Welcome to Science, Scripture, and Salvation, a radio ministry of the Institute for Creation Research. In this program, we want to encourage you in your Christian faith by showing how scientific evidence supports the Bible, particularly the Genesis account. The book of Genesis lays the foundation for all matters addressed in the rest of the Bible. The nature of God, His sovereignty in creation, man's purpose, sin, marriage, family, and why we need a Savior are all introduced and explained in Genesis. When we see that the first and most foundational book of the Bible can be trusted in all matters, including science, it builds confidence in the rest of the inspired word all the way to Revelation.
On today's show, we'll be joined by Dr. Jim Johnson, Associate Professor of Apologetics with the Institute for Creation Research. Here's Dr. Johnson. Which is more trustworthy?
carbon-14 dating or reliable eyewitnesses. Radiocarbon dating is considered one of science's tried and true methodologies. But Could there be a forensic flaw? in measuring carbon fourteen dates using conventional methodology. Could dates assigned by that method be vulnerable?
to faulty assumptions that render them invalid. Yes, they can. The age assignment of certain Viking bones caused a decades long controversy until the carbon fourteen methodology used to date them was recently exposed for its flawed assumptions. This case demonstrates that One size fits all, radiocarbon dating, doesn't work. A mass burial of two hundred and fifty to three hundred skeletons.
was discovered in the Derbyshire village of Repton, England, in the nineteen eighties. It seemed likely they were the remains of the Scandinavian Vikings of the Great Heathen Army, who wintered in Repton over a millennium ago during eight seventy three to eight seventy four A D Eye witness accounts indisputably reported the army's historical presence during the latter eight hundreds.
So many modern historians concluded that these mass grave skeletons were those very Vikings.
However, a team of empirical science investigators using routine carbon fourteen radiometric dating methods rejected that historical time frame. They argued instead for dating the skeletons a century or so Older. Based on residual carbon-14 found inside the dug-up bones. Why would radio carbon calculations indicate the buried warriors died during the six hundreds or the seven hundreds, a century or two or more? before Derbyshire was overwhelmed by hordes of Vikings.
Likewise, If radiocarbon determinations are so reliable, Why is there no Viking army reported as occupying Derbyshire during the six hundreds or during the seven hundreds AD? This loud silence is what forensic experts call the evidence of nothing problem. Can we confidently use carbon-14 radiometric dating on a disinterred skeleton? to discern when somebody died centuries ago. If a part of the expected carbon-14 is missing, in a Viking skeleton, could it be that It never was there in the first place.
In particular, Must we sometimes qualify some carbon-14 testing outcomes? by eyewitness reports that describe The deceased's Diet? As we shall see, investigating this question requires collecting empirical science data, yet the ultimate answer requires forensic science analysis, specifically verified reports from reliable eye witnesses. Because eyewitnesses indisputably reported the Great Heathen Army's historical presence, then and there.
So many modern historians concluded that the roughly three hundred mass grave skeletons were those of Scandinavian Vikings, who invaded England as the Great Heathen Army, during AD eight hundred sixty five to eight hundred seventy nine.
However, some empirical science investigators using routine carbon-14 radiometric dating methods rejected that time frame as matching the buried bones. They argued that the bones must be a century or so older, maybe 200 years older, based on residual carbon-14 found inside the unearthed bones.
So, who was right and who was wrong. Did the disinterred bones belong to men who died in the six hundreds or seven hundreds? And if so, Why was there no historical record of a Viking army occupying that part of England during the six hundreds or the seven hundreds? Here is the solution. Carbon fourteen dating methods use assumptions.
Could it be that one of the usual assumptions is invalid for measuring the time of death data? For the repton skeletons? The normal radiometric dating scenario presumes that human skeletons contain organic material with steadily declining radiocarbon that is traceable to plant photosynthesis, which incorporates atmospheric CO two into plant carbohydrates. As plant eaters, herbivores eat plants, radiocarbon within photosynthesis fixed carbohydrates metabolically incorporates into the flesh of that animal. By eating plants, humans acquire carbon fourteen directly.
or by consuming plant eating animals, such as cattle, sheep, goats, swine, humans can ingest carbon fourteen indirectly. By eating the eater of the plants that got the carbon-14 out of the air. A major assumption affecting the math. Of radiocarbon dating is that human skeletons contain residual carbon-14 acquired predominantly from land food-based diet.
