Piltdown Superman

While there were other hippopotamuses long ago, there are only two kinds left: the pygmy and the river. Interesting contrast, as the river hippo makes its home in the Nile. It is the third largest land animal and very dangerous. They are also fragile. To modify a line from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy , Hippopotamuses glide through water in much the same way that bricks don't. Water temperature must be just right, and no salt, either. So how did they get to merrie olde England? Dining hippopotamus, Pixabay / Petar Ubiparip Since they cannot fit through the doors of mass transit and they cannot operate motor vehicles, they must have walked. But Cowboy Bob, England isn't very merry and it's surrounded by water! Well, Ireland and Britain are islands now , but there was a time when the areas were accessible by foot. This involves the Ice Age that was the result of the Genesis Flood. (People have some wrong ideas about the Ice Age, such as many of them in the past an...

Denizens of the secular science industry have a habit of telling stories, especially when they need to protect deep time. After all, the Bearded Buddha needs many years to make his evolution story seem plausible, so they give it to him. Evidence for the Genesis Flood is rejected out of hand. Some time ago, Dr. Andrew Snelling was pondering the folded rocks at Grand Canyon. Try to bend or fold a rock now, it shatters under the force. He wanted to take some rocks for examination, but government officials discriminated against him and refused permission . Monument fold in the Tapeats Sandstone, Flickr / Nate Loper ( CC BY 2.0 ) Fortunately, Dr. Snelling won the lawsuit and was able to collect fifty-three samples. His goal was to see if secular scientists could adequately explain rock folds or if they were just using the principle of Making Things Up™ again to bolster their story of 500 million years to fold those rocks. Tomorrow is Question Evolution Day The samples were processed with g...

There is a perennial wildflower that grows in temperate areas of the Northern Hemisphere known as fireweed  in America, and  rosebay willowherb in Britain. It seems like an understatement to refer to land as disturbed  after fires or volcanic eruptions (or bombing, it has been called bombweed  in England), but fireweed is ready to reclaim the land. Fireweed is attractive, but may be sparse during good times for the land. Its method of distributing itself on disturbed land (above and below ground) is quite interesting. Fireweed, Flickr / Alaska Region U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Kristine Sowl (PD) When Mt. St. Helens erupted, the land was a mess and scientists watched for years to see how it would recover. Guess what showed up right quick-like? Yup, fireweed was observed  by 1985. Fungi also joined the land reclamation party. Add to this is that fireweed and other plants are food for wildlife — if they eat the right varieties at opportune times. One reas...

There are pictures usually taken at strategic moments, then captioned with things like, "Have you ever been so angry that you tackled a horse ?" Well, have you ever been so angry that you defaced classic artwork and also Darwin's tomb? A group known as Just Stop Oil believes that because global temperatures allegedly reached a certain number, we are now in the sixth great extinction. These t3rrorists are stupid on several levels, not the least of which is like other t3rrorists, they enrage people, then expect sympathy for their cause. Darwin's Tomb at Westminster Abbey, Flickr / Amanda ( CC BY 2.0 ) The denizens of Just Stop Oil are buying into evolutionary mythologies including deep time and the so-called great extinctions. Well, those extinction events are based on assumptions merged with storytelling, and they should have considered possibilities outside the evolution box. One in particular is how the Genesis Flood covers the data of one catastrophic event instead...

Stevia Dolce, the baker at the Darwin Ranch, made one of her stealth visits to my place. (This is because she does not dare show doubts about evolution for fear of her job.) As I chewed on a croissant she brought, Stevia said that her questions may have been tolerated by foreman Rusty Swingset, but she was not sure. The first question is quite reasonable for believers and unbelievers alike: In the Genesis Flood scenario creationists describe, how could the Ark avoid capsizing? Second, why were the animals punished and called "corrupted?" Ark Encounter, Pixabay /  Michael Wysmiersk Those are  good questions. After complimenting Stevia about her thinking (and baking), I admitted that I had a bit of work to do because I had not considered either question very much. Now, I don't think the Ark was the very first ship built, ever; Noah and his sons would have had shipbuilding skills . Also, while the Flood and many aspects of it were miraculous, not everything involved was . Co...

