Worldview #12: Dangerous Assumptions

Have you ever assumed something only to later find out that you were completely wrong? Chances are, we all have. Maybe for you, you assumed that you had packed everything you needed for a vacation. Or maybe, it was assuming that a car behind you saw your brake-lights. Or maybe it was something else.

Yes, there is no getting around it, we all assume certain things. Most of us assume that our cars are going to start. We assume that we are going to reach our destination on our vacations. Often, we assume that our friends and family members are doing well, etc., etc. However, the less assumptions that a person can have the better. This is clearly the case concerning one’s worldview. Worldview assumptions can lead to Christ-less eternities and radically affect the way one lives here and now.

One area related to worldviews that people frequently make assumptions relates to the creation of the universe, its age, and the topic of dinosaurs. Frequently, as scientists study the universe and the fossil record, they make assumptions about the past by examining dinosaur fossils in the present. This is known as historical or origins science. “Origins science deals with the past, which is not accessible to direct experimentation, whereas operational science deals with how the world works in the here and now, which, of course, is open to repeatable experiments” (Ken Ham, The New Answers Book, p. 152).

A problem with studying fossils is that they do not have a label attached to them showing their date. R. L. Mauger of East Carolina University wrote about modern dating in Contributions To Geology: “In general, dates in the ‘correct ball park’ are assumed to be correct and are published, but those in disagreement with other data are seldom published nor are the discrepancies fully explained” (V.15 (1): 17).  In fact, Dr. Don Patton cited scientist Roger Lewin who examined a skull that was found. The tests provided “41 separate age determinations...which varied between 223 million and 0.91 million years...after the first determination they never again obtained 2.61 million from their experiments” (Bones of Contention, p. 194). Yet they published the 2.61 million, which was in disagreement with the 40 others. Thus, what they assumed beforehand was what was published.

There are multiple assumptions that evolutionary scientists make. First, the current rate is extrapolated into the past. Second, the starting value is assumed. And third, little or no allowance is made for contamination into the system beyond what we measure today.  Then based on these faulty assumptions, evolutionary scientists conclude incorrect ideas concerning dinosaurs, an old universe, that the Bible is inaccurate, and that God does not exist.

Thankfully, we do not have to make these dangerous assumptions because we have the testimony of the Creator of the universe in the Bible; and His testimony can be verified throughout creation, and history.

 In His service,

      Matt