Biblical Creation vs. Evolution

[Soldier4Christ]

MORE DINOSAUR FEATHER EVIDENCE, according to reports in New Scientist News 20
Sep 2007 and Science vol. 317, p1721. Scientists at the American Museum of
Natural History and the Field Museum claim they have "direct evidence of
feathers" in a small dinosaur named "Velociraptor mongoliensis", which they
estimate was about 1.5m (5ft) long and weighed about 15kg (33lbs). The evidence
consists of "six low papillae on the middle third of the caudal margin of the
ulna". (This means six small bumps on the back of one of the arm bones) The
bumps are approximately 1mm high. The researchers go on to say: "These are
regularly spaced about 4mm apart. Topographically, these papillae correspond to
the quill knobs in living birds." Quill knobs are bumps on wing bones where the
bases of the secondary flight feathers are attached by ligaments to the bone.
One of the researchers, American Museum palaeontologist Alan Turner commented:
"A lack of quill knobs does not necessarily mean that a dinosaur did not have
feathers. Finding quill knobs on Velociraptor, though, means that it definitely
had feathers." The dinosaur is too large, and its arms are too short, for it to
fly, so the researchers suggested it had feathers "for display, shielding nests
for thermal control, or creating negative lift during incline running." Gerald
Mayr at the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt, Germany has asked: "I
wonder why the knobs are not visible on the other specimens (of Velociraptor)?"
According to New Scientist: "Turner acknowledges that he could not find quill
knobs on the other Velociraptor ulnas he examined. He believes that these bumps
sometimes simply failed to fossilise because they are such fine surface
features."


ED. COM. We encourage you to look at the photo associated with the New Scientist
article, which shows the fossil and compares it with a bone from the living bird
with quill knobs. (Scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the photo.)
This study does not prove that Velociraptor had feathers. The only way to prove
that is to find feathers attached to it. All they found were some small bumps on
one bone, and at 1mm (1/25th inch) high they really are small. Gerald Mayr's
question is quite valid, and points to how flimsy the evidence really is. We
suggest the only reason it has been published in a prestigious Journal such as
Science is that evolutionists already believe that dinosaurs had feathers and
will grasp at even the weakest evidence.

[Soldier4Christ]

REPTILES STEP BACK THREE MILLION YEARS, according to reports in Bristol
University News and BBC News Online 17 Oct 2007, and Nature, vol. 449, p961, 25
Oct 2007. Howard Falcon-Lang of the University of Bristol, UK has found a mass
of fossilised footprints in the sea cliffs, New Brunswick, Canada. Mike Benton,
a colleague from University of Bristol, who helped study the fossils explained,
"There were only a few species capable of making prints like this around at the
time so we came up with a short-list of suspects. However, the prints showed
that the hands had five fingers and scales, sure evidence they were made by
reptiles and not amphibians". The new fossils have been dated as 315 million
years old, which makes them between one and three million years older than the
previously known oldest fossil reptiles - bones of a creature named "Hylonomus
lyelli" found in Nova Scotia by William Dawson in 1859. Falcon-Lang commented,
"The new fossils were found in the same general region but at a level in the
rock strata almost a kilometre below Dawson's discovery. Consequently we can be
confident the footprints are older than the skeletons. They were preserved when
reptiles walked across the muddy bottom of a dry riverbed." He also commented to
BBC News: "The evolution of reptiles was one of the most important events in the
whole history of life. That paved the way for the diverse ecology that we have
on our planet today."

ED. COM. The fossils may have been formed when reptiles "walked across a muddy
bottom of a dry riverbed," but that didn't preserve them. They were preserved by
being rapidly buried by another layer of sediment soon after they were made. The
fact that the footprints were found in a lower strata than the bones of
"Hylonomus lyelli" doesn't necessarily make them older than the bones. The work
of Guy Berthault has shown flowing water can lay down many different sediment
layers at the same time. However old the fossils are, all they have proven is
that the oldest known reptiles are fully formed reptiles, i.e. separate kinds
from other animals, and are no help to the theory of evolution. They fit well
into Biblical history, which tells us animals were created as separate kinds,
and many of them were wiped out in Noah's flood.

[Soldier4Christ]

GIANT DINO FROM LOST WORLD reported in BBC News Online, 15 Oct 2007. South
American Scientists have found the neck, back region, hips and the first tail
vertebra of an enormous dinosaur on the banks of Lake Barreales in Patagonia.
According to Jorge Calvo, director of the palaeontology centre at the National
University of Comahue, Argentina, who led the study of the fossil, "This is one
of the biggest (dinosaurs) in the world and one of the most complete of these
giants that exist." They estimate the dinosaur would have stood 32 metres
(105ft) tall. Other giant dinosaurs have been found in South America, but this
is believed to be a new species because it has unusual neck bones not seen in
others. It has been named "Futalognkosaurus dukei". The bones were found amongst
fossils of fish and leaves so the researchers suggested it was washed into a
river, where it created a barrier causing fish and leaves to collect around it.
Alexander Kellner, a researcher with the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro,
commented: "The accumulation of fish and leaf fossils, as well as other
dinosaurs around the find, is just something fantastic. Leaves and dinosaurs
together is a great rarity. It's like a whole lost world for us." The
researchers also point out that the fossils indicate the region where the bones
were found was once a forest growing in a warm humid climate, whereas now it is
bare and steppe-like.

