CRSQ Abstracts, 2015, Volume 51, Number 3 (Winter)
The Dating “Pedigree†of
Seafloor Sediment Core MD97-2120:
A Case Study
Jake Hebert
The fact that different, seemingly independent dating methods appear to “tell†a consistent “story†about Earth history over millions of years is a seemingly formidable argument for an old earth. Hence, in the minds of many, this apparent agreement is a major obstacle to serious consideration of the biblical creation position. Hence, it is important for creation scientists to understand and be able to clearly explain why the different dating methods are not really independent of one another. The interconnectedness of the different dating methods can be illustrated by tracing the dating “pedigree†of a particular deep-sea sediment core, the MD97-2120 sediment core from the Chatham Rise east of New Zealand. Dating of the deep sediment cores, including this one, is tied to the astronomical (or Milankovitch) hypothesis of Pleistocene ice ages via a process known as “orbital tuning.†Moreover, dating of a deep-sea sediment core frequently involves “tying†that core’s timescale to that of other sediment cores, as well as to those of the deep ice cores of Antarctica and Greenland. This critique includes suggestions for future creation research in this area.
Erosion of the Weald, Southeast England
Part I: Uniformitarian Mysteries
Michael J. Oard and John D. Matthews
The Weald, covering ~10,000 km2 (3,900 mi2) of southeast England, is composed of a heavily eroded east-west anticline. It features a surface sometimes capped by gravel called “clay-with-flints,†water and wind gaps through the chalk ridges on its flanks, and a local silcrete duricrust with eroded sarsen stones. Although uniformitarian scientists have offered several hypotheses to explain the geomorphology of this classical area, they all have major difficulties. We analyze these explanations and draw the following conclusion: The Weald’s geomorphology, like many other areas of the world, remains a uniformitarian mystery. It is better explained by rapid Genesis Flood runoff, not erosion over millions of years.
Battlegrounds of Natural History III:
Historicism
John K. Reed and Peter Klevberg
In 1970, George Gaylord Simpson discussed six foundations of natural history. Although his understanding of each foundation was largely in error, the six foundations are important. The third foundation, historicism, again shows that misunderstandings among modern scientists spring from their worldview of naturalism and that those errors are corrected by biblical theology, which remains the ultimate foundation for truth in natural history.
Extreme Information:
Biocomplexity of Interlocking Genome Languages
Jeffrey P. Tomkins
People most often think of the genome as containing only the embedded protein-coding information carried in the DNA of chromosomes. However, there are a variety of other codes and language systems active in the genome that are only now beginning to be deciphered. This paper will discuss the amazing internetworked biocomplexity of these language systems that interactively control the way the genome functions. The systems that will be discussed are gene structure complexities, RNA transcript splicing codes, the microRNA binding code, circular RNAs, dual-use codons, antisense transcripts, and epigenetic language systems. The now debunked myth of junk DNA will also be briefly addressed in light of the ENCODE project and new research in genome-wide COT-1 DNA functionality. The interworking and interdependence of these complex and dynamic language systems unequivocally points towards an omnipotent and wise Creator.
Copernicus, Heliocentricity,
and the Catholic Church:
What Really Happened
Jerry Bergman
The history of the Copernicus controversy is reviewed, noting that it is far more complex than is often presented in the press or the popular literature. Copernicus’s main problem was not the church but that the case for the heliocentric model lacked scientific evidence, and the Ptolemy model was then widely accepted. For this reason, much resistance existed to the heliocentric model from both the scientific and religious establishments. Actually, a significant source of Copernicus’s support was from the church. This case is another example of the secular establishment oversimplifying, as well as occasionally distorting, history. The goal of this paper is to provide some light on this important historical event.
