Comment on La Sierra University debate over creationism continues by George Saxon.
While I have difficulty with some of the assumed conclusions of general evolution, all of us believe in evolution to some degree. My children were once small, but they have evolved into responsible adults. The real question is just how far one goes with the idea
As a physicist (Ph.D, Baylor University, 1971) I cannot support the idea of a relatively short creation. Whether of not you have thought about it, the laws of physics are really God’s rules for running the universe. He decided, as would any architect, just what these rules would be before there was any other creation activity. These rules have never changed. The physics for a long age is really quite solid. Here are just a few of the reasons:
1. Tree rings are reliably used to date back 12,000 years.
2. Corrected Carbon 14 is useful for dates of 20,000 years.
3. Lake varves date in excess of 20,000 years, and have reasonable agreement with corrected Carbon 14 dates.
4. Ice cores in Greenland show snowfall results in excess of 100,000 years,
and cores in Antarctica show dates in excess of 300,000 years, and possibly as much as 500,000 years.
5. The complete lack of short lived radioactive elements in nature. The only naturally occurring radioactive elements are the long lived radioactive elements, and their daughter elements. There is substantial evidence that the short lived radioactive elements occurred at one time since the daughter elements are present.
6. There is a complete absence of Neptunium 237 and its daughter elements except for Bismuth 209. There is an abundance of Bismuth 209 which is the final decay result of Neptunium 237. The half life of Np 237 is about 2.25 million years. The other radioactive chains still exist, but the half lives of the parent element is in the billions of years. Neptunium 237 once existed, but it has completely decayed to Bismuth. This decay process took about 50 million years.
There are numerous other reasons, but because of these reasons, I cannot support a short creation. The physics laws governing these reasons are designed and implemented by God. Does that fact mean anything?
I do believe in creation, and that God really did create the universe out of nothing. It just took a lot longer than we originally thought.
By the way, the book, The Lost World of Genesis One by John Walton, a professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College, gives an alternative look at Genesis One. It should give comfort to anyone who believes that they must make a choice between believing the first chapter of the Bible, or believing the physics that they have demonstrated as truth.
George Saxon
