Science Update: Days 5 & 6 revealed in high-fidelity climate record

Genesis 1:1 - 2:4 The Epic Creation Narrative

The epic creation narrative of Genesis chapter 1 begins with these profound words, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth", and is summarized by the colophon in verse 4 of chapter 2:

These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.

How can there be multiple generations in the day when God made earth and heavens?  We will lean on Moses, the man of God for insight.  In Psalm 90 Moses writes:

2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

4 For a thousand years in your sight are put as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.

Thus the time frame of the six cycles in the Genesis epic creation narrative are on God's timeline, not on a human timeline.  The repeated pattern characterized by one or more decrees and descriptive statements followed by an evening-morning demarcation can be metaphorically called either a day or a generation.  From God's perspective, it is as if all of these days or generations constitute a single day, or single time.  Hence the summary phrase "in the day the LORD God made the earth and the heavens" encompasses the entire six-day period.

The point of this textual analysis is to demonstrate that Genesis 1 describes six demarcated eras of creative activity of indeterminate length but of significantly progressive nature.  We wonder then, Can these "days" indeed be seen in the geologic history of the Earth?

When geology was in its infancy as a science, the answer would clearly have been "no".  Without adequate knowledge and characterization of the past, humans could have no better idea about the order of creation than that provided by the text of Genesis itself.  Genesis 1 is still the gold standard of creation narratives because it tells us who created and why the creation exists.

As geology developed, the answer morphed from "no" to "maybe", even passing perhaps through "certainly not" from some perspectives.  This is because the art of reconstructing past history from artifacts and scientific models is like the assembly of a puzzle for which the box top has been misplaced and some pieces are fit together wrongly and others are missing.  Only later, when more pieces are set aright can the overall image begin to take on meaning.  I believe that the answer has become "yes".  It has finally become possible to see the major outline of Genesis 1 in the geologic record of Earth's history as pieced together by modern science.

Summary of Genesis 1 and Geologic Timeline Harmony

• Hadean Eon: 4.5 to 4.0 BYA - corresponds to the time when Earth was Formless and Void
• Archean Eon: 4.0 BYA to 2.5 BYA - corresponds to Day 1: it is the era of light and photosynthesis
• Proterozoic Eon: 2.5 BYA to 650 MYA - corresponds to Day 2: development of the atmosphere
• The Phanerozoic Eon from 650 MYA to present is divided into three major periods
• Paleozoic Era: 650 MYA to 100 MYA - starts out Day 3: continents with land plants form; trees bearing fruit created; also dinosaurs are created
• Mesozoic Era: 100 MYA to 66 MYA -  wraps up at the end of Day 4: days are 24 hours long, climate is seasonal; dinosaurs go extinct
• The Cenozoic Era from 66 MYA to present is divided into two major periods
• Paleogene Period (excluding the Oligocene Epoch): 66 MYA to 34 MYA - corresponds to Day 5:  earth replenished with birds and the oceans with fish after the K-T extinction that wiped out dinosaurs and 75% of species; ancient mammal that later go extinct are also created on this day
• Neogene Period (including the Oligocene Epoch and Quaternary): from 34 MYA to 0 MYA - corresponds to Day 6: the origin of modern mammals and of human beings

Each Creation Day ends with or contains one or more Extinction Events that corresponds to a Reaping that then provides the Seeds for the next Creation Day.  For example, at the end of the Day 4, God mows down all the dinosaurs preserving only one or a few species of tiny birds from which he forms all the other kinds of birds on Day 5.  Many scientists mistakingly think this occurs by a naturalistic evolutionary process, but in reality this is God's husbandry at work as He develops many new kinds of animals from just one.  In somewhat the same way that dog breeders have created many breeds from one original wolf species in thousands of years, God, over millions of years, creates many new kinds of animals from each original species.

Day 5 and Day 6 In Focus

New research carried out by scientists at the University of California at Santa Cruz may buttress the Ages of Joy creation model for Creation Days 5 and 6.  In the article High-fidelity record of Earth's climate history puts current changes in context, a continuous and high quality climate record stretching back 66 million years into the past is described.  The research article was publish in Science on September 10.

