30 August 2024 | Belgrade, Serbia [Marcos Paseggi with tedNEWS, and Adventist Review]
“Our faith is not just a theological concept; we believe it’s tied to real history,” said Birgir Óskarsson, a Seventh-day Adventist geologist from Iceland who works in a secular environment in his native country. “But today, the conventional scientific view is very different from the biblical view.”
Óskarsson, whose job includes volcano eruption mapping and monitoring for a government entity, led a breakout session at the 2024 European Pastors’ Council (EPC) on 29 August in Belgrade, Serbia. During his presentation, he talked about current geological issues and urged Bible-believing Christians to keep exploring and questioning the evidence for a worldwide flood.
Uniformitarianism vs Catastrophism
The current scientific view is based on uniformitarianism — the idea that changes in the earth’s crust happen through steady, ongoing processes — and ‘deep time,’ meaning small changes over millions of years. Bible-believing Christians, on the other hand, adhere to catastrophism, which the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines as “a geological doctrine that changes in the earth’s crust have in the past been brought about suddenly by physical forces operating in ways that cannot be observed today.”
The challenge with catastrophism, Óskarsson explained, is that catastrophic events on this scale have never been observed. “So, we have to study what we see today,” he acknowledged, “and through mapping and geological observations, try to understand what we are seeing.”
Volcanic Eruptions and Lava Sheets
Óskarsson explained that large-scale volcanic eruptions are common in the geological record, rather than rare. This allows scientists to study the lava flows and layers from the past. Often, the analysis shows massive, uniform lava sheets stacked one on top of the other, with no signs of erosion or life between the layers. This makes it harder to explain them as a result of slow, uniform processes. ‘The current consensus reflects a shift,’ Óskarsson noted, ‘away from strict uniformitarianism towards some form of catastrophism, although scientists still believe these events are separated by millions of years.’
Regarding sedimentary layers, Óskarsson explained that it’s very common to find large burial sites — essentially graveyards — of animals and plants in the geological record, which suggests rapid formation. “And usually, the preservation of these fossils is so exquisite… even soft shells are perfectly preserved, which implies a rapid burial, a rapid deposition to preserve them,” he said.
The same is true for signs of paleocurrents in the sediments, Óskarsson explained. “’In many of these layers, we find markers that show the direction of the currents that shaped them,” he said. Supracontinental paleocurrents (megatrends), he noted, ‘likely can’t be explained by conventional models,’ and ‘a global catastrophic flood fits these observations and deserves further consideration.'”
Asking Relevant Questions
Óskarsson highlighted the importance of questioning current interpretations of sediment chronology, by asking, ‘Do I see the time you are suggesting?’ He noted that scientific claims should align with observable evidence.”
In practice, he explained, considering how time affects sediments reveals that significant changes can occur in just 100 years due to weather and other factors. “How is it possible to have two layers (with supposedly one million years between them) with no major sedimentary activity?” he asked.
Óskarsson cited Surtsey Island, which appeared suddenly in 1963 due to volcanic activity. He explained that erosion is now exposing trees and other organisms, as driftwood has been carried in from the ocean, just 60 years after the eruption. Lava flows also exhibit a similar pattern and composition, which, according to Óskarsson, is inconsistent with long periods between lava sheets.
In summary, a careful analysis of lava sheets, sedimentary rocks, and other geological phenomena led Óskarsson to conclude that, “the time assigned to them simply does not exist. We just don’t see the time [suggested].”
Óskarsson acknowledged that there are still questions for those who advocate a catastrophic view involving shorter periods of time. However, he believes that observations are consistent with a rapid succession of events that cannot be explained by applying a uniformitarian model spanning millions of years.
Where Science Is Heading
Concluding his presentation, Óskarsson explained that current analysis of scientific trends in catastrophism reveals a cyclical movement in consensus. Scientists once accepted the idea of a great cataclysm, such as the biblical flood, but over time shifted to multiple catastrophisms, and later to the uniformitarianism of the 19th century.
Recent scientific studies have led to a resurgence of what is known as neo-catastrophism, although these catastrophic events are still believed to be separated by millions of years. “And perhaps we might return to a perspective that better addresses the contradictions observed in the geological record,” Óskarsson said.
[Photos: Tor Tjeransen, Adventist Media Exchange CC BY 4.0]
