Assessment Questions 1.4

1. What was the perspective of some Western thinkers who disagreed with John Ray's view of the Earth's unchanging nature?

Some Western thinkers believed that the Earth had changed radically from its original creation, and this change was considered for the worse. While they acknowledged the perfection of God's original creation, they viewed the modern world as a pale reflection of that perfection.

2. What is the concept of catastrophism, and how did naturalists in the late seventeenth through eighteenth centuries view Earth's changes?

Catastrophism is the perspective that the current appearance of the Earth results from a series of natural catastrophes, such as floods and volcanoes. Naturalists in the late seventeenth through eighteenth centuries, known as catastrophists, believed that the Earth had changed dramatically through catastrophic natural processes initiated by God upon the world's creation.

3. What biblical event did catastrophists point to as evidence of the Earth's catastrophic deterioration?

Catastrophists pointed to Noah's flood as evidence of the catastrophic deterioration of the Earth. According to the Bible, God decided to destroy the world through a great universal deluge, saving only Noah's family and representatives of each kind of animal.