Adam When?

    An ever-abiding concern of the Christian is the threat of Biblical unbelief creeping into the church. This has been a persistent danger throughout history; but the problem is more acute today than ever before. This is due in part to the increasing acceptance of the conclusions of scientists rather than those of the Bible in matters relating to the earth’s antiquity.

    It must be clearly understood that there is nothing in the Bible that could throw doubt on its integrity. That is impossible in view of the perfect activity of the Holy Spirit in the preparation of the Holy Canon. But man is faulty, and he is becoming increasingly convinced that he can solve every problem by himself without help form the Bible. Because he has covered himself with glory as a result of his successful conquests in the machine age and then the computer and space ages, he has begun to believe that he can speak authoritatively about the origins of man and then universe. He believes he can do this without help form the Bible, which he believes has been proven to be unreliable on these subjects.

    Unfortunately, the fallacious conclusions of some Christians concerning an understanding of Genesis has contributed to the problem. When Ussher, for example, concluded that the date of Adam was 4004 B.C. and that the date of the flood was 2349 B.C., he did much to undermine the confidence of the marginal believer in the Word. Written history goes without pause back to about 3000 B.C. and, therefore, the flood much have been earlier than that.

    Moreover, the lack of a satisfactory explanation of the genealogies of Genesis 5 and 11 has cast doubt on the reliability of these early chapters of the Bible and has further encouraged the acceptance of secular conclusions that relate to the earliest history of the earth. This has served to widen the gulf between the sacred and secular until today many are ready to believe that the first eleven chapters of Genesis are myth, or allegory, or at best written as a poem of some kind. In any case, many believers Genesis cannot be trusted to provide a serious contribution to an understanding of origins. Thus, mistrust of the Book of Genesis can and has fostered a mistrust of the entire Bible, and once confidence in Scripture is gone, unbelief and apostasy are sure to follow.

    With this concern in mind, together with a deep personal conviction that nothing is accidental or coincidental in the Bible, I have seriously searched for the biblical answer to the origins of the world. I believe with all my hear that solutions to Bible enigmas must be found in the Bible itself, for God surely did not give us the detailed facts in the Bible in order to confuse us. It is true that He wrote in such a way that unsaved men apart form the Holy Spirit would be unable to find truth. This is attested to by Christ’s statement concerning His use of parables, but there is nothing in the Bible that is written to confuse or mislead the Christians. He may have waited awhile for the Holy Spirit to lead him into truth, but he need not suppose for a moment that any one part of the Bible is less trustworthy or less authoritative than any other part.

    As I have studied the Bible, I have discovered truths that have given me a great deal of insight into previously unsolvable problems. These truths have demonstrated the remarkable consistency of the Bible, and they have vindicated the Bible’s integrity, even when it speaks on scientific subjects.

    An important truth the Holy Spirit led me to was the solution of the genealogies of Genesis 5 and 11. When I first suspected I had been led to the proper understanding of these chapters, I was, of course, quite thrilled. Discovering truth is a wonderful experience. But how would this Biblical chronology relate to the evidence of the archaeologist and others who speak in any manner about the origins and history of man and the world? In this book, I have endeavored to answer that question by looking fairly at some of the secular evidence available and showing how this is in harmony with the plain statements of the Bible. Obviously, this cannot be an exhaustive study. Let it be merely an example of the discoveries that can be made when we accept God’s Word as completely authoritative and trustworthy in every area of knowledge.

    Every study must begin with certain basic assumptions. Let me say very forthrightly that the basic assumption underlying this book is that the Bible is the authoritative Word of God and is just as accurate and trustworthy when it speaks on subjects covered by the scientist, historian, or psychologist as when it speaks in the areas covering spiritual relationships. My hope is that this book will encourage many to remain firm in the faith regardless of the interesting and intriguing conclusions of those who have so much of this world’s knowledge but who have reservations concerning the truth of God’s Word.

    I would at this time like to especially recognize Dr. Jack Finegan, Dean of the Pacific School of Religion. Because of his generous kindness, I was given unrestricted access to the Palestinian Library. Without such a favor, it would have been well-nigh impossible to do the required research in connection with the archaeological records.

    This book was published in 1974. Since that time portions of it have been reprinted as separate publications. For example, the chapter “Let the Oceans Speak” was published some years later. This was also true of Chapter 3 which is entitled “Guidepost in the Sacred Text.” It was published under the heading “The Biblical Calendar of History.” Additionally some of the chapters were republished in such books as “1994?” and “Are You Ready.”

    However, because of many requests for copies of the original publication, it is herewith made available.

    It might be noted that after it’s initial publication 26 years ago, no evidence has been forthcoming that shows errors concerning the concepts set forth in the original publication. For example, after 26 years of continuing in depth serious study of the Bible by the author, as well as many other Bible students, has any Biblical evidence been developed that faults the conclusion that creation occurred in 11013 B.C. when dated by our present Gregorian calendar. Likewise, in the knowledge of the author, no scientific evidence has come forth that negate the conclusions offered in this book concerning such subjects as Radioactive isotope dating or archeological evidence is being the history of Egypt. Fact is, an increasing amount of evidence is being produced with shows the past or present evidence of much water on the moon and on many of the planets of our solar system. Thus is increasing cooberation of the conclusion set forth on page 182 that a great part of the flood waters that totally covered the face of the whole earth in Noah’s day came as a result of the earth together with other parts of our solar system passing through a deep space rain cloud.

    In this volume with two exceptions the Bible citations have been quoted form the King James Bible. The verses found in Proverbs 8:27 and Acts 13:19, 20 are more accurately translated in the Revised Standard Version than in the King James Version.