The fossil record is the history of life as documented by fossils, which are the remains or imprints of organisms from earlier geological periods preserved in sedimentary rock. Genesis 7 gives us an account of Noah's flood, which explains how much of the fossil record came to be. The Bible does not reveal the exact age of the earth nor the age of fossils. In the Young Earth Creationism (YEC) view, the genealogical lines given to us in Genesis 5 and 11 reveal the earth to be roughly 6,000 years old. Accordingly, YEC interprets the evidence to mean the vast fossil record we have today was laid down within the past 6,000 years. Many scientists, including some who uphold the Bible as inspired and inerrant, will disagree with both the origin (the flood) and the age of fossils. This is due to different assumptions being made throughout the interpretation process. When science and faith appear to be in conflict, leaving us unsure what to believe, we should trust the Bible and wait for further light on the details.
Fossils form when organisms decay in sediment, and subsequent heat and pressure create an impression of the dead creature in sedimentary rock.
Depending on conditions, fossilization can take decades or centuries, but not millions of years. Most fossils are of marine creatures, such as clams, coral, trilobites, and fish. An enormous flood would have buried the creatures quickly and completely to prevent scavenging and then compressed the sediment enough for the remains to fossilize rather than to rot. Some rare fossils even have original organic soft tissue encased in rock, which some analysts claim provs that their organisms couldn't have been dead for millions of years,.
Radiometric dating methods are used to measure the ages of rocks and the fossils they host. Other fossil dating methods include radiocarbon dating (for objects containing organic material) and index, or guide fossils. These dating methods involve assumptions which can lead to erroneous results.
All fossilized creatures appear suddenly and fully formed in the rock record, with no clear history of evolutionary transitions.Naturalistic Evolutionary theory requires the gradual accumulation of body parts. However, such intermediate forms have not been found. Charles Darwin acknowledged that the lack of transitional fossils could be an objection to his theory. While he assumed such transitional forms would be found, that is not the case.
Instead of proving evolution, the fossil record presents serious challenges for evolutionary theory. For example, the Cambrian explosion, when practically all major animal phyla suddenly appeared in the fossil record, strongly refutes Darwinian gradualism. The global flood remains the best explanation for fossil evidence such as the Cambrian explosion.