Backing up the Bible
Ancient civilisations as far apart as South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Australia, all hold similar beliefs in the following:
- A great flood destroyed most of mankind
- Mankind was visited by gods
- There were giants
- Events can be determined from the stars
By studying the beliefs of ancient civilisations from around the four corners of the world, and with scientific evidence, we can find a great deal of support for things mentioned in the Bible.
The flood
Evolution is the widely-accepted explanation of our existence, being the only solution that is acceptable to modern man.
Certain aspects of evolution are fact-based, such as species adapting and changing in various ways (micro-evolution), but there is no factual evidence supporting evolution on the scale whereby one species can change into a different species (macro-evolution).
Macro-evolution is a theory based purely on speculation. Although certain theories such as gravity are accepted as being fact-based many have been proven incorrect -- such as the theory that the sound barrier could not be broken.
Although there are no facts at all backing up macro-evolution it is accepted and taught as though it is factual. The deeper one delves into the facts that do exist surrounding this subject the more one has to question whether macro-evolution really can be true.
Scientists believe that the sedimentary layers of the earth formed over millions of years -- a theory for which there is no factual evidence. Fossils of primitive life forms were found in layers estimated to be millions of years old, and it is believed that mankind evolved from these life forms over that time.
Scientific estimates should always be taken lightly: even within the space of about three decades scientists have reduced their estimation of the earth's age by two thirds.
Scientists claim that coal is formed over millions of years by vegetation that has slowly accumulated and been compacted by pressure; however, there is evidence that goes against this theory: coal has been created in laboratory conditions within a period of months using very simple methods; In 1972, the book 'Earth's Most Challenging Mysteries', by Reginald Daly, mentions a situation where the wooden piles supporting a railway bridge near Freiburg in Germany were found to have partially turned to coal; also, even though coal beds are said to span millions of years the fossilised vegetation found within them is similar throughout, showing no expected evolutional changes.
Sometimes rock is dated by the fossils found in it, and sometimes fossils are dated by the rock they are found in, and any date arrived at using this circular method is purely speculative. Carbon dating is a process used to measure carbon and radioactive carbon emissions from dead organisms in order to calculate their age. It is claimed to be accurate to within 50,000 years -- although accuracy beyond 4,000 years cannot be proved -- but is still used to date things estimated as being millions of years old. Many scientists have agreed that this process is unreliable, and dates could be affected by changes in the atmosphere and in the earth's magnetic field -- which is decreasing.
Recently, carbon dating of 'live' molusc shells off the Hawaiian coast revealed that they had died 2,000 years ago; in 1971 a freshly killed seal in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, was shown as having died 1,300 years ago; in Australia a 50-year-old felt miners hat which had fossilised was calculated as being 6,000 years old; and in 1968, rocks known to have been created from an eruption in 1800 by the Hualalai valcano in Hawaii were dated by scientists to be 160 million to 3 billion years old. Carbon dating is still the most widely-used dating technique.
In 1980, in the space of just one day, the volcanic eruption of Mt. St. Helens created 17 mile long canyons up to 140 feet deep and deposited stratified layers over 100 feet thick. The sedimentary layers of Arizona's Grand Canyon and those from the eruption of Mount St. Helens are stratified in the same way and yet scientists claim those in the Grand Canyon took millions of years to form. The stratified layers formed by Mount St. Helens in 1980 only took about five years to solidify into rock, and these rocks were carbon dated as being 350,000 years old.
In 1934, members of the Hahn family in Texas discovered an iron hammer, obviously made by man, contained within Cretaceous rock supposedly 75 to 100 million years old -- long before man is supposed to have evolved.
Some rock layers have been found to contain fossils of upright trees extending through them, suggesting that they were actually formed within days: such fossils are known as 'polystrate'. Scientists admit -- when it suits their theories -- that some sediment layers can be formed rapidly, and a common theory offered by scientists to counter the argument that a flood caused the rapid burial is that the trees could have been buried by these layers over a period of years while still alive, which would explain why the trees did not rot during that time. To contradict this theory, polystrate tree fossils often have no roots, and such examples cannot have been living while the layers built up around them -- as they would have rotted away before fossilisation could occur.
