On the ground an exchange began while the team were looking across the Canyon, with Maxwell saying to Phil Robinson, “I have to say Phil that it does put my mind to great periods of time. I see millions of years.”
Right there Maxwell has stepped into his imagination.
He did not observe the “long periods of time” he spoke of. He observed a big canyon. That’s it. He did not see “millions of years”. He imagined the time because he imagined the Colorado River carving the canyon. Yes, a little water would need a long time if that is what happened.
But he already knew that creationists speak of the canyon being carved by Noah’s Flood. A lot of water means a short time.
If I had been there I would have challenged Maxwell with, “Hey, Andrew, you don’t see millions of years. You imagine millions of years. That is because of what you are imagining in your mind about how you think the canyon formed. Andrew, open your mind to a different scenario. Allow yourself to imagine this …”
Then I would have painted a scenario of how the canyon was carved by the receding waters of Noah’s Flood, how the waters sat kilometres deep on the vast area of the plateau, how the waters would have drained, and how the features of the canyon are explained by that, but not explained by millions of years with the Colorado River.
There is an excellent paper by Peter Scheele that explains the Grand Canyon in these terms (see A receding Flood scenario for the origin of the Grand Canyon). It should be required reading for the likes of Andrew Maxwell so they can understand how the same evidence can be interpreted in a different way.
BobC
The Grand Canyon is one mile deep. A flood couldn’t have done it. Not even your magical flood. Not one mile. Not even one quarter mile.
Erosion from the Colorado River, millions of years, that would work. Any child could figure that out, not to mention virtually every single geologist in the world.
You have your Bible. Science has evidence. Scientific evidence always defeats religious fantasy.
Your “the same evidence can be interpreted in a different way” implies your magical creationism is equal to scientific facts. You are wrong. Magic is not equal to reality.
Hi BobC,
How deep could the Flood have carved the Canyon? Do you have any evidence to support your outlandish claim? You don’t seem to have any concept of the magnitude of Flood recorded in the Bible.
Have you read the account of it for yourself? Bible Gateway is a website where you can read it. Have you read the paper that is cited and linked in the above article that shows how the Grand Canyon was carved by the receding waters of the Flood and how uniformitarian attempts to explain it do not work?
Why do you think that proposing a different interpretation of the geologic evidence is an appeal to “magic”? We simply assume that the account of the Flood in the Bible is historic. Your comment shows that you do not appreciate how ambiguous the geologic evicence is, and how geologists regularly argue about how to interpret it.
BobC
I would bet my life savings my previous comment will never be published.
Hi BobC,
Well, your comment is published. You were wrong on that too. How much is your life savings? I’ll give you my PayPal details so you can pay your bet. 🙂
Actually, you are betting something bigger and more serious by opposing the Creator God who made you for a purpose. You are betting your eternal destiny. I might forgive your silly bet, but for your eternal destiny you will be required to pay up.
Ashley Haworth-Roberts
Earth has never been totally submerged in water during the last 5,000 years. Never.
Hi Ashley,
What you are referring to is the intepretation of the evidence according to uniformitarian philosophy. All the dates have been assigned to fit into the long-age model.
But note that this blog is called biblical geology, which begins with a different starting point. As I have said before, Noah’s Flood washes away the millions of years. You have to reinterpret the ‘dates’ that have been assigned.
The article Eromanga Sea: Noah’s Flood covered Australia shows you some dramatic evidence for the world-wide Flood. But you have to dismiss the ‘dates’ assigned by the secular geologists.
Also the article Geologists see effects of Noah’s Flood in Africa explains how the evidence fits biblical history. Again, handling the dates is the key to seeing how it worlks.
You need to put on your critical-thinking cap and evaluate claims of millions of years with more of a critical mind.
Frank Norton
There is a theory that the Grand Canyon is not the result of erosion, but of a crack in the plate that pushed up on either side. Take a look at the larger crack and canyon on Mars. Where is the water?
Noah’s flood resulted from another crack in a plate that exposed the water under the earth’s crust and caused the water to shoot up some thousands of feet. All this flood water eventually seeped back under the Earth’s crust.
Hi Frank,
That sounds a bit flakey to me. The article already cited above about the receding-Flood scenario for the formation of Grand Canyon gives a good explanation.