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Have you ever seen the theory of evolution supported through radioisotope dating, such as carbon-14 or potassium-40? You see, some elements go through radioactive decay. They slowly convert from one isotope into something else. The rate of decay, called a half-life, is known. Therefore, measuring the amount of one isotope to the other provides a way to estimate the age of the sample. These methods sometimes produce claims that fossils or rock are millions of years old. This may challenge your faith in God.
However, the dating is all based on assumptions. It assumes we know how much of the isotopes were present when the decay started. It also assumes the rate of decay has never changed. And third, it assumes no outside process has changed the amount of isotopes in the sample.
Think of it this way, if the street where you live is wet, it must mean it has rained, right? If that is your conclusion, you are basing it on the assumption the only explanation for the wet street is rain. However, other explanations are possible. The moisture could come from someone watering their lawn, washing their car or from a water main break. A wet road is not enough evidence to say it rained. We usually check the sky and other things to draw that conclusion.
Likewise, don’t believe radioisotope dating without other evidence. These methods once dated lava that flowed between 1949 and 1975 as having formed over 250,000 years ago!*
*Don Batton, David Catchpoole, Jonathan Sarfarti, Carl Wieland, The Creation Answers Book (Australia, Creation Book Publishers, 2006) pp. 67-77.
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Bumper music “Landing Place” performed by Mark July, used under license from Shutterstock.