Is the Present the Key to the Past?

Think of the dilemma for secularists who reject God and his Word. How do they figure out how the universe and life came into being? How do they explain how the fossil layers all over the earth were formed?

Normal or Abnormal Processes?

Back in the late 1700s and early 1800s, primarily out of atheism and deism, came the belief that the layers of fossils were laid down over millions of years, trapping life forms in the supposed evolutionary progression of life.

The term “uniformitarianism” was used regarding this matter. Basically, this term was summed up by the phrase, “The present is the key to the past.” In other words, it was observed that sediments today are laid down slowly under normal circumstances. Therefore, extrapolating backward, it was assumed that present day processes can be used to interpret how long these layers took to be laid down.

Now, the problem is that as well as “normal” processes, we can also observe “abnormal” processes such as catastrophic floods or pyroclastic flows (hurricane-force, steam-driven flows) from volcanic eruptions. Such floods and flows can carve canyons rapidly and lay down thousands of individual sedimentary layers quickly. For example, that’s what scientists observed as a result of the eruption of Mt. St. Helens in Washington state in 1980.

So, can we use the present as the key to the past? Well, which observation of the present should we use as we interpret the history of sedimentary layers: the slow processes or the catastrophic ones?

See the problem? Using the present as the key to the past requires you to make basic assumptions that may or may not be accurate.

Revelation Is the Key?

For the Christian who believes God’s Word, the present is not the key to the past. Revelation is the key to the past, and knowing what happened in the past is the key to the present.

For the Christian who believes God’s Word, the present is not the key to the past. Revelation is the key to the past, and knowing what happened in the past is the key to the present.

The Bible claims to be (and Christians know it to be) the revealed Word of the infinite Creator God. It is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16). The Bible is not just a guide to life or a book of stories. The Bible is a revelation from the One who is infinite in knowledge, giving us the key information in history that is foundational to building the right way of thinking about the present.

Because God reveals to us the events of the past that we need to know and because God’s Word is totally truthful/trustworthy, these events are the key to understanding why things are as we observe them in the present. Now, if these revealed events are true, then not only will they enable us to correctly understand the present, but we should be able use observational science in the present to confirm this history.

This also means that evolutionary beliefs about the past can be tested this way. If those beliefs are true, then observational science should confirm them.

Let’s just consider a few items from Genesis 1–11, as this is the history in geology, biology, astronomy, and anthropology that is the key to understanding the present. This history is also the foundation for the rest of the Bible, for all doctrine, for a biblical worldview, and in fact everything.

A Global Flood

What the Bible reveals concerning a global flood is the key to understanding the present, regarding most of the fossil layers.

The Bible reveals that the earth has endured a global flood (Genesis 6–9). If such a flood occurred in the past, we would expect to find evidence of it. What we would we expect to find? Well, even local floods in the present lay down many feet of sediment quickly. So looking at the present can give us some indication of what catastrophic processes can do. In other words, we are using observational science to understand processes.

As I often say, if there really was a worldwide (global) flood, you would expect to find billions of dead things (fossils) buried in rock layers, laid down by water, all over the earth. And that’s exactly what we find in the present. And the more this has been investigated by creation scientists, the more we understand these fossil-bearing sedimentary layers all over the earth had to be laid down quickly, not slowly.

What the Bible reveals concerning a global flood is the key to understanding the present, regarding most of the fossil layers.

God Is Creator

Let’s consider another example:

The Bible reveals that God created life. This means one would expect that life should show evidence of being created by an intelligence, and that it could not have arisen from matter by natural processes.

Scientists know that life is built on the molecule of hereditary called DNA. The more DNA has been studied, the more we understand it is like a library of books filled with information. That information is read by a code system. We also know that information and code systems cannot arise from matter by natural processes. Information and codes can only come from an intelligence. Thus, DNA can only be explained by an intelligent designer. This does not prove it was the God of the Bible, but it does confirm what the Bible declares.

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. (Colossians 1:16)

According to Their Kinds

Here’s another example:

God’s Word in Genesis tells us that God created distinct kinds of organisms; he made all of life “according to their kind.” The implication is that each kind produces its own kind and cannot change into a different kind. We now know that the “kind” in most instances is at the family level of classification (from documented evidence regarding which can breed with which). So the dog family always produces dogs. Although different species of dogs have formed because of the genetic diversity God created in the DNA of the dog kind, dogs will only ever produce dogs. The science of genetics confirms biblical kinds and does not confirm evolutionary beliefs that claim one kind can change into a totally different kind over millions of years.

The Origin of Death

To understand this world, revelation (God’s Word) is the key and Genesis 1–11 is the key to understanding everything.

We could also look at the topic of death, disease, and suffering. Revelation (God’s Word) tells us death (and disease and suffering) is an intrusion because of sin. Thus, the present world which is full of death, suffering, and disease, wasn’t always like this. To understand this world, revelation (God’s Word) is the key and Genesis 1–11 is the key to understanding everything.

Starting with God’s Word

There are, of course, so many more examples we could use in geology, astronomy, biology, anthropology, etc.

But the point is that God’s revelation to us in the Bible, what I call the history book of the universe, is the key to understanding what happened in the past so we can understand the present.

Yes, revelation is the key to the past, and knowing what happened in the past is the key to understanding the present.

The sad thing is that most churches/church leaders have not taught God’s revelation in Genesis 1–11 as literal history, which is why so many in the church don’t have a biblical worldview and thus have been indoctrinated to interpret the evidence of the present within a secular worldview. That’s why so many in the church believe in millions of years or add evolution to the Bible and compromise God’s Word in Genesis in numerous ways. And it’s why so many in the church (and increasingly so in the younger generations) are impacted by LGBTQ, the abortion movement, etc.

As Christians, we must always start with God’s Word as the foundation for our thinking.

Yes, God’s revelation is the key to history.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.