“Is Genesis History?” is a documentary that was shown in movie theaters as a one-time event, but will soon be available on DVD – https://isgenesishistory.com/deltackett.
I admit, I was skeptical going in to see the documentary “Is Genesis History?” I have actually consumed quite a bit of material from the Creation Science world in the past — books, videos, lectures, even a conference. A few of them I found well-made, well-researched, and compelling. Others seemed like they just wouldn’t hold up well in the academic world. And if you’re going to make a documentary touting Creation Science, it has to hold up well in the academic world. I am not a scientist, but “Is Genesis History” felt like it could hold up more than many of the others I’ve seen.
In this documentary, Dr. Del Tackett, creator of The Truth Project, interviews ten scientists from different various fields — geology, paleontology, microbiology, marine biology, taphonomy, astronomy — as well as an archaeologist, a Hebrew expert, and a pastor. Each expert gives a succinct, clear rationale, from their own discipline’s perspective, for why a young earth/worldwide flood paradigm is not only possible but plausible.
For example, paleontologist Marcus Ross argues that the way that fossils are deposited in various layers isn’t consistent with slow changes over long periods of time. He says the evidence shows no time between these layers, but instead that they were created at all once, by a fast catastrophic event. Geologist Arthur Chadwick agrees, that preservation of the fossils he has studied could only have been through a catastrophic event like a worldwide flood. Chadwick says, “My faith is substantiated by the evidence… [Believing in] Darwinian evolution would be blind faith.”
This is the basic concept purported by each different expert throughout the film — that though Darwinian evolution is generally accepted as the traditional paradigm in most scientific circles, the most recent data actually lines up better with an ancient biblical understanding of the origins of the universe and of mankind. This documentary presents only a young earth creationist point of view, not addressing the many other viewpoints that different believers hold which also highly value both Scripture and science — things like old earth creationism, theistic evolution, or the theological idea that the Genesis story was meant to be taken literally, not figuratively.
For those of us who grew up with the Darwinian Evolution paradigm taught as inarguable truth, it may be difficult to accept the evidence presented in this documentary. Depending on your background, it may actually sound pretty crazy. Many critics of the film argue that these scientists aren’t “real” scientists, or that they are biased because they start with Scripture and try to fit the evidence to it. Which, interestingly is what the scientists in this documentary say about evolutionists (and even old earth creationists) – that they start with Darwinian Evolution and try to fit the evidence with that.
But I really thought each person interviewed in the documentary presented a clear, logical analysis of real data. It sounded pretty credible to me. But remember, I am not a scientist. I’m honestly not sure how Old Earth Creationists or Theistic Evolutionists or Atheistic Evolutionists would have reacted to this film. But I imagine that after watching it, they would at least have some questions.
Which to me, is all we can really have about the origins of the universe. Questions. It can’t be proven by either side. It’s not something we can re-create in a laboratory. Until we create a time machine, it’s not something we can go back and observe objectively. Any explanation takes faith. Every explanation raises more questions than it gives answers.
Maybe that’s the whole point. Just maybe it is something we’re not supposed to understand completely. Maybe there is supposed to be a sense of awe and mystery surrounding the origins of the universe. Maybe it’s supposed to take faith.