Proposal
The geological theories of an earth millions of years old were developed in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. This paper describes that development and focuses on a group of writers, known as the “Scriptural geologists,” who opposed these geological theories. These scientists and non-scientists wrote short pamphlets and massive books raising Biblical, geological and philosophical arguments against the idea of an old earth. They also refuted the reinterpretations of Genesis that arose in an attempt to harmonize the Bible with old-earth geological theory (such as the gap, day-age and local Noachian flood theories). Four of the geologically most competent Scriptural geologists are introduced to the reader before giving a summary of some of their shared Biblical and geological objections to the idea of an old earth. The paper concludes with an analysis of the real nature of the 19th century Genesis-geology debate and how it relates to the ageof- the-earth debate in the church today.
Keywords
Scripture, geology, worldview, history, philosophy, deism, atheism, naturalism, Scriptural geologist, oldearth, young-earth, nineteenth century, day-age theory, gap theory, local flood, tranquil flood, global flood, catastrophism, uniformitarianism
Print Reference
Pages 539-550
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Recommended Citation
Mortensen, Terry
(2003)
"The Early 19th Century British “Scriptural Geologists”: Opponents of the Emerging Old- Earth Theories of Geology,"
Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism: Vol. 5, Article 45.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/icc_proceedings/vol5/iss1/45