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Does Science Support the Flood?

From Issue: Discovery 1/1/2019

If you read most Earth science or geology textbooks and science magazines, you will get the idea that their authors believe that science does not support what the Bible teaches about the Flood and Creation. Last month in Discovery, we saw several biblical evidences for a global Flood. What about scientific evidences? Does the physical evidence in nature support the biblical Flood?

In science, when testing a theory, it is important to be able to make predictions based on your theory that can be found to support or refute your idea after studying the evidence. If a global Flood happened, what would we expect to find when studying the Earth?


Dr. Jeff in Wyoming

Dr. Jeff in the Grand Canyon

Polystrate Fossil
www.wikimedia.org (Michael C. Rygel) 2018 CC-by-sa-3.0

Dr. Jeff standing beside Seismite

Evidence #1 :One of the three major rock types is called sedimentary (sed-uh-MEN-tree) rock. Sedimentary rock forms when water carries dirt and sand and piles them in a place where they become compacted and cemented together. If a global Flood occurred, we would expect there to be worldwide sedimentary rock layers. Sure enough, sedimentary rock layers have been found that cover entire continents and even span multiple continents in some cases.

Evidence #2: If the Earth was once covered with water from the ocean, we would predict that marine fossils (fossils of sea creatures) would be found on land that is now dry and far above sea level, including mountains. Once again, this prediction has been proven right: marine fossils have even been found in the tallest mountain range in the world—the Himalayas.

Evidence #3: If a global Flood occurred, we would predict that many living creatures would have traveled together, stampeding, as they rushed to avoid the rapidly rising water and fast moving mudslides caused by the Flood. In many cases, the herd would have been caught and killed, leaving behind a graveyard of many fossils as testimony. As expected, many fossil graveyards have been discovered across the Earth, including dinosaur graveyards. Imagine the power that would be needed to kill thousands of stampeding dinosaurs, tear them into bits and pieces, and bury them in a single place—like the dinosaur graveyard I helped to excavate in Wyoming.

Evidence #4: If Creation and the Flood happened—rather than evolution—when we look at the beginning (or base) of the fossil record, what would we expect to find? We would predict that creatures would already be fully formed the first time they appear, rather than being in the middle of gradually evolving into something else. Once again, when we examine the fossils at the base of the fossil record, we find what scientists call the “Cambrian Explosion”—an “explosion” of fully formed creatures with no evidence of evolution. These fossils are found across the whole Earth in sedimentary rock, just like Flood scientists would predict.

Evidence #5: If evolution is true and the Earth is old, then the rock layers were laid down gradually over millions of years. If Creation and the Flood are true, then most of the rock layers are made up of materials that were laid down rapidly during the Flood, one on top of the other. The discovery of polystrate fossils supports the Flood scientists’ expectations. A polystrate fossil is a fossil that cuts through more than one (poly-) stratum (strate) of rock. Many such fossils have been discovered, proving that the strata had to be laid down rapidly in order to bury the fossil before it had time to decay.

Evidence #6: When an earthquake happens, it shakes the ground. When soggy sand is shaken in an earthquake, the layer of sand will have up and down squiggly lines that reflect the movement of the ground. If the layer of sand were to compact and lithify (turn to stone), the layer would be called a seismite (SIZE-mite). Earthquakes today leave small seismites in layers that were once wet sand. If the Flood happened, and the ocean floor broke up, we would expect sand to have been wet while major earthquakes occurred. So we would predict seismites in rock layers from the Flood. Not only have many seismites been discovered in Flood rock, but enormous seismite layers have been discovered that span many miles—apparently caused by earthquakes that were so strong that evolutionary geologists do not even know what could cause them. If the mountains formed rapidly in the Flood, however (as Creation scientists predict), it would explain why the seismites are so huge and why there are so many of them.

As we have shown in other issues of Discovery, we can know that the Bible came from God. Since it says that a global Flood happened, we can trust that it did. But the evidence for the Bible’s inspiration is not the only kind of evidence for the Flood that God has left us. Science has given us many evidences for a global Flood as well. Sure enough, the Bible said it, and science verifies it.


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