How long ago did the dinosaurs live?
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To answer this question, we must determine the age of the earth.
Using the Biblical genealogies, Anglican Archbishop James Ussher (1581-1656), calculated the creation of the earth to be in 4007 B.C. More recently, Chenfu Chiang, a Hanalani math professor, calculated the creation date at 4174 B.C. The date of the earth's creation is a complex and inexact science, but by using the Biblical genealogies, it is possible to achieve a fairly close date.
The evolutionists' claim that the earth is four to six billion years old based on radiometric dating is founded upon the following faulty assumptions:
* The entire rock being dated was originally mother element and no mother or daughter element was lost from the original sample.
* A constant decay rate.
Evolutionists fail to take into account that heat and pressure (such as in the great flood) can greatly speed up the decay rate from mother to daughter element.
How old is the Earth? Solar system structures and phenomena, such as outer planetary rings and moon recession, decay of the Earth's magnetic field, and present oil pressures in underground reservoirs, indicate an age between six and fifteen thousand years old. Most importantly, the Biblical genealogies indicate an age between six and seven thousand years.
The greatest challenge facing creationists is how distant starlight in a young universe has managed to reach the Earth. The following theories have been proposed:
* Mature Creation Theory: Also called the created-in-transition theory, it states that when God created all the particles in the universe, He also instantaneously created, in transit along their paths, all the light waves that would have been emitted by those particles for billions of years prior to their creation. Although favored by a number of creationists for many years, there are several problems with the theory. First, there is no scriptural reason for God to have created such an illusion. He could have simply let us see only as much of the universe as the speed of light would permit since most of the stars visible to the eye are closer than 6,000 light years. Furthermore, most of the events astronomers observe would never have occurred. For example, a supernova that took place in 1987 was visible to the naked eye even though it occurred 160,000 light years away. But according to the Mature Creation Theory, in spite of the images and particles astronomers observed, no supernova explosion would have actually occurred in real time. The images would have been just an illusion. In addition, the theory does not explain the galactic red shift, except to say that for some incomprehensible reason God chose to manufacture an illusion for an expanding universe. The Mature Creation Theory has been compared by many Christian scientists to the 17th century theory that God created the fossils just to puzzle men and test their faith. If all creationists had been content with such a view of the fossils, we would have missed out on the tremendous results of the studies of flood geology. Likewise, we should not be content with the Mature Creation Theory, or we may overlook a much better explanation.
* Moon-Spencer Theory: This theory states that light takes a shortcut in its path to us, traveling no more than 15 light-years to reach us, even from the most distant galaxies. The problem with this theory is that all of our distance measurements are based on the characteristics of the light we see (parallax, angular size, light intensity, etc.). If the light were only traveling short distances, it would not have the characteristics of having traveled much greater distances.
* Decay in the Speed of Light Theory: This theory states that the speed of light has decayed smoothly from the first day of creation, and is based on a paper written in 1986 by Barry Setterfield, who claimed a 20th century analysis of 17th century astronomical data showed the speed of light 300 years ago was about 2.6 % higher than it is today. However, an examination of the theory reveals serious problems. At the 1990 meeting of the International Conference on Creationism, physicist Eugene Chaffin outlined a re-analysis he was doing of the 17th century data, but with more accurate instruments. In 1992, he published his final result: the speed of light in the 17th century was the same as it is today. Furthermore, the theory is contrary to the physical limits of the speed of light, based on the mathematical formulas of velocity-time dilation and velocity-mass increase.
* White Hole Theory: First proposed by D. Russell Humphreys in his book, "Starlight and Time" (1994). This is the best current theory explaining how we see distant starlight in a young universe. A white hole is a black hole in reverse. The theory utilizes Albert Einstein's general relativity theory of gravitational-time dilation. To understand this theory, it is necessary to lay down the following premises:
* The stronger a gravitational field is, the slower time elapses. This has been demonstrated using atomic clocks (accurate to one microsecond per year) at different altitudes. For example, the atomic clock at the National Bureau of Standards in Boulder, Colorado (one mile above sea level), gains five microseconds per year on the atomic clock at the Royal Observatory (sea level) in Greenwich, England. If the two clocks are switched, the clock in Boulder will still gain five microseconds per year on the clock in Greenwich. Which clock is showing (or running at) the right time? Both are - in their own frame of reference. This is consistent with Einstein's predictions in general relativity. The difference in gravitational field strength, inside the event horizon of a black hole (the point at which gravity is so strong that light can no longer escape) and at a considerable distance outside the event horizon, can create a time dilation of billions of years.
