By Brian Mariani
How many religions do you think there are there in the
world? Millions? Thousands? Hundreds? A dozen?
Two Kingdoms
We believe, as the Bible states, that there are only
two. From a biblical perspective, there are those who believe God and those who
do not believe God. Practically speaking, it is God vs. Satan (though there is
not a true struggle as God is infinitely greater than Satan, the point here is
that Satan is constantly warring against God), and although a person may not be
a Satan worshipper, if they don’t live for God and trust in Christ for their
salvation, then they reject God and therefore let themselves be deceived by
Satan’s lies and plan. Jesus Himself describes these two kingdoms in Matthew 7.
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| Answers in Genesis teaches kids about the Two Kingdoms in their "Kingdom Chronicles VBS" http://answersvbs.com/2013/about/theme/ |
As we can discuss in chapter 4 of The Genius of Ancient Man, you can track God’s plan throughout
history and conversely track Satan’s plans in counterfeiting God’s. (“Satan
cannot create, but can only pervert.” – Axiom #8 from The Genius of Ancient Man)
Below are two charts. The first is the naturalistic timeline
and the other is the biblical timeline. They stand in stark contradiction, so
they both cannot be true.
Naturalistic (Evolutionary) Timeline and Perspective
Modern scientists and historians separate historic times
from prehistoric times based on the development of writing and recording
information.[i]
Significant
Events
|
Estimated Dates
|
Age of the Universe (Big Bang)[ii]
|
13.75 billion years ago
|
Age of the Solar System[iii]
|
4.568 billion years ago
|
Age of the Earth[iv]
|
4.54 billion years ago
|
First Organic Molecules and Cell[v]
|
3.7-4.2 billion years ago
|
First Multicelled Organism[vi]
|
1.6-2.1 billion years ago
|
First Homo sapien[vii]
|
195,000 years ago
|
*First “Sedentary” Civilization[viii]
|
12,000-10,000 BC
|
**First Written Records[ix]
|
3500-2600 BC
|
***The Great Pyramid[x]
|
3200-2470 BC
|
*This means that a
civilization was able to stay in one location and give up the nomadic lifestyle
(implementation of farming and raising livestock).
**There are certain
artifacts that show earlier “proto-writing” supposedly as far back as the
seventh millennium BC, but true coherent writing is estimated at this time.
***Advanced
monuments like the Great Pyramid would demonstrate the advanced culture of the
specific civilizations, and they would need sufficiently advanced agriculture,
metalworking, and architectural techniques. There are still different estimates
from different secular scientists. They have estimated its age from radiocarbon
dating results of the charcoal and wood, and by pottery fragments that have
been found in the mortar used in the Great Pyramid.
Biblical Timeline and Perspective
Significant
Events
|
Estimated Dates
|
Creation (in 6 literal days)[xi]
|
4004 BC
|
*Adam and Eve Sinned and Banishment from the Garden[xii]
|
4004 BC
|
The Worldwide Flood and Noah’s Ark[xiii]
|
2348 BC
|
Tower of Babel[xiv]
|
2247 BC
|
Abraham[xv]
|
1996-1821 BC
|
Joseph brought the Israelites to Egypt[xvi]
|
1706 BC
|
The Plagues and Israelites Leaving Egypt[xvii]
|
1446 BC
|
David reigned as King[xviii]
|
1010-971 BC
|
Life of Jesus[xix]
|
5/4 BC – 33 AD
|
*It is unsure how
long Adam and Eve lived sinless in the garden before being tempted, but as
human nature goes, we can assume that it would not have taken too long.
Both of the timelines require belief and faith in
something we cannot see. Whether it is “millions of years” and chance, or the
testimony of the Bible, we all base our timelines on trust in something. The
two perspectives are really two different religions.
Biblical Accuracy,
Dating, and OOPArts!
Since the Bible is God’s perfect word, its entirety is
significant. There have been many archaeological and historical examples that
confirm the accuracy and truth of the Bible[xx],
including how the existence and historicity of Jesus is irrefutable.[xxi]
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| http://www.bethlehemstar.net/setting-the-stage/the-stars-and-the-bible/ |
One aspect relevant here and worth studying is how each
side dates specific artifacts and ruins. Artifacts and ruins as we study them,
exist in the present, and to figure out what happened in the past, we have to
make a lot of assumptions, which are yet again based on our worldview.
There are also many pieces of
evidence that are mysterious and challenging to naturalistic thinkers. We call
these “OOPArts” (Out Of Place ARTifactS). Some of these evidences are mysterious and speculative even for
biblical thinkers, but we present our theories and explanations of these
misfits according to the biblical timeline as we discover them.
What is Truth?
So now we see that there are two obviously contrasting
religions interpreting the same evidence in completely different ways.