ED. COM. Have these scientists considered the size and ferocity of the flood
required to wash a 105ft tall dinosaur into a river, or that leaves tend to
float on the surface of water and rot, rather than be preserved? The size of
this dinosaur, plus the fossils of fish, leaves and other dinosaurs indicates
this fossil bed was formed by a rapid catastrophic flood that was so vast it
swept up land plants and animals and washed them out to sea where they were
mixed up with fish and masses of sediments, then dumped and rapidly and deeply
buried. This kind of catastrophic event is exactly what you find if the world
was destroyed by a world wide, continent covering flood.

[Soldier4Christ]

PLATYPUS ANCESTORS GET OLDER, according to a report in ABC News in Science,
23 Oct 2007. Scientists at University of Austin Texas have carried out an x-ray
study of the jaw of an extinct animal named "Teinolophos trusleri," believed to
be an ancestor of the platypus. They found it had the same canals in its jaws
that a modern platypus has, which house the thick nerve bundles needed for its
electric sensing snout (the "duckbill"). The electric sense is unique to the
platypus and was thought to have evolved quite recently. The only other egg
laying mammal, the echidna, does not have the thick nerve bundles, so the
platypus is believed to have evolved its highly efficient electric sense after
its ancestors split off from the common monotreme (egg laying mammal) ancestor.
This led Timothy Rowe, who led the study, to comment: "It suggests that both the
platypus and echidna lineages were distinct by 120 million years ago, and that
the platypus, at least, has occupied its stable niche as an electro-receptive
aquatic predator ever since." The skull studied by the Austin team is dated as
being Early Cretaceous, about 120 million years old.

ED. COM. Occupying a stable niche is another way of saying this animal has done
the same thing for 120 million years, i.e. it hasn't evolved. The fact that the
oldest known platypus seems to have had a fully functioning electric sense
confirms the Genesis account of creation, where animals were created as fully
functioning creatures in separate kinds, ready to function in the environment
they were designed for. Delete the assumed 120 million years and you have the
consistent result that as long as the platypus has been here it has been a
platypus, so the facts don't disagree with Genesis, the theories about age and
evolution do.

[nChrist]

The so-called "missing link" is still missing, and it will remain missing because it never existed in the first place. The missing FACT for evolutionists is THE CREATOR - ALMIGHTY GOD, but THE CREATOR isn't missing. HE IS - ALWAYS WAS - AND ALWAYS WILL BE THE CREATOR - ALMIGHTY GOD! It takes much greater faith to believe Darwin than it does to believe ALMIGHTY GOD! The theories of Darwin are falling apart, and they are just about debunked as the greatest hoax in human history. The vanity of self-proclaimed intellectuals is really all that's left to hold the broken pieces up. It's gotten so sad that many scientific discoveries are withheld from the public to preserve the reputations and incomes of those still proclaiming the lies of Darwin. A bigger vanity is in play by those who refuse to acknowledge the existence of GOD. A REAL GOD and CREATOR would crush their pride and reduce them to what they really are - JUST a part of GOD'S Creation. Like it or not, they will bow before their CREATOR one day, but it will be too late!

Love In Christ,
Tom

John 1:1-5 NASB
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

John 1:10-13 NASB
He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

[Soldier4Christ]

 Sunlight Before the Sun

According to Scripture, God "created the heaven and the earth" on Day One of Creation Week (Genesis 1:1). Initially all was dark, until God said, "Let there be light" (v. 3). Days Two and Three saw the oceans, firmament (or atmosphere), continents, and plants formed, as the earth was being progressively prepared for man's habitation. It was on Day Four that God created the sun, moon, and stars, proclaiming, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven" (v. 14), one purpose of which was "to give light upon the earth" (v. 15).

This light was directional, coming from a particular source. The earth was evidently rotating underneath it, causing alternating periods of light and dark. "And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night" (v. 5).

Skeptics have long ridiculed the science of biblical creation over this point. How could there be light bathing the earth before the sun was created? Obviously the Bible must be in error. But as always, this apparent error drives us to look more closely at the relevant data, both scientific and biblical.

Actually there are many sources of light, not just the sun. There are also many types of light, not just visible light. Short-wave light includes ultraviolet light, X-rays, and others. Long-wave light includes infrared light, radio waves, etc. Light is produced by friction, by fire, by numerous chemical reactions, as well as the nuclear reactions of atomic fission and fusion, which is what we think is occurring in the sun. God had at His fingertips many options to accomplish His purposes. Light does not automatically require the sun.

Furthermore, we have important data given by the Hebrew words used in the creation account. When God created "light" in verse 3, the word used connotes the presence of light only, while the word used for "lights" on Day Four is best translated "light bearers," or permanent light sources. Their purpose was not only to give light, but to serve as timekeepers for man once he was created. According to the best stellar creation theory now available, light from stars created anywhere in the universe on Day Four would reach earth in two earth days, and would be useful to Adam on Day Six. (For more information, see Dr. Russell Humphrey's cosmology articles on www.icr.org.)

Keep in mind that the Creation Week was a uniquely miraculous time, and we are justified in speculating that miraculous events may have been taking place outside of today's natural laws. Especially when we realize that "God is light" (1 John 1:5) Himself, thus no outside natural source is necessarily mandated.

