Humility is being willing to change your conclusions when new information comes in. Science is always changing. So should our conclusions.

42 Then Job replied to the Lord:
² “I know that you can do all things;
    no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
³ You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’
    Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
    things too wonderful for me to know. Job 42:1-2

“10 Best Evidences from Science That confirm a Young Earth,” by Answers in Genesis, has provided some super examples of science finally catching up to the Bible. Let’s look at number 7:

#7 Caron-14 in Fossils, Coal, and Diamonds

“Carbon-14 (or radiocarbon) is a radioactive form of carbon that scientists use to date fossils. But, it decays so quickly–with a half-life of only 5,730 years–that none is expected to remain in fossils after only a few hundred thousand years. Yet, Carbon-14 has been detected in “ancient” fossils–supposedly up to hundreds of millions of years old–ever since the earliest days of radiocarbon dating.

Even if every atom in the whole earth were carbon-14, they would decay so quickly that no carbon-14 would be left on earth after only 1 million years. Contrary to expectations, between 1984 and 1998 alone, the scientific literature reported carbon-14 in 70 samples that came from fossils, coal, oil, natural gas, and marble representing the fossil-bearing portion of the geologic record, supposedly spanning more than 500 million years. All contain radiocarbon. Further, analyses of fossilized wood and coal samples, supposedly spanning 32-350 million years in age, yielded ages between 20,000 and 50,000 years using carbon-14 dating. Diamonds supposedly 1-3 billion years old similarly yielded carbon-14 ages of only 55,000 years.

Even that is too old when you realize that these ages assume that the earth’s magnetic field has always been constant. But, it was stronger in the past, protecting the atmosphere from solar radiation and reducing the radiocarbon production. As a result, past creatures had much less radiocarbon in their bodies, and their deaths occurred much more recently than reported!

So, the radiocarbon ages of all fossils and coal should be reduced to less than 5,000 years, matching the timing of their burial during the flood. The age of diamonds should be reduced to the approximate time of biblical creation–about 6,000 [to 8,000] years ago.”

I remember back in the 70’s and 80’s the scientific world touting carbon-14 dating. Due to more advanced scientific methods, this method of dating has proven that everything that was tested for carbon-14 is less than a million years old–and probably less than 50,000! According to God, He created everything about 6,000-8,000 years ago. Since He was there, we can trust His word on the matter.

Tomorrow, #8 – Short-Lived Comets

Abba, thank You for requiring us to believe You by faith. You continue to unveil truth to us as science continues to delve Your secrets, O Lord. May we have the patience and humility to wait on You without making assumptions, and to be willing to change our conclusions based upon the unveiling of Your truths. Faith is “Forsaking All, I Trust Him.” We trust You, Abba. Amen.