Re: Radiometric Dating Techniques

Arthur V. Chadwick (chadwicka@swac.edu)
Thu, 12 Feb 1998 09:47:18 -0800

At 08:40 AM 2/12/98 -0700, gordon brown wrote:
>When I first read the discussion about the reliability of C-14 dating
>that gave ages of more than 4000 years, I didn't see any significance in
>the figure 4000, but more recently someone associated it with a presumed
>date for the Flood. Does this mean that those raising this question don't
>believe that the same tree could have existed both before and after the
>Flood? If so, how do they explain the olive tree in Gen. 8:11? If this
>tree was mature enough to produce leaves a few months after the beginning
>of the Flood, wouldn't it have had to have existed before the Flood's
>onset also?

I see all kinds of possibilities, including that it was from a tree that
survived the flood. Anyone familiar with horticulture can imagine a dozen
other explanations as well. A rooted twig, a tree, uprooted and
transported, but still viable, but probably not a sprout from an olive
seed. Olive trees are very hardy and an olive branch can easily be rooted
and propagated.
Art
http://chadwicka.swau.edu