HOW
does the fossil record affect faith in the Biblical account of Creation? The fossil record is the main direct evidence for or against evolution. If the fossil record showed an evolutionary pattern of one kind of creature evolving into another kind of creature, your faith in the Genesis record would be challenged. If faith in the Genesis record is destroyed it would probably cause loss of faith in the entire Bible. In speaking of Moses, the writer of Genesis, Jesus asked "if you do not believe his writings how will you believe My words?" On the other hand if the fossil record shows that each kind is separate, bringing forth after its own kind and giving no evidence of one kind evolving into another, then that would confirm the Biblical record of Creation.
Fossils are the hardened remains or traces of plants and animals in the earth's crust. For a fossil to form, the creature must be buried quickly so scavengers can't get to it and deep enough so oxygen, which bacteria need, is excluded. Billions of fossils have been discovered all over the world. Fossils furnish records of the plants and animals of times past. Although some fossils show extinct forms of life, most fossils look like creatures that are living today. They are usually found in sedimentary rocks that were deposited by water.
The evolutionary theory proposes that billions of years ago non-living particles evolved into atoms, which evolved into molecules, which later evolved into single celled life. This life eventually evolved into more complex life such as fish, mammals and later into man. Many fossils of complex invertebrates such as worms and jellyfish have been found. If single-celled creatures gave rise to the vast array of complex invertebrates, the record of that evolution should be found somewhere in the rocks. These intermediates have not been found anywhere on earth. The fossil record fails to produce transitional forms between invertebrates and vertebrates and between the major fish classes. If fish evolved into amphibians, then transitional forms should show a slow, gradual change from fins into the feet and legs of the amphibians. No transitional form has been found showing an intermediate stage between the fin and the foot. No transitional forms have been found showing that mammals evolved from reptiles. The fossil record, rather than being a record of transformation, is a record of mass destruction, death and burial by water with its contained sediments. The worldwide Flood described in the Bible gives the best explanation for this rapid burial by sediments.
The fossil record does not show an unbroken sequence of gradual changes as proposed by evolution. Different kinds of creatures simply appear in the rocks without any evidence of step-by-step changes between them. These gaps in the fossil record are a real embarrassment to anyone who believes in the theory of evolution. Actually the fossil evidence does not support the theory of evolution; rather, it confirms faith in the Biblical account of Creation, which states that everything brings forth after its kind.
Whereas the color, size, shape and locations of fossils are observable, the age of fossils is not. Paleontologists usually date fossils by the rock layer in which the fossils are found. However, geologists often date the rock layer by the fossils it contains. This is circular reasoning. The so-called "geologic column," which is supposed to give evidence for geologic ages has never been observed complete any place in the world and often so-called "older" layers are found on top of "newer" layers. Radiometric dating methods are another method to attempt to date fossils and rocks. Whether one uses Carbon-14 to date things once alive, like bones and trees, or uranium-lead or potassium-argon methods to date rocks the following assumptions are made:
1. Prior knowledge of the original ratio of the radioactive isotope and the decay product.
2. Changes in these concentrations can only occur by radioactive decay.
3. The rate of decay is constant.
Many dates obtained by radiometric dating have been greatly in error. For example, shells of snails living in southern Nevada gave an apparent age of 27,000 years and rocks formed during a volcanic eruption in the year 1801 were erroneously dated as being 160 million and 3 billion years old. Thus people do not need to change their understanding of Biblical dates due to the dating of fossils.
How does the dinosaur fossil record affect our faith? Dinosaurs are probably used more than any other topic to brainwash children into accepting evolutionary ideas and rejecting faith in the Bible as God's Word. All we really know about dinosaurs comes from Biblical descriptions, fossilized bones and footprints.
The following conclusions about dinosaur fossils confirm our faith in the Bible:
1. Dinosaur graveyards all over the world give evidence for a global flood. For example, the Dinosaur National Monument Quarry near Jensen, Utah has a 200 foot-long sandstone wall where the fossilized remains of over 2,000 dinosaur bones are exposed.
