Same Evidence. Different Conclusions

February 09, 2016

Have you ever wondered why Creation scientists and evolutionists arrive at different conclusions about the fossil record when they have the same evidence?

First, it’s important to understand that it takes very special conditions for bones to become fossils.

Imagine a dinosaur dying and falling to the ground. What happens to his bones? If unprotected, they will either be eaten by other animals or begin to decay from exposure to oxygen and bacteria. However, if that dinosaur was buried under lots of mud and water, his bones would begin to fossilize as the minerals in the mud gradually replace the minerals in the decaying bones. Eventually, the bones would become hard as a rock and remain in their original shape, preserved for man to discover later.

So think about it. If a worldwide flood really did happen, it stands to reason that there should be evidence of massive destruction with huge fossil deposits all over the globe. So what do we find? Massive dinosaur graveyards all over the world containing thousands of dinosaur fossils!

One great example is a place called Ghost Ranch, located about 60 miles north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The ranch contains a museum of paleontology and a dinosaur quarry.Paleontologists have found over a thousand dinosaur fossils there. Most of the discovered fossils come from a dinosaur called Coelophysis (SEE-low-FIE-sis). A Coelophysis dinosaur was about nine feet long and had hollow bones. Like many other dinosaur graveyards, Ghost Ranch tells the story of a great, catastrophic flood!

In 1947, a young paleontologist named Edwin Colbert ventured to Ghost Ranch with two colleagues. During their trip, the three men discovered one of the largest collections of dinosaur deposits ever recorded!

Here are three of their observations from Ghost Ranch:

The fossils showed no signs of exposure or decay (indicating a rapid burial)
The bones were in a jumbled mess, as if the fossils were first deposited and then picked up again by water and transported somewhere else.
The necks of many skeletons were bent unnaturally backward

Coelophysis at Ghost Ranch

These observations make a compelling case for a very powerful, catastrophic flood, but many evolutionists believe dinosaurs slowly died off many millions of years ago.

Scientists who believe in the Genesis account of creation recognize that the evidence and the Bible are in complete harmony with one another. They understand that the global flood in Genesis is a perfectly logical explanation for the mass burial of dinosaurs. They immediately make the connection between a global worldwide Flood and a dramatic alteration of the earth’s surface with mass burials of dinosaurs of all sizes (not to mention the many species of sea creatures).

Created on Day 6 with other land creatures and man, dinosaurs roamed the earth until the catastrophic Flood destroyed all land-dwelling, air-breathing creatures. The only surviving dinosaurs were the representatives of each kind that God preserved on the Ark. These surviving dinosaurs would later repopulate the earth.

So why do we find fossils at higher elevations and mountains around the world? The Bible describes a massive worldwide flood so powerful that mountains rose and valleys were lowered. And when the waters receded, fossils could be found at all elevations.

At the end of the day, we know that evolutionists and creationists are examining the same evidence, but the interpretation of that evidence always comes back to the examiner’s worldview – the lens through which we’re observing that evidence.

Bible-believing Christians can be encouraged to know that not only does the Genesis account of Creation stand up to intellectual scrutiny, it is the most plausible explanation of the scientific evidence. We shouldn’t be surprised by this if we know God because we know His Word is true! After all, while man’s interpretation is filtered through imperfect, finite minds, science and the Bible have the same Author – our Awesome Creator.