The secular science industry tells us that there have been several ice ages, each lasting millions of years. Evidence exists for what they call the last ice age , but cannot explain how it started or ended. Biblical creationists believe there was only one Ice Age. Remember that secularist have an a priori  commitment to deep time. The astronomical (Milankovitch) theory comports with their assumptions, but it is fundamentally flawed . Climate is very complex , and scares of climate change use incomplete information at best. Creationists have a strong model for the climate change of the Ice Age. Glaciers on the Melchoir Islands off Antarctica, Flickr / David Stanley ( CC BY 2.0 ) While there are probably other Ice Age models by biblical creationists, the one linked below has a great deal of explanatory power. Secularists resist creationist material, one reason being that it gives powerful evidence against their precious deep time. After all, the Bearded Buddha needs millions of yea...

Out Colorado way,  Gunnison National Forest takes up parts of five counties. It is bordered by other national forests. Quaking aspens (the leaves tremble in the breeze) are widely distributed across North America, and may be mistaken for birch trees due to their white bark and size. Aspens have several features that indicate the design work of the Master Engineer. The bark is thin, so some critters munch on it. However, the bark performs photosynthesis, a job normally done by leaves. These trees also have interesting growth techniques. Gunnison, CO scene with rainbow, Unsplash / Abby Santurbane In another part of the forest is Taylor Park Reservoir. When the rock was blasted to make the dam and reservoir, bent rock strata were revealed. Biblical creationists point out that rocks cannot be folded or bent over the millions of years in the uniformitarian stories; rock will break. This sedimentary rock was deposited in the Genesis Flood and was pliable, so it was compatible to folding...

As stated before, when comparing worldviews it is necessary to see if they are consistent within their own frameworks. Christians claim to believe that the Bible is the written Word of God. Biblical creationists go further by declaring that Genesis is a record of recent creation, so written details are accurate. Many people know that the people at Answers in Genesis have the Ark Encounter , which is a theme park featuring a full-sized replica of Noah's Ark built according to biblical specifications. This raises questions about the Bible and the Ark itself. AI-generated Noah's Ark image, Pixabay / dlsdkcgl For the Ark Encounter, Answers in Genesis has conducted a great deal of research. In this first of two articles, the feasibility of the number of animals on the Ark is considered. They did not use the easiest or safest numbers. Mockers will say something like, "The Ark couldn't have held all those animals. Because atheism," or words to that effect. They don't...

If you take a great notion to head south — way, way south past Australia — you will encounter Antarctica. No country owns it, but there are named regions. It is primarily used for scientific research. A notable curiosity on Taylor Glacier is Blood Falls. People who played the violent (but unremarkable graphics by today's standards) game Doom II may remember a map called Bloodfalls. The one in Antarctica exists and was given its name because the water does indeed look like blood. It is flowing because it has salt. Lots of salt. Blood falls, Victoria Land, East Antarctica, Flickr / DLR German Aerospace Center ( CC BY 2.0 ) Interestingly, Wickedpedia is yet again promoting deep time and evolution, so their article on Blood Falls includes some contradictory remarks. The red color is due to iron oxides. There is an ecosystem of microbes living in it that don't care that the area has no oxygen to speak of. The article mentions a "poorly understood interaction" relating to...

Standard models for coal formation have numerous problems, including the curiosity that it is less than one percent of all sedimentary rocks, but there is so much that it is the source of most of the world's electricity. Coal is supposedly formed through the compression of peat. Numerous conditions would have to be just right for peat to form coal. Peat would then have to be buried very deeply, form the coal, and then be uncovered so it could be used. Interesting that dinosaur tracks have been found in it, as well as vertical tree trunks. Coal, RGBStock /  Michal Zacharzewski , modified at  Big Huge Labs Creationists frequently use conditions during the Genesis Flood as the basis for models. Like the models of secular scientists, these use present conditions (such as the movement of water) in forensic science to see if they fit what may have happened in the past. The BEDS model is a good explanation for dinosaur tracks and eggs , and it is also useful to explain the origin of ...

