Adam When?

    In our study, we began by insisting upon the absolute trustworthiness of the Biblical record. Applying this presupposition to Genesis 5 and Genesis 11, we unraveled them to produce an exact chronology that began with Adam in 11,013 B.C. We addressed ourselves to the troublesome period of the judges. Again, we are able to develop a very exact chronology.

    We then compared the dates found by Biblical reckoning with some of the available archaeological evidence. We saw that the secular evidence of the place and the time of the earliest great city civilization in the Mesopotamia Valley agreed very well with the Biblical account. We also discovered that events related to the Tower of Babel in all probability made their impact on the development of writing as well as expediting the Egyptian civilization to a high level of accomplishment beginning with the First Dynasty.

    When we continue our study of Egypt, we discover three precise chronology reference points that span almost 700 years and relate to three of the greatest pharaohs of antiquity. The exact correlations between the archaeological record and the sacred pages establish the following absolute dates:

Biblical reckoning for these three great pharaohs indicates the reliability of our conclusions concerning the trustworthiness of the Biblical record. According to the laws of probability, we might expect one Biblical date to coincide with one secular date, but it could never be coincidental that three dates or even two would agree as they have in our study. We believe that the archaeological and astronomical evidence provides serious confirmation to the chronology we have set forth in this book.

    A by-product of our archaeological study has been the development, on a very minimal basis, of an understanding of the Egyptian governmental situation form the 12th Dynasty. Hopefully others can build upon this to develop a further understanding of this period in history. Because the archaeological record is replete with information from these dynasties, much has been written about them. Relatively little, however, has been tied to the Biblical account. We trust this study will help others to mesh the sacred with the secular records.

    Generally, the physical sciences have been considered to be the final authority on the proper understanding of the earth’s age. Among many other, two prominent sources of scientific evidence, which have been studied extensively in an attempt to date the world, are the oceans and the radioactive decay of certain elements. Therefore, we faced these issues squarely.

    We showed that the seemingly unreproachable conclusions concerning the age of the earth, which were developed from recent scientific investigations, are not as solid as they seem. The scientists’ conclusions have been received with confidence by most people mainly because their results have been based on basic truths which under other investigations have consistently proven reliable. Scientists have shown good insight into the physics and chemistry of present day phenomena. Despite their analysis of the present environment, their conclusions concerning the age of the earth must be considered untrustworthy for two important reasons. The most important reason is that their conclusions do not take into account all of the available data, namely, the Biblical truth which alone gives the accurate time table.

    Also, we have shown that even when scientists start with sound first principles, so many unverifiable assumptions must be made in the application of those principles that the conclusions are equally unverifiable and, therefore, must be considered incomplete. Their

present conclusions concerning the age of the earth are certainly not the final word. In fact, the scientists’ conclusions not only appear questionable when we consider all available secular data, but seem even more unreliable when we view them in the light of the Bible’s answer to the origin of the earth. Indeed, the Bible’s clearer alternative also explains many otherwise mysterious problems. We have shown that with the truth offered by the Bible, it is possible to examine the scientific evidence and reconstruct more accurately and consistently the true picture of the earth’s history.

    We have undertaken this dating investigate with complete confidence in the Bible’s accuracy and integrity, even on scientific subjects. The faithful and trustworthy character of the Word of God has given us boldness to use it as a plumb line by which to evaluate any conclusions of man. We have shown that the scientific evidence never threatens the Bible. It is only the unwarranted conclusions based on faulty assumptions which appear to contradict the Bible.

    We closed out our study by attempting a reconstruction of some aspects of ancient history beginning with creation. While this reconstruction is speculative because of a number of assumptions which were required, I believe it is much closer to actuality than any others heretofore offered. The Biblical anchors of a precise timetable of history, together with Biblical disclosures such as the declaration of continental division, the flood, and the mountain building with followed the flood, all served to provide dramatic help in this reconstruction. The scientific evidence of C14 activity, the chemical composition of the oceans and continents, the great volcanic ridges and rifts on the ocean floors, the “fit” of continent to continent, the presence of huge ice caps, as well as much other evidence, assist us in this reconstruction. We discovered that in the 6023-year period from creation to the flood, the world was 10-15° F. warmer than today. The mountains were lower, the seas were shallower, the vegetation was more luxuriant. The one continent that existed was populated by many animals but comparatively few men. The ravages of disease were undoubtedly still quite underdeveloped so long life spans were probably normative.

    The flood of 4990 B.C. brought cataclysmic changes to planet earth. Inundated by being passed through a huge deep space water cloud as well as by earth eater, the face of the earth was drastically altered. The world-wide temperature plummeted 20-30° F., inducing great ice caps. Much mountain building resulted as did

tremendous layers of sedimentary rocks, pockmarked by fossils and gouged by deep canyons and valleys.

    The continental division of approximately 3153 B.C. again produced much mountain building. The breakup of the continent that had survived the flood assured the presence of man in every part of the world.

    In our study we saw that one of the biggest errors in scientific conclusions is the perspective of time. When available evidence is examined in the crucible of a four and a half billion year time span, there is confusion as well as anomalies. When the time span of this earth’s existence is reduced to the 13000 years taught by the Bible, and the available evidence is studied within this framework, the whole picture of the earth’s history begins to focus more clearly. For example, the concept of a 13,000 year-old world which began to be repopulated after the flood some 7000 years ago, and which 1500 years later allowed the spawning of the first great city civilizations, surely makes more sense than the idea of mankind being around for hundreds or even thousands of millenniums, and then becoming a cohesive city civilization only in the last 5500 years. Furthermore, the apparent possibility of the end of the age occurring in our time accords far better with the shorter timetable.

    Admittedly, the first purpose of the Bible is not to be a textbook of science or history. The Bible is fundamentally a presentation of God’s grace revealed through Jesus Christ. But, as we pointed out in Chapter 1, when the Bible does speak in any field of learning, it does so with great care, accuracy, and authority. The following three reasons might be advanced for this.

1. These subjects are often an integral part of the plan of salvation. 2. They are part of God’s message to man. 3. By reason of His very nature God is accurate when He speaks.

    Therefore, the Bible has much more to offer than many have supposed. I hope that others will be encouraged to build upon the suggestions offered in this book.