Articles By Answers with Ken Ham

Ken Ham photo
A Catastrophic Missing Link Problem
by Bodie Hodge
 
Share with your friends

The news is often full of alleged missing links between dinosaurs and birds, like Archaeopteryx or Sinosauropteryx, or between man and ape-like creatures, such as Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis). Any time I read of a claimed transition between one kind of something to another kind of something, I love to find out what sedimentary rock layer it was found in.

Most of the time, secular reports give an “age,” not a rock layer. This age is an interpretation of a rock layer—keep that in mind. This age is not a measured quantity but an interpreted one (from chemical analyses or position in the strata sequence’s uniformitarian timeframe). And how is it interpreted? It is interpreted in light of millions of years being an absolute fact that cannot be questioned. So sometimes you have to do some searching to find out what rock layer the fossil was found in.

Sometimes you can do some “reverse engineering” by taking the age and back translating it to what rock layer the fossil was found in. For example, if someone says the fossil is 73 million years old, then this would be Cretaceous rock. See the chart below so you can reverse engineer these alleged ages to a rock layer.

Duration of Time for Rock Layers by Secular Dating

Duration of Time for Rock Layers by Secular Dating

These rock layers are real layers; it is the assignment of time to them that is rather questionable. The majority of rock layers that contain fossils are sedimentary rock layers from the Flood of Noah’s day about 4,350 years ago (By adding up genealogies from the Flood to Christ, it is about 2,350 years, and Christ lived about 2,000 years ago.). Of course, there are rock layers that have formed since the Flood, due to local floods, volcanic eruptions, and so on. But most of the layers in question formed in the Flood.

Now why is this important? It obviously deals with the time issue in regards to the rock layers. But it is more than that. When people say they have found a missing link in the rock layers, it is typically sitting in Flood rock or post-Flood rock. See the chart below.1

Rock Layers in Light of Noah’s Flood

Rock Layers in Light of Noah’s Flood

For example, Archaeopteryx and Sinosauropteryx are found in rock layers associated with the Flood. So how old are they? They are about 4,350 years old. Dinosaurs are also found in rock layers from the Flood, putting them around 4,350 years old too. Did one turn into the other during the Flood? Not at all. They were fleeing from and finally buried and fossilized in the Flood. In other words, they died at the same time.

Besides, birds (Day Five) were created before dinosaurs (Day Six, being land animals). So birds were around prior to dinosaurs and did not need to evolve from dinosaurs. This is like someone arguing that the laptop computer evolved into the first airplane. This is clearly fallacious since airplanes were already around prior to laptop computers!

Furthermore, consider that Lucy and other australopithecines are found in rock layers often associated with post-Flood rocks (e.g., volcanic layers erupted on top of Flood layers). How could such a thing be the ancestor to humans (or a close relation to the ancestor of humans) when humans, like Adam through Noah, already existed?

As Christians, we need to start thinking biblically. When you start with the Bible, sensational finds of missing links are easy to refute. The transitions don’t exist because the alleged missing link fossils are found in rock layers that were from the Flood or afterwards, which is well after people and the animals in question already existed.

Footnotes

  1. I understand that creationists debate over the exact placement of the post-Flood boundary, being at or near the K/T boundary (lower) to the higher end of Tertiary sediments (upper). However, this graph is for the purpose of relaying the idea of the fossiliferous rock layers being primarily a result of the Flood and post-Flood events, on which point both sides would agree.
 
Share with your friends

Featured Offer from Answers with Ken Ham

"Easter" Gift Pack
This pack includes:

The Last Adam - DVD
This powerful drama helps Christianity make sense! The first Adam brought death and suffering into the world. The last Adam (Jesus) brought life to those who receive His gift of salvation. This moving and unique DVD provides an effective gospel presentation. A great witnessing tool! This compilation DVD contains the following three programs:
  • The Last Adam
  • Who Is Christ? (Names of God)
  • Who Is Christ? (Life Issues)

The Authentic Christ - DVD
“. . . for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Who is this Jesus? Madman? Con man? Son of God? The Authentic Christ takes a look at the evidence for Jesus Christ as a real figure of history and documents the historical accuracy of the Gospels.

Purpose & Meaning of Life - Booklet
What does the book of Genesis say about life’s meaning? Why are we here? What is my purpose? Ken Ham answers these questions and more in this new 24-page booklet. Beginning with the creation account in Genesis and the origin of sin, this booklet reveals the identities of the two “Adams” and points to Jesus’ death on the cross as the finishing work to restore us to a right relationship with our Creator. An excellent evangelism tool!

Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross - Softcover Book
Each essay in this collection holds to a high view of Scripture and expounds on a particular aspect of the Easter story using the appropriate Scripture passage from the ESV Bible. These readings are sure to prepare people’s hearts for a fresh experience of the cross each and every Easter season.