The Plain Truth
( February 1964 )
GEOLOGY REVEALS
TWO CREATIONS -- TWO World-Wide FLOODS
by L. E. Torrance
Here is startling proof -- from the Bible and geology -- demonstrating not only two widely separated creations, but two world-wide destructions! Few have understood this astonishing truth! Now, it stands revealed for all to see!
Now for the first time, one of history's most fascinating stories can be told. The KEY to understanding the amazing history of the earth has been discovered.
Contrary to what millions have been led to believe -- the true facts of science and the truth of your Bible agree!
Theologians have long kept hidden this surprising truth. It conflicts with their theology. Atheistic professors have suppressed it. Science has refused to believe it.
Only a few understand where the key which unlocks the amazing geologic history of the earth is. It has been in the FIRST TWO VERSES OF YOUR BIBLE all these years -- and you probably never noticed it.
The FOUNDATION of Knowledge
The very first truth revealed in your Bible is: "IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED the heaven and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). This earth was created so perfect, so beautiful, that "the morning stars {the angels -- Rev. 1:20} sang for joy" (Job 38:7).
Yet the very next inspired verse of your Bible reveals that this perfect earth was destroyed by a terrible catastrophe! Genesis 1:2 reveals, "And the earth was without form, and void."
The original Hebrew word, which the King James translators translated "was" in verse two, ought to be translated "became." It is so translated in Genesis 19:26, in Genesis 2:7, and in many other verses of the Bible. Turn to the example in Genesis 19:26. In this verse the same Hebrew word which is INCORRECTLY translated "WAS" in Genesis 1:2 is here CORRECTLY translated "BECAME."
Notice, God warned Lot and his wife not to look behind as they escaped from the burning city of Sodom. Lot's wife disobeyed this command and looked back longingly at the wicked city of Sodom, "She BECAME a pillar of salt" (v. 26).
Obviously, Lot's wife had not always been a pillar of salt! But when she sinned, she became a pillar of salt.
In like manner, the earth wasn't originally created a waste and in confusion! The correct translation of Genesis 1:2 from the original inspired Hebrew makes clear: "The earth BECAME without form, and void."
This truth is further brought out when we note in Genesis 1:2 that the English "without form" was translated from the original Hebrew word "tohu," which means "desolation" or "confusion." Is God the author of confusion?
The Apostle Paul was inspired to write: "God is not the author of confusion" (I Cor. 14:33).
Isaiah said, "He {God} created it {the earth} NOT IN VAIN {"tohu" in Hebrew -- that is, not in chaos and confusion} (Isa. 45:18). It BECAME that way!
"The Scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35). The All-wise Creator, then, did not first create the earth as a waste and in confusion. The only logical conclusion is that God's perfect creation LATER BECAME a desolate ruin!
This truth is again made clear when we note that the English word "void" was translated from the original Hebrew word "bohu," which means an "indistinguishable ruin."
The correct translation of the first two verses of Genesis should read, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth BECAME WITHOUT FORM (desolation, in confusion), and VOID (an indistinguishable ruin), and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
"And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the WATERS" (Gen. 1:1-2).
Why Pre-Adamic Earth Created
It is a surprise to many to learn that before this earth was ever created (Job 38:4-7), God created millions of angels to carry out His rule (Heb. 1:7-14).
God placed the great cherub Lucifer in charge of the angels on earth. God revealed to him His great purpose to add new members to the God Family.
God told Lucifer about His purpose to place MAN on the earth and to create in him holy, righteous character by teaching MAN to obey His holy, righteous laws. (If you do not fully understand God's Plan, send for the fascinating free booklet, "Why Were You Born?").
But Lucifer decided God was all wrong. Lucifer rebelled. Lucifer was not content to remain a servant of the God Family (Isa. 14:12-15; Ezek. 28:13-18). He did not want mere flesh-and-blood man to eventually rise over him in authority and power as a member of the God Family.
Lucifer allowed his mind to become filled with bitterness and hate.
He persuaded one third of the angels to join him in an open attempt to seize God's throne. Lucifer attacked the Kingdom of God and attempted to take God's place as Supreme Ruler of the whole universe (Isa. 14:13-14).
Lucifer and his army of demons were totally defeated. Christ said, "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven" (Luke 10:18).
PHOTO CAPTION: An illustration of what the earth was like in the age before Man. That world was different! It was under the authority of angels who were ordained to preserve and prepare it for Man. The angels, under Lucifer, rebelled. The world ended in chaos as a consequence. In seven days it was re-created for Man.
