
neutrons) and a hydrogen atom (one proton, zero neutrons).
Since Nitrogen gas makes up about 78 percent of the Earth's
air, by volume, a considerable amount of Carbon-14 is
produced. The carbon-14 atoms combine with oxygen to
form carbon dioxide, which plants absorb naturally and
incorporate into plant fibers by photosynthesis. Animals and
people take in carbon-14 by eating the plants.

32. The ratio of normal carbon (carbon-12) to carbon-14
in the air and in all living things at any given time is
nearly constant. Maybe one in a trillion carbon
atoms are carbon-14. Both Carbon-12 and Carbon-13
are stable, but Carbon-14 decays by very weak beta
decay to nitrogen-14 with a half-life of approximately
5,730 years. After the organism dies it stops taking in
new carbon.

33. How do scientists use Carbon-14 to determine
the age of an artifact?
To measure the amount of radiocarbon left in a artifact,
scientists burn a small piece to convert it into carbon
dioxide gas. Radiation counters are used to detect the
electrons given off by decaying Carbon-14 as it turns into
nitrogen. In order to date the artifact, the amount of
Carbon-14 is compared to the amount of Carbon-12 (the
stable form of carbon) to determine how much
radiocarbon has decayed. The ratio of carbon-12 to
carbon-14 is the same in all living things. However, at the
moment of death, the amount of carbon-14 begins to
decrease because it is unstable, while the amount of
carbon-12 remains constant in the sample. Half of the
carbon-14 degrades every 5,730 years as indicated by its
half-life. By measuring the ratio of carbon-12 to carbon-14
in the sample and comparing it to the ratio in a living
organism, it is possible to determine the age of the artifact.

34. Carbon dating

48. Lucy is a partial fossil skeleton, about the size of a
chimpanzee, supposedly female, discovered by
paleontologist Dr. Donald Johanson on November 30,
1974, in Hadar, Ethiopia. It is more complete than most
fossil finds in that about 40 percent of the bones of the
body have been recovered.
The age is “estimated” to be 3.2 million years. The find
includes a V-shaped jaw, part of hip and large bones,
and other assorted bones with very little skull
fragments.2 There were other finds at the same
location, other skulls and U-shaped jawbones.

49. “How far away from Lucy did you find the knee?”
(The knee bones were actually discovered about a
year earlier than the rest of Lucy). Dr. Johanson
answered (reluctantly) about 200 feet lower and two
to three kilometers away (about 1.5 miles!).

57. Creation / wisdom
Prov 8:22 The LORD possessed me in the beginning of
his way, before his works of old. 23 I was set up from
everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.
24 When there were no depths, I was brought forth;
when there were no fountains abounding with water.
Prov 3:19 The LORD by wisdom hath founded the
earth; by understanding hath he establishedthe
heavens.
Ps 136:5 To him that by wisdom made the heavens:
for his mercy endureth for ever.

58. Creation for Yahweh’s glory
Num 14:21 But as truly as I live, all the earth shall
be filled with the glory of the LORD.
Prov 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for
himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

59. Creation had His ultimate purpose in
view
Isa 45:18 For thus saith the LORD that created the
heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made
it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he
formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is
none else.
Jn 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was
in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by
him; and without him was not any thing made that was
made.

60. Creation shows His caring
Ps 147:3 He healeth the broken in heart, and
bindeth up their wounds. 4 He telleth the number of
the stars; he calleth them all by their names. 5 Great
is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is
infinite. 6 The LORD lifteth up the meek: he casteth
the wicked down to the ground.

61. We marvel at His wondrous works
Ps 104:24 O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in
wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of
thy riches.
Ps 105:2 Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye
of all his wondrous works. 3 Glory ye in his holy name:
let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD. 4 Seek
the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore.
5 Remember his marvellous works that he hath done;
his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth