Radiometric Dating Systems:

One Battle In the Long War On Truth

What Are They and Why Are They Important?

Session OneGrace Bible Church

June 2013

Jude 3

“Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.” (NKJV)

Truth and Error Are Not Friends

“Truth could not be truth in this world if it were not a warring thing, and we should at once suspect that it were not true if error were friends with it. The spotless purity of truth must always be at war with the blackness of heresy and lies.”

Charles H. Spurgeon

1879

The Long War on Truth Began in the Garden of Eden:

“. . . for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:17

“Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’? ” Genesis 3:1b

“ And the serpent said to the woman, ‘You surely shall not die’! ” Genesis 3:4

Unbroken Continuation:

“You are of your father the devil, . . . Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar, and the father of lies.” John 8:44

The Long War on Truth (2)

Unbroken Continuation:

“. . . the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil, . . . so that he should not deceive the nations (ἔθνος) any longer, . . .” Revelation 20:2-3

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, ..”

“For they exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, Who is blessed forever.” Romans 1:18, 25

The Long War on Truth (3)

But God has spoken:

“For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.” John 1:17

“I am the way, and the truth and the life; . . .” John 14:6

“Sanctify them in the truth; Thy Word is truth.” John 17:17

“And I saw heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He Who sat upon it is called Faithful and True; . . . And His name is called The Word of God.” Revelation 19:11,13

Equipping the Saints . . . Ephesians 4:11-13

Let us, then, examine one of the many methods used in the long war against God and His truth to undermine it, to discredit it, to repudiate it, to ridicule and destroy Truth.

Let us examine how the scientific method of Radiometric Dating has been used in this warfare.

What Is Radiometric Dating?A technique used by scientists to estimate the ages of rocks, fossils, and the earth itself. Sadly, most professing Christians have been led to believe that radiometric dating methods have proved the earth to be billions of years old. Therefore, one cannot take the Genesis record to be factual and historical.

Further, it is then obvious from the conclusion that the earth is billions of years old that ‘day’ in the Genesis creation account cannot be taken literally to mean a 24-hour solar day – as we know it.

If Genesis 1:1 is not true, how then does one know that the rest of the Bible is true? Does God tell us the truth? If the Bible is erroneous at its beginning, how do we know the resurrection of Jesus Christ is true? Our great God gives us Truth and answers to the questions of life – all of life.

“Our difficulty in grasping the doctrine of creation is not due so much to the fact that we are finite as to the fact that we are sinful. ‘But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.’ (1 Cor 2:14)

But creation is at the same time most definitely one of the supremely important things of the Spirit of God, for without it the Scriptures and Christianity would fall to pieces. Remove this doctrine, and the entire superstructure collapses.” (Dr. John Whitcomb)

Why Is R/D Important? (to know about)

• Christians must understand and recognize how various tools or methods have been used and continue to be used to attack, diminish, pollute or destroy truth.

• Christians must not be intimidated or silenced by science falsely so called.

It Is All About Truth – God Himself• Is God the source of all truth, or is someone or

something else also a source?• Could someone or something else be a source of

truth apart from God?• The connection between truth and the source of

truth is inescapable.• To destroy or weaken truth claims or truth

propositions weakens or calls into question the claims being made by the source of truth.

• Infinite Sovereign God cannot be weakened or destroyed or thwarted, but His truth claims can be – for a season.

The Battle Is For Truth

• Infinite God – the Uncaused One ― the Source of All Truth – Revealed in:– the Creation (Cosmological Statement)– the Creation Order or Organization (Teleological

Statement)– Human Conscience (Anthropological Statement)– Revealed in the written Word of God – the Bible– Revealed in the Living Word – Jesus Christ

• Other than God – ‘sources of truth’– Satan & fallen angels (created, finite beings)– Man (created, finite beings)

How Is Truth Attacked?• Additions of error to the body of truth• Rebuttals of truth by the reasonings of men• Denials of truth itself• Removing truth from its rightful sphere of

importance• Categorizing truth as that which is simply not

knowable nor attainable – with any certainty• Question the exclusivity of truth – embrace

antithesis and dialectic• Divide and conquer – divide truth, such as

religious truth separated from scientific truth

Where Is the Frontal Assault?• At the beginning –

– destroy origins and the foundations collapse (Psalm 11:3)

• At the head –– gain strongholds at positions of influence and power,

and the masses follow

• At the minds of men –– gain the mind and gain the man– gain control of the systems that inform and form the

culture– gain control of the Church

Where Is the Frontal Assault? (2)

• At the mode of man– destroy the God-ordained roles for men and women– destroy the family unit– destroy the patriarchal nature of the family unit– foster no tolerance for the Biblical design for life

The Beginning of the War on Truth

In the Garden of Eden, in perfection and harmony the war began when Satan, the father of lies says:

“Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’? . . . ”

“Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’” (Genesis 3:1,3-4)

Truth: In the beginning God created

Creation(Ex Nihilo)

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1 (NKJV)

“All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.” John 1:3

The Creation

• Very Good – “And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.” Gen 1:31

• Creatio Ex Nihilo – creation from nothing (Latin)

God created His creation out of nothing or without anything preexistent; He is the First Cause; no thing can come out of nothing; everything must have a cause.

“. . . for Thou didst create all things, and because of Thy will they existed and were created.”

Rev 4:11b

The Timeline in the War on Truth (1)

CreationEx Nihilo

Fall of Satan

& Some # of

Angels

Attack on

Truth Began

Man Sins

Prophets sent by God to turn His people back to truth, back to Him

Jews add traditions to God’s Word

Creation Global Flood 400 Silent Years Christ Comes Church Begins

“Has God said, . . . ?”John theBaptizer

sent

The Light of the world was

coming – the Truth --

JesusChrist

Jesus Christ

comes to redeem man -

“I am the way, the

truth, and the life.”

Jesus Christ, the Cross,

the Resurrection

The called out

assembly, the Church, established

at Pentecost

Christianity sweeps the

world – proclaiming Jesus Christ – the truth

of His Gospel

The Timeline in the War on Truth (2)

Medieval Church overwhelmed by error and silence

– Truth suppressed

Roman Catholic church

withholds Scripture,

covers it with Latin and

pollutes it.

The Renaissance – the Age of

Reason blossoms

Wycliffe: Morning Star

of the Reformation(1330-1384)

Dawning “Light”

Luther (1531)Tyndale(1536)Calvin(1563)

Copernicus(1543)

Galileo(1613)

Francis Bacon(1605)

Kepler(1630)

The Early Church:

persecution & fighting

heresy(Pentecost to

500 AD)

Middle Ages: From Light to

Darkness(500 - 1300

AD)

Hus: Forerunner of

the Reformation(1369-1415)

The Reformation(1531-1600)

The Great

Awakening(1600-1800)

Missions – Gospel to the Ends of the

Earth(1800-1950)

Theological & Doctrinal battles in

Europe & US(1830-1960)

Liberalism, humanism and post

modernism invade the

Church(1930-

present)

1633

Science: 15th -17th Century + (3)

NicolausCopernicus

(1473-1543)

Note 1

1543

JohannesKepler

(1571-1630)

Embraced Copernicus’ heliocentric

theory

GalileoGalilei

(1564-1642)

FrancisBacon

(1561-1626)

Note 2 Note 3

Christian, astronomer

who held to a young earth (3993 BC)

German mathematician & astronomer

Polish mathematician & astronomer

Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer & philosopher

English philosopher, statesman,

scientist, jurist & orator

Note 1 – Copernicus (1473-1543)

• Argued against geocentricity, or earth as the center of the universe, and asserted that the earth rotated on its axis and revolved around the sun, or heliocentricity.

• Opposition to Copernicus’ theory was based:– it was contrary to ‘common sense’ (majority

makes truth idea)

– it was contrary to the geocentricity of Aristotelian physics (and Ptolemy)

– it lacked astronomical evidence (no telescope yet)

– it was contrary to a ‘literal’ interpretation of Scripture according to the Church, which held to Aristotle’s geocentricity (this was an erroneous interpretation of Scripture)

Science: 15th -17th Century + (4)

NicolausCopernicus

(1473-1543)

Note 1

1543 1633

JohannesKepler

(1571-1630)

Embraced Copernicus’ heliocentric

theory

GalileoGalilei

(1564-1642)

FrancisBacon

(1561-1626)

Note 2 Note 3

Christian, astronomer

who held to a young earth (3993 BC)

The “Turning Point”

Note 2 – Galileo (1564-1642) (1)

• Galileo using observations by the newly-invented telescope (1608 in Holland, Galileo built his own telescope in 1609), confirmed what Copernicus had claimed a century earlier regarding the movements of the earth and the heavenly bodies.

• Galileo was forced to recant (1633) his assertions by the Roman Catholic church on threat of excommunication.

Note 2 – Galileo (1564-1642) (2)• This incident gave considerable

support to others then (and now) who insisted, as did Galileo, on a complete separation between the study of the creation and the study of Scripture.

• It was claimed that the Bible was written to teach people theology and morality, not a system of natural philosophy (i.e., science).

• Galileo said the intention of Scripture is “to teach us how one goes to heaven, not how heaven goes.”

Science: 15th -17th Century + (5)

NicolausCopernicus

(1473-1543)

Note 1

1543 1633

JohannesKepler

(1571-1630)

Embraced Copernicus’ heliocentric

theory

GalileoGalilei

(1564-1642)

FrancisBacon

(1561-1626)

Note 2 Note 3

Christian, astronomer

who held to a young earth (3993 BC)

The “Turning Point”

19th century forward

Note 4

Note 3 – Bacon (1561-1626)

• Francis Bacon had an enormous influence on the subsequent development of science (Baconian Science), and on the views of Christians regarding the relationship of Scripture to science

• Bacon advocated the idea of two books of God: the Book of Scripture and the book of nature.

Science: 15th -17th Century + (5)

NicolausCopernicus

(1473-1543)

Note 1

1543 1633

JohannesKepler

(1571-1630)

Embraced Copernicus’ heliocentric

theory

GalileoGalilei

(1564-1642)

FrancisBacon

(1561-1626)

Note 2 Note 3

Christian, astronomer

who held to a young earth (3993 BC)

The “Turning Point”

19th century forward

Note 4

Note 4 - 19th Century Forward (1) • The conflicts between the ‘old earth’

and ‘young earth’ scientists were furious, and with frequent references to Galileo to cite science as the method to interpret Scripture in matters of nature

• It was said that it was quite natural, prior to the discoveries of Copernicus, Kepler and Galileo, for Christians to take the Bible literally in matters now shown to be false by science (they claimed).

Note 4 - 19th Century Forward (2)

• Therefore, since a literal interpretation of Scripture yielded geocentricity, a literal interpretation of Genesis is called into question and looks to science for answers.

• “O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called – which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith.” (1 Timothy 6:20-21)

A Line in the Sand

The Wisdom of God vs. the Foolishness of Man

Old Earth/Young Earth Time Line

• Jonathan Chong working on graphic

Data

Creation, Young Earth

Evolution, Billions of

Years

Assumption of Biblical

History

Assumption ofNaturalism

How Old Is This Fish Fossil?

Radiometric Dating

Radioisotope Dating

Next week: Radiometric Dating Methods

C14 – Carbon-14

K40/Ar40 – Potassium/Argon

U238/Pb206 –Uranium/Lead

Rb87/Sr87 – Rubidium/Strontium