Naturalistic geologists since Charles Lyell have assumed that strata were laid down slowly over millions of years. This theory has long been known as uniformitarianism, which began as an alternative to Flood geology. The chart below shows the presently accepted periods and their lengths. Naturalists give 53,000,000 years between the Precambrian and the Quaternary, while Flood geologists accept that it only took the Flood 371 days to lay down the same layers. The Flood was then followed by a single ice age that lasted about 500 years.
While Biblical geologists have been performing significant research for more than 50 years, the latest discoveries have been earthshaking. As recently as March 2020, Timothy Clarey published Carved in Stone: Geological Evidence of the Worldwide Flood. Clarey not only drew upon all previous research, but also constructed 1,544 geological columns on three continents using the commercial software program RockWorks 17. A Young Earth geology does exist. My work is based on Clarey’s conclusions and similar peer-reviewed scientists.
One important conclusion that Clarey makes is that the Flood ended at the N-Q boundary rather than the K-Pg (K-T) boundary, which has been proposed in the past. (N-Q is short for Neogene-Quaternary, K-Pg is short for Cretaceous-Paleogene, K-T is short for Cretaceous-Tertiary.) No human, Neanderthal, or Denisovan fossils have been found before the Quaternary, but only in the last 15% of the Quaternary. This is exactly what we should expect if the Flood took place. The Biblical reconstruction of history is fundamental for a clear understanding of all subsequent history.
When we look closer at the most recent periods of time, in the table below, they go from thousands of years to hundreds of thousands of year, to tens of millions of years. The Holocene is supposed to have lasted 11,700 years; the Pleistocene, 2,568,300; the Pliocene 2,750,000; and the Miocene 17,697,000 years.
According to Flood chronology, the latter two would only have lasted days; the Quaternary would have lasted about 4368 years. This is not a debate over which is correct, but an explanation of Biblical chronology by comparison to conventional chronology.
A word about human evolution. The oldest human, Neanderthal, and Denisovan fossils are said to go back 400,000 years. This sounds impressive, but it’s only 15.5% of the 2,580,000 years of the Quaternary, which we believe was all laid down after the Flood. While deep time and young earth agree on most relative relationships, the magnitude of absolute dates has been skewed by refusing to acknowledge the Flood. The story of early man needs to be told in the framework of Biblical time.
When we look closer at recent dates in the table below, we see how all periods of time before 2000 BC have been stretched out to conform to the conventional chronology of millions of years. In truth, there are no reliable records upon which to base absolute dates. Scientific dating methods are esoteric and strongly debated. We are left with fitting the relative events into either the framework of deep time or that of Flood chronology.
Many people have left the Christian faith or rejected fundamental beliefs because they thought that it was not possible to fit all the relative events of history into the short timeframe of Genesis. It’s surprisingly easier than it seems when we rely upon facts and ignore speculation. The facts fit within a Biblical timeframe. Our blog posts on Biblical Paleoarcheology bring out the facts of archeology and show how they fit in a Biblical chronology.
A young earth reconstruction of ancient history requires a certain methodology. Those who have faith in the Bible are going to be more skeptical of popular conclusions and ask questions. They are going to ask, “What are the facts that led you to that conclusion?” I would think that 95% of ancient history is speculation without facts. Experts need to be challenged to support their conclusions. John W. Cuozzo said, “When very few people get to closely examine the real fossils, anything is possible.” If deep time cannot be absolutely proven, then a young earth is possible.
One area that I needed to question for myself was carbon dating, which supposedly confirms absolute dates from the Neolithic on. First, I confirmed that radioactive decay is not accurate unless corrected by known historical events, such as tree rings. Next, I downloaded the original master chronology tree ring data for the Bristlecone Pines of California and studied it. It was supposed to go back before the time of Creation, but it appeared unreliable. Moreover, many English historians reject carbon dating because it appears to be off by centuries in the second millennium BC. Much of the data that is supposed to prove dendrochronology is unpublished and cannot been confirmed. My research is so far unpublished. Still, there is sufficient doubt in carbon dating to assume that a Biblical reconstruction is possible, if nothing else renders it impossible.
Biblical reconstruction requires examining several areas:
- Did deep time chronology begin because of scientific necessity or philosophical bias?
- Do the strata of prehistoric and Neolithic excavations require deep time?
- Does anthropology support human evolution or the children of Noah?
- Does DNA support an African or Middle Eastern origin for mankind?
- Are there any confirmed contemporary documents that establish the conventional story?
- What do population growth studies show?
- What do we know about the early migration of people groups?
- How did languages begin and spread?
All the previous points are each subjects that need to be the object of careful research. Creation scientists have little funding compared to others, but they are publishing more papers every year. They are each chapters in the book I am working on.
