Answers to Basic Questions

Our Frequently Asked Questions have been compiled from the experience of many years of engaging in origins discussions. Answers to the FAQs are not intended to be exhaustive reviews or definitive statements of position, but concise suggestions subject to modification as new discoveries come to light. A few references are included for those who wish to delve more deeply into the matters.


    Age of the Earth

    How old is the Earth? What is the basis of radiometric dating? What is the meaning of “half-life?” How can creationists explain radiometric dates of many millions of years? What unsolved questions about the age of the Earth are of greatest interest?

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    Creation and Science

    Is it scientific to believe in creation? Can a Christian be a scientist? Isn't it necessary that science be naturalistic? If God's activities were acknowledged by scientists, wouldn't that stifle research? How can we justify rejecting the claims of science about creation when science has been so successful in other areas? What unsolved questions about creation and science are of greatest interest?

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    Creation Week

    What was created on the first day of creation week? What was created on the fourth day of creation week? Why doesn't the sequence of the days of creation match the sequence in the fossil record? Could the days of creation actually represent periods of a thousand years each, as in 2 Peter 3:8? Could the "days" of creation represent indefinite periods of time? Did the creation take place 6000 years ago? How did Cain find a wife if there were no other humans around before creation week? Do Genesis 1 and 2 present different accounts of the creation? What unsolved questions about creation week are of greatest interest?

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    Dinosaurs

    How many different kinds of dinosaurs were there? Are human and dinosaur fossils found together? Were there any dinosaurs on the ark? What did dinosaurs eat? Were dinosaurs warm-blooded? Did God create the dinosaurs, or are they the result of evil? Do scientists believe that birds evolved from dinosaurs? What unsolved questions about dinosaurs are of greatest interest?

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    Fossil Humans

    Were there really cave men? Are there really fossils that look like primitive humans? Were Neanderthals true humans? What are "archaic" human fossils? What were the erectines? What were the australopithecines? Do fossil foot bones of australopithecines indicate they were fully bipedal? Is there an evolutionary sequence leading from apes to humans? What about the giant humans that lived before the flood? Have any been found? Was there really a “Stone Age”? Did humans hunt mammoths? How did the races of humans originate? Are some of them marked by a curse? What unsolved questions about fossil humans are of greatest interest?

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    Fossils

    What are fossils? How are fossils formed? How long does it take to form a fossil? What information do we learn from fossils? Why is there a specific sequence of fossils in the geologic layers? Does the fossil record show a sequence of evolutionary change? Which fossils were buried by the Flood? Are there indications of global catastrophe in the fossil record? What unsolved questions about fossils are of the greatest interest?

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    Genesis Flood

    Where did the water come from for the flood, and where did it go? How could the waters of the flood cover Mt. Everest? How could the Earth be destroyed by 40 days and 40 nights of rain? Was the flood truly worldwide? What about proposals that the biblical Flood story refers to a local flood somewhere in the Middle East? What unsolved questions about the Flood are of greatest interest?

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    Ice Age

    Was there an Ice Age? When was the Ice Age? Why doesn't the Bible say anything about the Ice Age? What caused the Ice Age? How long did the Ice Age last? How did the Ice Age affect the plants and animals? What about other Ice Ages in the geologic column? What are the most significant unsolved questions regarding Ice Ages?

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    Origin of Life

    Have scientists created life? What is the meaning of the famous “Miller-Urey Experiment,” which produced amino acids from a simulated primordial atmosphere? Could life begin by chance in a "primordial soup"? Evaluate the theory that life began on mineral or clay surfaces in the ocean, perhaps around hydrothermal vents. How have developments in chaos theory and emergent properties affected our understanding of the origin of life problem? Has life been found on Mars?

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    Plate Tectonics

    Have the continents truly moved apart? When did the continents move apart? Does mention of the division of the earth in Genesis 10:25 refer to plate tectonics? Does Pangaea represent the pre-Flood world? How could the continents move fast enough to rearrange the whole surface of the Earth during the year of the Flood? What unsolved questions about plate tectonics are of greatest interest?

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    Radiocarbon Dating

    What is the basis of carbon-14 dating? What materials can be dated by carbon-14? How accurate are carbon-14 dates? What are the assumptions used in determining carbon-14 dates? How would carbon-14 dating be affected by a global flood? What unsolved problems about carbon-14 dating are of greatest interest?

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    Speciation

    What are the "Genesis kinds?" How do we account for predators, parasites and poisonous creatures if animals originally ate plants? Aren't there limits to how much species can change? What is the taxonomic unit that best represents the originally created kinds? Can species change rapidly enough to account for present biodiversity in a relatively short time? How do we explain the genetic and molecular similarities of humans and chimpanzees? What unsolved problems about change in species are of greatest interest?

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