Radiometric Dating

Has Radiometric Dating Poisoned Your Faith? Episode 11

Introduction ~ Radiometric dating can destroy your trust in the Bible.

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Some Observations about Radiometric Dating

Many believe the earth is 4.5 billion years old. Modern geology uses radiometric dating to confirm this.
Some facts about radiometric dating:
1. It relies on a set of unprovable assumptions in order to work.
2. It wasn’t developed until the 20th Century. But the idea of an ancient Earth was worked out philosophically early in the 19th Century, with no scientific evidence for an ancient Earth, but only philosophical interpretation.
3. In many cases, radiometrically dated rock has yielded both younger and older dates than the one finally accepted. The geological timetable, developed in the 1800s, is the final determiner of age.
4. Fossils and dinosaur bones are not directly dated using radiometric dating. Ideas for dating fossils were worked out philosophically about 100 years before radiometric dating was developed.
5. Carbon-14 is not used to date archaeological discoveries without first comparing them with pottery styles and any available written documents.
6. Using index fossils to date fossil discoveries is falling into disuse, as the same fossils are being increasingly discovered below and above their accepted time markers

Radiometric Dating fails as a time predictor because the processes cannot be observed or recorded in the past.

Our Response

As believers, we are to live by the words of Scripture, which come from God’s mouth (Matt. 4:4). Jesus quoted and trusted the Old Testament. Also, ”…the righteous will live by faith.” (Hab. 2:4.) And, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” (Rom. 4:3).

Many scientists say things that contradict what Scripture says, especially about Earth’s age. If we are to trust God’s words, what does this mean for us?

An example:
Genesis 5 is a list of the descendants of Adam, from Seth, to the Flood. This totals about 1656 years. If Adam was created on day six of Creation Week, this means that earth must be younger than 4.5 billion years. If this Biblical record is incorrect, then what the Bible says about salvation and forgiveness of sins is suspect.

Radioactivity and Radiometric Dating Explanation

Radioactivity is observable and measurable in the present.
Radiometric Dating seeks to apply this science to the distant past, to make it work like a clock.

Some atoms are unstable. They lose energy (decay, are radioactive). For example, Carbon-12 is a normal, stable element, with six protons and neutrons. Carbon-14, though, has six protons, and eight neutrons. It is unstable and seeks to lose particles, or decay (is radioactive). Radioactive atoms release energy which can be measured in decays per second (Becquerels). By taking these present rates of decay and projecting them into the past (assuming a constant decay rate), an age for the earth can be statistically calculated. This is not science, but a combination of science, history, philosophy, and consensus.

Uranium is an example of an unstable element. Theoretically, if it loses enough atomic particles, it becomes lead. It is assumed that this will happen, even though nobody has seen the entire process. It can’t be verified.

But if the Genesis Flood took place, then these assumptions about radiometric dating would be thrown off. All geological processes would have changed by this sudden release of heat and energy.

To date anything, we must know its history. Christian orthodoxy proclaims that the Bible is God’s revelation to man, is historical, and reveals to us the outline of the Earth’s history. Contrast that to the Enlightenment, which helped set the course for modern geology, and says that there is no Biblical revelation and that the Bible isn’t historical.

Summary

1. Radiometric dating isn’t science, but an application of the philosophy of uniformitarianism.
2. Uniformitarianism denies the historical Genesis Flood.
3. Uniformitarianism is a belief about the past.
4. Uniformitarianism is scientifically limited to the present.
5. Uniformitarianism consists of extrapolation and assumptions.
6. Radioactivity isn’t the same thing as radiometric dating.

As believers, we must look at things differently. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5. “…We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God….”