{"id":87,"date":"2009-07-30T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-07-30T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/scienceandthesacred\/2009\/07\/the-new-old-flood-geology.html"},"modified":"2014-05-19T09:16:15","modified_gmt":"2014-05-19T13:16:15","slug":"the-new-old-flood-geology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/scienceandthesacred\/2009\/07\/the-new-old-flood-geology.html","title":{"rendered":"The New Old Flood Geology"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"grandcanyon.jpg\"<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1923, self-taught geologist and amateur scientist George McCready Price published his work The New Geology<\/i>.\u00a0 A vocal opponent of evolutionary theory and an advocate of young earth creationism, Price dedicated much of his book to bringing down the “geological column,” a strategy which he believed would undermine the support of evolutionary theory and make way for the acceptance of a literal six-day creation.<\/div>\n

The geological column, exemplified by the rock layers along the walls of the Grand Canyon, offers us a chance to glimpse back into geological history.\u00a0 Towards the top, we find remains of more recent geological events.\u00a0 As we descend the column, the rocks and fossils found in each new layer are the remains of an earlier geological time.\u00a0 In a way, the geological column is like a time machine, allowing us to view the change and development of the earth and its creatures.<\/p>\n

Price, however, disagreed.\u00a0 “This alleged historical order of the fossils is clearly a scientific blunder,” he wrote.\u00a0 In fact, he argued that there is no way to know whether or not fossils from one layer lived before, during, or after those from another.\u00a0 The so-called “geological column,” he argued, was nothing more than an artificial chronology assigned to these buried rocks.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Price failed to realize that no single geological column exists.\u00a0 Rather, our knowledge of the fossil record comes from comparing samples from thousands of partial records across the globe.\u00a0 By combining these chapters, we can — and have — created a detailed history of the planet.<\/p>\n

Why critique the scientific reasoning of a book that is almost 90 years old?\u00a0 Certainly, many other scientific ideas from the same time have been proven wrong.\u00a0 The difference, however, is that while most of these theories have since been corrected, Price’s New Geology<\/i> still forms an important part of modern young earth creationist thought.<\/p>\n

To read more about Price, the problems with his book, and how his ideas are still accepted today, be sure to read Karl Giberson’s scholarly essay “Adventist Origins of Young Earth Creationism”<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Share<\/a>
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In 1923, self-taught geologist and amateur scientist George McCready Price published his work The New Geology.\u00a0 A vocal opponent of evolutionary theory and an advocate of young earth creationism, Price dedicated much of his book to bringing down the “geological column,” a strategy which he believed would undermine the support of evolutionary theory and make…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":196,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-thoughts"],"yoast_head":"\nThe New Old Flood Geology - Science and the Sacred<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/scienceandthesacred\/2009\/07\/the-new-old-flood-geology.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The New Old Flood Geology - 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