A graphic image (Credit: Westerhold et. al., CENOGRID) provided in the article shows two distinct phases of Earth's climate.

The Fifth Day

From at least 66 million years ago to about 34 million years ago, the Earth experienced what is called Hothouse and Warmhouse climate conditions.

The so-called K-T extinction event occured 66 million years ago and is the point in time marking the extinction of the dinosaurs and of 75% of all species on Earth.  In the Ages of Joy creation model, it corresponds to the end of the Fourth Creation Day and the beginning of Day 5.

On the Fifth Creation Day, God said, "Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens." Genesis 1:20

This statement from the Bible corresponds to the dramatic recovery of life on Earth following the mass extinction event that terminated up to 75% of all species of life on the planet.

During this recovery, God created all the kinds of flying birds known today.  God also caused teleost fish that swarm in the oceans to dramatically flourish, becoming 96% of all existing fish species.

It was the K-T extinction event (the metaphorical evening and morning of the Fourth Day) that opened up environments to flourish with all the new kinds of animals that God would create.

While there were also new kinds of mammals created during the Fifth Day, these largely when extinct and were replaced on the Sixth Day with the animals we know today.  In sharp contrast, most of the bird and fish species that took hold during the Fifth Day continue to flourish until the present time.

The Hothouse and Warmhouse climates were ideal for the flourishing and taking hold of birds, fish, and large marine mammals like whales and dugong.

The Sixth Day

In contrast to the birds and fish, the transition to the colder Coolhouse and Icehouse climates of the Sixth Day was hard on land animals.  Many species when extinct.  This phenomena is called the Mongolian Remodeling when describing Asian species and the Grand Coupure when referring to European species.  It occurred approximate 33.9 MYA and is labeled the E-O (Eocene-Oligocene) Extinction Event and corresponds to the figurative morning and evening of the Fifth Day.  Scientists regard it as the most significant global biotic reorganization since the K-T extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs.

Just as the Fourth Day transitioned into the Fifth Day at the K-T extinction event, so also the Fifth Day transitioned into the Sixth Day at the O-E extinction event.

On geologic timelines, the Paleogene Period runs from 66 MYA right across this important O-E Extinction event through the Oligocene Epoch to 23 MYA, at which point the Neogene Period begins.  In hind sight, scientists would have been better off ending the Paleogene (meaning older kinds) at 33.9 MYA and starting the Neogene (meaning newer kinds) at that time.  None-the-less, the Bible provides the proper breakdown and we can still see the correspondence between Genesis 1 and the geologic timeline despite these issues.

At just the right time, starting about 34 MYA at the dawn of the sixth day, God introduced dozens of new varieties of plants utilizing a more efficient form of photosynthesis, call C-4 photosynthesis.  He also introduced grasses to the environment using C-4 photosynthesis.  These plants were the ideal food for the new cooler, dryer climate and the new kinds of grazing animals God created which the new kinds of wild animals would hunt.

While God had created many kinds of plants, including fruit trees, on Day 3 (back during the Paleozoic and early Mesozoic), He now turbo-charged those same kinds of plants from the original C-3 photosynthesis to C-4 photosynthesis.  The blessing on the Sixth Day of man and animals with green plants is significant in this context.

29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

Summary

The Cenozoic Era from 66 MYA to the present corresponds to Day 5 and Day 6 in Genesis 1 and this detailed climatic record clearly shows the two major periods into which this time is sub-divided.  During the first warmer period, all new species of birds rapidly arose after the K-T extinction and swarms of teleost fish exploded across the oceans to fill the vacated spaces.  Also, large marine mammals such as whales and sea cows became established in the oceans.  When the climate rapidly and permanently cooled, a major extinction event occurred specifically affecting land animals.  God replaced them with new kinds of land animals as described in the narrative regarding Day 6 in the Bible.

Bringing the "Image of God" into Focus, Science Update: Stone Tools

The publication of a recent study characterizing changes over time in stone toolkits used by early humans allows some insight into when God may have bestowed the Image of God on humankind through the special creation of Adam and Eve.

