在1800年前后，当地质学作为充满活力的科学出现后，关于地球变化的另一种观点—“均变论”（Uniformitarianism）开始得到了发展。

简介

英文版

简介

莱伊尔被誉为“现代地质学之父”的莱伊尔对均变论的形成和确立做出了重要的贡献。1830年1月，发表了《地质学原理》第一卷（1831年出版第2卷，1833年5月出版第3卷）。他坚持并证明地球表面的所有特征都是由难以觉察的、作用时间较长的自然过程形成的。他指出地壳岩石记录了亿万年的历史，可以客观地解释出来，而无需求助于圣经或灾变论，同时，他承认陆地的升降运动，把意大利塞拉比寺院的三根石柱（它们曾部分被海水淹没）作为《地质学原理》的刊头画，并指出斯德哥尔摩附近海面以上200呎的海生动物的贝壳说明陆地的上升。

也就是说，要认识地球的历史，用不着求助超自然的力和灾变，因为通常看来是“微弱”的地质作用力 （大气圈降水、风、河流、潮汐等），在漫长的地质历史中慢慢起作用，就能够使地球的面貌发生很大的变化。莱伊尔强调“现在是认识过去的钥匙”，这一思想被发展为“将今论古”的现实主义原理，这种“将今论古”的科学方法对达尔文的影响很大。

在莱伊尔逐步取代了居维叶之后，均变论在长达近一个世纪的时间里成为地质学的信条，奠定了现代地质学的科学基础。本世纪60年代以前的地质学教科书，几乎异口同声地说“莱伊尔用均变论统一说明了地质现象，建立了科学的地质学”。

英文版

The concept of uniformitarianism was conceived in the late 1700s by a Scottish geologist named James Hutton. However, the name "uniformitarianism" wasn't coined until 1832 by William Whewell. This concept postulated that catastrophic processes were not responsible for geologic rock formations that existed on the Earth's surface. This new idea was diametrically opposed to the ideas of that time period, which were based on a biblical interpretation of the history of the Earth and were accepted for centuries prior to that time. Instead, the theory of uniformitarianism suggested that the formations developed over long periods of time through a variety of slow geologic and geomorphic processes.

In 1785, Hutton presented his ideas at meetings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He suggested that the Earth had a much longer history than biblical catastrophism dictated and that this history could be interpreted in terms of processes currently observed. He suggested that rock formations were created by slow weathering of bedrock over thousands of years rather than a catastrophic deposition like the biblical food. He further suggested that supernatural theories were unnecessary to explain the geologic history of the Earth.

Strangely, the ideas of the geologist, Hutton did not gain major support of the scientific community until the work of Sir Charles Lyell, a lawyer, reinforced them 45 years later. In a three-volume publication, "Principles of Geology" (1830-1833), Lyell presented a variety of geologic evidence from England, France, Italy, and Spain to support that Hutton's ideas were correct and to reject the theory of catastrophism. The acceptance of this new theory and the implications of it discrediting the Bible created a paradigm shift that has left a belief in the literal truth of the Bible in shambles to the present day.

The theory of uniformitarianism became the "time" foundation for the Theory of Evolution and the "Origin of the Species" book by Charles Darwin, which further discredited the Bible. The theory of evolution is based on the principle that the diversity seen in the Earth's species can be explained by the uniform modification of genetic traits over long periods of time thus making the supernatural creation story in the Bible unnecessary.

Dr. Henry Morris suggested that the motivation for Lyell to dethrone catastrophism and replace it with uniformitarianism was political and theological rather than scientific. The fact that Lyell was not even a scientist certainly supports that assertion.

Today our national theology is Secular Humanism which is supported by a foundation of biological evolution which is in turn supported by a foundation of uniformitarianism.

Although many geologists today have rejected uniformitarianism based upon several criteria and many scientists are questioning the truth of evolution based upon the lack of factual support.