* The universe is expanding. This can be demonstrated through red shifts in the light from distant galaxy clusters. This does not mean that the universe began with a big bang. Rather, God created the universe with the galaxies already spaced and them put them into an outward expansion to prevent a gravitational collapse. The big bang comsmology in which the universe is homogenous with no edge and no center has no evidence to support it and is inaccurate. The creation cosmology in which the universe has both an edge and a center is supported by evidence that our universe is rotating around a central axis.
* A black hole occurs when enough mass is concentrated into a small enough area. If the entire universe were only one-fiftieth of its present diameter, the entire universe would be inside a gigantic black hole.
Having laid these premises, the White Hole Theory can be stated as follows:
* On day one (Genesis 1:1), God created all the matter of the universe. The entire mass of the universe was concentrated in an area about one-fiftieth (or less) of its present diameter, thus the entire universe lay inside the event horizon of a gigantic black hole.
* At the beginning of day four (Genesis 1:14), God coalesced much of the matter into stars, and thermonuclear fusion ignited in them. About the same time, God put the universe into an outward expansion.
* As the mass of the universe expanded outward, the event horizon began collapsing inward toward our solar system, which lies near the center of the universe.
* As galaxies and stars moved outward past the collapsing event horizon, time began elapsing radically faster than for those stars still within the event horizon. If a clock had been placed on the outermost stars, billions of years would have passed while only a single day passed on an Earth clock; the light from those distant stars had billions of years to travel towards the Earth.
Near the end of the fourth day, the event horizon had passed the Earth and by the end of the fourth day had completely collapsed. The light from those distant stars had reached the Earth but, based on Earth's frame of reference, the universe was only four days old.
The White Hole Theory is consistent with both the Genesis account of creation and the physical laws of the universe, as we know them. For more detail on the White Hole Theory, read "Starlight and Time" by D. Russell Humphreys, Ph.D.
The dinosaurs were created on the sixth day of creation (Genesis 1:29) and on the fifth day in the case of the dinosaur-like sea dragons (Genesis 1:24).
Dinosaurs certainly walked the Earth with man (Genesis 2:19, 6:4). A number of human footprints have been discovered, along with dinosaur tracks, in the limestone bed of the Paluxy River near Glen Rose, Texas. Some of these tracks are on display at the Creation Evidences Museum in Glen Rose. In addition, a metal hammer, forged using sulphur and chlorine (an unknown process today), was found near London, Texas, in Cretaceous rock. Evolutionists have tried to write off the hammer as some kind of freak mineral deposit, but its shape clearly distinguishes it as being forged by human hands. The hammer is also on display in the Creation Evidences Museum.
Using the Biblical genealogies, Anglican Archbishop James Ussher (1581-1656), calculated the creation of the earth to be in 4007 B.C. More recently, Chenfu Chiang, a Hanalani math professor, calculated the creation date at 4174 B.C. The date of the earth's creation is a complex and inexact science, but by using the Biblical genealogies, it is possible to achieve a fairly close date.
The evolutionists' claim that the earth is four to six billion years old based on radiometric dating is founded upon the following faulty assumptions:
* The entire rock being dated was originally mother element and no mother or daughter element was lost from the original sample.
* A constant decay rate.
Evolutionists fail to take into account that heat and pressure (such as in the great flood) can greatly speed up the decay rate from mother to daughter element.
How old is the Earth? Solar system structures and phenomena, such as outer planetary rings and moon recession, decay of the Earth's magnetic field, and present oil pressures in underground reservoirs, indicate an age between six and fifteen thousand years old. Most importantly, the Biblical genealogies indicate an age between six and seven thousand years.
The greatest challenge facing creationists is how distant starlight in a young universe has managed to reach the Earth. The following theories have been proposed:
* Mature Creation Theory: Also called the created-in-transition theory, it states that when God created all the particles in the universe, He also instantaneously created, in transit along their paths, all the light waves that would have been emitted by those particles for billions of years prior to their creation. Although favored by a number of creationists for many years, there are several problems with the theory. First, there is no scriptural reason for God to have created such an illusion. He could have simply let us see only as much of the universe as the speed of light would permit since most of the stars visible to the eye are closer than 6,000 light years. Furthermore, most of the events astronomers observe would never have occurred. For example, a supernova that took place in 1987 was visible to the naked eye even though it occurred 160,000 light years away. But according to the Mature Creation Theory, in spite of the images and particles astronomers observed, no supernova explosion would have actually occurred in real time. The images would have been just an illusion. In addition, the theory does not explain the galactic red shift, except to say that for some incomprehensible reason God chose to manufacture an illusion for an expanding universe. The Mature Creation Theory has been compared by many Christian scientists to the 17th century theory that God created the fossils just to puzzle men and test their faith. If all creationists had been content with such a view of the fossils, we would have missed out on the tremendous results of the studies of flood geology. Likewise, we should not be content with the Mature Creation Theory, or we may overlook a much better explanation.
