Origins 10(1):37-40 (1983).
LITERATURE REVIEW
CHRISTIANITY AND THE AGE OF THE EARTH. Davis A. Young. 1982. Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan. 188 pp.
Davis A. Young is both a practicing geologist and a theologically
conservative, evangelical Christian. He is acutely distressed at the credence given to
"recent creationism" by so many within the evangelical community. Christianity
and the Age of the Earth appeals to those Christians to reject recent creationism as
a view neither mandated by Scripture nor supported by science.
In the first of the book's three major "considerations"
bearing on the age of the earth, Young traces the development of an ancient earth concept
in the theological and geological communities. The predominant view from the time of the
early Church until about the 18th century, says Young, was a literal acceptance of
creation in 24-hour days within the past few thousand years. Early geologists thus tended
to interpret evidences from stratigraphy and paleontology in light of the Genesis flood
account. However, many observations in those and other areas, such as geomorphology and
geochemistry, seemed to indicate processes requiring longer than the few thousand years
allowed by a traditional view of Genesis. By the latter half of the 19th century most
geologists, many of whom were Christians affirming the validity of the Genesis narrative,
adopted a much longer chronology for earth history and viewed the flood as a minor element
in earth history.
The changing consensus among geologists prompted theologians to examine
Genesis anew. They began to develop exegeses that were believed to be consistent with both
the internal evidence of the Scriptures and with the accumulating evidence from geology.
This "age of harmonization" (p. 55), as Young terms it, lasted well into the
20th century until "reactionary developments" (p. 65) led to a resurgence in
flood geology. Price, Nelson, Clark, and Rehwinkel were the early proponents (1920-1950s),
but the strength of the movement is attributed primarily to Whitcomb and Morris' The
Genesis Flood and to the Institute for Creation Research, the Creation Research
Society, and like organizations.
The resurgence in flood geology is a mistake, says Young, predicated by
the faulty reasoning that an ancient earth is part and parcel with evolutionary humanism;
the issues are separate and "while evolution falls if the antiquity of the Earth
falls it does not necessarily stand if the antiquity of the Earth stands'' (p. 66). In
fact, Young continues, the ancient Earth view was developed by Christians who affirmed
both creation and the flood but who were forced by the facts to recognize the antiquity of
our planet.
In his second consideration, the scientific evidences against
creationism and favoring long ages are presented. In support of his contention that the
flood geology of recent creationists is ill-founded, Young cites examples from many
aspects of earth science such as stratigraphy, geochemistry and sedimentology. He asserts
that the problems confronting flood geologists, when recognized, have been inadequately
addressed. They either have attempted to answer the problem but failed, as in the case of
radiometric dating, or they have merely given the illusion of solving problems through
spurious proofs. He further asserts that many of the best evidences cited by creationists
for catastrophic deposition of the geologic column (e.g., polystrate trees and fossil
graveyards) can be explained as well, if not better, by long-age models.
According to Young, creationists have not solved the problems
confronting their model and they have been similarly unsuccessful in attacking
uniformitarian models. Their arguments are weak due to a basic lack of geological
knowledge and improper reasoning.
His third area of consideration is philosophy and apologetics. Young
challenges the creationists' claim that catastrophism alone can explain the geologic
column. He insists that despite their insistence that uniformitarian thinking is ungodly
and inadequate as a basis for historical geology, "creationists are really
uniformitarians who have falsely interpreted the evidence of geology" (p. 136).
The final chapter analyzes the relationship between science and faith
and between truth as revealed in nature and in Scripture. Young affirms that both natural
and written revelation emanate from one God of Truth; as such there can be no conflict
except in our interpretations. There will be tensions in matters of faith because we do
not know all the facts nor do we interpret them aright; but tension in the matter of the
antiquity of the earth is inexcusable because we have clear natural revelation that
conflicts only with certain faulty exegeses of Genesis. Creationists would do well to
examine both their science and their understanding of Genesis and see that this is so.
It is difficult to review Christianity and the Age of the Earth
with objectivity for, whatever the merits of the book, it is itself decidedly weighted in
its presentation. In the preface Young states his worthwhile objective: "to examine
some of the evidence of nature that relates to the age of the earth'' (p. 10); yet, the
reader is not given the opportunity to evaluate that evidence for himself.
Discussion of the scientific data is mostly confined to the middle
third of the book, the rest being historical observation and philosophical conjectures.
The data are generally accurate and referenced (with the exception of all text-figures),
but the presentation is not impartial. To begin with, the tenor of the text clearly
disparages both the belief of recent creationists and their persons as well. For instance,
creationists are labeled as "the equivalent of Miller's 'anti-geologists''' (p. 14),
and those who hold to flood geology are generally "Christians who are not engaged in
scientific endeavors" (p. 64) or who "have looked only at those rocks"
favoring their a priori beliefs whereas "geologists have looked at all the
rocks'' (p. 148).
The presentation of the creationist's case seems slanted also. Time
after time Young cites Whitcomb and Morris' The Genesis Flood, a book 22 years
old, to show the weaknesses of flood geology. For example, in the case of fossil reefs, he
reproves Whitcomb and Morris for not explaining how reef-like blocks of limestone could be
deposited over fine-grained sediments. Their view is "totally unsupportable'' and the
"only realistic interpretation of the evidence is to say that the reef structures
grew in place on an ancient sea floor" (p. 85). But, although Young refers to a 1975
article by Nevins claiming that some so-called reefs were not true reefs at all, Young
does not address Nevins' data; he just shows that Whitcomb and Morris' model for reef
emplacement is ill-supported.
Again, his chapter on radiometric dating records only weak creationist
arguments for a short chronology, but in another chapter he notes in passing that Gentry
has done work with serious implications for radiometric dating (p. 151). The nature of
that data or why it "is indeed problematic" for standard dating methods is
neglected. If only the facts provided by Young are considered his conclusions seem well
supported, yet one feels that there is probably more to be said for the flood model than
Young has presented.
Another difficulty is Young's occasional use of interpretation in the
place of data. For instance, he refers to "varves" rather than laminated
couplets (p. 90), to the "obvious terrestrial derivation" of some rocks (p. 79),
and to claims that certain cross-bedded sandstones from the Colorado Plateau could not be
flood deposits because these "ancient desert sandstone[s]" (p. 91) required a
very long and dry period for their deposition. There may be sound reason for these
interpretations, but they are not facts. Regarding, for instance, the so-called ancient
desert sandstones, there is strong disagreement among uniformitarian geologists (e.g.,
Marzolf 1969, Freeman 1976) as to their depositional environment, and Young should so
inform his readers. Picard (1977), for example, disagrees with some of the alternate
depositional environments proposed for the Navajo Sandstone, but, unlike Young, he makes
clear that his preference for eolian deposition is an interpretation, not a fact.
If Young may be faulted for providing a polemic rather than the
even-handed evaluation anticipated, his book may not, on that account, be lightly
dismissed. To begin with, Young is somewhat unique among geologists holding an
ancient-Earth view in that he also holds a very high view of Scripture. "The Bible is
true, it is infallible, it is without error no matter what our theories of geology may
be" (p. 151). Furthermore, he is a practicing geologist who has published in his
discipline and has also addressed, in print, the difficult issue of the relation between
geology and the Genesis narrative (Young 1977). Young therefore represents an informed,
Christian viewpoint that merits consideration.
The problems presented in Christianity and the Age of the Earth
are real problems that have yet to be resolved with great satisfaction. Some are less
serious than Young believes, others are indeed problematic, but none may be ignored. His
perceptions merit attention and response.
REFERENCES
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Geoscience Research Institute. All rights reserved.
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