Craters

Psalm 8:3-4

“When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?”

Even a small telescope will show you that the surface of the Moon is covered with craters. On the Earth, most craters are the remnants of volcanic activity. However, there are a small number of craters formed by the impact of meteoroids – a general term, covering the type of objects likely to form impact craters. Studies of the Moon’s surface suggest that the majority of Lunar craters are impact craters.

The rate of impact by meteoroids is pretty small today, so, if that rate were constant, then the cratered surface of the Moon could have taken millions of years to get like it is. However, studies of the possible lava flows in the Moon’s maria areas suggest that the impacts must have been much greater in the past. And the Moon is not the only object in the Solar System with craters. Space exploration has shown that most solid objects in the Solar System have a lot of craters on them. Photographs of Mercury are often mistaken for pictures of the Moon, so covered in craters is the planet’s surface.

Creationists suggest that there was a massive cratering event at some point in the past. There are two competing models, both of which seem to work biblically. Some suggest that craters are part of the planet forming events on Day Four of the Creation Week. Others suggest that cratering occurred at the onset of the Flood, and could have been the mechanism used by God to trigger the Flood.

Prayer: Thank You, Father, for those scientists, who believe Your word and endeavor to help us understand it better. Amen.

Author: Paul F. Taylor

Ref: Faulkner, D.R. (1999), A Biblically-Based Cratering Model, < https://answersingenesis.org/astronomy/moon/a-biblically-based-cratering-theory/ >, accessed 12/28/2018. Image: Tycho Crater, on the Moon, NASA, Public Domain.

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