For semi-creationists who claim that the "days" of Genesis 1 must have been long periods of time, a more serious problem arises. Genesis plainly teaches that plants appeared on Day Three, and the sun on Day Four. But plants need sunlight for photosynthesis and cannot wait in darkness for millions of years. If the days were long epochs, as demanded by critics of a literal Creation Week, plants could not survive.

How much better and more satisfying it is to accept Scripture as it stands. It doesn't need to be fully understood and explained by modern scientific thought; it just needs to be believed and obeyed.

[Soldier4Christ]

 Food, Fasting, and Physiology

Fasting is an important, personal matter involving intense spiritual discipline (Daniel 9:3). Clearly, the Lord Jesus fasted (Matthew 9:14-15; 17:21). It is not intended for salvation or to "punish the flesh" or as a badge of personal pride (Luke 18:9-14). It is intended to change us.

God has created our bodies to use starch, glycogen, and disaccharides (e.g., good old table sugar) as sources of energy on a day-to-day basis. These are carbohydrates and make up about half of most diets. As important as protein and fat (yes, fat--the average adult needs 80-100 grams of dietary fat per day) are in our diet, they are not intended to be the primary source of energy (although muscles do use free fatty acids first during light exercise).

In fact, people typically have about two pounds of carbohydrates stored as glycogen in the liver and skeletal muscle as energy backup (glycogenesis). This is why distance runners load up on high-carb foods (such as pasta) for several days before a marathon. They know the body will process these stores into glycogen that will be used gradually during the race. When this glucose polymer (glycogen) is needed, our incredibly designed liver delivers glucose units into the bloodstream (glucose, a monosaccharide, is called blood sugar).

But glycogen lasts for only so long, and before these reserves run out the body begins to use a more complex, energy-rich source called lipids (fat). The person who fasts, drinking only water, will deplete his glycogen reserves in a timeframe ranging from hours to a day or two (depending on energy demands) and will then be in fat respiration (breakdown).

While fasting for some can be harmful after only a few days, the Creator has uniquely designed our bodies to maintain this altered metabolism during a fast that He leads His people to endure, such as Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 34:27-28) or Elijah traveling from Beersheba to Mt. Horeb (1 Kings 19:3-9) or Jesus before His temptation by Satan in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11). Throughout this time, the body breaks down fatty acids (lipolysis) by the liver and produces ketone bodies and other compounds that are released into the bloodstream (ketosis). As long as one remains quiet, with a minimum of physical exertion (such as during fasting and prayer--Ezra 8:21-23; Psalm 35:13; Acts 13:1-3), this ketoacidotic condition is not threatening.

On the fortieth day of Jesus' fast, the Bible indicates that Jesus was "hungry," no doubt famished without food or water for over a month. At this physical low point, Satan struck. By this time, Jesus was on the verge of breaking down His own body protein as a final food source, since His carbohydrate and fat reserves were virtually depleted. Starvation victims tell of these later stages of gastric turgor, which result in intense pain or hunger pangs. But even under these extreme conditions, the Lord rebuked the Deceiver three times with Scripture, refusing to engage in dialog. At the end of this trial, "behold, angels came and ministered unto him" (Matthew 4:11).

While not a command in Scripture, fasting is assumed to be a Christian discipline for spiritual purposes (Matthew 6:16-18). Depriving the body of food should not be undertaken lightly or for the wrong reasons. In fact, some with certain medical conditions should not fast at all, and all fasts lasting more than a few days should not be started without consulting one's physician. However, the Creator knows our limitations and has designed us with an incredible nutritional cascade system that will allow us to endure the fast He calls us to undertake. For an encouraging and sensible resource on the Christian discipline of prayer and fasting, read Dr. Bill Bright's 7 Steps to Successful Fasting and Prayer

[Soldier4Christ]

 The Hualapai and the Flood

It rained for 45 days, and the whole earth was flooded. All the people were destroyed, except for one old man atop Spirit Mountain. Many days passed and a dove brought him instructions from the Creator to drive a ram's horn into the earth. The old man obeyed and the waters were drained. He sent the dove forth, and when it returned with fresh grass in its beak, he rejoiced for the land had become dry.

When the old man died, the Creator made "a younger brother and an older brother." In obedience to a dream, the two scraped, cleaned, and laid out canes. Before the next dawn the canes turned into a great population, and older-brother's rule over them was good. When he died, younger-brother commanded Cousin Coyote to fetch fire for the funeral pyre from faraway Fire-starter. But Coyote was disobedient and looked back, only to see that the fire had started without him. Dashing back to the pyre, he reached into the blaze, snatched older-brother's heart, and fled with it in his clenched teeth. (To this day, coyotes bear the mark of rebellion in their upturned, disfigured mouths.)

The land became irrevocably "not good" by this act, and younger-brother led the people "across the water" to a new land in the east. Overcrowding soon ensued, and younger-brother chief dispersed the people into three major people groups (Navajo, Mojave, and Hualapai).