So which is more consistent and logical in handling and
interpreting the evidence?
Answering this question will take us to many different
sources on both sides of the argument in different academic arenas (science,
history, religion, etc) and it will take a while to sort through.
So while you keep studying, think for yourself and consider the evidence. Just watch out for
the assumptions, biases, and agendas. Remember that the further back in time we
go, the fuzzier facts and dates get, but one thing we can rely on is that God’s Word is Truth and we can trust Him. (See The Genius of Ancient Man page 16-17 for
more on the authority of God’s Word.)
[i] Edward H. Carr, What is History? (1961)
page 108.
[ii]Jonathan
Amos, “Cosmic blast sets distance mark,” BBC
News, April 28, 2009, accessed March 16, 2011, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8022917.stm.
WL Freedman, “The Hubble constant and the expansion age of
the Universe,” Physics Reports,
333-334; Aug 2000, Pages 13-31.
S.H. Suyu, P.J. Marchall, M.W. Auger, S. Hilbert, R.D.
Blandford, L.V.E. Koopmans, C.D. Fassnacht and T. Treu. “Dissecting the
Gravitational Lens B1608+656. II. Precision Measurements of the Hubble
Constant, Spatial Curvature, and the Dark Energy Equation of State.” The Astrophysical Journal, 2010; 711
(1): 201.
[iii] Audrey Bouviery and Meenakshi Wadhwa,
"The age of the solar system redefined by the oldest Pb-Pb age of a
meteoritic inclusion". Nature Geoscience, Nature Publishing Group,
Published online August 22, 2010, accessed March 16, 2011, http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/v3/n9/abs/ngeo941.html.
[iv] “Age of the
Earth,” U.S. Geological Survey, 1997, accessed September 21, 2010,
<http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/geotime/age.html>
[v] K.A. Maher
and D.J. Stevenson, “Impact Frustration of the origin of life,” Nature, 1988-02-18; 331 (6157): 612-4.
G. Griffiths, "Cell evolution and the problem of
membrane topology," Nature reviews, Molecular cell
biology 8 (12): 1018–24, December 2007.
[vi] Andrew H. Knoll, E.J.
Javaux, D. Hewitt, and P. Cohen, "Eukaryotic organisms in Proterozoic
oceans." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of
London, Part B 361 (1470): 1023–38, 2006.
[vii] “Human
Evolution,” MSN Encarta, 2009, accessed September 21, 2010,
http://www.webcitation.org/5kwKK5j9T.
[viii] Ofer
Bar-Yosef, “The Natufian Culture in the Levant, Threshold to the Origins of
Agriculture.” Evolutionary Anthropology.
P. 159-177, accessed September 21, 2010,
http://www.columbia.edu/itc/anthropology/v1007/baryo.pdf.
[ix] David
Whitehouse, “‘Earliest writing’ found,” BBC
News, May 4, 1999, accessed September 22, 2010,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/334517.stm
[x] “How Old Are
The Pyramids?” Nova Online Adventure, accessed
March 18, 2011, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pyramid/explore/howold.html.
“News to Note,” Answers
in Genesis, September 26, 2009, accessed March 18, 2011, http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2009/09/26/news-to-note-09262009.
Andrew Bossone, “Exact Date Pinned to Great Pyramid’s
Construction?” National Geographic,
September 21, 2009, accessed March 18, 2011, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/09/090921-great-pyramid-giza-date-built.html.
[xi] James
Ussher, The Annals of the World,
(Green Forest, Ar: Master Books, 2003), 17.
[xii] Ussher, The Annals of the World, 17.
[xiii] Leonard’s Biblical Chronological Chart,
(Green Forest, Ar: Attic Books, 2010).
[xiv] Sebastian
Adams, Adams Synchronological Chart or
Map of History, (Green Forest: Master Books, 2007).
[xv] Leonard’s
Biblical Chronological Chart.
[xvi] Leonard’s
Biblical Chronological Chart.
[xvii] Rose Book of Bible and Christian History
Time Lines, (Torrance, Ca: Rose Publishing, 2006).
[xviii] Paul L.
Maier, Josephus: The Essential Writings
(Grand Rapids, Mi: Kregel Publications, 1988), 388.
[xix] Paul N.
Benware, Survey of the New Testament,
(Chicago, Il: Moody Publishers, 2003), 50-51.
[xx] Answers in
Genesis, Bible Topic Page, www.answersingenesis.org/get-answers#/topic/bible,
accessed July 26, 2013.
[xxi] Lee
Strobel, The Case for Christ, (Grand
Rapids, Mi: Zondervan, 1998).
Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek, I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist, (Wheaton, IL: Crossway
Books, 2004).
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