Science theories are a combination of science and philosophy. Through science, the facts are gathered, but to make sense of it, a human interpretation which is only a philosophical approach is applied.
We human build an understanding of our environment through the construct of narratives. With our understanding of the facts, we used our philosophical ability to create the narrative which we believe at that stage explain the phenomena observed - which become the "truth" to us.
Science actually requires more proof than only a construct story form the imagination of humans, and therefore, it can only be claimed as a hypothesis. Only after the successful testings of the hypothesis, it can be regarded as a theory. As science uncovers more facts, the current theory may not be able to explain the new facts and a new theory needs to be build which include an explanation of the new facts. Over time science aim to come as near as possible to the truth.
When dealing with ancient history, the philosophy part of science plays a larger role than the facts of science. The reason is obvious as the facts regarding the origin of our universe are limited. Narratives, therefore, are powerful tools to explain the origin and ancient history of mankind.
Different narratives arose to explain the origin of the universe, but two main ones can be regarded for leading the thinking. The most dominant narrative is built on the principle of Uniformitarianism - today holds the key to the past. Another dominant narrative, who does not hold the same ground as Uniformitarianism in the scientific world is Catastrophism - change is driven by events or Black Swans.
In the narrative of Uniformitarianism, the interpretation of facts related to ancient history is seen that the conditions in the past were basically the same as it is today. Therefore, linear projects can be made to understand what happened. Due to the fact that the projection is made from a stable environment of today, it does not support the introduction of change very strongly. Time is needed to introduce gradual change, which is nearly unnoticed in the day-to-day living of man. The theory, therefore, claims an Old Earth to be able to fit in all the observed differences. One of the most influential theories build on the narrative is the evolution theory.
In the narrative of Catastrophism, change is introduced through sudden, short-lived, violent events better known as catastrophes (Black Swans). The narrative claims events to explain change and not time and therefore fit the changes into a shorter timeframe. Far younger earth is postulated. The theory of Creationist is built on this narrative.
As a Christian, I can accept that God created and I also believe that there is more knowledge available than accepted by the scientific world. This is no attempt to do an unbias evaluation between the two narratives, but rather to explore the narrative of Catastrophism.
