Science & Scripture · Geology

All of Earth's continents separated from a single landmass within one human lifetime, roughly 4,000 years ago.

Geology 25 passages in this field

Show this passage in

WEB

The cited passage

What current science says

Continental drift is real, but it moves at about 2–5 centimeters per year — roughly the speed your fingernails grow. The supercontinent Pangaea began breaking apart about 200 million years ago. Compressing 200 million years of plate tectonics into one human lifetime would mean the continents raced apart at roughly 75 kilometers per hour — faster than highway traffic. The energy required would have liquefied the Earth's crust and boiled the oceans. Nobody would have been alive to name anything.

What the text says

This comes from 1 Chronicles 1:19 (and Genesis 10:25). Some creationists interpret the name 'Peleg' (meaning 'division') as evidence that continental drift happened rapidly during one man's lifetime, a few generations after a global flood.

Share

Three honest ways to read this passage

GEBible doesn't pick one of these for you. Each entry shows the passage, what it says, and what current science says — nothing more.