Timeline Project
Many of the classical history curricula I considered promoted the idea of having the students keep a timeline book of historical events, so they could easily reference the relationships of when events happened. That sounded cool so I bought some nifty blank timeline books that my kids were excited to use.
The classical history curriculum I had purchased promoted themselves as thoroughly complete for the busy mom to teach their kids without extra planning.
As promised, they provided a page with all the timeline dates..
As we studied the ancients, we opened these timeline dates…every time billions and millions of years menioned.
Um, didn’t this curriculum know that the earth is only about 6000 years old?
I thought all Christians knew this. Why did this Christian-based curriculum focus on Old Earth theory which is obviously rooted in Darwinian theory?
Darwin’s goal was to discredit God and the Bible. Why would Christians jump on board with that?
Perplexed, the kids and I began researching Young Earth dates for ancient civilizations.
That took HOURS every single week to rectify, to the best of our ability, a bad situation, which wasn’t the best use of my kids’ time.
Although they learned a lot from that process, other important items like their math, science, and writing bumped down to the bottom of the study pile.
We thought, oh, that was just an error this week, next week will be better. But this kept happening. Every. Single. Week.
In our research we learned that lots of Christian organizations use the Old Earth timeline.
Old Earth theory is infused in public schools (for a reason), the media (for a reason), museums (for a reason), in Hollywood (for a reason)…it’s everywhere.
Many churches and Christian organizations have jumped on board with Old Earth theory as well, possibly because they did not know its history.
Eventually we discovered Answers in Genesis (AIG), who patiently explain the problem with Old Earth theory as discrediting Genesis 1-11, and therefore other portions of the Bible, which then undermines the faith of many, because if only parts of the Bible can be believed, than how can anything in the Bible be trusted?
Either God, who was there, is telling the truth in His Word, or he’s tricking us.
Some may think I’m making a big deal of this, but the more we researched this, the more we met people who lost faith, doubted, or refused to take God at His Word because of Old Earth theory.
Apologetics
If we are to share our faith with others, we need to know why we believe that which we do. We need to understand God’s Holy Word as much as possible, and that is one of the hallmarks of a Christian classical education.
The Greeks gave the structure of beauty to classical education, but the church gave the Creator of beauty to classical education. The Creator is the one true God, and that is the theme of Genesis. Genesis literally means beginnings. Aptly named, the books is all about how everything began at the beginning of time.
Using a Young Earth timeline, AIG logically explained its validity to support the Bible, including the Creation of the earth in a literal week, and the story of Noah’s ark, which this blog post explores.
While my kids sadly fell behind in math, science, and writing, they joyfully became quite proficient at articulating their faith with apologetics…with many thanks to Answers in Genesis.
Writing our own History Curriculum
Thus, we closed the purchased history curriculum to write one of our own.
I planned a unit study on Young Earth theory around the Great Flood, in which we immersed ourselves and had a blast!
Come join us!
Floods are Catastrophic
Even children’s Christian-based literature books sometimes use Old Earth theory.
For example, we stumbled upon some cute stories written about the flood of Noah: the waters rise slowly, the ark gently floats along, the waters quietly recede, the dry land is exactly as it was before the flood.
Anyone who has been through a flood knows otherwise.
Texas Catastrophic Floods 2002
While living in San Antonio in 2002, the massive rain June 30-July 6 and July 14-16 created unforgettably massive destructive flooding of quick geological changes.
From June 30 through July 6 a low-pressure system sat over central Texas, bringing a continual flow of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico.
On July 1, the San Antonio International Airport recorded 9.52” of rain, a record not only for that day but also for the month of July, but we weren’t yet done.
For the entire week rainfall amounts in the Hill Country (just to the northwest of San Antonio) amounted to 25 to 35 inches.
Then the following week, from July 14 through July 16, more rain came, dumping as much as 12” in various areas of the Hill Country.
Safely from our house near SeaWorld in San Antonio, we watched the Hill Country massively flood which wreaked havoc, while our own rain gauge repeatedly filled to the brim.
As we watched the area rivers rise to stunning levels on the news videos, two dams dangerously reached capacity.
Canyon Gorge Created
To the northeast of our home in San Antonio is Canyon Dam in the Hill Country, from which the Guadalupe River flows into New Braunfels and Gruene to the Gulf of Mexico.
When the lake was built in 1964, it took 3 years to fill it with water. One and one-half times that volume spilled over the dam for 6 weeks.
Famed for enjoyable tubing at the river’s gentle flow of 350 cubic feet per second, the wall of water that crested the dam and fell down the spillway carved a canyon in 3 days.
Revealed in the canyon now is a huge crack in the earth, the Balcones Fault Line which I wrote about here.
A video of the destruction can be seen here.
If Medina Dam crumbles, 60-foot wall of water would destroy town
Meanwhile to the west of our home in San Antonio is Medina Dam, also in the Hill Country, but this one is north of Highway 90 (which intersects perpendicular to I-35).
