1995
DMD Publishing Co.,
16075 Longvista Dr.
Dallas, TX 75248
ISBN 0-9648227-0-9.
159 pages + index.
Most conservative Christians have puzzled over the question of how to
reconcile Genesis with science. For those with backgrounds in science and
applied science, this is a significant question, since its answer affects
how we carry the Gospel to our colleagues, as well as our colleagues'
perception of our integrity. Whether or not we accept the young-earth
view, we Christians view the Bible as God's written word -- an inspired
document.
For young-earth creationists, the points of friction between science and
Scripture include the age of the earth, evolution and the Flood of Noah's
day. By interpreting the creation week as six literal days followed by a
literal day of rest, and by interpreting the genealogies in Genesis 5 and
11 as describing gapless lists of successive generations, young-earth
creationists conclude that the age of the earth must be no more than
7000-10000 years. A straightforward reading of the flood account in
Genesis 7-9 leads to the conclusion that the flood was global and lasted
approximately a year. Evolution is ruled out by, among other things,
interpreting the creation account as relating direct acts of God, by the
Scriptural statement "and God saw that it was very good" -- ruling out
millions of years of death implied by evolution, and by the shortness of
the available time. 7000-1000 years is not enough time for evolution.
Young Earth creationists view the fossil record as the sediments deposited
by the flood.
Glenn Morton is a geologist and a Christian. Although he was once a
young-earth creationist, the compelling evidence of the earth's age he
encountered in his work led him to an agonizing reappraisal of his faith
and his understanding of how the Bible should be interpreted. Happily,
Morton exited from this reappraisal a Christian. He no longer subscribes
to the young-earth view, however, and this book explains why. In addition,
it provides an alternative harmonization of Genesis and science which
honors Scripture while treating the physical evidence honestly.
In spite of his acceptance of an old earth and evolution, Morton remains
convinced that the Bible must be interpreted literally, except where
compelling evidence dictates another interpretation. The book is a tightly
reasoned, meticulously documented interpretation of Scripture and physical
evidence which aims to show that acceptance of an old earth and evolution
do not require the Christian to abandon a straightforward, honest reading
of Scripture. In the process of developing his scenario, Morton derives
insights which demand serious attention.
How then, does Mr. Morton make his case? First he shows that the creation
days can be understood to be twenty-four hour days in which God announced
what He was about to begin creating. The actual realization of the
creation took longer, but God set in motion all the required processes in 6
literal 24 hour days. Morton is not a deist, however. He sees continued
involvement by God in oversight of His creation.
In Morton's harmonization the origin of man occurred about 5.5 million
years ago by a direct intervention of God. While the 5.5 million year
figure violates the time scale creationists infer from the genealogies,
Morton shows that the phrase "so-and-so lived x years and became the father
of y" can as easily mean that at age x so-and-so became the ancestor of y,
and that this is a legitimate interpretation of the Hebrew.
While such an ancient origin of man might seem to cause a problem with
genealogies, it solves a problem with the flood of Noah. As a geologist,
Morton learned early in his education that there is no evidence for a
worldwide flood occurring about 2350 B. C. True, there are few places on
the surface of the earth that show no evidence of ever having been flooded,
but the flooding of various locations occurred at different times, and
there is no time when every location was flooded. Morton's solution for
the flood is the filling of the Mediterranean about 5.5 million years ago.
There is ample geological evidence that prior to 5.5 million years ago, the
Mediterranean was a deep valley. The total inflow from rivers and rainfall
did not exceed the water lost by evaporation, and a land bridge at
Gibraltar kept the Atlantic Ocean out. This land bridge collapsed,
causing a cataclysmic flooding of the Mediterranean.
Some implications of this scenario may seem unsettling. For example,
so-called modern man did not appear on the scene until some 10,000 years
ago, implying that Adam and his descendants, including Noah, were most
likely one of the earlier hominids, such as homo habilis. However, this
does not imply that Noah was some sort of subhuman. The physical
differences between these hominids and later men do not necessarily imply
that they were genetically different. Dogs are all the same species. But
a fossilized Chihuahua might be mistaken for a different species from a
fossilized Malamute if dogs were not extant today and these two fossils
were found. Furthermore, fossil differences cannot tell us whether modern
man and earlier hominids were different spiritually.
Reading Foundation, Fall and Flood can be tough slogging at times, because
of the huge volume of detail presented. But the detail is well organized
to support the central theme of the book, and the reader who persists will
be rewarded with fresh insights into how Scripture and scientific knowledge
can be integrated. If Morton's scenario is correct, the question of
whether the earlier hominids were human is answered, at least in part. The
question of why the Bible tells us so much about the flood is answered. A
flood in 2350 B. C. would surely be documented in the literature of many
nations. Records of a flood 5.5 million years ago might be lost had God
not told Moses about it. Morton's scenario is a welcome alternative to the
disconnected, contradictory arguments of creationists and the overreliance
on allegory some theistic evolutionists are prone to.
Reviewed by
Bill Hamilton | Vehicle Systems Research
GM R&D Center | Warren, MI 48090-9055
810 986 1474 (voice) | 810 986 3003 (FAX)