Proposal
In an amazing way the naturalistic geologist and the creationist tend to mistreat their major information sources concerning the order and nature of earth's earliest events. The geologist reads into the record of the rocks his own or his forerunners' presumptions about geological time even as he seeks to understand the message of the formations concerning those early events. In the same way many creationists hamper their field research by ignoring crucial areas of revelation concerning the order and the nature of those early events. Without realizing it, they frame and limit their thinking about their field research within the bounds of dogmas propounded by their creationist forerunners. As a result, scholars in both fields subject their research to an authority that is higher than the field evidence or the Biblical evidence which they study. This restricts one's research, either on the rock record or on the written record of creation, to a framework of superimposed, prior conclusions and this inevitably closes the door to accurate research.
We creationists often allow others' conclusions to shape and often to distort our own interpretation of the Biblical record or of the record of the rocks. I have a friend who has done some excellent work collating information on dinosaurs from a creationist viewpoint. He speaks with bold dogmatism on dinosaurs, but is totally unaware that his interpretative model of how and when the dinosaurs died not only ignores massive geological evidence to the contrary but gives no credence to Biblical evidence which contradicts his position. As a result, his field studies, like those of the unbelieving researcher, are distorted by a framework of questionable creationist axioms. These prevent both the record of the rocks and the Creator's own statement about earth's early events from speaking accurately for themselves. The harmony which should exist between the physical evidence (Psa. 19:1·6) and the testimony of the Word of the Creator (Psa. 19:7·8) never is achieved in detail. This research flaw which causes most creationists to attempt to explain the details of the physical, geological record only in a very general way, using nonspecific terms that never face all of the facts. This study is an attempt to draw attention to some creationist conclusions concerning the Biblical text which are both questionable and axiomatic. These play a major role in blocking the harmonization of the very real geological evidence with the true intent of the statements of the Creator's Word (Psa. 19:7·14).
Few creationists recognize that their explanation of the order of events in creation actually contradicts the Bible's own statements concerning the actual creation event series. The key axiom which actually triggers an entire series of misunderstandings relates to the timing of the creation of planet earth with reference to the rest of the universe.
Print Reference
Pages 397-406
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Recommended Citation
Northrup, Bernard E.
(1994)
"Some Questionable Creationist Axioms Reexamined,"
Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism: Vol. 3, Article 35.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/icc_proceedings/vol3/iss1/35