Following are summaries of the time periods listed in the table above.
Akkadian Empire
An annual dating system was introduced during the Akkadian Empire, which consisted of a name for each year. It was in use in Babylonia until about 1500 BC. While there are long stretches that are complete, there are also gaps, which leads to high and low chronologies for the second millennium BC. The Venus Solution uses astronomy to match the Ammisaduqa Tablet belonging to the next to last ruler of Bablyon I to calculations for the rising of Venus. Unfortunately, many possibilities for the sightings are possible. One possibility does place the beginning of the Akkadian Empire at 2117 BC, which is the one I am using at the moment. The length of the Akkadian Empire is not disputed as far as I know.
Early Dynastic Period
This period is divided into three parts, based only on pottery styles and not on anything of historical value. The first two cannot be substantiated. Many city-states existed in Mesopotamia at this time, but only Lagash has historical documentation. Conventional chronology follows the Sumerian King List, which was fabricated during the later Akkadian Empire and contains much obvious exaggeration. The city states are placed sequentially rather that contemporaneously, which allows them to boast of 650 years.
As far as I have been able to determine, the kings of Lagash are the only ones that can provide any reasonable sequence of time, and they only add up to 88 years, which brings the beginning of the ED period to 2205 BC. Nine kings left 120 texts, but the vocabulary is old and unclear. The facts cannot be substantiated by other sources. The validity of the ED timespan is not even close to that of the empire that followed it.
Egypt is of little help because it had no cities upon which to draw stratigraphy before its own dynastic period and mostly pyramids without writing in the earliest dynasties. Cemeteries are used for early dating, but relative dates cannot be determined from graves that are laid side by side.
Jemdet Nasr Period
The Jemdet Nasr Period, Uruk Period, and Ubaid Period were defined by a group of archeologists who met at a conference in Europe and have not changed much since then. So far, I have not found information on how the timespans were determined. For sure, there was not determined on the basis of history, since these are prehistoric periods. The Jemdet Nasr Period is defined from pottery and artifacts found in the city by the same name and a few others. Some say that it was contemporaneous with the Early Dynastic Period; others say the Uruk Period. Two entire centuries is usually given to this time, and it is place between the Uruk Period and Early Dynastic Period. Until definite proof is provided, I will consider the Jemdet Nasr Period as contemporaneous and not sequential. It does not therefore add to the length of time from the Flood to Abraham.
Uruk Period
The Uruk Period is defined by pottery from the city of Uruk that found its way to settlements all over the Near East. The length of the Uruk Period is determined by the 19 strata that have been excavated in the city. The first eight strata of Uruk overlap with those of Eridu, which eliminates them from a unique timespan. The last three strata are not necessarily distinct from the Early Dynastic Period, when about 35 city-states in Mesopotamia grew at the same time. That leaves 8 strata that are unique to the city of Uruk. We have no idea how long it takes to pull down the walls of one mud brick building a build another. If mud brick buildings lasted 5 to 6 years, then the Uruk Period would have lasted about 45 years.
Ubaid Period
The Ubaid Period is defined by pottery from the city of Eridu that found its way to settlements all over the Near East. The length of the Ubaid Period is determined by 18 strata that have been excavated in the city of Eridu. The lowest six strata had three successive temple-like one room mud brick buildings that averaged 17 feet square. If thousands of people were gathered at Babel, it would have taken no time to pull down the walls of such a small building and build a new one. These are the same people who would later build the Ziggurats and the Pyramids. It seems preposterous to think that a series of nine mud brick buildings could have stood for 2700 years, as conventional chronology pretends. That would have been 300 years per building. Even modern wood building don’t last that long. Who can say? Why not 5 years for the lifetime of a building?
Settlement and Exploration
The Middle East is strewn with temporary campsites and permanent settlements that are divided between those that have pottery and those that don’t. There is little stratification from which to determine even a relative sequence. If people began as ignorant hunter-gatherers, it would have taken them centuries to learn to farm and build cities by trial and error. 3500 years is usually ascribed from the first settlement to the Ubaid Period. On the other hand, if skillfully trained children of Noah explored and settled the new land, it would have happened very quickly. The same facts fit either scenario.
Creationists believe that all people and human fossils date from after the Flood. That means that the Neanderthals found in Europe and Asia arrived there sometime after 2348 BC. The numerous morphologies of apes and humans in Africa would have also come from the Ark and migrated to Africa, rather than the opposite. These topics are treated extensively by others.
Conclusion
Dating events in ancient history and prehistory are extremely difficult. A huge difference exists between the dates based on naturalism and those based on the genealogies of Genesis. Facts are vague enough that they can support either a long or a short time scenario. It is very important that we maintain a dialogue that examines the facts with both timeframes.
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