Thursday, January 19, 2012

EVIDENCE OF CONTINENTAL DRIFT IN THE BIBLE

A Bible Study Student once asked me about the break-up of Pangea and the Continental drift? And did not those events neccessitate a basis for a geologically ancient earth rather than a young earth.

I was stated that in my opinion it was more of a recent cataclysmic event that resulted after the receding of flood waters and is now slowing down. The weight of the water pressing down on the Atlantic trench was the driving mechanism for the spreading of the mid atlantic ridge until it reached a modicom of stasis as the North American continent collided westward.

After researching the matter more fully, I discovered these scriptures.

Genesis 10:
24 And Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber.
25 And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; 
and his brother's name was Joktan.
26 And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and> Jerah,>>>

Remember how I was postulating that the drift was post-deluvian? I further uncovered that the time of Peleg was after Shem, Noah's son, so that actually confirmed the theory according to the Bible.

Peleg was a son of Shem according to Genesis 11.

Shem was 100 y.o. and begat Arphaxad 2 years after the flood, lived>to 600 y.o.
Arphaxad was 35 and begat Arphaxad lived to be 438
Salah lived 30 years and begat Eber, lived to be 433
Eber lived 34 years and begat Peleg, lived to be 464
Peleg lived 30 years and begat Reu, lived to be 239

So after the flood there passed (2, 35, 30, and 34 years=101 years)
until the birth of Peleg who was so named by Eber because: 

1 Chronicles 1:
18 And Arphaxad begat Shelah, and Shelah begat Eber.
19 And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg; 
because in his days the earth was divided: and his brother's name was Joktan


Most of the earth was at one time, covered in a similar climate, that of tropical or subtropical. We also know several more things about that era, that people and animals lived an incredibly long time and grew to considerable sizes. Reptiles for example and most fish do not stop growing in their life times provided that there is ample food. So reptiles that grew to enormous sizes were not rare. Neither were larger insects, fish, air-breathing aquatic mammals, and even people! 

Genesis 6
4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

The Ancient Romans referred to these people as "Titans".

We see contemporary Giants in the account of David and Goliath.

And certainly we do still have remnants of genetic gigantism presenting in modern human populations.

So what would cause these giant specimens to live for such a long time and thrive?
The Book of Genesis describes, in the creation account that God divided the waters from the waters and placed a firmament between them. What this describes is a terrestrial body of water and a canopy of water that was separated by a firmament, or a span of gas- our atmosphere. 

The presence of a vapor canopy would produce In an intensely oxygen rich environment, and a universal climate, probably with the exception of the poles. There is some evidence of climate changes relative to the absence and presence of sunlight, and the presence of wind in Genesis. Such an ideal greenhouse environment would not only lead to enormous plant life, but also very large and healthy animals and people as it would present an almost hyperbaric effect.

Until the flood, the Bible records that the earth was watered my mists or springs, like geysers from the wells of the deep. Heavy atmospheric pressure could account for this. In order for a worldwide flood to occur, this vapor canopy would have had to have been destroyed. There are several theories as to how God allowed for this to happen. Certainly an asteroid IS possible, as it would pierce the canopy at first, and it;s immense impact on the earth could trigger volcanism in the earth's crust. Such volcanism would cause plumes of ash to rise up to the water canopy, as the ash mixed with water, it would cause not only rain, as the water would cling to the ash particles, but it would also generate other cataclysms like storms, winds, etc as the gases in the atmosphere expanded upward to displace the water leaving the upper vapor canopy. 

If the earth were completely covered by water, we would expect to find tropical fossils in polar regions, which we do. We would also expect to find aquatic fossils on top of mountains which we do. We would also expect rapid and mass sedimentation to quickly cover killed life forms and provide the actual mechanism for fossilization, which, we do. Fossils are not formed over slow deposits of materials over time over a specimen, but through rapid sedimentation and burial of the specimen. In fact. most marine fossils and plant fossils, as well as many animal fossils appear pressed down on as though buried quickly under the weight of earth sediments.

Consider the following excerpt from Answers in Genesis
Scientists once understood the fossils, which are buried in water-carried sediments of mud and sand, to be mostly the result of the great Flood. Those who now accept millions of years of gradual accumulation of fossils have, in their way of thinking, explained away the evidence for the global Flood. Hence, many compromising Christians insist on a local flood.

In fact, Even what is now Mt. Everest was once covered with water and abruptly lifted upward. Evidence of Noah’s Flood can be seen all over the earth, from seabeds to mountain tops. Whether you travel by car, train, or plane, the physical features of the earth’s terrain clearly indicate a catastrophic past, from canyons and craters to coal beds and caverns. Some layers of strata extend across continents, revealing the effects of a huge catastrophe.

The earth’s crust has massive amounts of layered sedimentary rock, sometimes miles (kilometers) deep! These layers of sand, soil, and material—mostly laid down by water—were once soft like mud, but they are now hard stone. Encased in these sedimentary layers are billions of dead things (fossils of plants and animals) buried very quickly. The evidence all over the earth is staring everyone in the face.


Where Did All the Water Come From?
In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights (Genesis 7:11–12).

The Bible tells us that water came from two sources: below the earth and above the earth. Evidently, the source for water below the ground was in great subterranean pools, or “fountains” of fresh water, which were broken open by volcanic and seismic (earthquake) activity.


Where Did All the Water Go?
And the waters receded continually from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters decreased (Genesis 8:3). Simply put, the water from the Flood is in the oceans and seas we see today. Three-quarters of the earth’s surface is covered with water.As even secular geologists observe, it does appear that the continents were at one time “together” and not separated by the vast oceans of today. The forces involved in the Flood were certainly sufficient to change all of this.

Scripture indicates that God formed the ocean basins, raising the land out of the water, so that the flood waters returned to a safe place. (Some theologians believe Psalm 104 may refer to this event.) Some creation scientists believe this breakup of the continent was part of the mechanism that ultimately caused the Flood.

Courtesy: Jay Antonic

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