Questions for creationists (pt. 9) can you answer this?

Question

How do you explain the fossil record?

Fossils come in distinct layers of rock that differ greatly from one another. If we look in the lowest (presumably the oldest) layers, we find a world of fossils with organisims that have little in common with the ones present on the earth today. As we go to younger (higher) layers, fossils become more like the organisims of today. There are no flowering plants in the oldest fossils; there are no birds or mammals. It is clear that the vast majority of the Earths history of life was very different than it is today. How do you account for the dramatic changes?

(An answer to this is NOT "fossils can't be trusted because tree fossils have been found that span many feet of rock" - those are rare local events caused by a one-time rapid deposit of sediment.)

Well, at least we have an attempt at an answer from an old-earth creationists.

Answer 1

One could argue that the fossil layer is flawed. You said so yourself. "If we look in the lowest (presumably the oldest). . ." Since when did science "presume" anything other than a theory?

There is one other issue - that is the age of a fossil is measured against what layer of rock it came from. What if the layers are wrong?

Not a creationist - just a random thought.

Answer 2

First note that very few fossils are forming today and then only in the case of rapid burial by water. For instance what happens to a fish when it dies? It either floats to the surface or sinks to the bottom where it decays and is eaten by scavengers. Yet many fish fossils are so exquisitely preserved that even the scales and organs are preserved. Obviously there was no time for decay and bacterial action. We can certainly say that something extraordinary happened to form the fossils.

Furthermore, most fossils occur in huge fossil graveyards where things from different habitats are mixed together in a watery grave. The predominant type of fossil is that of marine invertebrates but these are found on the continents within catastrophically deposited rock units.

Of the several different kinds of fossils, each one requires rapid burial and circumstances which are seldom, if ever, at work today. Processes of fossilization include:

Mineralization: This happens by partial or entire replacement of an organism by minerals, usually one molecule at a time as the organism decays. Time is involved but not time before burial. Petrification occurs when the replacing mineral is silica.

Carbonization: Living things consist of high carbon content, and under extraordinary circumstances only the carbon remains. This includes the thick coal bands as well as thin carbon residues left in the host rock. Rapid isolation and heating is required.

Impressions: These common fossils occur when the entire organism is replaced by the same material as the host rock leaving only the form of an organism. The detail preserved indicates no time for decay.

Ephemeral markings: These common markings include worm burrows, animal tracks, coprolites, and rain-drop impressions. All are extremely fragile and need rapid lithification to be preserved.

Hard parts: Bones and shells are found but these are usually broken. For instance, limbs ripped from dinosaurs, found in fossil graveyards, are the rule.

Soft parts: Obviously these will only last for a very short time without rapid burial. These include flesh, feathers, skin, scales, plant tissue, color, and even smell.

Frozen parts: These imply extremely low temperatures which trapped and froze the organisms quickly. Certainly this is not happening now on any scale.

These fossil types (and other subcategories could be mentioned) require extraordinary circumstances of a rapid and catastrophic nature. The great Flood of Noah’s day which destroyed a world full of life is the best explanation. A flood of the magnitude described in the Bible presents a force with the potential to even produce massive geological upheavals along with the actual flood.

Based on the the Biblical account some believe that there existed a "canopy" of water around the Earth producing a greenhouse affect prior to the flood. When the flood commenced, the Bible states that the "windows of heaven" were opened and the fountains of the great deep were broken up, essentially "baptizing or immersing" the earth.

Answer 3

Evolution is is a theory to help understand the changes in lifeforms over time. It does not have anything to do with the original creation or manifestation of these lifeforms. Evolution does not mean a belief in random events or chaos.

Most people who accept this theory would tell you that humans did not come from apes, but rather humans and many apes seem to have a common ancestor (different branches of the same family tree).

Much of that difference in DNA between humans and apes is the genetic coding for the brain and how the brain is used. Just because humans have languages and logical thought patterns which can be taught from generation to generation does not mean that basically humans are not animals. To believe this might be considered the height of arrogance.

If you look carefully at human behavior in a mob or group expecting an immediate danger (large predator or fire, for example) you might find much less difference between your behavior and that of many of the great apes.

The simplest cases of change in a lifeforms over time deal with microbes. Humans know through study that some species have changed enough to now be considered a different species. This is more than just changes in antibiotic response or nutritional needs. These changes are associated with changes in DNA coding.

Please understand that some people are so set in their own dogma that they cannot begin to change their belief system no matter what evidence is presented to them. They have no method to begin to understand how a flu virus can change from year to year. Evolution does not have all the answers, especially if one is interested in the original creation of life. Evolution can, on the other-hand, help understand how life can change.

Answer 4

Is there any place where the whole geologic column can be found. And in some places where parts of the geologic column can be found it is sometimes backwards with the oldest higher than the youngest.

Answer 5

I'm not a strict 24-hour-day creationist. As far as I see it, a day to God is probably something closer to a few billion years.

Answer 6

These findings actually support the Bible's account of creation, where larger, more complex animals came in later stages of creation, with humans last.

Answer 7

is a big man gonna get squished before the small man does? how do you explain the sea fossils o top of mountains?

Answer 8

How can you explain the Cambrian explosion, which is an entire layer of complex organisms that appeared in an instant in the geologic column???

Answer 9

Stages of creation.