The All-wise Creator cast the devil Lucifer and his rebellious angels down to earth. Lucifer became Satan, the Devil. His angels became demented spirit beings, called demons.
Notice carefully! During that great battle between God's army and Satan and his demons, the beautiful earth BECAME a COSMIC WRECK! A perfect creation became a desolation. (To help you further understand, send for the free articles, "Did God Create a DEVIL?" and "Who -- What -- Was Jesus Before His Human Birth?")
Why Geologists Don't Understand Geology
Geologists can never understand the facts of geology. They refuse to acknowledge that during the rebellion of Satan and his demons against God, the pre-Adamic earth was destroyed! This knowledge makes clear why the strange world of dinosaurs, flying reptiles, and all the other strange plants and animals of that age were first suddenly buried in sedimentary rocks and in the older coal seams.
Neither can geologists understand the facts of geology until they realize that Noah's Flood buried the remains of man, warm-blooded mammals and many other creatures as fossils in overlying sedimentary rocks. These post-Adamic deposits, in most cases, were laid down on top of the sedimentary rocks formed by the pre-Adamic catastrophe! Sometimes the deposits from Noah's Flood were laid down on the original rock surface of the earth and earlier deposits were later washed in by the flood and covered them in an inverted order.
Once we know what the Bible reveals -- that a pre-Adamic creation was destroyed by a world-wide catastrophe because of the sin of Satan and his angelic followers -- we can understand the geologic history of the earth.
Proof of Pre-Adamic Flood
Notice the true facts of geology. The pre-Adamic catastrophe involved water. Laid down first by the swirling waters were the smaller sea creatures. They appear in the deepest sedimentary layers. The larger creatures of the land, by comparison, were able to flee to the higher hills. They were not drowned until the rising floodwaters spread over, then covered, the entire earth.
Evolutionary geologists have discerned proof of this pre-Adamic flood. They know that rising floodwaters first swept up the ocean-bottom dwellers, the trilobites and the brachiopods, and other shell creatures of the sea. These ocean-bottom dwellers were scattered over wide areas. Later other sedimentary rocks with land life were laid down on top of them.
That is exactly why fossils of sea creatures, such as the trilobite, SUDDENLY APPEAR as fossils in the DEEPEST sedimentary rocks.
Not knowing the Bible reveals a pre-Adamic catastrophe destroyed all life, an amazed evolutionary geologist exclaimed, "... the SUDDEN APPEARANCE of ABUNDANT FOSSILS in the Cambrian {lowest rocks in which life is found} is remarkable" (Dunbar, "Historical Geology", p. 125). {Emphasis ours in entire article.}
Why were these evolutionary geologists astounded to discover that complex fossils appear suddenly in the deepest sedimentary rocks?
The theory of evolution has led the geologists to assume the older and deeper rocks were laid down over many millions of years. They assumed that in the deepest rocks they would find very simple fossil remains of evolving forms.
Obviously, because of the theory of evolution they expected to find simple fossil forms that clearly showed the steps of evolution taking place. Because evolution has never taken place, they failed to find simple pre-trilobite forms!
As the well-known evolutionary geologist Stokes said, "... we do not understand why fossils of marine invertebrates (without backbones) suddenly became plentiful ..." (Stokes, "Essentials of Earth History", p. 186).
Why can't they understand?
These geologists have been taught to believe fossils were laid down gradually over incomprehensibly long periods of time. They have also been taught to believe these fossils evolved from some other simpler fossil forms. They are astounded that these simple forms can't be found. Yet they will not give up their cherished theory though proven wrong!
We proved in a previous article why fossils on a world-wide scale can only be laid down by a world-wide flood. It is obvious therefore that the fossil forms APPEAR SUDDENLY in the lower and deeper rocks because a pre-Adamic destruction buried them first!
There is no possible way to explain this SUDDEN death of many complex creatures in the bottom layer of the earth's sedimentary rocks other than by the obvious fact that a pre-Adamic destruction by water suddenly buried these fossil forms.
Proof of Rising Floodwaters
The first sedimentary deposits geologists have found are composed of fine particles with few signs of buried life. This is the natural accumulation of erosion in the pre-Adamic world before the terrible catastrophe occurred.
Suddenly the deposits become coarser and contain many fossils. The bottom-dwellers of the ocean were usually buried first in the deepest layers of sediment. Then the rising floodwaters of that first destruction buried the plants along the shore line.
Dunbar reports that geologists have found in the next higher sedimentary layer, "fragments of land plants" and also fossil forms of "scorpions and millipeds" ("Historical Geology", p. 171).
