By: Mark Tabata (Evangelist)
The Place Of The “Grand Canyon” In The Creation/Evolution Discussion
Growing up in West Virginia was a blessing. I was (am) blessed with great parents and a great brother, and had some great friends where I lived.
Yet I still remember the challenges to my faith that arose in my classes in Biology and Environmental Earth Science which posed the evident conundrum that mankind is a galactic accident arising from naturalistic processes over vast eons of time.
My teachers (for the most part) did not question this, and I was certainly not taught (in public school) about the many scientific evidences which show Intelligent Design or a young Creation.
One of the “evidences” which was cited as evidence of macroevolution and the antiquity of the Earth was the existence of the Grand Canyon.
Evolutionists tell us that this was formed over millions of years by the Colorado River, and that the many layers of rock and fossils within are undeniable evidences of Darwin’s theory.
One former evolutionary teacher explains it in this fashion:
“There’s no doubt about it: the best place to see, test, and put together all these ideas about stacks of fossil-bearing rock is the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon is an awesome gash in the earth, running for over 250 miles (400 kim) along the Colorado River in the northwest corner of Arizona. The Canyon is about a mile (1.6 km) deep, and averages about 10 miles (16 km) from north to south rims. The walls of the narrow, zig-zag inner gorge expose tilted and faulted Precambrian rock, while the walls of the outer and upper gorge are streaked with thick, colorful, horizontal bands of fossil-bearing rock, representing roughly the ‘bottom half’ of the geologic column. I once believed and taught, like so many others, that the rock layers in the Grand Canyon represented stages in evolution laid down over vast eons of time…When the Mississippi is flowing full and fast (often after spring rains and snow melt), gravel is carried relatively far. Later, often during the drier summer season, the river slows, so that sand is dumped where gravel was, then silt on the sand. Such slow and gradual processes produce ‘lumpy’ sediment layers that thicken and thin over short distances and contain virtually no fossils. (Gary Parker, Creation Facts Of Life: How Real Science Reveals The Hand Of God, 3016-3031 (Kindle Edition); Green Forest, AR; Master Books)
The existence of the Grand Canyon would seem to be a solid evidence for the theory of evolution.
Yet that assertion is only “skin deep,” and is a perfect example of the truthfulness of the old adage: “Don’t judge a book by its’ cover.”
The facts tell a far different story.
The ” Big Bang” Of Mount Saint Helens
On the 19th of March, 1982, Mount St. Helens erupted in the state of Washington.
It has been estimated that the eruption which occurred was the equivalent to that of 20, 000 Hiroshima-sized atomic weapons.
Sadly, fifty-seven people were killed in the event.
Yet the incredible facts we have learned from this catastrophe have been truly invaluable.
In a nutshell, the eruption (s) of Mount St. Helens has helped to show us that the Earth is actually relatively young, and that it was at some time in the past devastated by a Global Flood.
The “Little Grand Canyon”
When Mount St. Helens erupted, a canyon 1/40th the size of the Grand Canyon was created.
Did this formation take years to form?
No.
Did it take months to form this “Little Grand Canyon” with a depth of 140 feet?
Not at all.
It took one day.
“The fortuitous combination once again of timing and blast direction eroded a brand new canyon system up to 140 feet deep in the headwaters of the North Fork of the Toutle River Valley, establishing a new dendritic pattern of drainage. Called by some the ‘Little Grand Canyon of the Toutle River,’ in a matter of a few hours God’s Mt. St. Helens Geological Laboratory had created an exact one-fortieth-scale model of Arizona’s Grand Canyon! Now we see that we should at least consider the other possible mechanism for the creation of the Grand Canyon: a lot of water over a short period of time. Another label for ‘a lot of water in a short period of time,’ is, of course: a flood.” (Bruce Hendler, True Earth: A Short History Of Our Planet-Creation Geology In Plain Language, 1030-1035 (Kindle Edition)
The creation of such a deep canyon only took a single day due to a localized catastrophe. With this information in mind, think of the effects that a global catastrophe would have upon the Earth over an extended amount of time!
However, there is much more that we learn from Mount St. Helens.
Rapid Formation Of Rock Strata
Evolutionists through the years have come up with the idea of geologic column.
Basically, we are told that the different types of rock layers found in the Earth’s crust represent different and widely separated eons of time, during which different life-forms lived and evolved (while some organisms were fossilized).
Brad Harrub provides an interesting history of this concept:
“One of the mainstays of evolutionists is the so-called ‘geologic timetable’ or ‘geologic column.’ To many, the geologic column is an impressive argument for an ancient earth. Scientists (and park rangers) subject students to evolutionary descriptions of how the rock layers came into existence over millions of years. Their spiels and examples (like the Grand Canyon) are so effective that-as students observe those layers of sedimentary rocks piled one on top of another-the only explanation appears to be that vast amounts of time were required…Evolutionists have divided the geologic column into a hierarchical system of eons, eras, periods, and epochs. The two major eon divisions are the Precambrian (590 million years to 4.5 billion years ago) and the Phanerozoic (590 million years to the present). The three major eras of the Phanerozoic are the Paleozoic-termed the Age of the Trilobites-(which includes the Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian periods), Mesozoic-termed the age of the dinosaurs (which includes the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods), and Cenozoic-termed the age of the mammals-(which includes the Tertiary and Quaternary periods).” (Brad Harrub, Convicted: A Scientist Examines The Evidence For Christianity, 4558-4577 (Kindle Edition); Brentwood, TN; Focus Press)
A key underpinning of Darwinism is the belief that it takes millions of years for these layers of rock and fossil to form.
