+quot;EVIDENCE+quot; OF A YOUNG EARTH AIR DATE: September 27, 1994 GUEST: Roger Oakland, f

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"EVIDENCE" OF A YOUNG EARTH AIR DATE: September 27, 1994 GUEST: Roger Oakland, former evolutionist biology professor, is currently a creationist missionary and has written and produced such materials as the Evidence for Creation book and many creation videos. FOCUS: Scientists may sound confident when they claim the earth is billions of years old, but if you listen carefully, they qualify that claim with words like believe, suppose, and estimate with startling regularity. [Note: science has knowledge without certainty: creationists have certainty without knowledge. -- drice] No one can claim to know the true age of the earth except the One who was there_God, the Creator. The problem is, most textbooks claim an ancient earth is as factual as gravity. It has to be, because it is used to substantiate evolution! [Note: it doesn't. -- drice] As scientific authorities become more dogmatic about the ancient age of the earth, they can become just as dogmatic about the "fact" of evolution. However, if you look beneath the surface at the reasons for such dogmatism, you find a "magic factor" that isn't in the textbooks: Long periods of time make an impossible, ridiculous idea seem credible. Let's face it, if someone claimed they could turn an amoeba into a man in a matter of hours, he would be rejected immediately because the claim could be tested and found false. Yet when a claim is dated billions of years in the past, that theory helps support evolution. Since it cannot be disproved, evolutionists have their "evidence" and the scientific world is changed forever! The only answer for Christians is to lay the groundwork so the Holy Spirit can convict and draw people to an understanding of the creating and saving work of Christ! FAST FACTS: Origins of the Dispute Over Origins. Eastern and humanist philosophies paved the way for the "scientific" findings which "prove" evolution. Some "experts" claim the roots of the ancient earth theory can be found in the work of James Hutton, who lived in the mid to late 18th century. However, Arthur C. Clark, in an issue of Omni Magazine, claimed the East had guessed the true age of the universe centuries before the West. He suggests Hindu philosophy, which requires eons of time for the elevation of consciousness, goes hand in hand with an understanding of the gradual, evolutionary development of earth and mankind. Charles Lyell was responsible for laying out the Geologic Column. He was not only a geologist, but also a politician, and British society held a strong belief in God's influence in life and politics. In fact, the king and queen derived much of their power from the belief that they were appointed and sustained by God. The Humanist movement, of which Lyell was a part, wanted to cast doubt on the biblical record of creation and weaken the political position of the monarchy. Erasmus Darwin developed the idea of evolution two generations before his grandson Charles. He led the Lunar Society_a group of Humanists looking for a way to explain away God and earth's origins without a Creator. They were strongly influenced by Eastern metaphysics. Romans 1:22, 23 records the consequences when men willingly reject the evidence that God exists. ACTION: 1. Know the facts that support scientific creationism and be able to share them with others. There are creationist ministries with seminars and materials which can help. 2. Help convince your local public schools to present both theories of origins so students will not be indoctrinated into evolutionary theory without being exposed to the truth. 3. Pray. Remember, this is a spiritual issue. People won't be convinced by data alone, but effectively presented, facts about creationism can open people's hearts to the truth. THE GEOLOGIC COLUMN Every student of geology or biology has seen pictures of the Geologic Column in their school textbooks. What they don't realize is that what they're seeing is not found anywhere in the world_it simply doesn't exist! Lyell and Hutton had to come up with a way to explain the uniform development of the layers or strata of the earth over long periods of time. Amazingly, the chart used in today's texts is the same chart developed by Lyell and Hutton over 150 years ago! In reality, the chart itself was formed by the "educated guesses" of these two so-called scientists. When a fossil or other find is made, geologists compare it to the chart and determine its date of origin; but there is no reliable outside standard by which the ages of fossils and earth strata can be determined. This is circular reasoning and has no place in modern science. [Note: the geologic column was invented by Christians (who happened to be creationists) long before evolution was posited. -- drice] RADIOMETRIC DATING Another dating method often used to substantiate evolutionary theory is radiometric dating. In truth, this should be referred to as popular dating methods, because a number of procedures fall under this heading. potassium-argon or uranium-lead methods are commonly used to date rocks which have been formed volcanically. Science journals say these methods are as accurate as a Swiss watch, but there are several problems which must be investigated. Accuracy. Scientists have taken rocks of known, fairly recent origin and dated them using radiometric methods. The findings reveal dates of hundreds of millions, even billions of years old, yet they were known to have formed within the last few hundred years! It has become apparent to scientists that they can't date volcanic rock of known origin with this method; yet they continue to use it to date rocks of unknown origin and claim it is very accurate. Assumptions. It is clear there are some major problems with the assumptions upon which these dating methods are based. All radioactive dating methods measure the decay of one radioactive element into another. But they assume that at the beginning of time, there was 100% of the mother element used in this procedure and 0% of the daughter element. They also have to assume that the amount of radioactive decay has been constant through time, and that no parent or daughter element was ever added to or taken away from the subject as it was decaying. All of these are unverified assumptions, and no one knows if they are actually true or not. IS EVOLUTION LOGICAL, RATIONAL, OR REASONABLE? Most public school students today never hear the alternative to evolutionary theory. They feel that to excel in their classes, they must know and accept the evolutionary theory being taught. But a true under- standing of biology reveals beyond question that the complexity of life cannot be explained by a process of chance events involving mutations and long periods of time. Either a cell comes on the scene fully functional and developed, or it doesn't exist at all! When the Holy Spirit begins to work in the hearts of open-minded people and they are presented with the unbiased facts of biology and geology, they can't help but see the truth! Christians must be able to present facts that will make people think and question the evolution they've been taught! We must not depend on emotional appeals and religious pressure. We should be able to give a reason for the faith we have in the God of creation. But no matter how intelligent and well prepared we are, no one will really be convinced until the grace of God opens their eyes. We must be patient, pray, and be ready to share whenever the opportunity arises. FOR MORE INFORMATION Call or write TRUTHS[sic] THAT TRANSFORM, P.O. Box 33, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33308, 1-800-229-9673. Roger Oakland, P.O. Box 27239, Santa Ana, CA 92799, 714-979-2304. Darwin's Enigma, by Luther Sunderland (Available from TRUTHS[sic] THAT TRANSFORM, P. O. Box 33, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33308, 1-800-229-9673). Please mention you saw this in the Christian Interactive Network when you call.

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