One of the mind boggling and often times confusing discoveries of modern science is that human-like creatures have existed on Earth for hundreds of thousands of years.  And yet, these so-called "early humans" repeatedly failed to "take dominion" over all the Earth.  They also failed to manifest the kind of creativity and dynamic discovery and technology development abilities that we now commonly take for granted in human beings.  At some point in time, God created a new kind of "human animal", one that bore His image and was designed to fulfill a spiritual destiny unlike any creature before.

In this post, we will explore an article titled New neural network differentiates Middle and Late Stone Age toolkits to see if we can discern when the "new humans" became active on Earth.

The article details the application of machine learning to characterize attributes of stone tools and identify what differentiates Middle Stone Age and Late Stone Age toolkits and when those changes occurred.

The oldest of what are termed Middle Stone Age toolkits date to about 300 thousand years ago and occur with the earliest Homo sapiens fossils.  MSA tools remain in use until about 30 thousand years ago.  In contrast, Late Stone Age toolkits show up about 67 thousand years ago and continue in use until the recent past.  This transition is considered a major cultural change, and is therefore interesting in terms of identifying when God created human beings in His own image.

In particular for this study, tool assemblages from Eastern African sites where used because of the rich collection of stone tools from well excavated and dated archeological sites.  Toolsets spanning from 130 thousand to 12 thousand years in age were used for the study.

The findings of this study are consistent with the concept that God created Adam and Eve in the Middle East around 70,000 years ago and that their offspring gradually spread throughout the Earth, including back into Africa.  By 67,000 years, humans bearing the Image of God may have migrated back into Africa, admixing with existing populations.  By 30,000 years ago, all non-image bearing human populations would expire.

Another tantalizing possibility is that the very last, most clever, of the "pre-image bearing humans" were created around 67,000 years ago in Africa, bringing the LSA toolkit with them and that Adam and Eve were created after them.  Resolving the question of when God bestowed His image on humans cannot be fully resolved by this one study alone.  But it does highlight a time period of critical interest.  In this series, I am using the anthropological marker of "moral story telling" to attempt to diagnose when Image-Bearing humans first appeared.  It is not clear that the difference between MSA and LSA toolkits identifies this transition.

One possibility that I am exploring is that God created human beings with the "substantive" ability to bear His image around 70,000 years ago, possibility in East Africa.  But only later, in Adam, did God also grant the functional (dominion) and relational (moral story telling) aspects of the Image of God.  These first might be the "sons and daughters of man" in one sense while Adam and Eve's offspring were the "sons and daughters of God".  Again, this study alone cannot validate or invalidate this theory, but does point to 67,000 years ago as an interesting time of transition.

Science Update: Origin of Earth's Oceans

This post examines possible implications of the discovery of "wet meteorites" and the origin of Earth's oceans.

The Bible contains several descriptive accounts about the creation of the Earth.  As scientific discoveries are made in the modern age, it is often fascinating to learn more about aspects of creation that were first revealed to the authors of the Bible.  This is a real encouragement to my faith in the God of the Bible as the Creator of the Universe and the Author of Salvation, and therefore, I also want to share these discoveries with you.

In contrast, it is not uncommon in our culture for fictional films and books involving scientific and philosophical concepts to grapple with the meaning and ultimate destiny of humankind.  Sometimes scientific progress fuels new ideas about how humans might cope in the future with current problems that seem to grow worse by the year.  But all of this sci-fi speculation falls flat when compared to the grand scheme of past, present, and future laid out in the pages of Scripture.  Scientific discoveries can serve a far more noble purpose than merely providing new technology and new avenues of contemplation for those groping in the dark.  Instead, they can fuel our trust in the revealed Truth of Scripture.

The case for the reliability of Scripture can be thought of as a cumulative one.  That means we can look at dozens of evidences in Scripture for its trustworthiness and build a robust case from multiple examples.  Creation studies provide some of these evidences.

