The more geologists discover about the prehistory of the earth, the more the myth of “creation” in Genesis is discredited as an antediluvian fable.

Two fascinating articles published in the Times of Malta (October 3, 2015) described the catastrophes that devastated the earth overs eons of time: volcanic eruptions that lasted 400,000 years; mega tsunamis, after the earth was struck by a massive asteroid; and volcanic ash and acid rain – all of which led to the mass extinction of 75 per cent of all species.

None of this knowledge was available in the past. Before the 18th century, the study of the origin of the earth was still hampered by unreliable speculation and by absurd religious beliefs, such as that the earth had been “created” on October 23, 4004BC. Fossils that actually predated the emergence of man by millions of years were ignorantly explained as the relics left behind at the time of “Noah’s flood”.

In 1785, James Hutton published his Theory of the earth, which posited a very old, non-biblical earth. His theory was confirmed by Charles Lyell in his Principles of Geology (1830), the first textbook of the modern science of geology.

Lyell argued that all existing theories of the origin of the earth, including those compatible with the Bible, were untenable. He demonstrated that the earth’s origin and history could be explained naturally and discussed scientifically. Lyell’s revolutionary book undermined religious belief, just as Charles Darwin did later when he published On the origin of species and The descent of Man.

Geology, biology, and paleontology have consigned the biblical account of “creation” to the dustbin of archaic myth.