This is the Flood story of the Hualapai Indians of northwestern Arizona.1 Like hundreds of Flood traditions, it was apparently handed down orally over the centuries. The Hualapai account corresponds to petroglyphs--one depicting a vessel carrying eight people (including younger-brother chief) across the floodwaters--inscribed on the flanks of Spirit Mountain in the area of Davis Dam, California, near the Colorado River. Some of the finest rock strata evidence we have for a global Flood is found on Hualapai lands in the westernmost Grand Canyon. Research by ICR geologists has been carried out there for the past ten years with the kind cooperation of the Hualapai. On these lands, song, rock, and petroglyphs agree--on a global flood.

Obviously the dove, the 45 days, the eight people aboard a vessel of deliverance, and a fall that marred even the animal kingdom, bear a remarkable resemblance to the biblical account. One might suspect it was a corruption of the Bible story, but this is unlikely for three reasons: 1) it is at least 150 years old, pre-dating all but the earliest Christian influences; 2) the Hualapai are fiercely proud and, for the most part, eschew "white man's" ways, including his religion; and 3) it matches with petroglyphs known to be ancient (though they cannot be absolutely dated). The account appears authentic.

    The God who made the world and all things in it....He made from one |blood| every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. (Acts 17:24-27, NASB)

Jesus was not white, nor did He found a "white man's religion." God loves the Hualapai and sent His Son to earth to prove it. This is a love story begun in the book of Genesis, and the modern Hualapai retain a memory of the events recorded there.

[Soldier4Christ]

 Radiocarbon in "Ancient" Fossil Wood

The presence of measurable radiocarbon in fossil wood supposedly tens and hundreds of millions of years old has been well-documented.1-5 Baumgardner6 has similarly reported measurable radiocarbon in ancient organic materials, well above the threshold of the accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) analytical technology used, including ten samples of US coals spanning 45-300 million years of the conventional timescale for the geologic record. Meticulous laboratory procedures rule out the possibility that this measured radiocarbon is due to contamination, so it must instead be intrinsic to these ancient organic materials. However, such is the rapid decay of radiocarbon (14C), with a half-life of 5,730 years, that even after only 250,000 years there should be no detectable radiocarbon left. Thus, organic materials supposedly millions of years old should not contain any radiocarbon whatsoever.

Cripple Creek, Colorado

Cripple Creek is the premier gold mining district of Colorado, having produced more than 23 million ounces of gold since 1891. The gold is found in veins and surrounding rocks associated with a small (six square mile) volcanic complex that is supposedly 32 million years old (Oligocene), as determined by Ar-Ar radioisotope dating.7 The complex was formed by explosive volcanism from multiple coalescing eruptive centers, episodic intrusion of alkaline igneous rocks (ranging from phonolite to lamprophyre), development of funnel-shaped breccia pipes, and repeated eruption and subsidence cycles.8 A two-phased mineralizing event closely followed emplacement of the volcanic complex. First, a high-temperature fluid flow phase caused alteration of the host volcanic rocks and increased their permeability. Then a subsequent low-temperature fluid flow phase deposited in steeply dipping veins and disseminated gold into the porous wall rocks.9

The Cresson Mine (Figure 1) exploits the most valuable deposit in the district, having produced more than 3 million ounces of gold. Its gold mineralization is associated with an ultramafic lamprophyre pipe, which at supposedly 27 million years old was one of the last volcanic events to occur in the district.10 The gold in the Cresson deposit is generally less than 20 microns in size and occurs in three principal forms: native gold as embayments or replacements along the margins of pyrite grains, or even intergrown with pyrite; as native gold associated with hydrous iron and manganese oxides after tellurides; and as gold-silver tellurides primarily in quartz-fluorite veins. Oxidation of the deposit is strongest and deepest along major structural zones, but generally has a nominal depth of 400 feet.

Ancient Fossil Wood

Historic reports are common of early miners encountering pieces of petrified and coalified wood in the deep workings of the mines.11-13 Many tree parts, ranging from small pieces of wood up to logs, trunks and a whole stump, have been found mixed in with the Cripple Creek Breccia that hosts the gold mineralization. Coalification of the fossil wood was common, and growth rings and other woody structures such as knots and bark had been retained. The original trees were undoubtedly conifers, probably belonging to a species of Pinus.

Carbonized fossil wood was also found in the Cresson Mine, including a log, at depths of 800 feet or more down from the surface.13 In July 1947, a small piece of coalified wood, measuring almost 3 centimeters in length (Figure 2), was found in a "sand bed" within rock, possibly sand-sized volcanic breccia (tuff and rock fragments) intruded by the lamprophyre pipe, on the 17th level of the underground workings, some 1,700 feet below the surface.14 Furthermore, a cored exploration hole drilled in 2003 intersected a small piece of carbonized fossil wood in tuff and rock fragments of the Cripple Creek Breccia at a vertical depth of 3,079 feet beneath the surface under the mine.15

The postulated mechanism responsible for burying this fossil wood so deeply within this volcanic complex is the subsidence that followed many violent volcanic eruptions. When the magmas rose through cracks and conduits they encountered groundwater, resulting in phreatic explosions. Violent jets of volcanic ash and billowing clouds of steam shook the landscape, sweeping away trees and other vegetation, brecciating the surrounding rocks to great depths, and thoroughly mixing all of the shattered materials. As these eruptions finished, the resultant breccias subsided into the deep holes from which the magmas had been blasted into ash and steam, taking with them the wood debris and burying it.

