Diamonds – A Girl’s and a Creationist’s Best Friend

Marilyn Monroe singing ‘Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend’ in the movie “Gentlemen Prefer Blonds”

Diamonds are evidence of  young earth, and so they present a perfect opportunity to witness, using it as a symbol and object lesson.

 In an age of visually oriented communications such as TV, movies and the internet, the power of symbols is not lost on content makers such as advertisers and movie producers.  This is particularly true when you combine pop icons with these symbols to make a lasting impression. Case in point: diamonds. The point was indelibly etched in the courting rule book when the iconic beauty Marilyn Monroe sang:

“a kiss on the hand may be quite continental, but diamonds are a girl’s best friend.”¹

Since then, aside from the numerous remakes² from beauties trying to channel the appeal and success of Marilyn, we’ve had regular reminders that “diamond’s are a girl’s best friend.” They come right around this time of year – in time for the Christmas shopping season, to reminded you that if you really want to express your love to a lady, the proper way to do it is with a diamond. This year it was done with a twist – taking a form of  nature documentary and using penguins instead of people³, but the message was the same.

There are multiple lessons for Christians here – aside from the well known fact that advertisers can use beautiful women to sell their wares.  They are as follows:

1. God first used signs & symbols, and continues to use them

During the creation week, God said:

And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years,
Gen 1.14

And as the children of Israel were about to enter the promised land, God gave them these instructions:

6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and
bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Deut 6.6-8

So God was the first to use signs and symbols.⁴ And of particular interest is his  command to his people to have a symbol of his word, his instructions to them for proper living displayed prominently both on their person , and on their houses. This command was fulfilled with the placing of  tephillim (Phylacteries in the New Testament (Matt 23.5)) on the wrist and forehead; and a mezuzah on the house. Why? Because what advertisers have learned, God already knew: the power of a constant reminder in the form of a symbol. His purpose is clear: to impress the importance of His word upon His people, God used symbols – the tephillim and mezuzah – which both symbolized his word and contained portions of it.

Another symbol, mentioned briefly in my article  Physical Evidence that Jesus Existed, is that of the Chi Rho (the first two Greek letters in “Christ”). History records how God used the symbol to inspire General and soon to be Roman Emperor Constantine to trust in Christ, not the pagan gods on the eve before what would be a decisive battle for the victor.  Constantine’s victory at the Mulvian bridge over his rival  Maxentius led to Constantine extending his power, allowing him to legalize Christianity in the Roman empire, ending (eventually) the widespread persecution of Christians and setting the stage for accelerated growth of the church.

A final example: Jesus indicated that his return will be preceded or accompanied by “the sign of the Son of Man” (Matt 24.30).  Thus signs and symbols have been in use by God to further the faith since the beginning, and continue to be in use. Clearly we have as a precedent God’s own use of signs and symbols in furtherance of the faith.

2. God redeems and claims symbols for his own use

The cross is arguably the most recognized symbol in the world.  For Christians it represents Christ’s passion and redemption, hope and eternal life.  Even for non-believers it is a well recognized symbol of Christianity. But it was not always that way.  The cross is after all an instrument of death. And not just any death, a death of torture – a slow death of literally excruciating pain. (The root of excruciate is crux – meaning cross).  The cross was used not only to execute, but to intimidate. In that regard it also excelled because it became one of the most feared forms of execution in the ancient world.

Even so,  God took that instrument of death and torture, and turned it into a symbol of hope, and of the true faith. That transformation from sign of intimation and death; to sign of hope for the faithful has not been lost upon historians:

“I think one of the great historical ironies is the fact that the cross, this symbol of Roman power, became adopted by the Christians themselves as a kind of symbol. To adopt the cross is to say back at the face of power, we won’t be intimidated.”⁵
– Daniel Smith-Christopher,
Professor, Loyola Marymount University

As we’ve seen, God has used signs and symbols in the past and will use them in the future. Perhaps God is also about the business of transforming and redeeming a new symbol for today. With the information provided by modern technology, we can respond to doubters of a young earth saying,  we’re not intimidated by your old earth stories; we have evidence of a young earth that’s everywhere.

3. Diamonds – Evidence of a young creation

Diamonds are not only known for their beauty and connection with romance. Conventional wisdom holds that diamonds are also among the oldest rocks to be found.  According to Dr. Steven Shirey, a senior scientist at the Carnegie Institution of Washington’s Department of Terrestrial Magnetism:

“They’re sometimes the oldest minerals we can find on the earth…up to 3.5 billion years old, whereas the earth is only 4.5 billion years old, so they’re often three-quarters of the age of the earth.”⁶

If the diamonds are truly that old there shouldn’t be any Carbon 14 (¹⁴C) in them, but surprise – like the blood cells found in ’68 million year old’ dinosaur bones⁷ that should not be there, there is ¹⁴C in the diamonds that should not
be there, proving they can’t be that old. Let’s back up a bit and see why.

