MATSON v HOVIND by DAVE MATSON

The following is a document which was written by Dave Matson in response to various claims made by Kent Hovind and other Young Earth Creationists.  This is not a debate transcript, rather an indepth refutation of the claims of various Creationists.  A complete, unedited version of this document can be viewed here.

This document is quite large, however it is fairly easy to read and does give an idea of the range of creationists arguments as well as the ease at which they can be refuted with just a little research.

First time readers should start here For those who are familiar with the document and wish to target a particular argument I have provided an index style table of links.
 
 

YOUNG EARTH PROOFS It only takes one proof of a young earth ..... The sun is shrinking Moon dust The existence of short period comets There are no fossil meteorites in the geologic record The Moon is receding a few inches each year The Moon contains short lived isotopes Space dust still in the solar system At the rate many star clusters are expanding ... Saturn's rings are unstable Jupiter and Saturn are cooling off rather rapidly The earth's magnetic field is decaying  The volume of lava on earth The amount of various minerals in the ocean The amount of helium in the atmosphere The rate of continental erosion Topsoil takes only a few thousand years to form Erosion rates limit Niagara Falls to 10,000 years The pressure found in oil and gas wells The size of the Mississippi River delta The earth's rotation is slowing down Sedimentary deposits in oceans The largest stalactites and flowstones could have formed in about 4400 years The Sahara desert can only be a few '000 years old The oceans should be much saltier The current population of Earth could easily be generated in 4000 years The oldest coral reef is about 4200 years old. The oldest tree in the world is 4300 years old Historical records go back less than 6000 years The dates in the Bible add up to about 6000 years Many ancient cultures have stories of an original creation in the recent past	RADIOMETRIC DATING The atmospheric C-14 is presently only 1/3 of the way to an equilibrium The C-14 decay rate is not constant The initial C-14 content cannot be known Impossible to prove that a given sample has not been contaminated The C-14 cannot be accurately measured Curve of the line is based on too few real measurements
	GEOLOGICAL COLUMN Geologic column is a base from which to calibrate the C-14 dates Geologic column is based on the assumption that evolution is true Geologic column does not exist anywhere Poly-strata fossils, missing layers, layers out of order, misplaced fossils, and layers in reverse The assumed age of a sample will dictate which radiometric dating method is used
	ADDITIONAL ARGUMENTS Woodmorappe's Collection of Bad Dates Water and Vapor and Noah's Flood Coal and Oil Mammoths: Were They Quick-Frozen? A Couple of Ice Age Problems The Distance to Supernova SN1987A and the Speed of Light If the universe is not billions of years old, then we need not bother .... Modern textbooks tell us that FROGS+TIME = PRINCE How could many of the marvelous structures evolve by chance? Evolution is merely a theory Evolution is a religion, not part of science The watch in the gold mine The burden of proof is on the evolutionists ....

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