The Oldest Life?

Joshua 4:6
“That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?”

How old is the world’s oldest fossil? The problem is that the term “oldest” implies a timescale, and we may not agree on the nature of that timescale. For example, deep-time evolutionists assume that the Earth is 4.5 billion years old, whereas creationists show that the age of the Earth given in the Bible is about 6,000 years.

Research presented to the National Academy of Sciences shows little compromise on these varying timescales, however, declaring, “Scientists have finally confirmed there was life on Earth 3.5 billion years ago.” This headline, describing the dating of microfossils in a rock found in 1993, uses language suggesting that definitive proof has been found. Is this the case?

In order to “finally confirm” something, that something would have to be proven beyond doubt. Yet, when we read the article, we note a considerable amount of doubt, even among the researchers. The article keeps mixing its thoughts on dating. The original version of the article suggested that the rock, containing the microfossils, had been carbon-dated at 3.45 billion years old. Of course, even if there were such time, carbon-dating cannot account for more than 100,000 years. The current edition of the article contains an erratum stating that the rock was dated by other radiometric means. Yet the article still suggests that carbon isotopes were isolated in the microfossils, as if from the material of the original organism. But a fossil is an imprint of an original, not the organism itself.

The confusion of evolutionary science journalists is understandable, as they have not had the opportunity to see that the biblical timescale is more real.

Prayer: Lord God, You hold all times and seasons in Your hand. You have made everything for our benefit, but most especially for Your Glory. Amen.

Ref: Scientists finally confirm there was life on Earth 3.5 billion years ago, < https://qz.com/1159798/the-oldest-fossils-on-earth-show-that-3-5-billion-years-ago-there-was-life-on-our-planet/ >, accessed 12/20/2017.

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