The Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Creationism (2018)

In considering a creation-week origin for the Great Unconformity as well as Precambrian microbialites, it will be pertinent to first consider what we know, based on Scripture, of God’s creative acts when natural law as we know it was either suspended or non- existent. A. The Earth: A Good Place to Start When we consider the earth’s core, mantle and lower crust, as they were created on Days 1 through 4 of creation week, we will most likely agree that they exist and operate today in much the same way as they did when they were first completed. This means that the way in which God initially assembled the earth as a system of countless parts, and the way in which those parts interrelate with each other, cross a boundary that extends from the supernatural of Days 1 through 6, to the space/time historical context of Day 7. As it turns out, God seems to have made the earth as a system of parts that were assembled and continue to function in anticipation of a universe that would operate according to natural physical laws. For example, the existence of a dense, molten iron/nickel core, a less dense rocky, silicate mantle, and a crust that is the least dense of all, makes perfect sense in a universe where gravity exists. In a world like this, particles such as iron and nickel should move from the crust to the core, leaving the less dense particles to take up the space in between. This in fact, is precisely what we see. Yet these processes are exceedingly slow in the realm of time and space as we know it today. Why would God supernaturally create a system of interrelating parts that anticipated slow and gradual processes? He could just as easily have created an earth where iron, nickel and other heavy elements were “created” at the surface, instead of at its center. Yet he did not do this. This is only one facet of countless processes such as magma-mixing, exsolution, isotope partitioning, fractionation, and many more, that seem to correlate very well with many aspects of modern geophysics. Yet as with the gravitational pull of heavy elements down to the earth’s core, these processes seem to have been “built into” the original earth in anticipation of their continuing to operate in the space/time historical context of Day 7 and beyond. These facts caused John Baumgardner to write this (Baumgardner 2000, p. 78-79): I am persuaded the geochemical data do strongly favor the conclusion the continental crust is the result of partial melting/differentiation processes through which much if not most of the rock material of the mantle has been cycled. In the framework of a literal understanding of Genesis 1, this implies to me God simply employed special means to accomplish these changes…To summarize the observations and conclusions given above [in the original article] which I believe are reliable , let me begin by affirming the present-day earth structure as deduced by [modern, secular] seismology as firm and trustworthy (emphasis mine) . This example should not really come as a surprise, since most creationists already agree that God acted in much the same way when forming and filling the earth with life. The creation of soil, for example, a process that takes countless years and involves both geological and biological components, was completed in just a single day. Plants and animals were also created as mature organisms. Even the deposition of km/thick strata, according to Andrew Snelling, must have been achieved in just a few hours (Snelling 2008). And this seems to be an agreed viable position; if God brought forth the land in just a single day then erosion must have been extremely rapid and intense. Yet at today’s rates it would take tens or hundreds of years for the finest of those sediments to settle out of the water column. How would the first organisms have lived in seas filled with muddy soup? How would photosynthesis have been possible? All of the above makes perfect sense given the functional necessity of a mature creation. B. Biblical Examples of Non-natural Maturated Processes We are not limited to the creation week as to biblical examples of similar supernatural events. In John 2, Jesus supernaturally turns ordinary water into drinkable wine. Perhaps the most intriguing statement in this passage comes from the master of the feast when he exclaims, “you have kept the good wine until now” John 2:10, ESV. Why did he say this? Because good wine must be fermented for longer periods of time. Jesus had not just created wine, he had created aged wine. If a scientist were to take a sample of that wine without being told where it came from, he would conduct his experiments and may conclude that the wine had been grown in a particular climate, at a particular geographical location, and under the stewardship of a particular wine maker over a certain period of extended time. Of course, these conclusions would be at odds with what actually occurred, especially given the time involved. A similar biblical example can be found in Numbers 17. In that account, we are told that Aaron’s staff, nothing more than a dead stick, not only budded, but actually produced a small harvest of mature almonds overnight. Yet almond trees require a long period of immature incubation—upwards of 5 years, before a viable and economically mature crop of almonds can be produced. The origin of this crop of almonds is of course beyond the scope of normal science. Yet if this small crop of almonds were harvested and sent to a modern laboratory, what kind of predictable conclusions might one expect to find? Many other examples of these maturated processes can be found in the Bible; Moses turns a stick into a living, breathing snake (Exodus 4:3); the snake had a complete skeleton, brain, lungs, liver, heart, stomach, spleen, pancreas, testes, small intestine, kidneys and rectum, all of which from our perspective must have had antecedents. An investigator would likely assume that the snake had an embryonic origin, which itself derived from haploid gametes that came from a separate male and female snake. Jesus creates bread and fish on multiple occasions (Example: Matthew 14: 13 – 21); atrophied bones, muscles and organs are restored to the extent that modern doctors would not detect their original condition (John 5:9; John 9:6). Time-dependent abstract examples also exist; in Acts 3:1 – 10, for example, we are told that a man lame from birth is healed and thereafter able to walk. Yet this is a double miracle. The man was born lame. The ability to walk is both physical and learned . We all know that it takes many years for toddlers to master this ability, and much the same timeframe is required for adults who have had to relearn to walk after an accident. Yet this man in Acts was not only healed, he was somehow infused with a time-dependent, learned skill. Adam and Eve must have been infused with similar learned skills. 3. AModel for the Growth of Precambrian Microbialites And so with these biblical observations, it is suggested that Coulson ◀ Stromatolites ▶ 2018 ICC 385