Download File - Zachary Church of Christ

Zachary Church of Christ
3836 Hemlock Street, P.O. Box 97
Zachary, Louisiana 70791
Minister: Bruce P. Hatcher [225] 301-8373
Church office:[225] 654-5993
UNIFORMITARIANISM
Bruce P. Hatcher
There are only two possibilities regarding the earth’s history and the origin of man: creation or evolution. Regarding these, there are two philosophies in the world, one of which each person must accept: uniformitarianism or catastrophism.
Uniformitarianism might seem like a big scary word, but notice within it the word “uniform” and “ism.” “Ism,” means this word denotes a philosophy or ideology that concerns “uniformity.” In Zachary Community Schools, the students wear uniforms, that is they all dress alike, the style is “uniform” among all the students. Uniformitarians think that whatever is happening today has happened uniformly throughout the history of the universe. Therefore, if you want to know what has happened for billions of years, then simply learn what is happening now. “The present is key to the past” is their catchphrase. It is important to realize that if there have been unique catastrophic events in the past that we do not witness in the world we live in today, then the uniformity is lost and any assumptions based upon uniformity are speculative at best.
The importance of uniformitarianism to evolution perhaps can be seen by this illustration. A car leaves Zachary headed for Jackson, Tennessee. The car’s cruise control is set at 65 miles per hour. The car arrives in Jackson, Tennessee and based upon the knowledge that the cruise control was set at 65 and the time of arrival was 6:00 pm, the place of departure, Zachary, there are some absolutes that can be used to calculate the time of departure and time of travel. But what if cruise control was not set? What if the speed varied? What if many stops for varying lengths of time were made along the way? What if Zachary was not even known as the place of departure? Could anyone possibly determine the time of departure? By this illustration one should see that belief in uniformitarianism is an absolute must for evolution because without uniformity there are no absolutes by which to calculate the age of the earth.
In the late 1700’s and early 1800’s the uniformitarian hypothesis began to be advanced through writings. By the end of the 18th century, the concept of long geological ages and uniformitarianism was being promoted by such men as Buffon, Playfair, especially James Hutton, and then Charles Lyell. Charles Darwin was greatly inZluenced by Lyell’s Principles of Geology which set out uniformitarian concepts of land slowly rising or falling over immense periods, and Darwin saw things Lyell's way. Darwin conZidently acknowledged that his theory of gradual evolution by natural selection depended on the long ages and slow stages supposedly provided by geological uniformitarianism, and soon the intellectual world was won over to this system.
The Geologic Column and the corresponding chronology is known as the Geologic Time Scale, and serves as the backbone of the so-­‐called historical geology. The Geologic Column is based on the assumption of uniformitarianism. The methods of radiometric dating that support the geologic column also based upon the assumption of uniformitarianism. The different periods of time represented in the Geologic column are based upon complexity of the species of fossilized seashells, in other words, evolution which is based upon the assumption of uniformitarianism, provides the basis for the geologic column. Evolutionists claim the geologic record is the best evidence for evolution yet the geologic record is dependent upon evolution –this is circular reasoning. Without the assumption of uniformitarianism the entire system of evolution, the geological record, and radiometric dating of the earth to be billions of years old all fall like a house of cards.
Catastrophism is the theory that changes within the earth’s crust during geographical history have resulted in sudden violent and unusual events. If this be true it renders any scientiZic methods of dating inaccurate. Even more importantly it tips the scales against evolution in favor of creationism. The Bible speaks of such a catastrophe, it was the Zlood of Noah’s day. Last Sunday night our sermon was titled, The Flood: Regional or Global and the purpose of it was to show the abundant scriptural evidence that a great global event took place that changed the face of the earth forever. Some believers feel forced to believe in evolution, because of the way it is presented as fact. The same group of people, being believers, try to harmonize the Bible and evolution. They come with absurd doctrines such as: The Gap Theory, The Day-­‐Age Theory, as well as the Regional-­‐Flood Theory. We have seen by sermon the Bible’s teaching on the great Zlood cannot be harmonized with evolution. Either evolution is true and the Bible is false or the Bible is true and evolution is false.
Having “faith” is ridiculed by those in the atheistic-­‐evolutionary community, but we should note the “faith” that they have placed in uniformitarianism. There is an absolute absence of empirical evidence for their assertion which true science demands. In the following weeks I plan to add to the Biblical evidence we have noted for a global Zlood, some scientiZic evidence for a global Zlood and how it answers geological questions. We will be discussing empirical evidence, true science, not philosophies based on assumptions.
Sources:
The Biblical Basis For Modern Science, by Dr. Henry M. Morris
Footprints in the Ash, Dr. Steven A. Austin
The Noahic Flood, by Curtis A. Cates
Christian Evidences, class notes from Memphis School of Preaching, Instructor: Curtis A. Cates
June 10, 2012