Did these land plants and scorpions and millipeds evolve over long eons of time from the trilobites? No! All the fossil record proves is that they suddenly died!
PHOTO CAPTION: The world God created for Man. Notice the strata of the pre-Adamic world buried beneath. This world was later overwhelmed by the Flood of Noah's day -- which deposited many species now extinct in another layer of fossils. From the limited number of creatures in the ark, the world of today has been repopulated.
If life evolved, why did feathered wings (and many other features) appear in fossil life FULLY DEVELOPED? Why haven't we found fossil remains of transition stages between leather wings of the flying reptiles and the feathered wings of birds?
Why have evolutionists and geologists failed to discover the fossil remains of one single intermediate species, yet they have discovered multiple millions of fossils which are strictly classified under well-defined kinds?
If life did evolve slowly from the simple to the complex, then there would have been a far greater number of intermediate states or varieties than of the fixed species!
As the rising floodwaters began to sweep upward, small shore-line plants and animals were next buried and became fossils. The geologic record demonstrates that as the pre-Adamic floodwaters continued to rise, vast numbers of scaleless fishes were soon buried in the mud and silt which settled down to make the next higher sedimentary layers.
So many fossilized fish are found in the rocks laid down by this stage of the pre-Adamic destruction that geologists claim these so-called Devonian rocks were laid down in "the Age of Fishes" (Stokes p. 227). There was no "Age of Fishes" -- only a time when fish died in vast numbers in the sea.
Rising Flood Devastates Jungles
The raging floodwaters which were but a part of this pre-Adamic destruction rose higher and higher, engulfing the jungles and lowlands. This catastrophe engulfed and uprooted whole forests. Plant remains often were washed into huge piles, covering them with deep layers of mud and silt. These masses of vegetable remains later were crushed by the weight of the mud and silt.
Today we know them as the coal beds of the so-called Paleozoic rocks.
Coal Formed by Pre-Adamic Flood!
Do geologists know that coal was formed by this pre-Adamic flood?
The evolutionary geologist, Stokes, makes this surprising statement, "Even though all the biological, geographic, and climatic factors were favorable, coal still could not form unless plant debris was submerged and buried by sediments" ("Essentials of Earth History", p. 216).
In other words, this evolutionary geologist admitted coal can be formed only when huge masses of trees and plants have been swept up by onrushing floodwaters and covered up with layers of mud and silt.
Stokes explained why coal beds COULD NOT have been formed by the swamp forests and jungles alternately rising above and sinking below the seas over a long period of time. This fiction, however, is still taught in school.
He said, "Nor could the land have alternately risen and sunk, because a bed of coal to be preserved must remain PERMANENTLY buried and, of course, could not survive exposure to erosion" ("Essentials of Earth History", p. 216).
Stokes also admitted, "Obviously more than a heavy growth of vegetation is required for coal-formation. The plant debris must be buried, compressed, and protected from erosion and from intensive metamorphism" ("Essentials of Earth History", p. 215).
In other words, the only possible way coal beds can be formed is for great quantities of plant matter to be washed together, deposited in one spot and then quickly covered over with heavy layers of mud and sand, which compress the huge piles of plant remains into coal.
World travelers know that coal is NOT being formed in the jungles of the earth today. Plant life dies, decays and rots into humus. It is obvious that coal is not now being formed!
Before coal can be formed, plant remains must not only be covered quickly to prevent decay, but must be covered DEEP enough so that the massive weight of millions of tons of sediment will transform the carbon of these plants into coal.
That pre-Adamic destruction is the only possible means by which the hard coals found on earth today could have been formed.
What greater proof of a world-wide pre-Adamic flood do evolutionary geologists need before they will admit that the true facts of science agree with the simple, plain truth of God's Word?
Rising Floodwaters Wash Away the Plains
What would you naturally expect to find preserved as fossils as the waters rose over the hills and plains? The fastest-running animals would flee to the tops of the highest hills before being drowned. Note also that larger animals would float longer than small but comparatively heavier animals, such as trilobites.
Wouldn't you expect flying reptiles to be able to escape the rising floodwaters longer than the hard-shelled sea forms?
That is just what happened!
Stokes states that in the so-called Jurassic -- a later stage of that destruction -- "... Leathery-winged reptiles called 'pterodactyls' took to the air" ("Essentials of Earth History", p. 278). Realize these flying reptiles were not evolving into birds, as evolutionists assume -- but were beginning to FALL INTO THE FLOODWATERS and be buried to become fossils!
