Creation vs Evolution ♦ Fossils

The Fossil Record

The “Fossil Record” is a collection of billions of fossils, discovered all over the world. Fossils are remains, imprints or traces of organisms (plants or animals) that have lived in the past, and that were preserved in sedimentary rock. This extraordinary collection is maybe the biggest graveyard ever found in history. Billions and billions of dead plants and animals left their remains, imprints or traces, caught in the sedimentary rock layers.

In order to form a fossil, certain special conditions have to be met. First of all, the plant or the animal has to be deposited from water into a sediment. If the sediment solidifies, then we get the shape of the original organism. Sometimes, the organic material of the organism is replaced by minerals, petrifying that plant or animal. Other times, dissolved minerals fill the pores and empty spaces inside of a plant or an animal without replacing the original material. Then chemicals (especially quartz) turn into crystals and help the organism to be preserved over time. This process is called “permineralization” and is commonly found in dinosaur fossilized bones.

Then, another important factor for creating a fossil is the time. If the burial of that organism in the sediment is not fast enough, then the organism itself is destroyed by decaying processes, or eaten by other animals. Also, if the hardening of the sediment doesn’t happen quickly, then no fossil is formed.

Sedimentary rocks are found in strata sitting one over another. These layers cover vast regions and generally they are found in the same order. At the bottom of these layers there are rocks that contain fossils of invertebrates. Then, in the upper layers appear fossils of fish and as we still go up in the stratification we find amphibians, then reptiles, birds and finally mammals.

So, these are the findings. But how can we interpret them?

Evolution considers the fossil record as one of the most important proofs. Because evolutionists consider that sedimentary rock layers were formed during long periods of time, deposited gradually one over another, all the fossils found in those layers are considered to have lived in the age associated with that layer. So, the fossils and sedimentary layers are a representation of time and order of evolution.

On the other hand, creationists believe that sedimentary layers and their corresponding fossils were formed during catastrophic events that occured in history. The most prominent event that could have formed most of the fossils is The Flood that happened a few thousand years ago. In this case, the fossil record is a representation of the order in which the sediments and fossils were deposited during this one-year catastrophic event.

Is this a debate between religion and science? Is it really fair to consider evolution as “science” and creation as “religion”? What does the fossil record say about the past? Which model is best proved by the evidence found in the fossil record?

Reading the articles in the current section and then going deeper in the related topics, you will find out that the fossil record is much better explained by the creation model.