Radiocarbon Analyses

Some very small splinter-like fragments, collectively weighing 128 milligrams, were gently broken off from one end of the piece of car bonized fossil wood that was found in July 1947 in the Cresson Mine. The specimen was kindly provided by geologist David M. Vardiman, who at the time was working for the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Company, the current operators of the mine. After being carefully packaged and labeled, this sample was submitted with the required documentation to Professor Roelf Beukens at the IsoTrace Radiocarbon Laboratory at the University of Toronto in Ontario, Canada.

At this laboratory, the sample was prepared for analysis with a modified AAAOx pretreatment,16 the standard procedure developed to guarantee the elimination of any contamination. First, though, the sample was demineralized to remove any contaminant inorganic minerals. This involved drenching the samples in hot and strong hydrochloric acid to dissolve away any calcium, barium, or strontium salts (which is done to avoid producing insoluble fluorides in the next step), and then soaking the sample for at least a week in a hot and strong mixture of hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acids. After this, the acid-soluble humics were removed from what remained of the sample with an extended hot and strong hydrochloric acid. This was followed by an extended cold and fresh alkali extraction. The laboratory reported that the dried residue consisted of needles with a carbon content normal for organic material. A very short chlorite bleach treatment then had to be used because the sample rapidly oxidized. Before subsequent combustion, the sample was degasified under vacuum.

The resultant graphite was then analysed for radiocarbon using the laboratory's state-of-the-art AMS system. Four separate highprecision analyses were averaged and corrected for natural and sputtering isotope fractionation using the measured 13C/12C ratios. The averaged radiocarbon analysis reported by the laboratory, after the laboratory "background correction" of 0.077 percent modern carbon was subtracted, was 0.588 ± 0.069 percent modern carbon. This equates to an apparent uncalibrated radiocarbon age of 41,260 ± 540 years before present (BP), using the Libby meanlife of 8,033 years. The quoted errors represent the 68.3% confidence limits.

Discussion

The volcanic rock materials in which this piece of carbonized fossil wood was found are claimed to be 32 million years old, yet the wood yielded a radiocarbon age of only 41,260 years, well within the measurement limits of this dating method. The usual response to such a glaring and enigmatic discrepancy is to claim that the wood had obviously been contaminated with modern carbon, making it date young when in fact it really is extremely old.

Four sources of potential contamination could be invoked in this instance. First, any contamination in the laboratory can be immediately ruled out, because extreme handling and preparation measures were used in this highly respected academic laboratory, measures that have proved effective in removing any potential contamination. This included extended use of strong acids to guarantee removal of any carbonate and other minerals that might have contributed modern radiocarbon to the wood. Second, any contamination due to handling of the sample--for example, from human hands or plastic storage bags--can also be definitively ruled out, because any such contamination would only have been on the sample's surface and would have been immediately eliminated by the laboratory's extreme sample preparation techniques.

cont'd

[Soldier4Christ]

The third potential source of contamination would have been the source area in the ground from which the sample was taken. Here there were definitely many relevant factors. At the time of burial of this wood in this volcanic complex, there were the hot temperatures of the volcanic ash and of the waters in the surface sediments in which the original trees grew and in any sedimentary strata beneath. Once the wood was buried, there would have been circulation of these waters as hydrothermal fluids through the volcanic pile when the gold mineralization was deposited. The resultant hydrothermal alteration is pronounced and complex, but includes carbonate and silicate minerals, and silica (quartz).17 However, no carbonate minerals or silica were in any way visibly evident within or clinging to the wood when the sample was collected, stored, and then sent to the laboratory. In any case, such minerals would have been removed from the wood, even from within it, by the severe demineralizing treatment in the laboratory. Furthermore, the hydrothermal fluids at the time of introducing dissolved minerals to the volcanic pile and altering it, supposedly 32 million years ago, would have only contained old carbon, which if anything would have swamped any radiocarbon in the wood so that it should have yielded an infinite radiocarbon age, consistent with it being supposedly that old.

This only leaves, finally, the fourth potential source of contamination--namely, the groundwater percolating through the volcanic rocks and the carbonized fossil wood right up until the present. This can be likewise ruled out, because at 1,700 feet below the present land surface, any groundwater within the rocks and wood would have virtually no connection with any modern radiocarbon in the atmosphere, soils, and weathered rocks well above them. Furthermore, as a consequence of the many interconnected mining tunnels, and then the drilling in 1941 of a drainage tunnel some 3,100 feet below the surface under the mines, the whole area has been gradually de-watered by gravity so that water saturation in the rocks is now rarely encountered above 2,460 feet below the surface. In any case, any soluble inorganic carbonate carbon in the groundwater would not have exchanged with the insoluble organic carbon in the wood, because the two forms of carbon are incompatible. Also, any carbonate mineral deposited within or onto the wood by the groundwater would have also been removed by the severe demineralizing treatment in the laboratory.

