Creation Science Book Review

The Beginnings Under Attack

Chapter 9: Genealogies from the Past that Touch the Future

First Published 27 August 2005

The three page introduction to this paragraph has absolutely nothing of significance related to creation science or the age of the earth.

Division of the People (Page 157)

In this section he alludes to Genesis 10:5, implying that this may mean the division of the continents. This will be addressed in the Division of the Land Mass section below.

The Development of the Babel Concept (Page 158)

Sheffield gives the background for the cause of Babel, and relates it to today's movement to unify the world's churches together. He does have a valid point. I'm all for getting along with other denominations and faiths, but we cannot let this weaken our own beliefs. If such a movement requires you to make a change in your beliefs, then that is a warning to slow down and examine what you are doing.

Division of the Land Masses (Page 162)

At question here is Genesis 10:5:

From these the coastlands of the nations were separated into their lands, every one according to his language, according to their families, into their nations.

Also of relevance is Genesis 10:25

Two sons were born to Eber; the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother's name was Joktan.

Sheffield uses this to argue that the breakup of the original continent Pangea occurred during Peleg's lifetime. He throws out the idea, however, without any scientific facts to back it up. For instance, he says that the breakup was originally said to be 465 million years ago, but that "Current data indicates the initial movement of the continents in thousands rather than millions of years as they had previously proposed." He gives no data, no references for this claim. I have never seen anyone, other than young earth creation science advocates, propose this. No doubt, the data he is referring to is published by some young earth creationist. In reality, there is NO DATA that estimates the breakup of the continents only a few thousand years ago. This illustrates a problem rampant within young earth creationism. It is common practice to throw out statements like these, without any scientific facts to back it up. In other words, "If Brother Hovind said it, it must be true." The words of several misguided Christians, like Mr. Hovind and Mr. Carl Baugh, are taken for truth by their faithful followers, without any examination of the evidence to verify the facts.

The young earth ministry Answers in Genesis has this on their list of creation science arguments that young earth creationists should definitely not use.¹ Here is what they say:

‘Earth’s division in the days of Peleg (Gen. 10:25) refers to catastrophic splitting of the continents.’ Commentators both before and after Lyell and Darwin (including Calvin, Keil and Delitzsch, and Leupold) are almost unanimous that this passage refers to linguistic division at Babel and subsequent territorial division. We should always interpret Scripture with Scripture, and there’s nothing else in Scripture to indicate that this referred to continental division. But only eight verses on (note that chapter and verse divisions were not inspired), the Bible states, ‘Now the whole earth had one language and one speech’ (Gen. 11:1), and as a result of their disobedience, ‘the LORD confused the language of all the earth’ (Gen. 11:9). This conclusively proves that the ‘Earth’ that was divided was the same Earth that spoke only one language, i.e. ‘Earth’ refers in this context to the people of the Earth, not Planet Earth.

Another major problem is the scientific consequences of such splitting—another global flood! This gives us the clue as to when the continents did move apart — during Noah’s Flood — see below on plate tectonics.

However, as you can see, AiG does have another motive for claiming the continents did not split in Genesis 11. They account for the continental movement during the Flood of Noah. However, this is flawed also. For example, the Hawaiian Island chain was created by the oceanic plate slowly moving over an erupting hot spot. As the plate went across, new islands were created. The older islands in the chain are very much older than the new islands.² Also, according to the young earth theory, all ocean floors would be the same age. However, both radiometric dating and the amount of sedimentation both show extreme differences in ages.² There are other reasons as well, and you can check them out in the reference below.²

Overall, Sheffield presents no information contrary to an old earth. As he has done throughout the book, there are many statements made, but without the scientific data to back up the statements. The young earth reader is supposed to take Sheffield's word as truth...just like he takes Mr. Hovind's arguments for truth, without examining them to see if they are true. Mr. Sheffield is exhibiting the standard behavior for young earth creationists...full acceptance of an authority figure without verification. In other words, they are gullible (easily deceived or duped; easily tricked because of being too trusting (from dictionary.com)). Don't get me wrong...young earth creationists are smart people, but they have grown up in this culture that accepts this type of behavior.

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¹ answersingenesis.org/home/area/faq/dont_use.asp

² http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CD/CD750.html

If you are not a Christian, and you have been holding out on making a decision for Christ because the Church always preached a message that was contrary to what you saw in the scientific world, then rest assured that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, and you can believe in Christ and receive salvation, while still believing in an old earth. Click here for more.

Are you a Christian who believes in young earth creationism? Now that we have shown the many difficulties of the young earth creation science model in this and many other articles, how does this impact your Christian life? If you are a young earth creationism believer, click here.

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To learn more about old earth creationism, see Old Earth Belief, or check out the article Can You Be A Christian and Believe in an Old Earth?

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