However, the “Little Grand Canyon” tells quite a different story.
“As a result of the 1980 and subsequent eruptions at Mount St. Helens, up to 600 feet of rock layers rapidly accumulated near-by.” (Andrew Snelling, “How Old Does The Earth Look?’ in A Pocket Guide To…Best Evidences: Science And The Refute Refute Millions Of Years, 893-899 (Kindle Edition); Hebron, KY; Answers In Genesis)
“Very rapid sedimentation was associated with the Mount St. Helens eruption. Stratified layers up to 435 feet (130 m) thick formed as a result of mud flows and volcanic ash fallout. One such deposit over 100 feet (30 m) thick, which formed in one day on June 12, 1980, contained a 26-foot (8-m) thick layer composed of over 100 thin layers. This was overlain by a 16-foot (5-m) thick mudflow deposit and underlain by a 26-foot (8-m) thick ash deposit. Similar multilayered deposits have also been observed to form after hurricanes and storms. These deposits show how under the catastrophic conditions of a proposed global flood scenario involving massive water movements and volcanic activity, geological formations that would be interpreted as having great age under the conventional uniformitarian long-age geological model can actually be formed in a very short period of time.” (Dr. John F. Ashton, Evolution Impossible: 12 Reasons Why Evolution Cannot Explain The Origin Of Life On Earth, 2383-2388 (Kindle Edition); Green Forest, AR; Master Books)
So once again, we see that the various layers of rock strata in the Grand Canyon could have formed very quickly, and would not have required millions of years to accumulate.
The Dating Game
Many scientists today rely upon extremely faulty dating techniques known generally as “radiometric dating methods.”
The idea behind these dating techniques is that some radioactive elements are known to decay from one type of element (the “parent” element) into another type (the “daughter”element).
By studying the amount of parent and daughter elements in a sample, scientists try to determine how old it is (by comparing the ratio of parent and daughter element).
Now, there are many problems with radiometric dating methods (as more and more scientists are acknowledging in our day and age).
I won’t go into great detail here (although I do have a detailed PowerPoint lesson on the topic at http://www.hvcoc.net), but I will point out that there are some important lessons from the “Little Grand Canyon” regarding these matters.
One rock from Mount Saint Helens (obviously formed in 1986) was shown to be 350, 000 years old by the potassium-argon (K-Ar) radiometric method (give or take 500, 000 years)!
Discrepancies such as this are, sadly, commonplace with these dating methods. Scientists often discuss this-along with the unreliability of-these methods, yet the public is not told.
Instead, we are left with the impression that “scientists” have determined that the Earth is billions of years old, and we have no right to question this!
The sad reality is that know there are many examples of contradictory conclusions from radiometric dating methods.
When a sample yields a result that does not agree with a particular worldview, that sample is simply thrown out. For example:
“In conventional interpretation of K-Ar (potassium-argon) age data, it is common to discard ages which are substantially too high or too low compared with the rest of the group or with other available data such as the geologic time scale. The discrepancies between the rejected and the accepted dates are arbitrarily attributed to excess or loss of argon.” (A. Hayatsu, ‘K-Ar Isochron Age Of The North Mountain Basalt, Nova Scotia,’ Canadian Journal Earth Sciences, Volume 16, 974).
Again:
“In general, dates in the ‘correct ball part’ are assumed to be correct and are published, but those in disagreement with other data are seldom published nor are discrepancies fully explained.” (R.L. Mauger, ‘K-Ar Ages Of Biotites From Tufts In Eocene Rocks Of Green River, Washakie, and Uinta Basins, Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado,’ Contributions To Geology, vol. 15, no 1., 37).
Seldom cited is the fact that at least 102 scientific evidences lead to the conclusion that the Earth is young (i.e., thousands of years old as opposed to billions).
Yet the findings of science confirm the Bible truth regarding these matters.
Millions Of Years…Or The Global Deluge?
Summing up the evidences from the “Little Grand Canyon,” Bruce Hendler has stated it powerfully and concisely:
“The fortuitous combination once again of timing and blast direction eroded a brand new canyon system up to 140 feet deep in the headwaters of the North Fork of the Toutle River Valley, establishing a new dendritic pattern of drainage. Called by some the ‘Little Grand Canyon of the Toutle River,’ in a matter of a few hours God’s Mt. St. Helens Geological Laboratory had created an exact one-fortieth-scale model of Arizona’s Grand Canyon! Now we see that we should at least consider the other possible mechanism for the creation of the Grand Canyon: a lot of water over a short period of time. Another label for ‘a lot of water in a short period of time,’ is, of course: a flood.” (Bruce Hendler, True Earth: A Short History Of Our Planet-Creation Geology In Plain Language, 1030-1035 (Kindle Edition)
The story of the Earth, as revealed through the science of Geology (and not the science fiction of Darwin’s theory of evolution) goes hand in hand with the Bible.
A global Flood DID ravage the Earth, and stands as a reminder that Judgment will come again.
Through Jesus Christ (His atoning death, burial, and Resurrection-I Corinthians 15:1-8), we can be saved from the wrath to come.
Today as a believer, repent and be baptized into Christ for the remission of sins (Acts 2:37-38). If you are an erring child of God, please return to Him today in repentance and prayer (Acts 8:22).
The grace of The Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
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