There are several large land masses in the world, and Eurasia takes up a huge chunk. Japan is an island nation. SSE of there is the Philippines archipelago, south of that is Indonesia, and the South Pacific has many islands. Boom!  Australia is the world's largest island, kind of startling among its smaller neighbors. New Zealand is another island nation. It has a unique species of robin that has a different look and song than those in North America, and they are inquisitive. Mayhaps even friendly — making them susceptible to predation. Then there is the black robin. Black robin, Flickr / schmechf ( CC BY-SA 2.0 ) As New Zealand is dwarfed by Australia to the north, it dwarfs the Chatham Island archipelago to their east. It is considered a part of New Zealand. Anyway, they have a black robin that also is a nice guy. The little chirper is cute, too. Something cannot get much closer to the brink of extinction than these. There were only five left, with just one breeding pair. In a ...

Salamanders are amphibians that looks somewhat like lizards, and many types are found in North America. They may bite when they feel threatened but have no venom. Some have secretions in their skin that may make someone sick, so refrain from licking them. Like humans, amphibians, birds, and many other critters, they are classified as tetrapods . That simply means vertebrates that have two pairs of limbs. Salamanders are also cold-blooded, which means the environment controls their temperature, not from an internal mechanism. A fossil was found in a cold place. Reconstruction of Gaiasia jennyae , Wikimedia Commons / Olmagon ( CC BY-SA 4.0 ) (background modified) Down Argentina way, a fossil of a large tetrapod that resembles a salamander was discovered in the cold of Gondwana. The scientists wonder how a cold-blooded critter could have survived up there, and they are having some arguments. Still protecting deep time, though. Also, other organisms were found nearby, so a shallow lake wa...

A spell back, we examined characteristics of Noah's Ark and saw that the entire process was not just an series of miracles (see " Noah's Ark and the Miraculous " for those article links). Answers in Genesis has spent considerable time on the logistics of the Ark. Here are two more articles of interest. It has been a dogma of Darwinism that early humans swung down from the trees but had not yet evolved intelligence. Numerous examples of their genius ruins evolutionary presuppositions. That is because humans were created with intelligence from the beginning. Grinding peanuts with ox power, Wikimedia Commons / Michael Gunther ( CC BY-SA 4.0 ) Indeed, the Bible mentions skills of people before the Genesis Flood which included metalworking and the like. (Some people speculate that Noah and family could have hired people to help build the Ark, even though they would have thought it was foolishness.) They lived a mighty long time, and after the Flood, Noah reached a total o...

Theories, models, worldviews, and other things need to be internally consistent. Atheism fails in this regard and is unliveable, so  professing atheists (Rom. 1:18-19) have to stand on the biblical worldview. Likewise, believers in particles-to-paleontologist evolution often need to borrow from biblical creation science. A student who claimed to believe the Bible lost faith because of fossil dinosaur footprints. He couldn't imagine  a global Flood allowing for footprints. Problem is, he did not check for that internal consistency in creationist models, so he made assumptions instead of doing his homework. Dinosaur tracks at Jurassic Moenave Formation, US Geological Survey (usage does not imply endorsement of site contents) I'll allow that it's still something to consider. A flood is a busy time, especially when it's global in scale. Checking on creation models of the Genesis Flood shows a specific model that does a good job of explaining tracks, eggs, scavenging (they...

Near Los Angeles (translation: the angels) was an area known as Rancho La Brea  ( la brea  translation: the pitch, or, the tar), and a part of that became Hancock Park. Savvy readers know that it is the location of the famous La Brea Tar Pits. Much research has been done regarding this natural asphalt. The story goes that animals would get trapped by the tar and cry out in distress, attracting predators who would also get trapped. That tale is popular but the reality is quite different. Indeed, there are reasons to doubt current speculations. Mastodon display at La Brea Tar Pits, Flickr / Ingrid Richter ( CC BY 2.0 ), modified at PhotoFunia Study on it a spell. Thousands of fossils recovered from La Brea, many of large plant eaters and carnivores. If those were trapped and pulled down, wouldn't the bones be together? In fact, most skeletons are disarticulated (spread out). Biblical creationists agree with secular scientists that the area shows massive flooding, but creationis...

