Human Fossils and the Genesis Flood

As biblical creationists, we realize that our young Earth, creation-affirming, evolution-defying views raise ire and eyebrows. People who claim to believe in intellectual honesty and inquiry tend to reject creationary views out of hand. Others, however, want to understand our point of view. Indeed, we know that creation science raises many questions, especially for those who have been indoctrinated in materialism and atheistic interpretations of science.

Credit: Pixabay / Jeff Jacobs

One fair question is why we don't find a passel of fossils from the antediluvian world. After all, many creationists believe that the earth was not exactly sparse in the population category, so where are they? Related to this is the idea that artifacts, and possibly entire cities, from before the Flood would be (or have been) discovered — haven't they?

While there is no direct biblical reason to think there cannot be fossils or artifacts, inferences can be made from Scripture. However, there are some serious scientific reasons to be skeptical of such things. There was a lot of volcanic activity, plate tectonics, lots and lots of fast-moving water, and more. Since fossilization happens quickly (dinosaur tracks are not going to wait around for fossilization conditions, you know), someone or something has to be in an optimal location for rapid burial and preservation. An 1866 engraving by Gustave Dore has a good image of the Ark, but he put a pile of dead bodies laying all peaceful-like on the ground. Not hardly! When Noah and his family left the Ark, they would not have seen such a thing.

We are frequently asked variations of this question, like this example from Ed in Ohio:

I can’t find any information of human fossils in the layers of rock reputedly put down by the flood. They would certainly be there. Can you enlighten me?

If there really were a global flood as described in Genesis, what would we expect to see today? Billions of dead things buried in rock layers laid down by water all over the earth. And that is exactly what we see. But among these rock layers, human fossils are few and far between, with all known specimens coming from post-flood rock layers. Where are all the fossils of pre-flood humans?

To finish reading, click on "Where Are All the Pre-Flood Human Fossils?" ADDENDUM: I missed this before. You may also want to see a similar article from the Institute for Creation Research, "Where Are All the Human Fossils?".