Uniformitarian assumption is untenable
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Claim
The evolution model is associated primarily with uniformitarianism, but evidence of catastrophism makes the uniformitarian assumption untenable.
Source
- Morris, Henry M., 1974. Scientific Creationism, Master Books, Arkansas, pp. 91-100.
Responses
- This argument is implicitly based on a version of "uniformitarianism" which was accepted back in the 19th Century. According to this older version of "uniformitarianism", any physical process we see operating on the Earth today, must have been operating all throughout Earth's history at the same rate we see today. That is, if you observe sediment being deposited at a rate of 1 inch per year today, sediment must always have been deposited at a rate of 1 inch per year all thoughout Earth's entire history. The present-day version of "uniformitarianism" is quite different than the 19th Century version; present-day "uniformitarianism" holds only that physical laws are constant throughout all Space and Time. Contemporary scientists, who adhere to the present-day concept of "uniformitarianism", have no trouble whatsoever with the notion of catastrophic events in general. They do, however, insist that if you want your claims of a particular catastrophic event (such as the Noachian Flood) to be taken seriously, you must have evidence which supports your claims.
- Creationists do not care to realize that the various catastrophic events do not support the claim of a worldwide flood.
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Fallacies contained in this claim
- Straw Man (Lyell Uniformitarianism is characterized as modern-day Uniformitarianism, despite the latter being different)
- Equivocation (Lyell Uniformitarianism is actually different from modern-day Uniformitarianism)
- Suppressed Evidence (That the catastrophic events are not actually evidence for Noah's Flood is ignored)
Further Reading
- Lyell, Charles, 1830. Principles of Geology. London: John Murray. [1]
