DeYoung - Thousands, not billions : challenging an icon of evolution : questioning the age of the Earth

Thousands...Not Billions

Challenging an Icon of Evolution

Questioning the Age of the Earth

Dr. Don DeYoung

Copyright Information

First printing: August 2005

Third printing: May 2006

Copyright 2005 by Don DeYoung. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles and reviews. For information write Master Books, Inc., P.O. Box 726, Green Forest, AR 72638.

ISBN-13: 978-0-89051-441-2

ISBN-10: 0-89051-441-0

Library of Congress Control Number: 2005929397

Cover by Left Coast Design, Portland, Oregon

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This book is dedicated to a wonderful family. This includes my wife, Sally; daughters Jenny, Jorie, and Jessica; their husbands Gene, Scot, and Derrik; and grandchildren Christopher, Cari, Connor, Carly, Sydney, Avery, and Finley.

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to my colleagues of the Creation Research Society, the Institute for Creation Research, and Answers in Genesis. Your friendship and encouragement on writing projects are much appreciated. Many thanks to the Institute for Creation Research and the RATE team. It was the groundbreaking discoveries from their eight-year RATE project (sponsored by ICR) that made this book possible.

Contents

Preface

This book concerns the age and history of planet earth. Just how old are its continents, mountains, seas, rocks, and fossils? Some may reply that this question has already been answered by geologists. The earth is said to be ancient, with a current age estimate of about 4.56 billion years, or 4,560,000,000 years when written out. The universe beyond the earth is assumed to be much older, going back about 14 billion years. Just where do these incomprehensible numbers come from? The earth's age is based on the radioisotope dating of rocks and meteorites, a technique developed during the last century. Age estimates for the rest of the universe follow largely from the big-bang theory. These multi-billion year time spans are sometimes called deep time, corresponding to deep space. Deep time refers to time scales which are much larger than those by which we define our lives. It should be remembered, however, that the existence of billions of years of history is not a certainty. Deep time is a major "icon" or symbol of evolution, a presumption which is challenged in the subtitle of this book.

Evolutionary models for life, earth, and space are questioned today by a significant group of scientists worldwide. They are convinced that the earth and the entire universe are the result of a supernatural creation event which occurred just thousands of years ago, not billions of years. This book explains some of the fascinating scientific data which supports this recent-creation conclusion.

In addition to professional scientists, there are many others who have a special interest in earth history. This refers to all of us who hold a biblical world view. That is, we accept the Bible as the uniquely inspired book given to humanity by the Creator. The Bible tells us how to live and it also reveals many details of earth history including its approximate age. The straightforward reading of Scripture describes the earth and space as just thousands of years old, not millions or billions of years. Some have attempted to resolve this time difference by inserting vast ages into the biblical creation week. However, the results are neither satisfactory nor convincing. For some readers, the initial thought may be that the time of creation is not an important issue: "I believe God created everything and it simply does not matter when it all began, whether thousands, millions, or billions of years in the past." It may be true that the age of the earth is not obviously connected to the gospel message. However, many practical and profound implications follow from one's view of the earth's age. These implications are fully explained in creationist literature (Morris, 2002).

The goal of this book is to "open the window" on the serious possibility that an ancient earth is a false and misleading assumption. In sharp contrast, the following pages present the scientific case for a recently created world. If this is true, then the conventional view of ancient earth history is grossly in error. It is readily acknowledged that belief in a young earth is a radical change from the standard teaching and writing in earth science. To grasp these contrasting views of age, consider one human generation as a basic unit of time, about 25 years. A world 6,000 years old then spans just 240 generations. However, 4.6 billion years of time would encompass 184 million generations. The young and old views of earth history indeed stand in stark contrast. The young-earth view is confidently promoted in this book because the Bible clearly points in this direction. All scientific data, as well, can be interpreted to support a recent creation. Not every reader will agree with this conclusion, but the following chapters offer challenging evidence for serious consideration.

Introduction to RATE

In 2003, a group of leading earth scientists met in Washington, D.C., to discuss the state of the geologic time scale. This topic concerns the history of the earth. There is general consensus on the ages of major rock strata, but the geoscientists concluded that the detailed record remained "hopelessly incomplete" (Clarke, 2003). Their recommendation was the construction of three new high-tech dating laboratories in the United States whose output could add to the database of known rock ages. This proposed multi-million dollar project is to be funded by taxpayers through the National Science Foundation.

In 1997, six years earlier, another group of scientists met in San Diego to discuss the age of the earth. Their goal was similar to the first group, that is, to clarify the chronology of earth history. However, this team sought a fundamental correction to the usual assumptions of deep time. They were skeptical of the evolutionary time scale which dominates modern geology. These scientists reviewed the assumptions and procedures used in estimating the ages of rock strata and they recognized multiple weaknesses. This group identifies itself with the acronym RATE which stands for Radioisotopes and the Age of the Earth. The seven RATE scientists include two geologists (Steven Austin, Andrew Snelling), a geophysicist (John Baumgardner), three physicists (Eugene Chaffin, Don DeYoung, Russell Humphreys), and a meteorologist (Larry Vardiman, chairman of RATE). Steven Boyd, a biblical Hebrew scholar, also joined the RATE effort. Each of the team members holds an earned doctorate.

Several research initiatives were identified and conducted over an eight-year period. The RATE project was sponsored and promoted by leading creation science organizations. These included the Institute for Creation Research and the Creation Research Society. The ministry Answers in Genesis also gave start-up support to the project. Technical research activity is expensive, and all RATE costs were covered by private donations. Sincere thanks are expressed to the many individuals and organizations which financially supported the RATE effort.

This book summarizes the RATE research and results with a minimum of technical terms. Several related references, available in many public and college libraries, are listed at the end of the book. They are indicated in the text by parentheses, for example (Morris, 2002). A comprehensive treatment of the RATE research is available in two publications. The first is titled