Did the Noachian Flood Cause Global Catastrophe?
By Bill Jahns
Uniformitarianism is the foundational basis of evolutionary geology. This belief holds that the present is the key to the past. As nonsensical as it may seem, the bottom line of this view is that since a global flood is not now occurring in the present, it never happened in the past either. This teaching holds that sedimentary layers of strata covering most of the planet have been laid down at a uniform rate over billions of years.
Pioneer geologist James Hutton taught uniformitarianism as an article of faith.
Author Carl Dunbar sums up this belief in his book Historical Geology: “. . . Given sufficient time, processes now at work could account for all the geologic features of the Globe” (1969, p. 22).
Other authors state regarding uniformitarianism: “. . . The great thickness of the sediments . . . (is) the inevitable result of the long-continued operation of the slow erosion that we observe today” (Principles of Geology, 1968, p. 18).
But when the geologic strata and the fossil record are interpreted in light of what the Bible reveals, it becomes plain that many of the layered sedimentary rocks were in fact deposited in rapid succession rather than over eons of time (as evolutionists have long claimed). The natural history of the earth is in harmony with the biblical account in Genesis.
Noah’s Flood must have unleashed natural forces that have not been experienced since that time. Wind, rain and water raged over this planet during the great Flood. Winds of hurricane force and mountainous tidal waves must have roared over the earth. The fountains of the great deep would have sent streams of water gushing out of fissures in the ground.
Of course, this is far from the uniformitarian concept maintained by many geologists. In fact, globe-altering havoc was everywhere present. The earth and its geological features would never be the same again.
Gargantuan whirlpools would have thrown huge masses of flora and fauna together and buried both under massive amounts of silt and mud. And this is exactly what we see in the fossil record. This real evidence also shows us that much of the fossil record was in fact laid down in a relatively short time.
Windswept waters, propelled by the gravitational pulls of the moon, must have raged over landmasses, covering the continents with layers of sand and mud and burying animals and plant life—again, exactly as we see in the fossil record. Rock formations were undoubtedly twisted, bent and folded, just as geologic strata reveal. This is the reality of catastrophism.
Only the massive wave action of a flood of global proportions could have deposited these sedimentary layers as they are now found all over this planet. Undoubtedly many of the most recent layers consist of flood deposits.
God is not only the Creator of the earth, but also the Cause of this great deluge. Psalm 104:6-9 amply testifies about the true Author of this global upheaval of floodwaters. Quoting here from the New International Version, the passage says of God: “You covered it (the earth) with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. But at your rebuke the waters fled, at the sound of your thunder they took to flight; they flowed over the mountains, they went down into the valleys, to the place you assigned for them. You set a boundary they cannot cross; never again will they cover the earth.”
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