152
March 1928
T h e
K i n g ' s
B u s i n e s s
Genesis and Geology B y D udley J oseph W h it n e y , Exeter, California
animals, which were covered by mud and water so sud denly that they did not decay, as dead animals now decay when they are not eaten by their enemies. Geologists say that this rock and this material forming the bulk of our continents were deposited gradually for millions of years. I f any of you should read a geology written within the last year or two, you will likely find the estimates of geologic, time running back for a billion years, or even more. That is, they say that everything on earth now was descended from simple plants and animals that were little more than tiny masses o f jelly-like mate rial, which started existence ages ago. Genesis, on the other hand, indicates that plants and animals were defi nitely created just a few thousand years ago, and it sug
£N the problem of evolution is discussed, e important point is not whether ,or not irwinism works, or whether it is possible for me kind of plant or animal to change greatly the process of time, but it is particularly a itter of earth history.
For example, it is pretty well agreed that the history of the earth is written to some extent in the rocks of the earth. We ought to be able, therefore, by investigating the rocks to decide fairly well whether the history of the earth is as Genesis indicates it ,was, or whether it is as the geologists generally allege. Geologists say that the earth, as a home for plants and animals, is scores and hundreds of millions of years old
and that there has been a whole series of different kinds o f plants and animals, starting with very simple forms and ending with the kind of plants and animals, in cluding man, which now exist. That, in brief, is the history of the earth according to evolution. I f that history actually occurred, evolution most probably should be believed, although it is still possible that there were numerous “ creations” at intervals of time. Certainly that kind of history is hard to fit to Genesis. On the other hand, if that
gests very strongly that all these mountains are the result of a great disturbance o f land and water at the time o f the deluge. It is those two contrasting opinions that we have to keep in mind in viewing the problem of evolution versus Genesis. Evolu tion insists that the sedimentary rock was formed through mil lions o f years; Genesis would have it that it was formed at the time of the deluge, or later. It is well to try to see which view is correct. First let us look at the prob lem o f time. Evolutionists want the earth to be hundreds o f mil lions o f years old, and let me say that if it is not that old, there has been no series o f geologic ages and no true evolution (although
T HE crying, need o f this whole bus iness is to straighten out the errors and misunderstandings o f anti-evolution propaganda,” declares Mr. Whitney. "Our own house must be put in order before we are ready fo r tackling the Evolutionists, and we simply pile up disrespect fo r our selves when we do make foolish mistakes. The thing has to be understood that the Scientists have a fine case in all appear ance, though on careful analysis it is seen to be faulty in nearly every point. The biggest mistake a man can make is to Underestimate the strength o f the other fellow. Partisanship blinds a man to the merits o f the other fellow ’s case and to the real merits o f his own case.
history o f the earth is false, evo lution certainly and surely is false too, for although there may have been a great deal of “ evolution” of a kind, it would not be o f a kind at all in conflict with Gen esis, nor the kind of evolution that would turn a fish into a lizard, or a monkey into a man. This problem in geology is very involved and there are many important angles to the problem that cannot even be hinted at here, but in a brief and non-technical way I wish to point out some important reasons for believing that Genesis is right and evolution wrong. How T h e R ocks W ere L aid I wonder how many people who have never studied about the rocks, realize that most o f the mountains show that the material forming them got into place through the action of water. O f course there are volcanoes, which are formed of material sent up from below. Granite mountains also come from an uplift o f the crust o f the earth or from the movement of material from beneath, but with these exceptions most of the great mountain masses are composed of material.originally laid down in water. Shells of marine animals are found high up on mountain sides, and fossils of plants, and animals o f a multitude of kinds are found here and there nearly all over the earth. The petroleum which provides the gas to run our automo biles quite certainly comes from the bodies of fishes, or other marine animals, and perhaps partly from land
I am, very certain that plants and animals have changed greatly since the Creator established a perfect earth). How E a r th ' s A ge is C alculated Scientists study about the geologic age o f the earth, that is, the amount of time since the oceans were formed. They have three ways by which they can try to measure it: 1. The amount of salt in sea water in relation to the way salt is increasing in the sea. 2. The amount of sedi ment which they figure has been moved by water in the history o f the earth. 3. The rate at which radium and uranium change to lead. The third way is of no value whatever in calculating earthy time, and the first two ways show that the earth is still very young, far too young for evolution to have done the work they say it did. Sea water contains a lot of salt and each year the rivers wash thousands of tons more from the land into it. It is leached out from the soil or comes from the break ing down o f the rocks. In spite of this the oceans are far from being saturated with salt. The salt measure of time starts like this: I f the oceans were perfectly fresh to begin with, and if salt came from the land to the oceans dll the time at the rate it comes now, the oceans would be
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