Geologists tend to be very provincial. Rarely do they stand back and look at "the whole canvas" of the sedimentary rock record. When they do, some remarkable things emerge. For example, consider the Tonto Group, a succession of three well-layered formations in the lower part of Grand Canyon.

The book of Job contains interesting allusions to "overturning" of mountains and of the earth that, on the surface, appear to have relevance to geology. One must say "appear," because Biblical creationists like me can be accused of being overly literal!

As an incoming university student of geology I was required to take a class in Historical Geology. I can recall my professor saying, "back in the Dark Ages . . ." intelligent people actually believed the Bible, including doctrines like a few-thousand-year-old earth, a world-covering flood, and a built-in fixity to the created kinds of plants and animals.

Modern earth science owes quite a debt to both Flood geology and intelligent design. According to some, both movements had their start in the twentieth century, but actually these movements played a big role in the history of geology centuries ago and serve to inspire us today.

Scientists of the early sixteenth century faced a dilemma: how did fossils originate? Tradition had held for centuries that the existence of marine shells on hilltops was due to the Genesis Flood.