2. Dinosaurs in Alaska give evidence for a warm uniform climate that existed before the Flood. The waters above the waters, which divided on the second day, must have caused a "greenhouse" effect.
3. The lack of available food, due to the change in climatic conditions after the Flood, was the probable cause for the "extinction" of dinosaurs. Because of their great size dinosaurs probably consumed tons of food daily. Some people believe dinosaurs may still be alive today. It is thought that reptiles never stop growing until they die and that some reptiles are miniature dinosaurs that never reach large sizes due to shortness of life. The leading evolutionary theory for the extinction of dinosaurs is that a large asteroid or comet struck the earth about 65 million years ago and the resulting dust killed the dinosaurs. A big question left unanswered is "Why didn't this dust cloud kill the other animals also?"
4. Dinosaur fossils give credence and confirmation to the dragons, behemoths and leviathans of the Bible. Dragons are mentioned at least twenty-five times in the Old Testament and a number of times in the book of Revelation. Job described the behemoth in detail, and the leviathan which could not be caught with a hook or harpoon. Behemoth meaning a gigantic and powerful beast was probably a land dinosaur, while leviathan was probably a marine dinosaur.
5. Men and dinosaurs must have coexisted. Dinosaurs were created on the fifth and or sixth day. Most dinosaurs drowned during the flood, yet Noah must have taken some on the ark because Job, who lived after the Flood, described behemoth and leviathan. Dinosaur drawings, made by early tribal artists, have been found in Arizona, Siberia, Zimbabwe and other places. It is significant also, that in the ancient records and traditions of many nations, especially China, tales of dragons abound.
How does the fossil record of "prehistoric men" affect faith in the Biblical account of Creation? Dr. Derek Ager, former President of the British Geological Association, admitted "practically every evolutionary story I learned as a student has now been debunked." Such is the case with the stories of "prehistoric men." Although millions of dollars have been spent, all the bones of the supposed ape links could be placed on a single table. "Nebraska Man," considered to be halfway between "Java Man" and "Neanderthal Man," was thought to be the first evidence of an anthropoid ape in the Western Hemisphere. The fossil evidence was one tooth. Later the tooth was identified as the tooth of a wild pig. The evidence for "Piltdown Man" was a broken fossil skull and a jaw which were later proven not to belong to each other. These bones had been chemically treated to make them look old and the teeth had been filed down to make them look worn. The whole thing was a hoax. In the 1890's, Eugene Dubois went to the island of Java to discover the "missing link" and prove the theory of evolution. He found a skullcap, a thighbone and several teeth which were called "Java Man." The "missing links" status of Java man would have suffered if he had revealed he found the thighbone about 45 feet away from the skullcap and two human skulls nearby. Later research has shown the leg bone is almost unquestionably from a human and the skullcap is very ape-like. Dubois announced at the end of his life that the fossils were not the remains of an ape-man.
From bone fragments or teeth you cannot determine the shape of the nose, the eyes, the lips, or the ears, how much hair a person had or how much or where fat was deposited under the skin. "Origin of man" reconstructions, which are commonly shown in books and museums, are based on very little evidence and a lot of imagination. By using the same skeleton and varying these features, an artist can produce all sorts of characters. Circular reasoning is employed. By assuming evolution is true, artists draw and sculpt primitive expressions and characteristics. They then display these reconstructions as evidence for evolution. These drawings and busts have had a powerful impact on the public imagination. Artists drew two people as "Nebraska Man" from one pig's tooth. There are no such things as ape-men. There are fossils of apes, and there are fossils of men, but nothing in between. Men have always been men and apes have always been apes. The fossil record of supposedly "prehistoric men" doesn't challenge faith in the Biblical account of Creation.
The Bible clearly states "The first man Adam. . ."There were no men before him.
The fossil record confirms the Biblical record of Creation. You can confidently believe the word of God is true and base your entire life on its commandments. | 
