Creation Science Rebuttals
Creation Magazine (Ex Nihilo)
Lamellibranch Shells - Evidence of Catastrophe
Ex Nihilo, Volume 3, Issue 2, May 1980
Review by Greg Neyman
© Old Earth Ministries
The young earth author J. Mackay uses examples from a seashell to make a case that they argue for a catastrophic burial.
The author shows pictures of the shells, and then a picture of it in a rock matrix as a fossil. The difference, he claims, is that the matrix does not represent a buried ecosystem. He says when you walk along the beach, you have along with the shells, dead or living plants or animals.
I've been on plenty of beaches, and you can easily walk along and find shells that are nowhere near other dead or living plants or animals. Yes, if you go out into the water, the picture changes. But at the beach, his argument does not wash.
He claims that it must have took a strong current to move them from their ecosystem to where they are buried by themselves. Anyone can observe this process by going to the beach, so his argument makes absolutely no sense.
Next, the author shows a fossilized shell which contains both halves of the shell. I agree with the author, in this case, you would need rapid burial to explain why both halves are together. However, it should be pointed out that most fossil shells I have found, or fossils I have seen, are single shells. So yes, we can find evidence of rapid burial.
However, as the author points out at the end of his article, "When you discover a single bed or deposit of shells like the ones described in this article, you have not proved a worldwide flood." I could not put it any better. Old earth geologists recognize that some fossils are catastrophic in origin. You would have to prove that all fossils were catastrophic to prove a global flood only 6,000 years ago.
This article is on the web at answersingenesis.org/creation/v3/i2/shells.asp
If you are not a Christian, and you have been holding out on making a decision for Christ because the Church always preached a message that was contrary to what you saw in the scientific world, then rest assured that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, and you can believe in Christ and receive salvation, while still believing in an old earth. Click here for more.
Are you a Christian who believes in young earth creationism? Now that we have shown the many difficulties of the young earth creation science model in this and many other articles, how does this impact your Christian life? If you are a young earth creationism believer, click here.
Related Articles
Biblical Interpretation and Theology Articles
To learn more
about old earth creationism, see
Old Earth Belief,
or check out the article
Can You Be A
Christian and Believe in an Old Earth?
Feel free to check out more of this website. Our goal is to
provide rebuttals to the bad science behind young earth creationism,
and honor God by properly presenting His creation.