It can only be concluded, therefore, that the radiocarbon measured by the laboratory must be real in situ radiocarbon intrinsic to the original wood, and not contamination of any sort. This does not imply that this radiocarbon is a reliable measure of the wood's true age. In fact, other fossil woods analyzed for radiocarbon have yielded various other "ages." However, it does indicate that the wood is young, and not 32 million years old. Clearly, the long-age radioactive Ar-Ar dating method used to determine that age for the volcanic rocks hosting the carbonized wood is totally unreliable, due to the unproven assumptions on which it is based and the well-documented problems associated with it.18 On the other hand, radiocarbon testing of ten coal beds spanning a significant portion of the fossil-bearing strata record of the Genesis Flood yielded "ages" of 48,000–50,000 years;19 so at 41,260 years this carbonized wood could arguably be dated as late Flood or even post- Flood, and thus only about 4,300 years old.

It should also be noted that this radiocarbon "date" was calculated on the assumption that this carbonized wood had similar radiocarbon content when it was buried to the radiocarbon content of modern trees. However, this assumption can be shown to be false for at least two reasons. First, the Flood removed so much carbon from the biosphere and buried it. Second, the earth's magnetic field was much stronger in the recent past back to the Flood, resulting in a much lower radiocarbon production rate in the atmosphere. These two factors thus would have meant that there was much less radiocarbon in ancient buried organic materials. Therefore, the required recalibration of the radiocarbon "dates" for these supposedly ancient organic materials would significantly reduce their true ages to make them compatible with the biblical timescale of earth history.

Conclusions

Carbonized fossil wood was found in July 1947 in volcanic "sand" within the Cripple Creek Breccia at 1,700 feet underground in the Cresson Mine, Cripple Creek, Colorado. Fragments from a sample of this wood were submitted for radiocarbon analysis to the IsoTrace Radiocarbon Laboratory at the University of Toronto, Canada. The high-precision AMS analyses of the wood revealed an average radiocarbon content of 0.588 ± 0.069 percent modern carbon (after subtraction of the laboratory's "background correction" of 0.077 percent modern carbon), which equates to an apparent uncalibrated radiocarbon age of 41,260 ± 540 years BP. Because any and all sources of potential contamination were removed by the laboratory's severe chemical pre-treatment and can thus be discounted, this radiocarbon was concluded to be real, in situ, and intrinsic to the original wood. This age conflicts starkly with the Ar-Ar radioisotope date of 32 million years for the volcanic rock in which the wood was buried, rendering that method totally unreliable. On the other hand, comparison with radiocarbon dates for coal beds deposited during the Flood year suggests that this carbonized fossil wood is likely only about 4,300 years old, buried by the late Flood or even post-Flood volcanic activity that also generated the Cripple Creek gold deposits.

References

   1. Snelling, A.A. 1997. Radioactive “dating” in conflict! Fossil wood in ancient lava yields radiocarbon. Creation Ex Nihilo. 20(1): 24-27.
   2. Snelling, A.A. 1998. Stumping old-age dogma: radiocarbon in an “ancient” fossil tree stump casts doubt on traditional rock/fossil dating. Creation Ex Nihilo. 20(4): 48-51.
   3. Snelling, A.A. 1999. Dating dilemma: fossil wood in ancient sandstone. Creation Ex Nihilo. 21(3): 39-41.
   4. Snelling, A.A. 2000. Geological conflict: young radiocarbon date for ancient fossil wood challenges fossil dating. Creation Ex Nihilo. 22(2): 44-47.
   5. Snelling, A.A. 2000. Conflicting “ages” of Tertiary basalt and contained fossilized wood, Crinum, central Queensland, Australia. Creation Ex Nihilo Technical Journal. 14(2): 99-122.
   6. Baumgardner, J.R. 2005. 14C Evidence for a Recent Global Flood and a Young Earth. In Vardiman, L., A.A. Snelling and E.F. Chaffin (eds.), Radioisotopes and the Age of the Earth: Results of a Young-Earth Creationist Research Initiative. El Cajon, CA: Institute for Creation Research, and Chino Valley, AZ: Creation Research Society, 587-630.
   7. Kelley, K.D. 1996. Origin and Timing of Magmatism and Associated Gold-Telluride Mineralization of Cripple Creek, Colorado. Ph.D. dissertation. Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO.
   8. Thompson, T.B. et al. 1985. Mineralized Veins and Breccias of the Cripple Creek District, Colorado. Economic Geology. 80: 1669-1688.
   9. Kelley, K.D. et al. 1998. Geochemical and Geochronological Constraints on the Genesis of the Au-Te Deposits at Cripple Creek, Colorado. Economic Geology. 93: 981-1012.
  10. Kelley, 1996, reference 7; Pontius, J.A., and J.A. Head. 1996. Cresson Mine: Case History of a Rapidly Evolving Mining Project. Mining Engineering. January: 26-30.
  11. Rickard, T.A. 1900. The Cripple Creek Volcano. Transactions of the American Institute of Mining Engineers. 30: 367-403.
  12. Lindgren, W., and F.L. Ransome. 1906. Geology and Gold Deposits of the Cripple Creek District, Colorado. US Geological Survey Professional Paper 54.
  13. Loughlin, G.F., and A.H. Koschmann. 1935. Geology and Ore of the Cripple Creek District, Colorado. Colorado Scientific Society Proceedings. 13(6): 217-435.
  14. Vardiman, D.M. Personal email communication, July 12, 2006.
  15. Veatch, S.W., and T.R. Brown. 2004. Carbonized Wood from the Oligocene: Trapped in Cripple Creek’s Volcanic Complex. Trilobite Tales. January: 9-12.
  16. Beukens, R.P. Radiocarbon Analysis Report. IsoTrace Radiocarbon Laboratory, University of Toronto, February 9, 2007.
  17. Jensen, E.P. 2003. Magmatic and Hydrothermal Evolution of the Cripple Creek Gold Deposit, Colorado, and Comparisons with Regional and Global Magmatic-Hydrothermal Systems Associated with Alkaline Magmatism. Ph.D. dissertation. University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.
  18. Snelling, A.A. 2000. Geochemical Processes in the Mantle and Crust. In Vardiman, L., A.A. Snelling, and E.F. Chaffin (eds.), Radioisotopes and the Age of the Earth: A Young-Earth Creationist Research Initiative. El Cajon, CA: Institute for Creation Research, and St. Joseph, MO: Creation Research Society, 123-304; and Snelling, Isochron Discordances and the Role of Inheritance and Mixing of Radioisotopes in the Mantle and Crust, in Radioisotopes and the Age of the Earth: Results of a Young-Earth Creationist Research Initiative, 393-524.
  19. Baumgardner, J.R. et al. 2003. Measurable 14C in Fossilized Organic Materials: Confirming the Young Earth Creation-Flood Model. In Ivey Jr., R.L. (ed.), Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Creationism. Pittsburgh, PA: Creation Science Fellowship, 127-142.

