There is a distinction between these two areas in terms of how the science is performed and whether the findings are repeatable and can be validated by third parties. Despite this, when people refer to science a distinction is not normally drawn.<\/p>\n
Operational S<\/b>cience<\/b><\/h2>\n
This refers to the use of science to design car engines, rockets, computers, etc. Operational Science uses repeatable scientific principles that can be tested in the lab.\u00a0 Engineering uses operational science to solve real-world challenges and to develop products that can be used in the world.<\/p>\n
Historical S<\/b>cience<\/b><\/h2>\n
Historical Science looks at discoveries and findings from the past. We cannot repeat events that happened in the past, but can look at the evidence and draw inferences and conclusions. This means that we can\u2019t recreate the events and circumstances that shaped the evidence e.g. we can\u2019t repeat the circumstances that created the Grand Canyon; we can only see the geological features and infer what caused them.<\/p>\n
Historical science is based upon our assumptions, so if we see 2 footprints in the rock, we assume that there were two people walking side by side.\u00a0 We can\u2019t be sure though \u2013 it could have been one person one day and then another following on, the next day or week. What we deduce depends upon our assumptions.<\/p>\n
This is the difficulty with Historical Science.<\/p>\n
Our Assumptions Shape Our Conclusions<\/h1>\n
The evidence that is normally produced “in favour” of evolution is the same evidence that is used to draw conclusions in favour of creation. This is Historical Science, as described above.<\/p>\n
We see the evidence, apply foundational beliefs and assumptions, and then draw conclusions from that. Some conclusions will be the same, others will differ. As a Christian, we should also be aware that there are billions spent on research and science, that is based upon Evolutionist Foundational Beliefs and Assumptions – most of it funded through your tax dollars (and pounds and euros). There is very little spent on research with Creationist Foundational Beliefs and Assumptions – and this is funded by Christian organisations.<\/p>\n Comets product a vapour trail, as they pass the sun, and this causes them to disintegrate over time. Given the rate of disintegration (“decay”) they have a maximum life of about 10,000 years, and this is the estimate of secular scientists.<\/p>\n This means that, if the solar system were 4.5 to 5 billion years old, there would be no comets. They disintegrate in a maximum of 10,000 years so there is no chance that they would still be here after billions of years.<\/p>\n To overcome this, secular science has not reconsidered the age of the solar system (to be in line with the fact that comets still pass the earth). They have proposed that there are places, just outside of the visible solar system, where comets are “born”. Both the Oort cloud and Kuiper belt have been proposed as where comets originate, and scientists have been searching for evidence to back up these theories since.<\/p>\n This is because they have started from the belief that the solar system is billions of years old, and the conclusions and theories follow from this basis. This is patching up a weak theory with an idea for which there is no evidence.<\/p>\n The sediment on the sea floor is around 400m deep.\u00a0 It is about 400m deep which implies the earth could not be more than 12m years old. This assumes a constant rate of sedimentation, but as we know the rate would not have been constant. The flood described in Genesis would have deposited huge amounts of sediment in a very short timescale. In any case, 12 million years is far too short a timescale for evolutionary theories to be correct and neither position is provable beyond doubt.<\/p>\n (Mud enters the seas through rivers and dust storms. This occurs at much faster rates than plate tectonic subduction can remove it. Annually, 19 billion tons of mud accumulates. If the oceans were ancient, they would be choked with sediment dozens of km deep.)<\/p>\n There is not enough salt in the seas for the earth to be ancient. Every year, salt accumulates in the ocean from rivers.\u00a0 Given the present rate it is increasing per year, the current 3.5 percent ocean salinity is much too low if this process has been going on for a very long time.<\/p>\n If you observe what happens to a dead animal, it is either carried off and eaten or it disintegrates (consumed by insect larvae, etc). The finding of large numbers of fossils together is evidence for rapid sedimentation \u2013 and provides a stronger case for the flood than a non-evolutionary perspective. If fossils had been created over the course of billions of years, we should see many more of them and they would not have been accumulated in the same rock strata.<\/p>\n The earth\u2019s magnetic field is too strong for the billions of years model of the age of the earth. Since we have been measuring this, the magnetic field has decayed. If we use this rate of decay extrapolate back, then the field strength would be enormous – it would be too great to sustain life. This means that, based on the decay rate, the earth is much younger than has been assumed by evolutionists.<\/p>\n Again, neither position is provable – but there is no actual evidence to suggest that the rate of decay is now lower than it was in the past.<\/p>\n Scientific investigation has demonstrated that rocks give out helium.<\/p>\n Given the rate of helium emission, the fact that there is still helium in rocks, and very little in the atmosphere, indicates that they are not as old as has been postulated. If the earth was as old as evolutionists theorise, then this would be reversed – lots of helium in the atmosphere, and little or none in the rocks.<\/p>\n There are a number of other challenges, that have not been described. These include:<\/p>\n The next article in this series will look at the\u00a0Premise and Process of Evolution<\/a>. It will provide an essential understanding of how evolution is said to operate and how it is said to establish improvements through the generations of an organism (or animal).\u00a0 As you will recall the previous article in the series, Genesis<\/a>, looked at the book of Genesis, its important to the Christian Faith and the range of topics that it introduces.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Introduction We will explore some key challenges to evolution in greater detail, in future posts. In this brief post, I will provide a summary of some challenges to the belief that the earth is billions of years old. Whilst the Bible does not provide a specific age to the earth it does imply that it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[125,107],"tags":[123,124,93,126,127],"class_list":["post-1567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-creation-evolution","category-questions","tag-creation","tag-evolution","tag-genesis","tag-science","tag-young-earth"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Creation](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biblestudy.church\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Creation-and-Evolution-Evidence-and-Assumptions.jpg?ssl=1\")
<\/a>Sample Evidence: for Earth being 1000s not millions of Years Old<\/h1>\n
Comets Disintegrate too Quickly<\/h2>\n
There is not enough Sediment on the Sea Floor<\/h2>\n
Not enough salt in the ocean<\/h2>\n
Fossils are the Exception and not the Rule<\/h2>\n
The Earth’s Magnetic Field<\/h2>\n
Helium is in the Wrong Places<\/h2>\n
Other Challenges to Evolution<\/h2>\n
\n
In Closing<\/h1>\n