Frozen in Time by
Michael Oard is a wonderful book for anyone who is curious about the Ice Age and
the Woolly Mammoth. I was really looking forward to this book because this is a
subject that is not generally covered in science textbooks. When it is covered,
uniformitarian assumptions are presented as fact. So how should a biblical
creationist respond to the idea of the ice age? Was there really an ice age
that ended about 10,000 years ago as is usually taught? How do we even know if
there was an ice age? In addition, what happened the woolly mammoth? Why do we
find these creatures frozen in Siberian permafrost, some of them were apparently
frozen while standing up? These questions and many more are dealt with in a
very readable manner in Oard’s book.
Oard begins by giving some
information about the mysterious woolly mammoth, which was essentially a
very hairy elephant with huge tusks. Millions of these creatures roamed
portions of the Northern Hemisphere but are now extinct. What happened
to the mammoths? Many people (both creationists and evolutionists) have
proposed that they were frozen instantly as a result of an extremely
unlikely scenario (i.e. a comet either striking the earth or passing
close enough to it to cause a sudden drop in temperature). However, the
evidence points to something entirely different.
Oard shows the implausibility
of these snap-freeze theories and promotes a viable alternative which is
consistent with both the biblical and scientific data. This theory
posits that the ice age was a result of the worldwide flood described in
Genesis 6 – 9. In fact, Oard points out that a worldwide flood is the
only mechanism that could ever start an ice age. An ice age can only
develop if the average ocean temperatures are much higher than they are
now and the average land temperatures are much cooler than today. The
worldwide volcanic activity associated with the flood (“fountains of the
great deep” – Gen. 7: 11) would produce both of these effects. The
oceans would heat up as a result of the hot substances (water, steam,
lava) bursting forth from these fountains. The air would drastically
cool down because of the massive amount of dust particles projected into
the atmosphere. The warmer oceans would allow for greater amounts of
evaporation and hence, more precipitation on the cooler continents. The
precipitation, falling as snow or sleet, would build up much faster due
to the cooler temperatures and within several years would lead to an ice
age.
As strange as it may sound, the
ice age did not kill off the mammoths. They died off near the end of
the ice age. Oard provides convincing arguments to explain this as well
as many other features of the ice age. Perhaps the most interesting
part of this book is the documentation of the complete inability of the
uniformitarian approach to explain the origin of an ice age. Mr. Oard
has also written a children’s book and a technical monograph on this
topic.
(2/9/06)
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