[Soldier4Christ]

 Redeeming the Time

Beginning a new year traditionally provides us with an opportunity to take stock of where we have been and where we wish to go. Most people make resolutions in the hope of improving their health, finances, or appearance, but all are made in an attempt to become "better people" in some way. As Christians, however, we know we are nothing outside of our Lord's saving grace, so our focus should be much different than that of the secular world. Whether or not you participate in making resolutions, consider the following truths that should motivate us all to seek a closer walk with our Creator this coming year.

Number Your Days

Psalm 90, the majestic prayer written by Moses toward the end of his life, contains a beautiful summary of God's power and provision for Israel throughout the ages. The overwhelming theme concerns the brevity of our lives, and the urgency to finish the work the Lord has given us. Moses wrote that "all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told |literally, a brief sigh|" (v. 9). And because life is so short, Moses asks the Lord to "teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom" (v. 12).

The word "teach" here literally means to acknowledge or recognize. And in order to do this, we first must know how many days have passed since birth, and then roughly estimate how many days may remain to us. Anticipating a normal lifespan of 70 to 80 years (v. 10), this exercise forces us to consider "the work of our hands" (v. 17) to determine if we have applied "our hearts unto wisdom" (v. 12). This New Year, take time to consider your "number of days" and how you can effectively use the remainder for His glory!

Walk Circumspectly

The great Apostle Paul, writing some 1,500 years after Moses, similarly counseled the Christians at Ephesus to "walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:15-16). The term "walk circumspectly" means to be diligently aware of potential consequences, and implies that we must have a firm understanding of biblical truths in order to distinguish foolishness from wisdom. The word "redeeming," as used in this context, literally means to rescue from loss. Therefore, by walking diligently with our Lord in wisdom, we are to "rescue from loss" the time He has allotted to each of us.

Poor health can sometimes be corrected, and lost money or possessions can often be regained. But time wasted is gone forever! This New Year, carefully consider how you can "redeem the time" to bring honor and glory to our Creator.

At ICR, we are committed to knowing, following, and teaching the truth of our Creator as expressed in His perfect Word. And as we enter another year, we are reminded of the brevity of our days, and earnestly seek to redeem the time until the Lord comes. Our agenda for 2008 is packed with new initiatives, and we pray that our Creator will provide the resources needed to see them to fruition. Won't you prayerfully consider how you can help?

[Soldier4Christ]

A New Source for Stem Cells

Some scientists and policymakers claim that the moratorium on the use of human embryos for stem cell research has stifled the development of possible cures for debilitating diseases. Thankfully, a true breakthrough seems to have been reached as two labs have recently developed an alternate source that uses cells from adults. Viruses were used as a vector to deliver transcription factors that converted adult somatic cells into pluripotent stem cells. (The virus technique will never be used to actually make these available for clinical use, but creating pluripotent cells from adult somatic cells can be done!) The future finally looks hopeful for stem cell research.

The November issues of various leading science journals explained the procedure, evoking strong reaction from scientists and politicians--not all of it positive. One would think that all concerned would welcome the news. Moral and political objections have been overcome, and the ethical concerns that hampered funding have been virtually eliminated. But many still call for the use of human embryos to harvest stem cells. So why doesn't everyone involved embrace the new technique?

Could it be that a deeper issue has come into play? Could there be a hidden agenda, either on the conscious or subconscious level, in embryonic stem cell research?

Let me call your attention to a biblical war that has been raging almost since the beginning. Lucifer was the highest created being in the angelic hierarchy. He held great power and influence, ranking second only to the Godhead. Along with the other angels, he had praised God for His creative acts "when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy" (Job 38:7). But he must have smarted as God created His own image in man (Genesis 1:27) and began a new relationship of grace with mankind, relegating angels to the role of "ministering spirits" (Hebrews 1:14).

