Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
Geologists have uncovered a grand story of the coming and going of life and the making
and remaking of whole worlds as continents wandered the globe over billions of years. We
are still unraveling the secrets behind the great extinction events of the past and learning
to understand the causes of ancient climate changes that ushered in times hotter than today
and periods when the whole planet froze over. Even now, as we send robots off to explore
the geology of Mars, our nearest celestial neighbor, we are discovering new planets circ-
ling distant stars. We will likely soon confront the discovery of other inhabitable planets in
a universe far grander than ever imagined in our intellectual infancy.
The scientific story of the origin and evolution of life, the vast sweep of geologic time,
and the complexity of the processes that shaped the world we know today inspire more awe
and wonder than the series of one-off miracles from Genesis that I read about in Sunday
school. Miracles do not fuel curiosity or innovation. If we embrace the claim that Earth is
a few thousand years old, we must also throw out the most basic findings of geology, phys-
ics, chemistry, and biology. The concept of geologic time, on the other hand, opens up an
entirely new creation story, along with the idea that the world is unfinished and creation is
ongoing. And a complex, evolving world is one we would be well advised to do our best to
understand. Personally, I find a world that invites exploration and learning more inspiring
than a world where all is known.
While science has much to offer us, from vaccines to space travel, religion can help hu-
manity frame essential social, moral, and ethical decisions, such as those arising from the
development and uses of science and technology. Of course, history is also replete with
examples of religion being used to subjugate, control, and persecute. Ethics and morality
do not require a religious basis any more than vociferous professions of religious belief
guarantee ethical or moral behavior. Faith and reason offer different lenses through which
people seek to understand the world and our place in it.
I find that the wonder in reading rocks and topography, and in understanding the vast
scope of geologic time, rivals that of religious belief. In either one can find a taste of the
infinite and of things far grander than ourselves. Yet no honest search for truth can deny
geological discoveries—not when Earth's marvelous story is laid out for all to see in the
very fabric of our world. We may argue endlessly about how to interpret the Bible, but the
rocks don't lie. They tell it like it was.