| Here is a recent article I wrote for the Brooklyn Exponent. This is a fascinating topic--one rarely discussed. But I think it lends a great deal of support to the Genesis account. The Way We Were Long ago, maybe about 500,000 years ago, a hairy ape-man is sitting at a cave entrance banging a couple of rocks together. Sparks jump out setting some dry grass on fire. With excited grunts and gestures, he calls other tribe members to come and see. This is how, we are told, that man first learned to use fire—at least that is the story suggested in museums around the world, in classrooms, science textbooks, and encyclopedias. And, of course, it is presented to us as unquestionable fact. But is this the true history of humanity? The Bible paints quite a different picture of early man. In this view, man was totally human—highly intelligent, emotional and curious, just as we are today—from the moment of his creation. After the fall into sin, and as their numbers grew, people built quite advanced civilizations, but, unfortunately, also became very evil. The Bible records that God, regretting that He had made man, sent a catastrophic world-wide flood which destroyed all life except those eight people and many kinds of animals who survived on the Ark. It is likely that Noah and his sons brought with them on the Ark some knowledge of the previous civilizations and applied that knowledge to the post-flood world they faced. In fact, some generations later, at the scene of the Tower of Babel, God said of men, “Nothing they have imagined they can do will be impossible for them.* What does archeology suggest is the true history of mankind? If the evolutionists are correct, human artifacts should reflect a gradual progress from primitive to the more advanced. However, this does not seem to be the case. Unexplainable archeological mysteries abound with advanced, out-of-place artifacts that do not fit into the evolutionary picture. So common are these that an acronym has been coined for them: OOPArts (Out-Of-Place Artifacts). OOPArts emerge suddenly in early history without evidence of earlier development. For example, the “Antikythera Mechanism,” an ancient analog computer, was discovered in 1900. This sophisticated computer, on board a ship which sank in the Aegean Sea before the time of Christ, was capable of computing solar, planetary and lunar cycles. It was likely used for celestial navigation. More than 30 high quality, complex and precise bronze gears appear to be machine-made and comparable to modern gears.** Other mysteries are numerous. The Great Pyramid at Giza, Egypt, built 4000 years ago by methods still not understood, reveals that the Egyptians at that time had an accurate knowledge of the size and shape of the earth (the northern hemisphere of which the pyramid depicts). They also had technology to maneuver an estimated 2.3 million huge stone blocks, averaging 2 ½ tons apiece (some were in excess of 70 tons), high up onto the structure.** The megalithic heads at Stonehenge, England, were smoothly sculptured out of iron-hard volcanic rock and precisely placed, in spite of weighing more than 90 tons apiece.** The Egyptians had optical technology using rock crystal lenses, and the practice of microscopic writing and carving using such lenses seems to have been quite widespread.** Ancient Mayans of Mexico and Central America built observatories for studying the stars and had an extremely accurate knowledge of astronomy. They devised a cosmic clock that predicted solstices and equinoxes, and also calculated the length of the solar year to within 1/10,000 of a day. The Baghdad Battery, an ancient ceramic jar that produced 1.5 volts of electricity, was most likely was used for electroplating gold on silver objects. These objects have been found in the ruins of Mesopotamia that date back to 2500 B.C.** Archeological finds also indicate there were global travelers before the time of Christ. The ancient Polynesians, skilled explorers, navigated the ocean by the stars. Ancient maps, such as the Piri Reis Map, copied in 1513 from much older maps (which possibly date to the time before Christ), accurately outline the continental coastline of Antarctica (not including the ice pack). In modern times the continental coastline was not charted until 1952 by modern technical means.** The Incan culture, even at its beginning, was highly developed technologically. The Chinese, as well, have a history rich in technological ability, such as the makyo, or magic bronze mirror, which modern scientists still do not understand. The Nasca Desert south of Lima, Peru, is famous for geometric figures and large forms of animals that can only be viewed from the air—suggesting the ancients had developed air travel of some sort.** Evolutionists can only call these mysteries, and some even suggest that space aliens must have been involved for these OOPArts to have occurred among such “primitive” people. But piecing together the puzzle, the picture begins to emerge that is consistent with biblical history. The way we were back then is no different than the way we are now—fully human from the Beginning. * Genesis 11:6 **Donald E. Chittick, Ph.D., The Puzzle of Ancient Man, Creation Compass, Newburg, OR, 2006 |