So, is that the key to answering our question? We'll talk more about that in the next segment. It's time for a short break. Stay with us. From sharks to butterflies, bats to orangutans, we can't help but marvel at the stunning and amusing creatures God has made.
If you and your kids enjoy learning about animals, then you'll love our book, Guide to Animals, with its beautiful full-color images and fascinating facts. Published by the Institute for Creation Research, Guide to Animals provides answers to many popular questions about the animal kingdom. How do chameleons change colors? How do jellyfish live without a brain? And what happened to the dinosaurs and other extinct animals?
Guide to Animals shows how everything that can slither, crawl, soar, or swim displays the handiwork of God. Order your copy of Guide to Animals from the Institute for Creation Research by calling 800-628-7640 or visiting icr.org. That's 800-628-7640 or visiting icr.org. Welcome back. Here's Dr.
Johnson. We've been considering how hundreds of Viking skeletons fooled a group of radiocarbon dating scientists. Those sneaky bones How did they do it?
Well, remember. Carbon-14 is fixed in the atmosphere and is incorporated into plants. If we eat plants, we get carbon-14 from the plants. If we eat animals that eat the plants, we get carbon-14 from the animals who got it from the plants who got it from the atmosphere.
However, a diet incorporating lots of fin fish such as cod, salmon, trout, herring, etc. and or shellfish. shrimp, lobster, or crab.
Now that would nix that vital assumption about a land food based diet. And what about those Vikings? They were known for a seafood diet lots of fish. And fish contained much less carbon fourteen than land based foods like grains or vegetables, fruits, dairy products, or livestock meats. Therefore, unless dietary differences are adjusted for, carbon dated skeletons of fish eating Vikings appear to be about a hundred years or more older than what they really are.
How would you like it if people thought you were a hundred or two hundred years older than what you are? They seem to be missing so much of the expected carbon fourteen that they are interpreted as having died centuries earlier than they actually did.
So What is the takeaway lesson we can learn from these Viking skeletons? For starters Consider this limerick lesson that I composed. I call it Seafood Diets Skewed Carbon Fourteen Dating. of Viking Bones. Three hundred skeletons were found.
decaying C fourteen in the ground. But the bone dates were odd, Due to diets of cod, Proving carbon dates often aren't sound. Scientific sleuthing, like detective work in a whodunit mystery, requires more than observing physical evidences. We need to learn from reliable eye witnesses with personal knowledge of the relevant events in order to properly interpret the meaning of physical clues that we see to day. Unlike the empirical science practice of observing experiments in the present.
Past events that are no longer visible. Need reliable witnesses in order for us to understand them with certainty. Eyewitness reports need to be verified as reliable, or not, of course, so observing physical evidence is useful for corroborating or for contradicting an eyewitness report. The other side of the coin, however, is that empirical science findings must be critiqued. by reliable eyewitness reports, if We are investigating past events.
It is a forensic science fundamental That we need reliable eyewitnesses to understand physical effects caused by unique events of the no longer observable past.
So unusual historical events, such as specific battles or specific crimes or specific traffic accidents or What about a specific flood, namely The worldwide flood reported in Genesis. Those unusual historical events, one of a kind, they require more than just observing physical effects that exist in the present. like finger prints, or rubber skid marks on a pavement, or blood spatter on a wall. We need reliable eyewitnesses to understand unique events of the past. When we consider The true facts of our own origins, we need Genesis.
God is the perfect eyewitness. He was there. He observed it all. He remembers perfectly. He is always truthful.
and he is perfectly capable of communicating accurate and relevant information in human language. In other words, if we don't trust Genesis, It is our own fault. Genesis chapter one presents God's reliable eyewitness account of our origins. Without Genesis chapter 1, we really don't know how we got here. Thank you for joining us on Science, Scripture, and Salvation, a radio ministry of the Institute for Creation Research.
That's all the time we have for our program today, but we would love to connect with you through our website at icr.org. For over 45 years, ICR has equipped believers with evidence of the Bible's accuracy and authority by showing how science supports the Genesis creation account. Our scientists research the evidence for creation and communicate their findings through books, articles, DVD series, and conferences. Please visit our website at icr.org for more information about the latest scientific discoveries, to subscribe to our free magazine and devotional, and to locate our next creation conference at a venue near you. All of this and more at icr.org.
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