From: Debbie Mann (deborahjmann@insightbb.com)
Date: Fri Apr 18 2003 - 23:10:09 EDT
I've just read through your Genesis web site articles, including a couple
which you authored. The global or local article is very well written, makes
many good points and is very easy to read. Your web site covers a lot of
ground. I am amazed at the number of my 'weird biblical issues' that you
have covered. Comments:
1. I take issue with the assumption that the Biblical 'myth' came later than
the other 'myths'. The Hebrews took their old 'Bibles' (scrolls) and buried
them in the dirt so that they would return to dust. Yet, in spite of the
manuscripts themselves not being particulalry ancient, many of the biblical
'stories' have had their origins accurately placed in their expected ancient
historical periods due to extensive circumstantial evidence and more than a
little direct proof. It may be purely 'chicken and egg' to debate this, but
I personally believe that there is sufficient reason to believe that the
Hebrew 'stories' go back to the earliest history of man and that these are
fairly accurately reflected in writings that have been passed down since
sometime in the period of the Pharaohs. Their origins are at least as
ancient as those of any other culture, though the material they are written
upon may not be.
2. Subject of race: I remember reading in U.S. News and World Report (at
least that's where I believe that I read it) that genetically there was
evidence of an 'Eve' and that she appeared to be from the middle east. Are
you familiar with that article?
3. The fact that the ark was nothing like anything built previously, that no
known equivalent ship building existed, is of critical value to the story of
the flood. Its artistic merit would be greatly reduced without that fact.
4. The canopy that I read about was not vapor, but an ice canopy over the
whole earth - something like the ionosphere, only lower. The supposition
goes that there was extreme volcanic activity that caused reactions, which
caused this to melt - causing rain. Further, they state that this was the
first rain ever, that prior to that the earth was a great terrarium, watered
by dew. Also, this canopy did increase the atmospheric pressure, making the
earth one great hypobaric chamber. The pressure and the UV shielding, as
well as genetic purity, is supposed to account for the long lives of
everyone before the flood, and the sudden shortening of life spans after the
flood. I'm sure, with the scope of material on the web page, that you have
heard all this before. I've heard pieces of it from laymen from Ohio to
Texas, seen it on the Discovery channel and have a little book about it. The
rest of the theory involves geological activity under the earth which made
room for the water to run off.
5. As far as the 'evidence' that seems to need to be described in order to
be refuted (per the previous plate tetonics e-mails)- I seem to have read
somewhere in the past that there have been fish and other sea creature
fossils found in some very high and unusual places. I would guess that these
are much too old to have come from The Flood, but for a creationist who
believes that nothing is older than a few thousand years, that would seem
like pretty convincing evidence.
6. If you ever get to Genesis 14, let me know.
-----Original Message-----
From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu [mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu]On
Behalf Of Dick Fischer
Sent: Friday, April 18, 2003 12:39 PM
To: ASA
Subject: Plate Tectonics
Here is an anti-YEC argument from nature. (I borrowed a little from Don
Winterstein.) Can anybody see necessary additions or corrections?
Plate Tectonics
When scientists began bouncing radio waves off the moon they discovered
something which to them at the time appeared quite odd. Instead of being
stationary, the major continents were drifting ever so slightly but
perceptively such that the continents were moving apart. This detected
movement is one independent measure of what has become a staple of geologic
theory - plate tectonics.
The mid Atlantic rift lies midway between the continents of North and
South America to the west and Europe and Africa to the east. As the
continents drift slowly in opposite directions, molten rock boils up in the
center and solidifies when it hits the cold water on the sea floor. The mid
Atlantic rift is not quite a straight line that stretches north and south.
At present, we don't know whether the molten rock boiling up from the
earth's mantle exerts a force pushing the continents away from each other,
or whether the momentum of the moving continents drawing apart causes a
fissure which the molten rock fills, or whether there is a combination of
forces at work.
Samples of the rock have been taken from the sea floor. Relative ages of
the rock, measured by radiometric dating techniques, increase going both
east and west from the rift center. The age of the rock is the same at
points that are equidistant from the middle of the Atlantic ocean, and
increasingly older moving away from the rift.
For example, the relative amount of decay isotopes present in rock 1,000
miles east of the rift will be the same as that contained in rock 1,000
miles to the west. An equal amount of decay elements are found at all
points that are equidistant from each other going east and west.
In addition, the iron contained in the deposits when the molten rock first
reaches the ocean floor and solidifies, orients itself with the same
polarity as the earth. Again, at equidistant points we see regular
reversals in polarity many times in the last 200 million years since the
continents were joined.
Whether the Genesis flood was local or global can be argued, but let's
assume that the flood occurred about 5,000 years ago. Since that point in
time, there have been no magnetic pole reversals. So we can say that no
reversals have occurred in the last 5,000 years.
Yet from core samples taken from the ocean floor, and from many other
samples taken from all over the earth, we see pole swapping clearly
occurring in sine wave fashion. And from recent data we can detect a slight
decline in magnetic strength as the earth moves slowly toward another
reversal.
Working the data back, we can see that the continents were joined at one
time. This massive formation of all the continents joined together roughly
200,000 million years ago has been dubbed "Pangea." Since that time the
continents have been drifting apart.
Antarctica, which now covers the South Pole, once was located in temperate
climates. Dinosaur bones have been found there, yet remains of more recent
mammalian, land animals are absent. This is consistent with our knowledge
of the periods of earth history when dinosaurs roamed the earth from 225
million years ago to 65 million years ago, and mammals only came into
existence during the last 150 million years
Plate tectonics data constitutes one of the best data sets an informed
Christian might use to convince an open-minded young-earth creationist that
the world is not as young as he or she might think. Have young-earth
creationists provided an explanation as to how the mechanics of plate
tectonics could be explained in the span of one year at the time of the
flood? No.
Only an earth that has been around for a long time (at least hundreds of
millions of years) could leave this kind of consistent data testifying to
its ancient geologic history.
Dick Fischer - Genesis Proclaimed Association
Finding Harmony in Bible, Science, and History
www.genesisproclaimed.org
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