A polystrate tree near Katherine Hill Bay in Australia was discovered extending through two separate coal seams: even if this tree had roots, scientists claim that coal is formed over millions of years, so to extend through two seams would suggest that either the tree was millions of years old or coal was formed quickly. Even human skulls have been found in coal, suggesting that humans were around many millions of years before evolution claims man could have existed. Polystrate fish fossils near Santa Barbara, California, were found to extend through several layers of algae fossils -- each layer of which scientists claim took hundreds/thousands of years to form. At Glacier National Park in Montana a limestone formation from the Precambrian era (1 billion years ago) is on top of a shale formation from the Cretaceous era (100 million years ago), quite significantly the wrong way around.
Scientists have used factual evidence to explain evolution in theory, but discoveries such as these take away any stability the theory has. The fossil record itself does not provide any evidence of species gradually evolving into other species: in fact, there is absolutely nothing in between that shows any transition between species. Even Darwin himself, the man who brought us the theory of evolution, wrote in his book 'Origin of Species' that he found the idea of evolution absurd, and claimed that the fossil record did nothing to prove it:
"Why then is not every geological formation and every stratum full of such intermediate links? Geology assuredly does not reveal any such finely graduated organic chain; and this, perhaps, is the most obvious and serious objection which can be urged against the theory." -- Darwin, Origin of Species
Fossilisation is not a common occurrence. Dead things naturally decompose and are recycled back into the dust from which they came. To become fossils dead life forms must be buried in matter containing water that is rich in minerals and high in carbonates: this prevents decomposition and causes body tissue to be replaced by the minerals. Before they get a chance to fossilise, dead life forms could decompose, be eaten, or be destroyed by other life forms; so in order to become fossilised they must be buried quickly.
A flood is the perfect way to create fossils: it provides large amounts of both water and mud in which to rapidly bury things, and there is plenty of geological evidence that supports a global flood of enormous proportions.
Scientists, via sediment records, claim that the Arctic once had a sub-tropical climate, being free of ice. Fossils of life forms that live in warm climates have been discovered from the Arctic to the Antarctic, suggesting that in the past there was a warm climate globally. This also suggests that the earth's atmosphere was different, bringing into question the accuracy of carbon dating.
If a global cataclysmic flood did occur, taking just days to create sedimentary layers estimated as being millions of years old, it would disprove the theory of evolution or suggest that man evolved extremely quickly -- at a speed of which we find no evidence today.
The Bible mentions the story of Noah and the ark, whereby eight people and various creatures were the only living things saved from a great flood that destroyed the rest of mankind. As well as the Bible mentioning that a great flood occurred, there are literally 'hundreds' of legends from ancient civilisations all over the world which mention a flood of such catastrophic proportions, where the survivors escaped by a boat; and many, including the Bible, claim that the flood was a punishment for the wickedness of mankind.
With the existence of scientific evidence and stories from around the world, it is strange how modern man prefers to teach evolution and hold it as fact, yet dismisses the idea of a global catastrophic flood so readily when it has far greater scientific evidence supporting it. It is for the sake of evolution that flood evidence is ignored. Mankind will dismiss anything that could back up the existence of God.
"There are only two possibilities as to how life arose. One is spontaneous generation arising to evolution; the other is a supernatural creative act of God. There is no third possibility. Spontaneous generation, that life arose from non-living matter was scientifically disproved 120 years ago by Louis Pasteur and others. That leaves us with the only possible conclusion that life arose as a supernatural creative act of God. I will not accept that philosophically because I do not want to believe in God. Therefore, I choose to believe in that which I know is scientifically impossible; spontaneous generation arising to evolution." -- George Wald, PhD, Harvard University (Nobel Prize Winner), Scientific American Vol. 199, 1958
Giants and gods
Many ancient civilisations have stories of giants. In Australia there are not only tales of giants but fossil evidence of extremely large tools and humans of 12 feet in height. Fossilised giant human footprints have been found throughout the world, giant human bones have been found in America, and archeological evidence throughout Russia and the Middle East reveals that the existence of giants is not just myth.
Another similarity between ancient civilisations all throughout the world is their belief in gods. One often finds striking similarities between gods of various civilisations, or that a particular thing which happened to one civilisation's god also occurred to a god of another.
