Fossil Record

QUESTION: What can the fossil record teach us about the past?

ANSWER:

There are two ways we can learn about the past. We can have testimony of eyewitnesses that have documented and passed on their knowledge of events or we can learn about the past from artifacts or fossils, etc. Some artifacts include written scrolls or tablets. These are a special type of artifacts that actually document the past through writings of eyewitnesses.

We believe most of these writings are truthful, but the truthfulness of some documents and artifacts of antiquity have been questioned by both ancient and contemporary scholars. Recently, an ancient 1700 year-old papyrus copy of a document called the “Gospel of Judas” was unveiled by the National Geographic Society. The content of the papyrus portrays Judas as a confidant of Jesus rather than His betrayer. This completely conflicts with the story told in the Bible. The Gospel of Judas was denounced as heretical in AD 180 by Bishop Irenacus.

Similar questions on artifact authenticity have arisen on “so-called” missing links. It is hard to believe, but evolutionists have not only produced fraudulent artifacts, but have planted such artifacts to be found as authentic. One example of this is Piltdown man.

Another example occurred in November of 1999 when National Geographic magazine featured Archaeoraptor in an article entitled “Feathers for T. rex?” Christopher Sloan, the articles author, claimed that we can now say that birds are dinosaurs just as confidently as we say that humans are mammals and that feathered dinosaurs preceded the first bird. The article featured a drawing of a baby Tyrannosaurus with feathers. It also included a picture of the Archaeoraptor fossil, explaining that its combination of “advanced and primitive features is exactly what science would expect to find in dinosaurs experimenting with flight.” It turns out that Archaeoraptor had exactly the features scientists were expecting to find because a clever forger had fabricated it that way, knowing it would bring big bucks in the international fossil market. It was proved that the specimen consisted of a dinosaur tail glued to the body of a primate bird.” It is interesting that the National Geographic Society was involved with promoting both fraudulent artifacts.

Consequently, many artifacts need to be authenticated before we can take them at face value.

However, with the exception of hoaxes and frauds from evolutionists who are promoting evolution through missing links, the fossil record is the one reliable evidence that is completely authentic.

The fossil record complexly refutes biological evolution in two profound ways. The lowest level sedimentary Cambrian rock strata documents that life came into existence fully formed. Also, the fossil record has no transitional fossils between kinds or species. This refutes biological evolution that teaches that life slowly evolved into what we see today. If evolution were true, museums would be filled with transitional fossils.

Consequently, the fossil record is the most reliable authentic evidence that reveals the truth of our origins. The fossil record supports creation and refutes evolution and that tells much about our past.