Conventional wisdom states the dinosaurs were driven to extinction some 66 million years ago when a killer asteroid came hurtling into our planet. Scientists know this from the geological record and radiometric dating which measures the decay of isotopes in rocks. Throw a bit of cosmology into the mix, and scientists will agree our planet is about 4.53 billion-years-old.
Young Earth Creationists, however, believe there is a much simpler way to determine the planet’s age – by consulting the Holy Bible.
By following the Biblical chronology from the birth of Jesus Christ to the very first moments of Genesis, Young Earth Creationists believe God created the world and all of its wonders within 10,000 to 6,000 years ago.
The theory outright challenges everything science has come to learn about life, from the theory of evolution to our understanding of when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.
Tom Meyer, a professor in Bible studies at Shasta Bible College and Graduate School in California, US, believes there is one discovery, in particular, that proves Young Earth Creationism has the upper hand over the scientific model.
The world of palaeontology was left reeling 21 years ago when fossil hunter Dan Stephenson found the remains of a 77 million-year-old duckbill dinosaur embedded into a canyon wall in Montana, US.
Although this species of dino is officially known as Brachylophosaurus Canadensis, scientists have affectionately called the fossil Leonardo after some nearby graffiti that read: “Leonard Webb loves Geneva Jordan 1916.”
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What was so special about this fossil? Unlike most dino remains found worldwide, Leonardo still had imprints of his skin preserved in fossilised form.
Professor Meyer told Express.co.uk: “[Dan Stephenson] discovered the exposed tail and pelvis of the beast in a sandstone deposit in the Judith River Formation.
“Because of the astonishing condition of the remains of the dinosaur, it has been classified by The Guinness Book of World Records as the best-preserved dinosaur in the world.
“The duckbill dinosaur in question has been estimated to have been four years old, 23ft long and around 4,000 pounds at the time of its demise.
“What makes the discovery so special is 90 percent of the dinosaur’s body is still covered in fossilized skin.
“The remains of its skin, muscle and beak are still intact and its claws are still enveloped in a sort of soft tissue glove.”
X-rays of the dinosaur’s entrails found the fossilised remains of its last meal – tree leaves, flowers, ferns and shrubs.
This incredible discovery, Professor Meyer strongly believes, may very well be the final nail in evolution’s coffin.
He asked: “How can Leonardo’s soft tissues and his last meal in his stomach stay preserved for over 77 million years?
“According to Young Earth Creationists, the beast was quickly buried by the catastrophic Flood of Noah 4,000 years ago and entombed in the sands of time until it was discovered 20 years ago.
“Under the right conditions (think mummies found in Egypt) soft tissues can be preserved for thousands of years, but not for billions.
“Everything eventually returns unto the dust from which it was made.”
Young Earth Creationists frequently clash with scientists over the issue of the planet’s age.
Some denominations of Christianity, however, fall in line with the scientific model.
The Catholic Church, for instance, recognises the Big Bang theory of the Universe’s birth does not contradict a Heavenly Creator.
The United Methodist Church similarly states “science’s descriptions of cosmological, geological, and biological evolution are not in conflict with theology”.
And yet, a 2019 Gallup poll found a considerable 40 percent of Americans believe in Creationism within 10,000 years of our present day.
Of those surveyed, 33 percent believed humans evolved over millions of years under the guidance of God, while another 22 percent evolution happened as nature took its course.
In 1995, the president of the Institute of Creation Research argued the so-called “Old Earth” theory is “inconsistent with their professed belief in the Bible”.
Professor Meyer now said: “The theory of evolution relies on the belief that life began as a chance combination of non-living things.
“Evolution is an afront to the God of the Bible who purposefully created man in his image and likeness some 6,000 years ago.
“Leonardo and fossils like him continue to be fresh evidence for a swift and violent burial of millions of creatures during the biblical global Flood.”
Scientists, of course, maintain our world is billions of years old, as is the Universe.
David R. Montgomery, a Professor of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of Washington, claimed in 2015 geology paints a clear picture of the planet’s age.
He said: “Embracing Young Earth Creationism means you have to abandon faith in the story told by the rocks themselves.
“This, of course, is no surprise to geologists who have established that the world is billions of years old, far older than the thousands of years that creationists infer from adding up the generations enumerated in the Bible.”