Like Canyon Dam, Medina Dam quickly filled. Would the spillway be used? The concern here was the age of the dam, and whether the dam itself would survive the spillway’s use.
A massive deluge of water coming over the dam could destroy the toe of the dam, causing the 90 year old dam, to crumble, releasing a 60-foot wall of water down the Medina River, to the town of Castroville on Highway 90.
On the news we watched the water level come to within inches of the top of the dam during the heavy rains. Fortunately, the breach did not occur.
Seeing the Flood Damage Ourselves
After the waters receded, we drove to New Braunfels to see the damage for ourselves. We took River Road which winds from New Braunfels to Canyon Dam along the Guadalupe River.
Having spent much of my college years out here, and then on repeated visits with my kids, we knew the area rather well.
Despite having seen the damage on tv, it was shocking to see the geological changes in person.
The Canyon Gorge (as it’s now called) is over 1 mile long and as much as 50 feet deep.
The river route had obviously changed. Trees and debris were jumbled into massive heaps of rubble along the entire route.
I took the header photo of the Guadalupe River from the top of Canyon Dam in 1987. It doesn’t look like that anymore. It remains forever unrecognizable from this photo because of the 2002 flood.
This video showcases the story of Canyon Dam and the gorge quickly created from flooding in 2002.
Understanding the quick changes from modern local floods can help us understand the Great Flood.
The Great Flood and Mount St. Helens
What does the Great Flood in Noah’s day have to do with Mount St. Helens, which was tectonic (earthquake) and volcanic?
In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven opened. And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. Genesis 7:11-12
“The fountains appear to be a reference to ocean bottom volcanoes erupting suddenly…their remains are found all over the world…Genesis 7:11 indicates that the main power source for the Flood was internal tectonics within the earth.” (Footprints in the Ash, p12-13)“…we know what happens today when a volcano erupts at the bottom of the ocean.” (Footprints in the Ash, p14) Extensive details are in the book.
“When it was over, processes at Mount St. Helens accomplished the same sort of geologic work that biblical creationists usually attribute to the Great Flood, although on a much smaller scale and at a lower intensity.” (Footprints in the Ash, p17)
Incorrect Radioisotope Reading at newly erupted Mount St. Helens off by millions of years
“Radioisotope dating techniques claim to be able to determine the age of the rock. Only those rocks that were once in hot molten condition, such as volcanic rocks, are candidates for radioisotope dating. Thus, the rocks at Mount St. Helens are, in principle, datable…According to radioisotope dating, certain minerals in the lava dome are up to 2.4 million years old…However we know that these minerals and the rocks that contain them cooled within lava between the years 1980 and 1986. This situation is not unique. Nearly every time a rock of known age has been dated by radioisotope dating, the calculated age is similarly exaggerated.” (Footprints in the Ash, p67)
Eruption of Mount St. Helens produced Rapid Destruction
The volcanic blast traveling at “over 650 miles per hour forcefully uprooted or snapped off trees.” (Footprints in the Ash, p40) The same blast, over 500 degrees F, annihilated nearly everything in its path, leaving only some tree skeletons behind. Spirit Lake formed a giant water wave 860’ high. When the water settled, it had risen 300’ because of the extra sediment on the lake floor. Mudflows moved at 90 miles per hour.
Old Earthers say that geologic processes, like canyons forming, happen in millions of years.
Young Earthers say that by looking at how local floods quickly carve canyons and reroute rivers, we can look at Noah’s Flood as being geologically world changing.
New Landforms Created by the Eruption
After the eruption new landforms included: canyons, grooves cut into solid rock, badlands topography, peat bogs and coal, fossils and petrified wood…all suddenly formed.
Life Returns
Shockingly, within a year, life returned. “The extraordinary response of living things in catastrophe has caused textbooks on ecosystems to be rewritten.” (Footprints in the Ash, 120)
Geologic Processes
In short, our study of the Great Flood via Young Earth materials taught us that geologic processes resulted from the Great Flood, like the Grand Canyon (check that book below).
Guess why fossils are found on top of mountains? That’s where they ended up during the Great Flood!
Amazing Stuff to Teach
Wow! What a great way to start a school year. My kids had a blast deep diving into the details of Mount St. Helens and how that relates to the Great Flood and geologic processes.
Resources
- The Bible: Genesis 6-9 – kids listened on audio tape then we discussed during morning devotions
- The Geology Book by John Morris from the Institute of Creation Research (kids read pages about the Great Flood) – then we discussed during discussion time
- Footprints in the Ash: The Explosive Story of Mount St. Helens by John Morris and Steven Austin (referenced photos during discussion time, reading best for rhetoric study)
- Grand Canyon: A Different View by Tom Vail (referenced photos discussion time, reading best for rhetoric years)
- Answers in Genesis website – resource
- Biblical Science Institute has books for kids
Field Trips
- The Ark Experience in Kentucky (affiliated with Answers in Genesis)
- Institute Creation for Research Discovery Center in Texas
- Canyon Ministries – trips through the Grand Canyon with a Creationist viewpoint (see their Grand Canyon book listed, above)