* Moon-Spencer Theory: This theory states that light takes a shortcut in its path to us, traveling no more than 15 light-years to reach us, even from the most distant galaxies. The problem with this theory is that all of our distance measurements are based on the characteristics of the light we see (parallax, angular size, light intensity, etc.). If the light were only traveling short distances, it would not have the characteristics of having traveled much greater distances.
* Decay in the Speed of Light Theory: This theory states that the speed of light has decayed smoothly from the first day of creation, and is based on a paper written in 1986 by Barry Setterfield, who claimed a 20th century analysis of 17th century astronomical data showed the speed of light 300 years ago was about 2.6 % higher than it is today. However, an examination of the theory reveals serious problems. At the 1990 meeting of the International Conference on Creationism, physicist Eugene Chaffin outlined a re-analysis he was doing of the 17th century data, but with more accurate instruments. In 1992, he published his final result: the speed of light in the 17th century was the same as it is today. Furthermore, the theory is contrary to the physical limits of the speed of light, based on the mathematical formulas of velocity-time dilation and velocity-mass increase.
* White Hole Theory: First proposed by D. Russell Humphreys in his book, "Starlight and Time" (1994). This is the best current theory explaining how we see distant starlight in a young universe. A white hole is a black hole in reverse. The theory utilizes Albert Einstein's general relativity theory of gravitational-time dilation. To understand this theory, it is necessary to lay down the following premises:
* The stronger a gravitational field is, the slower time elapses. This has been demonstrated using atomic clocks (accurate to one microsecond per year) at different altitudes. For example, the atomic clock at the National Bureau of Standards in Boulder, Colorado (one mile above sea level), gains five microseconds per year on the atomic clock at the Royal Observatory (sea level) in Greenwich, England. If the two clocks are switched, the clock in Boulder will still gain five microseconds per year on the clock in Greenwich. Which clock is showing (or running at) the right time? Both are - in their own frame of reference. This is consistent with Einstein's predictions in general relativity. The difference in gravitational field strength, inside the event horizon of a black hole (the point at which gravity is so strong that light can no longer escape) and at a considerable distance outside the event horizon, can create a time dilation of billions of years.
* The universe is expanding. This can be demonstrated through red shifts in the light from distant galaxy clusters. This does not mean that the universe began with a big bang. Rather, God created the universe with the galaxies already spaced and them put them into an outward expansion to prevent a gravitational collapse. The big bang comsmology in which the universe is homogenous with no edge and no center has no evidence to support it and is inaccurate. The creation cosmology in which the universe has both an edge and a center is supported by evidence that our universe is rotating around a central axis.
* A black hole occurs when enough mass is concentrated into a small enough area. If the entire universe were only one-fiftieth of its present diameter, the entire universe would be inside a gigantic black hole.
Having laid these premises, the White Hole Theory can be stated as follows:
* On day one (Genesis 1:1), God created all the matter of the universe. The entire mass of the universe was concentrated in an area about one-fiftieth (or less) of its present diameter, thus the entire universe lay inside the event horizon of a gigantic black hole.
* At the beginning of day four (Genesis 1:14), God coalesced much of the matter into stars, and thermonuclear fusion ignited in them. About the same time, God put the universe into an outward expansion.
* As the mass of the universe expanded outward, the event horizon began collapsing inward toward our solar system, which lies near the center of the universe.
* As galaxies and stars moved outward past the collapsing event horizon, time began elapsing radically faster than for those stars still within the event horizon. If a clock had been placed on the outermost stars, billions of years would have passed while only a single day passed on an Earth clock; the light from those distant stars had billions of years to travel towards the Earth.
Near the end of the fourth day, the event horizon had passed the Earth and by the end of the fourth day had completely collapsed. The light from those distant stars had reached the Earth but, based on Earth's frame of reference, the universe was only four days old.
The White Hole Theory is consistent with both the Genesis account of creation and the physical laws of the universe, as we know them. For more detail on the White Hole Theory, read "Starlight and Time" by D. Russell Humphreys, Ph.D.
The dinosaurs were created on the sixth day of creation (Genesis 1:29) and on the fifth day in the case of the dinosaur-like sea dragons (Genesis 1:24).
Dinosaurs certainly walked the Earth with man (Genesis 2:19, 6:4). A number of human footprints have been discovered, along with dinosaur tracks, in the limestone bed of the Paluxy River near Glen Rose, Texas. Some of these tracks are on display at the Creation Evidences Museum in Glen Rose. In addition, a metal hammer, forged using sulphur and chlorine (an unknown process today), was found near London, Texas, in Cretaceous rock. Evolutionists have tried to write off the hammer as some kind of freak mineral deposit, but its shape clearly distinguishes it as being forged by human hands. The hammer is also on display in the Creation Evidences Museum.