History

We may not think often of the ancient world in our modern life, but there is a bit of mystery surrounding the early ancient civilizations – the speed with which they arose. From Egypt and Sumeria to the Olmecs of Mexico, civilizations seem to have appeared full-blown, already fully-developed!

Figure 1 - The civilization of ancient Egypt apparently emerged all at once and fully formed.

Dr. Dan Reynolds attended the recent Creation Superconference held in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina July 13-17. Dr. Reynolds has provided us a summary of each of the sessions at the conference.

Many people have become interested in genealogy and in tracing their roots. Have any of you ever wondered, "Just how far back can we trace our ancestors?" The answer may be, "Farther than you think!"

Also, many have wondered about the origins of nations, shrouded in the mists of antiquity and in mystery. Where did the Egyptians come from? The Mayas? It seems that many ancient civilizations sprang up, if not from nowhere, at least more rapidly than one would expect.

"There is no way to understand the cultural cancer of racism until we seriously read the Bible. For this breathtaking collection of 66 books is completely silent on our modern concept of "races". Tragically, blacks, Orientals, whites—all of us—have been pushed into "boxes" (the metaphor for which is the stinking, grisly railroad car...of the Holocaust) and we have forgotten that God has "made of one blood all nations of men." (Acts 17:26). 1

Evolutionists have made much of fossils. They supposedly illustrate the progression of evolution. Yet, there are serious problems with this fossil record.

Dr. Duane Gish has written a book about these problems. One big problem is the missing transitional forms—the "missing links". Evolutionists have claimed that more primitive fossils are found in geologic layers lower than where more advanced life forms are found, and assuming the higher layers were laid down much later than the lower layers, the more primitive forms thus lived earlier, and the more advanced forms evolved from the more primitive.

One might ask, how were there days, mornings and evenings, before the sun lit up on day 4, according to the Bible? There is a scientific model that can account for that! According to the physics of this model, there would have been light, starting on the first day, from a quasar at the center of the galaxy. This would provide light from a single direction, like the sun does today. See the illustration of a quasar, which make this point obvious.

Quasar Image - from NASA

Agreement with Biblical Chronology

The model agrees with Biblical chronology. We noted in the second article of this series that the actual age of astronomical objects, as well as the actual age of radiometrically-dated objects (rocks), can be calculated using this model. We will look at the calculated age of the universe from the calculations of the model, and compare this with when creation week occurred according to the most ancient available Biblical texts.

The Value of Reading Theology

Theology can be defined as “intellectual or rational (‘reasoned’) discourse about God or things divine.” 1 It is an expression of beliefs regarding God, man, the meaning of life, the origin and fate of the world, and the afterlife.