In the Biblical book of Job, a discourse between Job and God is recorded in which God, in revealing a glimpse of His Glory, details a few aspects of His work in creating the Earth.  Job 38:8 captures this nugget of rhetorical dialog: "Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb?"  More about how this verse fits into the overall flow of the creation narrative and the history of planet Earth is explored on the In the beginning sidebar page of this blog.

At first glance, one might just zoom over this verse when reading the discourse between God and Job, but it deserves a closer look.  The "who" in the verse refers of course to God, the Creator.  He is the one doing the action through the processes which He alone created.  The "sea" refers generally the combined waters of the Earth's oceans.  In this passage, the word "womb" refers metaphorically the depths of the Earth itself from which the oceans "burst out".

Matthew Henry, who wrote a renowned and highly regarded commentary on the Bible reflects this way on verse 38:8 "Out of the great deep or chaos, in which earth and water were intermixed, in obedience to the divine command the waters broke forth like a child out of the teeming womb." Published in the year 1710, this commentary provides a relevant reflection on this passage.

Now we can look at the subject of the scientific discovery cited in the article at the beginning of this post.

Researchers in France, including one now at Washington University St. Louis, conducted a detailed study of a kind of meteorite called an enstatite chondrite.  This kind of meteor is a leading candidate for what scientists think are leftover material from which God formed the Earth.  By studying them, scientists believe they can create a more accurate picture of what the early Earth was like.  

Why do scientists think that the Earth formed in part from enstatite chondrites?  Well, each element is made of up atoms that come in a variety of "flavors" called isotopes.  Each atom has a specific number of protons in its nucleus, and when neutrally charged, an equal number of electrons.  But the number of neutrons in its nucleus is determined by how, where, and when it was formed.  The researchers noted that the isotopes of oxygen, titanium, calcium, hydrogen, and nitrogen that occur in enstatite chondrite meteors are very similar to the overall isotopic composition of Earth.  This provides compelling evidence that Earth was formed in a large part from this kind of material.

The breakthrough discovery made by these researchers is that these meteors are not "dry" as previously expected from meteorites that come from the inner zones of the solar system, with its relatively high temperatures.

"The most interesting part of the discovery for me is that enstatite chondrites, which were believed to be almost 'dry,' contain an unexpectedly high abundance of water," said Lionel Vacher, a postdoctoral researcher in physics in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.

The implications of this discovery are summed up nicely for us:

"If enstatite chondrites were effectively the building blocks of our planet -- as strongly suggested by their similar isotopic compositions -- this result implies that these types of chondrites supplied enough water to Earth to explain the origin of Earth's water, which is amazing!" Vacher said.

In plain terms, if this research result holds up under further scientific scrutiny, we can see the link between enstatite chondrites and Matthew Henry's reference to the primordial material "in which earth and water were intermixed".  Imagine the early Earth, aggregated block by block from these water and element-rich meteors into the roiling formless and void mass of the Hadean Earth.

In a long-playing scientific saga, the question of where Earth's ocean water came from has see-sawed between competing theories over many decades.  Was the water delivered primarily from icy comets bombarding the early Earth or did it burst out from the inner planet by volcanic outgassing of steam which condensed into water vapor and rained down to cover the pock-marked surface of our planet?

This discovery supports the idea that Earth itself was formed with most or all of the water necessary to fill the oceans, that the water was initially bound up in the Earth itself, and, to use Matthew Henry's terms "in obedience to the divine command the waters broke forth like a child out of the teeming womb."  Job 38:8 says the "sea burst out from the womb", a process that scientists would describe as volcanic outgassing.  On the one hand, we have a poetic description that has been comprehensible and valuable for meditation on the glory of God for millennia, while on the other we have a scientific description that none-the-less also inspires awe in our Creator God for His power and His providence.

When we think about the future of humankind on planet Earth, we should first look back on our history, and recognize that everything we are learning about our place in the Universe is according to the divine plan of God as revealed in the Bible and through His Son Jesus Christ.  Then, we can look to the present and future and pray and live in accordance with Jesus' teaching: "God's kingdom come, and God's will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven". Matthew 6:10