Radiometric dating uses the assumed fact that radioactive elements decay at a known, steady rate.⁸ There are a number of radioactive elements used to perform radiometric dating. One of them is the radioactive form of Carbon – ¹⁴C which decays into non-radioactive Nitrogen 14 (¹⁴N). Radioactive decay is measured in terms of half-life – how long it takes for half of the atoms in a given amount of the parent element (radioactive and unstable) to decay into the daughter element (non-radioactive and stable). For Carbon, the half life is 5730 years, which is relatively short compared to other radioactive materials like Uranium-238 whose half life is 4.47 billion years. The instrument used to measure the radioactive atoms – an “Accelerator Mass Spectrometer” (AMS)  can detect ¹⁴C atoms to give  dates up to about 80,000 years old. Beyond that the amount of remaining ¹⁴C is undetectable. Since scientists believe the earth is 4.5 billion years old,  carbon dating is usually not used on rocks; methods which involve other radioactive elements that give older dates like uranium or potassium are used. 

So after 80,000 years, no Carbon 14 should be detectable. Yet when scientists from the RATE⁹ group sent diamond samples to an independent lab to determine if any ¹⁴C was detectable in the diamonds, they found:

“Significant levels of ¹⁴C in diamonds – something like 100 times the detection threshold.”¹⁰

 

This is quite a significant find because:

– It is not a marginal reading – the amount detected was 100 times the minimum detection level

– What was detected was not a contaminant – Diamonds are the hardest substance known to exist. Thus they are
naturally resistant to contaminants  – they’re too hard for contaminants penetrate. So the only ¹⁴C that’s in the diamond is that
which was in it when it was formed.

– No Carbon 14 should be found in any material 100,000 years or older at all – it should all have decayed away.  Such a large amount detected means the diamond is significantly younger than 100,000 years old.

Diamonds were formed under great heat and pressure hundreds of miles down from the surface, near the beginning of the creation of the earth. If diamonds are significantly younger than 100,000 years, that indicates the earth too, is significantly younger than 100,000 years.

4. Diamonds – a Symbol and an Object Lesson

A question on the age of the earth presents a great opportunity to move beyond diamonds being merely a symbol of romance; to being a symbol, evidence and object lesson (as Jesus was so fond of using¹¹)  for a young earth, and creation by God. Clearly if the earth is substantially younger than 100,000 years, Darwinian evolution is impossible. A young earth also suggests the universe is young –
making the Big Bang and the Nebular Theory of solar system formation (which also requires hundreds of millions of years) impossible.

So the next time you’re questioned about believing in a young earth, look at someone wearing a diamond and declare, “that diamond she’s wearing is evidence of a young earth, a symbol to remind us of God’s 6 day creation.” Then point the questioner to this article for further explanation.¹² Finally, cap it off with the testimony of Jesus:

“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator…”
Matt 19.4

Jesus spoke about the Creator, not the big bang and lifeless processes.

Duane Caldwell | posted 11/29/2014 | printer friendly format

5 Daniel Smith-Christopher referenced from Crucifixion, Documentary, History Channel, 2008

6 Tiny Inclusions Reveal Diamond Age and Earth’s History: Research at the Carnegie Institution, Duncan Pay, Jim Shigley, Pedro Padua 1/31/2014,
http://www.gia.edu/gia-news-research-tiny-inclusions-reveal-diamond-age

7 Dinosaur Shocker, Helen Fields May 2006,
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/dinosaur-shocker-115306469/#R1L4syMukpv3e8LO.99

8 I say “assumed” because scientists are now finding evidence that under certain conditions the radioactive decay rate is not constant.

9 RATE: Radioisotopes and the Age of the Earth a group facilitated by the Institute for Creation Research (ICR)

10 Dr. Jon Baumgardner, Thousands not Billions, Documentary, ICR, 2005

11 A few of Jesus’ object lessons: Matt 6.26; Matt 18.2-3; Luke 13.18-19

12 For answers to objections, or additional detail see Jonathan Sarfati’s article:
Diamond’s A Creationist’s Best Friend 
http://creation.com/diamonds-a-creationists-best-friend

See also Dr. John Hartnett’s article:
Carbon-14 in Diamonds Not Refuted   http://johnhartnett.org/2014/11/02/carbon-14-in-diamonds-not-refuted/