Dinosaurs Exterminated
Dunbar also said, "Dinosaurs were now in their heyday ..." ("Historical Geology", p. 306). What he should have said was that in the later stages of the pre-Adamic flood -- as the floodwaters reached the higher hills -- the dinosaurs were rapidly exterminated and buried and became fossils.
Dunbar unwittingly referred to this pre-Adamic destruction when he said, "Throughout the long Mesozoic Era ... reptiles completely dominated life on the earth; but at its close their dynasty SUDDENLY COLLAPSED ("Historical Geology", p. 404).
Another geologist voiced his amazement. Walther called this sudden destruction of the dinosaurs "'the time of the great dying'" (Dunbar, "Historical Geology", p. 348).
The evolutionary geologist G. G. Simpson made clear that geologists don't understand what happened. He said, ".... the most puzzling event in the history of life on the earth ... is the change from the Mesozoic, Age of Reptiles, to the ... Age of Mammals" (from "Mammals and Land Bridges," Washington Acad. Sci. Jour., Vol. 30, pp. 137-163).
Geologists recognize that something drastic occurred during the time the upper rocks of the pre-Adamic age (the so-called Mesozoic Era) were laid down. They fail to realize that these rocks were LAID DOWN SUDDENLY instead of over an assumed 500 millions of years. Not having the FOUNDATION of all knowledge, the truth of the Bible, they utterly fail to grasp the fact that a world-wide pre-Adamic flood SUDDENLY exterminated all plants and animals. They guessed wrong by nearly 500 million years!
Puzzled Geologists
When Dunbar said, "... the reptilian hordes gave way to a spectacular rise of warm-blooded vertebrates" ("Historical Geology", p. 336), he failed to realize that he had discovered evidence that a world-wide catastrophe had exterminated these reptilian hordes and that God LATER re-created the world of MAN and the MAMMALS.
All evolutionary geologists recognize that SOMETHING DRASTIC occurred during the time the upper rocks of the pre-Adamic age were being laid down. But because they won't look in their Bibles they can't understand WHAT HAPPENED!
Properly understood, both the Bible and geology clearly prove a world-wide catastrophe destroyed the pre-Adamic creation. Evolutionary geologists today find fossil remains of that age in the deeper and older sedimentary rocks. The fossil record makes clear that the smaller animals were buried before the larger, faster-running animals which fled the onrushing water to higher ground.
Age of Pre-Adamic World NOT Revealed
Because the Bible doesn't tell us, we do not know how long the earth remained a paradise -- or how long the water-covered ruin lasted. The world is certainly old, but God would not have allowed the desolation to long remain.
But the Bible does reveal that almost 6,000 years ago God RE-CREATED and REFASHIONED the earth in a literal week of 7 days. He placed Adam and Eve and the plants and animals of today on this earth and commanded them to "be fruitful, and multiply, and REPLENISH the earth" (Gen. 1:28).
Only 1656 years after Adam and Eve were created, their descendants became so wicked that God again destroyed the world with the Flood of Noah's day.
All living breathing creatures of this second creation, of the time of Adam and Eve, were destroyed, except Noah and his family and the animals that were protected in the Ark.
Noah's Flood, which occurred in 2370-2369 B.C., left an entirely different set of sedimentary layers and fossils than did the destruction that is described in verse two of the first chapter of Genesis. These two different and distinct sets of sedimentary layers and their fossils came from two entirely different periods of time in the earth's history.
PHOTO CAPTION: A bed of fossil bones from the early post-Flood period. Geologists designate it as "Quaternary." Fossil slab is on loan to the University of Nebraska.
You can readily tell the difference between rocks of the pre-Adamic world and the sedimentary rocks laid down by Noah's Flood. The pre-Adamic rocks are usually so hard they can be dug into only with cutting tools and dynamite. But the sedimentary rocks laid down by Noah's Flood can in general still be dug into with a pick and shovel.
Geologists have found fossils of cold-blooded reptiles in the older and deeper rocks, but in the newer rocks geologists find fossils primarily of warm-blooded mammals associated with man's world. Of course, certain cold-blooded reptiles were re-created. Even a few dinosaur-like reptiles may have reappeared in the second creation (see "The Genesis Flood", by Whitcomb and Morris).
Just as in the pre-Adamic flood, Noah's Flood also buried the heavy-shelled sea life first, then the smaller animals that could not flee fast enough to escape the rising floodwaters. Finally, just as in the pre-Adamic catastrophe, the raging floodwaters in Noah's day engulfed the very biggest and fastest animals that had fled to the top of the highest hills.
