The Giant’s Causeway: God’s Amazing Stone Stairway

The Legend: A Giant!

The Irish tell a tale of a giant named Finn McCool who wanted to reach Scotland to confront an enemy named Benandonner. To cross the sea between Ireland and Scotland, the giant used large, hexagonal stone columns to form a land bridge. After a series of fanciful events, Benandonner tore up the stone path between Ireland and Scotland, leaving matching stones on both sides of the sea.

The Truth: Formed by the Flood

During the global Flood, the earth’s crust shifted and collided. The Bible tells us in Genesis 7:11, “All the fountains of the great deep split open.” This movement created openings in the crust that allowed lava to cover the surface of the land. There is evidence in this region pointing to an estimated seven volcanic flows. Each lava flow was cooled by the water before the next lava flow. As the hot lava cooled down, it began hardening from the top and bottom, like a lake freezing from the edges inward.

As the lava cooled, it also shrank, like how things shrink when they dry out (for example, a grape to a raisin). This shrinking caused cracks to form all over the top of the lava. The lava kept cooling and shrinking, and the cracks kept growing longer and longer, reaching down deeper and deeper. Eventually, the cracks met up with each other and formed tall columns, almost like a bunch of pencils standing side by side! The columns are made of basalt or cooled lava. Most are six-sided, but some are four-, five-, seven-, or eight-sided. Each column has a width similar to a paving stone.

Two Views, Same Rocks

Many secular geologists claim that the Giant’s Causeway was formed slowly over 60 million years ago. A creation scientist would look at the same rocks and say they formed rapidly less than 4,500 years ago. What is important to understand is that they are all looking at the same evidence, but because they have very different starting assumptions about the unobservable past, their conclusions are vastly different. When we evaluate evidence from the past, we call this historical science. Historical evidence requires interpretation, and that interpretation will be influenced by that scientist’s beliefs.

The Giant's Causeway: A Reminder from the Flood

As Christians, we believe the Bible is God’s true Word, and it’s the best place to start when we think about the past—even about rocks and mountains! The Bible tells us that people turned away from God and chose to sin. Because God is just, good, and fair, He couldn’t let that sin continue. He sent a Flood to cover the whole earth. But God is also loving. He gave Noah and his family a way to be saved on the Ark of salvation. Noah, his family, and the animals were kept safe while God’s judgment came upon the earth.

The Flood was so big and so powerful that it changed the entire surface of our planet. It is the kind of event that could explain the formation of amazing rock formations like the Giant’s Causeway. So the next time you see a picture of the Giant’s Causeway, or get to visit it yourself, you can remember an important story: God is holy, and He takes sin seriously, but He also makes a way to salvation.