It is interesting that Darwin's acolytes on social(ist) media tend to show ignorance of their own belief system, or mayhaps they try to steamroll over creationist opponents with hot air. Some have claimed that there are no fossils out of order — which would be news to secular scientists. There are many fossils and artifacts in what evolutionists would consider wrong places, which has caused them no small amount of embarrassment. Still, they cling to their uniformitarian views because the alternative (special creation) is anathema. Monkey fossils are causing loyal evolutionists consternation. Spider monkeys, Wikimedia Commons / Bernard Spragg ( PD ) Both creationists and evolutionists try to work out biogeography — how did that  get over there ? The monkeys in question were found in South America. Fine, nice weather, plenty of things to climb on and play with. But there are no fossils of their ancestors. They seem to have come from Africa. How, prithee? Although secularists laughed...

Scientists figure that Wrangel Island, way up north in the Arctic Ocean, was where the woolly mammoths had their last stand. After these elephant-types walked there, water levels rose and marooned them. Research involved obtaining physical samples and sequencing DNA. The results were surprising. It was assumed that the mammoths inbred themselves to death, but that is not exactly so. When a population is radically reduced, it is called a bottleneck . Bad mutations increase. The mammoth bottleneck did not have the presumed deleterious effects. Interestingly, this has implications for Noah and his family. Woolly mammoth cave art from Les Combarelles, France / PD Scoffers of the Genesis Flood point out that the human population would have to be rebuilt from six of the eight individuals on the Ark, so they assume the bottleneck was insurmountable. Humans are more complex than the elephant kind. The implications for the human population after the Flood are supportive of creation science ...

With " Inner Knowledge of the Creator ," we examined how people who claim to have no evidence of God are unrighteously suppressing that knowledge because it is all around them. Also, there is inner knowledge and our consciences. A term for all that is general revelation . Knowledge of the Creator comes from revelation. There is another kind, called special revelation , where God has made himself known in more direct ways, especially Scripture. We have word pictures to consider, but secularists present their geologic time scale picture to corrupt the divine revelations. View of Rondout Valley and mountains, Unsplash / Cowboy Bob Sorensen When people put on their Darwin or Deep Time spectacles, their view of both general and special revelations is corrupted. They "see" millions of years, evolution through death, and evidence for the divine judgment of the Genesis Flood is degraded to uniformitarianism (slow and gradual processes over many years). People need the guida...

In the Southwestern United States, there is a place popular with geologists and paleontologists called the Green River Formation . There are several rivers and tributaries called Green River, and this area is a tributary of the Colorado River. The formation and basins include several states. Since so much research is done in the formation, it is not surprising to get news from there. What may have been surprising to secular scientists is how the new bat fossils they discovered gave no clues to an alleged evolutionary ancestor of bats. Since secularists don't play the hand they're dealt, they reshuffle and deal from the bottom of the deck. In this case, the unevolving bat fossils did not fit their paradigm, so they tacked on two million years to bad origins. Sure, why not? If it helps keep the story going and avoid the fact of recent creation by the God of the Bible, they'll find ways. The Green River Formation is also interesting because of varves (thin layers of sediment)....

Last week, I was riding back from a men's conference on creation with some fellows. As I was making the coffee one morning on the campfire (boil the water in the pot, take it off the heat, scoop in ground up coffee, simmer a spell, add clean, crushed eggshells and all that good stuff), one of the boys asked about Noah's Ark. After I had the coffee done right, I joined the conversation. One fellow said there must have been a passel of miracles to get everyone through. Was the whole Flood a series of miracles? Noah's Ark, Pixabay / Jeff Jacobs (modified at PhotoFunia ) Because of uniformitarian science and evolutionism, people have wondered if the Genesis Flood and Noah's Ark are just myths or parables meant to convey spiritual truths. As discussed before, compare biblical accounts with mythology and huge differences are obvious (for example, the  Māori myths vs. the creation narrative ). Indeed, the Bible is a historical record giving names, times, and other details mi...