Noah's Flood Buries Shell Creatures First
The evolutionary geologists again unwittingly tell the story. Stirton said, "In sheltered areas on the fine silty bottom of the oceans, where wave action was greatly reduced, species of the gastropod "Turritella" (small sea-shell forms) occurred in abundance" ("Time, Life and Man", p. 307).
The truth is not that they were evolving in abundance, but rather they were being buried by the millions -- SUDDENLY -- by Noah's Flood.
As the waters of Noah's Flood rose, slightly larger types of animals were caught up in the swirling waters and deposited in the next highest sedimentary layers. Dunbar said that among the animals were DIMINUTIVE horses, SMALL hornless rhinoceroses, equally SMALL titanotheres, TINY cameloids, the first oreodons, SQUIRREL-LIKE rodents, bats, and SMALL primates. None of these attained a considerable size, and the largest would hardly have stood waist-high to a man" ("Historical Geology", p. 428).
Evolutionists misinterpret this evidence and claim the fossil remains of these small mammals are proof these mammals were evolving from the smaller to the larger.
These slightly larger animals were still too small to flee the rapidly rising waters of Noah's Flood for long. They, too, were caught up in the rising floodwaters and covered with mud and silt, at most a few days after the heavy-shelled forms were buried. Yet geologists theorize that millions of years elapsed between the two deeper layers laid down by Noah's Flood.
Rather than prove evolution took place, the fossils prove evolution did not take place!
As the waters of Noah's Flood continued to rise over higher and higher ground, larger and larger mammals were caught up in the swirling waters and buried in the mud and silt.
In the rocks laid down in the middle of the sediments deposited by Noah's Flood, geologists have found, "The true carnivores (flesh eaters), among which were dogs, small foxlike animals, true cats, saber-toothed cats ... wild turkeys and ... 'peccaries'" (Stirton, "Time, Life and Man", p. 324).
Mistaken Ages
Geologists falsely assume that the larger mammals evolved slowly over eons of time from the smaller mammals. What the fossil record really proves is that the larger mammals DIED LATER!
In the upper sedimentary layers of Noah's Flood (so-called Miocene rocks), Dunbar states that "cattle, sheep and goats {which} belong to the family Bovidae, {and} which also includes the bison, the musk ox, and the antelopes ..." are found ("Historical Geology", p. 415).
The cattle, sheep and goats were buried in the upper sedimentary rocks laid down by Noah's Flood, because they grazed on the high plains and in the mountain valleys. They were therefore buried in the mud and silt in the later stages of Noah's Flood. They were not evolving, as geologists assume -- they were FLEEING!
One final puzzle can easily be understood in the light of Bible truth. Geologists do not realize why the fossil record in the highest rock layers laid down by Noah's Flood is often difficult, if not impossible to interpret. Your Bible again makes clear the answer. "The waters returned from off the earth continually ..." (Gen. 8:3). In other words, for 150 days great tides rolled back and forth -- mixing and remixing the mud of the sedimentary layers as the floodwaters receded.
Yes, THE BIBLE STANDS PROVED! The key to understanding the geology of the ancient rocks is at last revealed! The KNOWLEDGE has been in the Bible all these years.
The Bible Also Reveals the Future
Not only does the Bible reveal the past, but the Bible also reveals the future.
The inspired Word of God clearly reveals a final destruction -- this time by fire (Rev. 20:15).
But the third and final destruction of the earth by fire is NOT the end of this earth!
No! Jesus Christ showed the apostle John in a vision a New Heaven and a New Earth. It will appear after the third and final world-wide destruction.
John reveals what he saw in a vision, "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth ..." (Rev. 21:1).
Your Bible makes clear that all men who ever lived will either be in the Family of God in this creation or they will have been cast into the lake of fire in the third and final destruction of the earth!
The choice is ours to make -- The Kingdom of God, or the lake of fire!
Jesus Christ had the apostle John write, "Blessed are they that DO His COMMANDMENTS, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city" (Rev. 22:14).
With God's help, if we choose now to repent, to believe, to OVERCOME, and to grow in the grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ, we shall soon sit WITH Christ and rule the nations for a 1000 years! After the 1000 years is over there will be a final resurrection of those who lived and died in ignorance. God will then use us to teach every man who has ever lived the way to peace and to happiness. That's when Darwin will learn how wrong he was! That's when all the theologians will learn the Bible is right after all! Those who refuse to believe and practice the truth will then perish by fire -- the SECOND DEATH. All who obey will live and reign in a new creation.