Scripture doesn't provide the details, but we know that Satan (as he is now known) attempted to usurp God's kingship of the universe. But God will not allow pride or rebellion in His presence, and He banished Satan from the heavenly realm to the newly-formed planet earth.

No doubt he arrived in a rage against God, His work of creation, and God's image in man. In Adam and Eve he saw the potential to mock God's creative work. Thus his first order of business was to tempt them to reject God and His authority. Since that time, his empty promises have led mankind into pain, suffering, disease, and the grave.

Nothing brings Satan such great enjoyment as seeing mankind experience misery and death. Might this be the mentality undergirding embryonic stem cell research, not to mention abortion, euthanasia, and even racially-motivated genocide? Could it be that Satan is empowering and energizing his followers, either knowingly or unknowingly, to carry out his desires?

If these connections are accurate in any regard, then we would expect this negative reaction on the part of certain scientists and leaders to a scientific breakthrough that avoids the destruction of human life. After all, individual doctors may rejoice when human life benefits, but the forces of darkness do not.

[nChrist]

Walk Circumspectly

The great Apostle Paul, writing some 1,500 years after Moses, similarly counseled the Christians at Ephesus to "walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:15-16). The term "walk circumspectly" means to be diligently aware of potential consequences, and implies that we must have a firm understanding of biblical truths in order to distinguish foolishness from wisdom. The word "redeeming," as used in this context, literally means to rescue from loss. Therefore, by walking diligently with our Lord in wisdom, we are to "rescue from loss" the time He has allotted to each of us.

AMEN!

These are fascinating articles and an excellent reminder that the greatest discoveries have already been given to us in GOD'S WORD from the CREATOR HIMSELF! THANKS!

Love In Christ,
Tom

Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable GIFT, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour Forever!

[Soldier4Christ]

An article written in Daily Mails Science and Technology:


Forget meteor: Biting insects 'killed dinosaurs'
Scientists: New theory helps explain why creatures took so long to die off

The theory goes that dinosaurs were wiped out after an asteroid smashed into the Earth 65million years ago.

But now it has been suggested they were sent into eternity by an equally catastrophic but somewhat smaller threat - biting insects.

Disease spread by mosquitoes, mites and ticks was probably the major factor that finished off the reptiles, say scientists.

The insects could have also made it harder for dinosaurs to survive by changing the nature of plant life.

Bees and other pollinators helped promote the rapid spread of flowering plants, leading to the loss of vegetarian dinosaurs' traditional food sources. As the planteating dinosaurs declined, so would their predators.

The theory helps explain why dinosaurs took so long to die off, say husband-and - wife team George and Roberta Poinar.

According to the most widely accepted explanation, the dinosaurs vanished after an asteroid or comet hit the Earth between the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods.

Another theory is that they were driven to extinction by massive volcanic eruptions in India, which led to extreme climate change.

But George Poinar, a courtesy professor of zoology at Oregon State University, points out that they did not disappear immediately.

Their extinction was drawn out over hundreds of thousands or even millions of years.

An asteroid impact should have led to an abrupt extinction, and climate change would probably also have wiped them out in a relatively short time, he said.

But emerging diseases spread by biting insects, combined with the spread of flowering plants, and competition with insects for plant resources, was "perfectly compatible" with a lengthy process of extinction.

The Poinars outline their theory in What Bugged The Dinosaurs? Insects, Disease And Death In The Cretaceous, published by Princeton University Press.

The professor said examination of insects preserved in amber found organisms which can cause malaria, dysentery "and other abdominal disturbances".

The infections the insects carried would have caused repeated epidemics that slowly wore down dinosaur populations, which had little or no immunity.

Professor Poinar added: "Other geologic and catastrophic events certainly played a role.

"But by themselves, such events do not explain a process that in reality took a very, very long time, perhaps millions of years. Insects and diseases do provide that explanation."

___________

This still does not explain the rapid burial and preservation of Dinosaurs that is required to form fossils nor does it explain the preservation of recent finds of Dinosaurs that have maintained blood and tissue which would indicate a death of thousands of years not millions as is the supported theory of most secular scientists. A major catastrophe such as Noah's world wide flood still is the most logical explanation for the demise of the Dinosaur.

[nChrist]

This still does not explain the rapid burial and preservation of Dinosaurs that is required to form fossils nor does it explain the preservation of recent finds of Dinosaurs that have maintained blood and tissue which would indicate a death of thousands of years not millions as is the supported theory of most secular scientists. A major catastrophe such as Noah's world wide flood still is the most logical explanation for the demise of the Dinosaur.

BUT, evolutionists don't want to talk about things like this. In fact, many discoveries are hidden and not talked about at all. Footprints of man in the same layer with the fossil just aren't handy to talk about. It's also not handy to talk about ancient art depicting dinosaurs. After all, that would mean that mankind was living at the same time as the dinosaurs, and mankind WAS!

There is tons of evidence around the world that the great flood in Noah's time was an absolute FACT! However, it sure is hard for many scientists to agree and acknowledge that the BIBLE IS TRUTH! After all, if the BIBLE IS TRUTH, the scientists are wrong, and that wouldn't be good for their reputations and paychecks. It really is just this simple - THE BIBLE IS ABSOLUTE TRUTH AND FACT! Scientists could make many more discoveries if they paid attention to the HOLY BIBLE FIRST!