How do creationists explain carbon dating and the fossil record?

Question

The Devil? Really?

Interesting responses.

Ben Yeshua, thought provoking.
Would you consider this an issue of faith? That in order to believe in A, you must believe in B?

Answer 1

It is presumptuous to think Christians would claim the devil did it. It shows you probably wont take our answers seriously. But I will give mine for the fun of it.
The majority of the fossil record happened during the world wide flood. You will see there are few primary things required for fossilization. Rapid burial, and rapid pressure, Fossils are formed the majority of the time during floods. We find sea creatures fossilised on the tops of mountians sugesting at one point the mountians where lower and covered in wated. They rose up after the flood because of the movment of the earth during that time.

AS far as carbon dating well you cant date the earth using it but I am assuming you mean radio metric dating. Carbon dating only works on thing that where once alive. it is only good for the most part for a 5000-10,000 year span. THere are some assumptions one has to make when dating using radio metric dating. one that the thing you are dating started with the same amount of parent atom is has to show the ratio we see today. Second none of this parent atom entered in the the supposed millions of years it was there, third that it started with none of the daughter atom that give the date when in comparison to the parent atom, or non of the Daughter atom enterd in during the millions of years it was there. And last but not least that the rate of decay remained the same for the supposed millions of years it was there.
All of these things have to be assumed. None of wich can be proven. It is not reliable.

Mount St Helens which erupted in the 80's has given dates of millions of years old. false readings happen more than evolutionists put on, they are well documented if you look into it. THey tend to through them out because they don't fit with what the date according to there Beliefs should be. THere are to many assumptions that come along with Radio metric dating to make it reliable. If, as there have been, false readings have been given on kn own dates why should I even as a none Christian if I was trust the date given to those thing that are unknown. THere is no reason.

I think that is better than the Devil did it.

Michael "Undergrad entering into bio-chemical engineering".

Answer 2

Many "young Earth" creationists I have spoken with who don't believe in evolution lack even a rudimentary understanding of paleontology and the forensic sciences. They're not stupid - they just simply aren't educated. Since the concept of an ancient Earth contradicts their religious beliefs, they'll enthusiastically embrace any half-baked explanation that seemingly debunks proof of an ancient Earth (e.g., carbon dating, the fossil record, etc.). The paradox for me is that they'll readily accept other scientific theories. Seems scientists are smart when it comes to developing new medicines or building space stations, but ignorant when it comes to the age of the Earth.

I believe that "creationism" will eventually succumb, just as the heliocentric view of our solar system superseded the geocentric view long held by the church. Of course it only took the Catholic Church 400 years or so to finally admit Galileo was right all along, and that was years AFTER humans had visited the Moon and sent robot probes to Mars, Jupiter and beyond.

What WILL it take for creationists to change their views? Time travel???

Answer 3

I go back to Gen. 9:1 where God told Noah to replinish the earth or to Fill it up AGAIN, that lets me know there was some kind of life on this earth before the flood, Then I go back to Gen. 1:28 where God told Adam To replinish the earth again, that let's me know there was a prehistoric time period, & also I use the scriptures, where it says that God had chain some angels into outer darkness to be held & reserved until the great white throne judgment, Those are angels that God put in chains & bound them, & they had to have a time frame to do something so evil that God will never let that sin ever be repeated again, Therefore during or may I say at the beginning of time, God gave all the angels a peiod of time to do what they wanted, & Judgement was brought against them. So I do as a Christian believe in a prehistoric time frame. It is all really in the bible if people will only study, Instead of just reading over something. I can also use 1st Cor. 6:1-4 where it says that the saints shall even judge angels, What angels? Those angels that are chained right now. You can also find that in 2nd. Peter 2:4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell & delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgement.

Answer 4

Didn't someone find human bones and an embryo
in a layer of rock that pre-dates the evolution theory? scientific data is very limited on this subject and it is only an unproven theory . I do believe in the evolution of life , but that doesn't do anything to dispute it's creation . the two actually rather compliment each other . I don't think that science has found all the answers yet . I also haven't really found a dispute between science and religion . In both areas , a lot of theories have been discarded . I believe that they co-exist perfectly together . It's only man's misunderstanding and lack of knowledge . Many scientists believe in God .Both areas take leaps of faith . How would we ever have learned to fly or go to space without the faith to believe that it could be done . It takes the same faith to believe in God that it takes to go to the stars .

Answer 5

Hello, Robert:

That question was one of the first things I studied upon accepting Christ.

The fossil record testifies of a catastrophe by flood, and the resulting turbulences. Saying that, let us deal with carbon dating.

If the earth was, in fact, protected by a water canopy, then we would have been shielded from cosmic rays.

Note this point: C14 is created when a cosmic ray strikes N14. In other words, there was no C14 in the atmosphere before the flood. And specimens through time show elongated ages because C14 has not yet reached equilibrium levels. It takes about 6,000 years for that to happen, so the level of C14 that is being created does not yet equal the C14 that is decaying.

There is a web page that has a photo of a giant human footprint contemporary with dinosaurs. It also reveals a bible code supporting God as our creator. See http://abiblecode.tripod.com

Shalom, peace in Jesus, Ben Yeshua

Answer 6

Robert,
There are scientific reasons that carbon dating is VERY UNRELIABLE beyond a certain point and most of the better science people will tell you that. There is nothing wrong with the fossil records and there are sone fossils that have been found in two or three layers of strata as if it died and stayed there for several thousand years while the decay were deposited. Have a wonderful day!
Thanks,
Eds


.

Answer 7

I forgot about the perfection of carbon dating.
I'm sorry what we do(christians) is just forget that everything in the world of science is perfect and that you have faith in that.


I mean surely you are smart enough to know that for science to work you must have faith in whatever they are doing is accurate. And if you are not the scientist you must have faith in the documents they produce to make their claims.

I mean you must have thought it all out because you sure come across like a really intelligent person. And much more intelligent than everyone else.

Right?

Answer 8

As a scientist, I would say that the *logical* ones do it like this

1) Radiometric dating (let's ignore carbon dating, since that is only occasionally an issue) relies on several unproven assumptions.

2) The "fossil record" demonstrates against evolution, since
..a)..no gradual evolutionary fossil record has been discovered for any species
..b)..the "fossil record" has shown many instances where species of a supposedly more "advanced" evolutionary stage pre-date (in the "fossil record") those of an earlier stage.

BTW, I believe that evolution is most likely the means by which God created life.

Jim, Christian, B.S. in Physics, John Carroll University

Answer 9

Actually, to reference Marvin's Martian's response, I am Christian and I do believe the fossil record exists...one cannot deny physical evidence. I believe dinosaurs once roamed the earth, I believe that there are a couple of references to them in the book of Job, actually.

What I do not agree with is the time-table given by evolutionists. And as far as carbon dating is concerned, it is not an exact science. It is based on assumption.

I agree that the facts do not lie....I do not agree that man always interprets the facts correctly.

Answer 10

I remember this one time they found 'fossils' and said the bones were millions of years old. Come to find out his name was Fido and he got hit by a truck a few weeks before, walked off into a tar pit and couldn't get through and died there. I'm not even a creationist and i'm not so sure i agree with carbon dating. Remember that carbon dating is a theory, not a law of science. You choose not to put faith in god but you choose to put faith in carbon dating for what reason? I'm sure a good educated christian could give you the amount of proof you get with carbon dating to make you believe but for some reason to you it's easier to believe carbon dating. Odd, if you ask me.