The ancient Greeks, for example, mention giants, and that these were bound in chains in Tartarus - the underworld. Greek stories also mention that Zeus and the other Olympian gods resided on Mount Olympus, and that the gods sometimes produced offspring with mankind and their offspring usually became mighty heroes or demigods.
While beliefs of other civilisations are held by many to be contrary to the Bible, quite the opposite seems to be true. Compare these beliefs with what the Bible says occurred just over one thousand years after the creation of the world:
"And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown." -- Genesis 6 v 1-4
The Bible passage clearly describes some of the Angels in heaven coming down to Earth and producing offspring with mortal women. Some people claim that the 'sons of God' refers to the sons of Seth, the third son of Adam and Eve; but why then would the Bible refer to women specifically as the 'daughters of men'? The term 'Sons of God' is used throughout the Bible in reference to Angels, so the reason for suggesting that the passage could refer to the 'sons of Seth' is probably due to the taboo nature of the subject -- which even today people do not wish to believe. The fact that the resulting offspring were giants and mighty men of renown seems to agree that the 'sons of God' were no mortal men.
Greek beliefs have many similarities with what is mentioned in the Bible. Looking further into the Bible, the book of Jude and the second book of Peter describe angels leaving heaven and being punished, and also mention that they were bound in Tartarus:
"And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day." -- Jude 1 v 6
"For God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world on the ungodly" -- 2 Peter 2 v 4-5
Although the book of Enoch cannot be found in the Christian Bible it is still considered to be scripture by some, and was certainly used by early theologians. Jesus, in his teachings, mentioned many things that agree with what is found in the book of Enoch, and these things cannot be found elsewhere in the Old Testament books available to Jesus at the time. The New Testament book of Jude contains a quote concerning the end times which can be found in the book of Enoch:
"And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him." -- Jude 1 v 14-15
The book of Enoch goes into detail with the following, agreeing with and expounding upon what is written in the book of Genesis:
"And it came to pass, when the children of men had multiplied, that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters. (Some of) the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: 'Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men and beget us children.'" -- Enoch 1 v 1-2
"They were in all two hundred; who descended in the days of Jared on the summit of Mount Hermon, and they called it Mount Hermon because they had sworn and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it." -- Enoch 1 v 6
Note here the similarity between this and Greek mythology. The Greek gods resided upon Mount Olympus, and the book of Enoch says that angels descended on Mount Hermon. In both situations a mountain was the place where the gods connected with the earth.
The book of Enoch explains that the angels who came down to earth taught man charms, enchantments, how to read the stars, and many other things. Stories of gods coming to earth and teaching mankind such things are taught by ancient civilisations throughout the world, and no one seems to consider how peculiar it is that they all hold such similar beliefs.
The offspring of the angels and women, as we read in Genesis, were giants and mighty men. Not only did the angels' offspring destroy mortal men and commit all kinds of violence on the face of the earth, they also fought and destroyed each other -- much like the Greek gods.
The book of Enoch describes the end result of the angels producing offspring with women: the angels who committed the act were imprisoned until the day of judgment, and their offspring, after having drowned in the flood, were left as disembodied spirits -- what we today refer to as evil spirits -- who would cause trouble on the earth until the day of judgement:
"Now the giants, who are produced from the spirits and flesh, shall be called evil spirits upon the earth, and on the earth shall be their dwelling. Evil spirits have proceeded from their bodies. Because they are born from men, and from the holy Watchers is their beginning and primal origin, they shall be evil spirits on earth; evil spirits shall they be called. As for the spirits of heaven, in heaven shall be their dwelling; but as for the spirits of the earth, which were born upon the earth, on the earth shall be their dwelling. The spirits of the giants afflict, oppress, destroy, attack, do battle, and work destruction on the earth, and cause trouble: They take no food, but nevertheless hunger and thirst and cause offences. These spirits shall rise up against the children of men and against the women, because they have proceeded from them." -- Enoch 15 v 8-12
"From the days of the slaughter and destruction and death of the giants, from the souls of whose flesh the spirits, having gone forth, shall destroy without incurring judgement -thus shall they destroy until the day of the consummation, the great judgement in which the age shall be consummated, over the Watchers and the godless, yea, shall be wholly consummated." -- Enoch 16 v 1
In the book of Enoch we read that the evil spirits, the offspring of gods and men, would fool mankind into sacrificing to them, claiming that they were gods:
"'Here shall stand the angels who have connected themselves with women; their spirits assuming many different forms are defiling mankind and shall lead them astray into sacrificing to demons as gods; (here shall they stand) until the day of the great judgement in which they shall be judged until they are made an end of. The women also of the angels, who went astray, shall become sirens.'" -- Enoch 19 v 1-2
Signs in the stars
According to the Bible, by studying the stars Magi from the East discovered that the king of the Jews, Jesus, had been born. If we believe the Bible then we must admit that the stars do indeed show us signs:
"And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:" -- Genesis 1 v 14
The Central American Maya Civilisation was extremely advanced in its study of celestial activity, and had the most accurate calendar in the world. Mayans claim that their god, Quetzalcoatl, taught their ancient civilisation science, mathematics, astronomy, and other things that made them the most advanced people of their time. This is yet another description of gods coming to man and giving man knowledge, once more backing up what is mentioned in the Bible.
