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Radiocarbon Dating Can't Prove an Old Earth
Institute for Creation Research ^ | April 2017 | Vernon R. Cupps, Ph.D.

Posted on 04/25/2017 10:41:08 AM PDT by fishtank

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1 posted on 04/25/2017 10:41:08 AM PDT by fishtank
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To: fishtank

Strawman. Carbon-14 dating is only good for thousands of years, since it has a half-life of 5,730 years, and that is a given. It is typically used only to date recent archaelogical sites (recent being in the 10s of thousands of years). Uranium-lead and Potassium-Argon are good for dating back billions of years.


2 posted on 04/25/2017 10:45:19 AM PDT by dirtboy
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To: fishtank

I thought, if I remember from science class back in the early 70’s, that radiocarbon was only good for fairly recent stuff. i.e. tens or hundreds of thousands of years in the past. And they use different methods for the really old stuff.


3 posted on 04/25/2017 10:46:13 AM PDT by Mr. Douglas (Best. Election. EVER!)
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To: fishtank

Oh brother. Not exactly news. Lots of other ways to date based on radioisotopes.


4 posted on 04/25/2017 10:47:22 AM PDT by Kozak (DIVERSITY+PROXIMITY=CONFLICT)
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To: fishtank

Any date which goes more than about 4004 BC would serve to invalidate a literal reading of the Genesis timeline.


5 posted on 04/25/2017 10:48:34 AM PDT by PapaBear3625 (Big government is attractive to those who think that THEY will be in control of it.)
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To: dirtboy

I should have read your post before my last post.

But I don’t think this is a straw man. I think they are making the point that a lot of people that argue vehemently for an old earth don’t really know what they are talking about.

Arrogant ignorance.

I’ve noticed that when you talk to someone that is actually doing the hard research in fields related to biological or geological evolution, they are nowhere near as “sure” of all the timelines as those that took a few classes in college. ;-)


6 posted on 04/25/2017 10:51:01 AM PDT by Mr. Douglas (Best. Election. EVER!)
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To: PapaBear3625

Any date which goes more than about 4004 BC would serve to invalidate a literal reading of the Genesis timeline.


At least regarding the definition of a “day” regarding the first six “days”. Yes.


7 posted on 04/25/2017 10:52:09 AM PDT by Mr. Douglas (Best. Election. EVER!)
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To: PapaBear3625; Mr. Douglas
Any date which goes more than about 4004 BC would serve to invalidate a literal reading of the Genesis timeline.

That's the central point, here. Either Creation is 6000(ish) years old, or it is much older. If the discussion centers on how many billion years old, or how many hundred million years ago this or that dinosaur lived then the discussion has already bypassed "Creation is 6000 years old". That the people "actually doing the hard research in fields related to biological or geological evolution" aren't so sure of the timeline doesn't negate the magnitude of the timeline.

8 posted on 04/25/2017 10:57:20 AM PDT by NorthMountain (The Democrats ... have lost their grip on reality -DJT)
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To: Mr. Douglas

“I’ve noticed that when you talk to someone that is actually doing the hard research in fields related to biological or geological evolution, they are nowhere near as “sure” of all the timelines as those that took a few classes in college. ;-)”

But the are ‘sure’ the earth is older than a few thousand years.


9 posted on 04/25/2017 10:58:11 AM PDT by TexasGator
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To: fishtank
Carbon-14 dating can only be used to date things less than, say, 10,000 years old.

Other methods, such as Potassium-Argon dating, are used to date objects which are very old (>10,000 years to billions of years).

Therefore, it's not sufficient to merely prove that Carbon-14 dating is insufficient for older things. It would be necessary to also demonstrate that other dating methods are also unreliable for these older items.

So Id like to see what the ICR has to critically say about, say, Potassium-Argon dating...

10 posted on 04/25/2017 10:58:16 AM PDT by sargon ("If we were in the midst of a zombie apocalypse, the Left would protest for zombies' rights.")
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To: fishtank

That is true. Hundreds of layers of sediment filled with increasingly complex forgotten seabed organisms, uplifted, folded, and twisted up into mountains on the other hand ...


11 posted on 04/25/2017 10:59:14 AM PDT by katana (It still hasn't occurred to them that Trump doesn't give a s***)
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To: fishtank

I’m so old, Carbon Dating is my Dating App.................


12 posted on 04/25/2017 10:59:56 AM PDT by Red Badger (Profanity is the sound of an ignorant mind trying to express itself.............)
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To: fishtank

Can’t we just agree that stuff is old, really old, ancient, and really, really, old?


13 posted on 04/25/2017 11:01:13 AM PDT by Vermont Lt
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To: fishtank

This is what drives me away from typical creationists. Just because there are scientific ways to prove the Earth is at LEAST older than 6000 years- it somehow disproves the Bible and makes us heretics?


14 posted on 04/25/2017 11:02:16 AM PDT by miliantnutcase
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To: Mr. Douglas
There's also the issue of Noah's Flood, around 2348 BC, which (in theory) wiped out all mankind except for Noah's family.

The existence of civilizations whose records go back that far (like China) and which do not mention any total destruction of the populace and replacement by the descendants of Noah, would also tend to invalidate literal Genesis.

15 posted on 04/25/2017 11:03:38 AM PDT by PapaBear3625 (Big government is attractive to those who think that THEY will be in control of it.)
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To: PapaBear3625
Any date which goes more than about 4004 BC would serve to invalidate a literal reading of the Genesis timeline.

This statement is just plain silly. First, when sin entered the world, it not only changed Adam and Eve, but all of creation. Why do you assume that science operates the same today as it did before sin corrupted the world? Second, why are you limiting God? Just because science says that something was created millions of years ago, why can't that just be how God created it?

Alternatively, trying to use science to prove God or a literal interpretation of the Bible is just as silly as well. If my faith is increased by a scientific discovery, what happens to my faith when that discovery is overturned?

16 posted on 04/25/2017 11:08:38 AM PDT by Tao Yin
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To: Mr. Douglas

The point is, some people are going to put forward the wrong method, but the underlying results of the actual tests used are based in fundamental science regarding radioactive decay. And geology already factors in error margins that get larger as the target gets older. It is not unusual to see error margins in excess of 50 million years once you get into the Precambrian.


17 posted on 04/25/2017 11:09:36 AM PDT by dirtboy
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To: PapaBear3625

Your answer may be found at

http://www.icr.org/article/how-can-chinese-dynasties-extend-back-many-thousan/


18 posted on 04/25/2017 11:09:39 AM PDT by wbarmy (I chose to be a sheepdog once I saw what happens to the sheep.)
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To: fishtank

Circular reasoning is not science.

Carbon dating was never intended to ‘prove’ the age of the earth so triumphantly saying it can’t prove something it was never intended to prove is a logical fallacy.

>>Did you know that Microsoft Excel files only date back to 1985? Did you know that means Microsoft Excel can’t prove the existence of an old earth?<<

According to your reasoning what I just posted there is a sound argument to support creationism. It is not.

Neither is the meaningless drivel about carbon dating.


19 posted on 04/25/2017 11:22:00 AM PDT by MeganC (Democrat by birth, Republican by default, conservative by principle.)
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To: Tao Yin

Just because science says that something was created millions of years ago, why can’t that just be how God created it?


I thought of that as well. But Christian friends explained that if God built in false information about the age of the earth into creation, he was essentially lying to future humans. This negates the Christian core belief of a just God that keeps his promises and does not lie.


20 posted on 04/25/2017 11:23:28 AM PDT by marktwain (President Trump and his supporters are the Resistance. His opponents are the Reactionaries.)
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