"And the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be concealed." Isaiah 29:14
I Corinthians repeats this thought:
For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scholar? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? I Corinthians 1:19
Man has used his theory and definitions of time to question the validity of the Bible. The major question is when was the earth formed. The differences in the Bible's version of creation and Science's Big Bang Theory is a function of time. Both consider the universe to have been instantaneously formed, the Bible says by the Word of God, thousands of years ago, and science says from the rapid expansion of a small particle, four billion years ago. However, science does not say where the small particle originated. The scientific theories and the Bible are in agreement that there was a super continent at the beginning of Earth. 35 But they differ greatly in the time frame in which the continents were set adrift.(See Days of Peleg) The scientific theories indicate that Pangaea, the name science has given to the super continent, started breaking up millions of years ago, 36 whereas the Bible states that it occurred in the days of Peleg. 37 If one takes the Biblical chronology literally, then the breakup of Gottsland, my name for the super continent, was approximately 4000 years ago. (For a complete discussion of the continental breakup see "The Days of Peleg" on the webpage.) This difference in time frames presents a significant problem.

It has been suggested that a continental breakup in Peleg's time, approximately 2000 B. C., would have caused great destruction on the earth and history shows evidence of civilization before that time. The effects of the continental breakup would be a function of how the event occurred and the point of reference. The scientific community agrees that the volcanic action and earthquakes are probably caused by the subduction and movement of land masses or plates, but this would occur only on the leading edge of the continental movement, not in the interior of the continents. There probably would have been surface destruction at the breakpoint of the continents, but it probably would not have been much effect on a very large percentage of the continent. It would be the same problem when the earth was divided. The atmospheric sheath would not necessarily be affected and ones in the interior of the continent would not notice a great change in their immediate environment and the area in the center of the movement would experience very little destruction if any. Thus the people around the center of the continental movement 38 would probably experience little or no disruption because there would be little or no perceivable movement at the epicenter. Any point on earth is traveling at more than 1000 miles per hour, relative to a reference point outside the atmosphere, but would be stationary if the reference point is on the earth. One does not experience any sensation of the speed because our environment moves at the same speed. The earth and its atmospheric sheath are also traveling 33,000 miles per hour in its orbit around the sun, but only the radiation effects are felt on earth.
This date is based on the sea-floor spreading measurements of 1.5 cm/yr, 39 which converts to 126,000 yrs/mi or 760 million years for the separation of the North American continent from Europe. The Sea-floor spreading movement data are based on estimates utilizing the information available, and these data indicate differences of hundreds of millions of years, depending on which continental movement is considered.. Scientific equipment and instrumentation were not available for direct measurements of this small incremental movement at the ocean depths of the mid Atlantic riff. Measurements taken during the International Geophysical Year (1967-68) indicate that the South American continent was moving away from Africa at the rate of 15 to 18 inches/year, placing the separation at 4 million years ago for the separation. Satellite measurements in 1971- 72, indicate an 11 in/yr movement, or approximately 6 million years for the separation. Satellite measurements for 1975 show an 8 in/yr movement yielding a separation time of almost 9 million years. These data would indicate that the speed of the continental movement is decreasing. The current Global Positioning Satellite System (GPS) measurements are taken at a different location but do show an additional slowdown in the rate of movement. These data were not available to the authors of the early continental drift articles when the 465 million year date was suggested.

Current research and studies on the continental movement are directed at modern affects on geophysics, volcanology and fault displacement, and are not challenging the original geometry or the time of the breakup of Pangaea because it has no bearing on their research. An extrapolation of the GPS data for South American data show that South America and Africa were joined between 87,000 and 2,000 years ago, the larger number being a linear extrapolation and the smaller a minimal exponential extrapolation. The extrapolation is based on insufficient data to be adamant about the time required for movement, but the methodology is the same as the extrapolation of the sea-floor spreading data used to arrive at the continental drift number. The whole point is none of the physical measurements provide sufficient data for an accurate extrapolation; however the new data from satellite measurements tend to show the continental drift started much later than 465 million years ago. Recent discussions with Dr. William A. Hess, former director of the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration's GPS program, indicated that at present the GPS system has 24 satellites in orbit, providing GPS data for the entire world and several new more sophisticated satellites are to be launched this year.

The current use of the GPS by earth scientists is focused on areas of interest concerning major faults and volcanoes. However, the receiving stations do provide information on continental drift and several countries including England, Japan, Peru, Brazil, and some African nations have installed or are installing receiving stations. Earth receiving stations see approximately 6 to 8 satellites at the same time. This translates into approximately 18 data points per satellite pass. Based on four satellite data signals for locating the receiving stations position, this produces a massive amount (approximately 100,000 data points per year per location) of actual locational data for analyzing the movement of the receiving station. These data will provide a much more accurate analyses of the continental movement by providing sufficient data for accurate extrapolations. The observation point of the satellite removes the problem of an earth bound reference point. The annual and five year averages over the next twenty years should indicate the extent of the slowing of the movement and provide the basis for an accurate extrapolation to the time of initial movement. The current physical data indicate thousands of years for the initial movement rather than 100's of millions of years since the breakup of Gottsland.
It appears that the initial breakup of Gottsland could have occurred in the days of Peleg. The geologic dating presents the same problems, since most methods of atomic dating are questionable beyond 10,000 years, and are also dependent on the speed of light. The Geologist and Earth Scientist use the index fossils to decide the age of the strata and the Archeologist uses the strata to determine the age of the fossils. Whose definition does one use?
The conclusion from the above is that God controls time and man can only measure it under controlled conditions.