Every 5,125 years the Mayans believed that the sun received a ray of light from the 'central galaxy' that would change the polarity of its magnetic field and cause heightened solar activity. This was also believed to cause a displacement in the rotation of the earth, and the result of this would be global cataclysms. According to the Mayans there had been four of these cycles already and the fifth and last cycle was calculated to occur on December 21st, 2012.
The Mayans claimed that the previous cycle, which occurred 5,125 years prior to 2012, resulted in a great flood which left few survivors. This is very interesting as the beliefs of the Mayan civilisation not only support the flood theory but further suggest that the reason for it was due to extreme solar activity which displaced the earth's rotation. This could also offer an explanation of why the once warm climate at the Arctic and Antarctic suddenly turned cold.
The oldest known historical records only go back about 5,000 years, which would make sense if a global cataclysmic flood occurred about 5,000 years ago. By following timelines within the Bible the age of the earth is presented as roughly 6,500 years old, and the time of the flood presented as about 1,600 years after the earth was created. If we add the age of the earth before the flood (1,600 years) to the length of the Mayan cycle (5,125 years) since the flood, the result is 6,725 years -- about the same number of years the Bible presents the age of the earth to be.
Scientists agree with the ancient Mayans, claiming that December 21st, 2012, is an important day. On this day the plane in which the planets of our solar system orbit the sun (the ecliptic) is going to intersect with the 'Galactic Equator' of our galaxy (the Milky Way). The centre of our galaxy has the maximum mass, and when our solar system intersects with it the sun will experience increased gravity which will affect its barycentres, increasing solar flares to the utmost extent possible. Also, on the same day, the earth will be in alignment with the rotational centre of the Milky Way, and apparently two other galaxies will line up with ours. This sounds strongly like a sign in the heavens, and the results of large solar flares could have severe repercussions on the earth.
It certainly seems that the beliefs of the ancients are far more accurate than those of modern scientists. Even so, modern man would rather believe in aliens and evolution than angels and a cataclysmic flood.
The Mayans predicted the next cycle of 2012 to be the final one, and their calendar ends on this day. Rather than suggesting that this is the end of the world, they predict it to be a time of spiritual birth, where gods and men come together, and where mankind obtains a higher state of conciousness: the creation of a new World Age. This end time of spiritual activity has been spoken of by many ancient civilisations throughout the world, as far apart as America, the Middle East, and Australia. Even our own Western astrology suggests that we are entering the age of Aquarius, an age of spiritual awakening and development.
The world shall not end on December 21st, 2012; but it does hold a significance. The Bible predicts that the end times will be indicated by nation rising against nation, wars, earthquakes, famines, diseases, a lack of love, and signs in the heavens. Also it is predicted that many false Christs shall appear, claiming that the end is near:
"And [Jesus] said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them. But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by. Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven." -- Luke 21 v 8-11
The Bible predicts that in the last days people will mock those who believe in Christ's second coming, as they will have heard many false prophets and false Christ's with failed predictions of the end of the world:
"Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." -- 2 Peter 3 v 3-4
Other descriptions of the last days certainly seem to point to our current situation:
"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof" -- 2 Timothy v 1-5
"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth." -- 1 Timothy 4 v 1-3
Regardless of any evidence presented, mankind will do his utmost not to believe in God or anything associated with God.
Further Bible scriptures mentioning the end times can be found here.
|
|
