Counsels on Secular Worldview

Counsel #4 — The Only Feasible Explanation

Picture: Counsel #4 — The Only Feasible Explanation CSe 44.1

It is often claimed that fossil formation takes millions of years, but evidence suggests the opposite is true. Observations today show that dead animals’ bodies do not last long due to bacteria and scavengers. For instance, in Africa, up to 10,000 wildebeest drown annually as they cross swift rivers, their bones disintegrating within seven years. Similarly, whale bones in the ocean degrade within a few years. The coprolite, fossilized crocodile poop (pictured above) is an example, which based on sediment dating, would have needed to remain intact for a century before burial. It is implausible for a 4 cm piece of poop to remain undamaged for that long at the bottom of a lake! The presence of exquisitely preserved fossils throughout the fossil record suggests rapid burial by catastrophic events. The only adequate explanation for such rapid burial is the flood described in the Bible.^[43] CSe 44.2

“Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth. It will rain 40 days and 40 nights. I will destroy from the earth every living thing that I made.” Genesis 7:4 ICB CSe 44.3

“The entire surface of the earth was changed at the Flood.... As the water began to subside... Everywhere were strewn the dead bodies of men and beasts. The Lord would not permit these to remain to decompose and pollute the air, therefore He made of the earth a vast burial ground.” Ellen White in Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 107 CSe 44.4

Reflect: What strategies foster constructive dialogue with people holding different perspectives on the fossil record? CSe 44.5

Mesozoic dinosaurs: Left to right - Camarasaurus, juvenile Psittacosaurus from Mongolia; a part of the Dinodig Dinosaur quarry. CSe 44.6