This is the conclusion of that article. Again, this is not MY position or the position of this church. It is simply a well written article for your reading and consideration.
DK
Creation of Modern Man
The Neanderthal period of domination is classified by archaeologists as the Middle Paleolithic, or Middle Old Stone Age. The Cro-Magnon phase which followed it is termed the Upper Paleolithic. The tools of Neanderthal were VERY CRUDE. The Upper Paleolithic tools, however, are more finely made, and include blades and burins or chisel-like tools.
Cro-Magnon man, which belongs to the same species as modern man, was generally smaller than we are, had straight limbs, and high foreheads. They wore animal skins as clothing, were hunters and fishermen and gatherers of fruits and berries. They had not learned to plant crops or domesticate cattle. Remains indicate that few men reached the age of 50, or few women the age of 35. They are believed to have been of superior intelligence and sensitivity, “if only on the basis of their cave art,” writes Ronald Schiller (Ibid., p. 127). They may have believed in life after death since they placed food and tools in graves to accompany the deceased on their journeys in the afterlife.
The most recent reliably dated Neanderthal fossil is dated as 40,000 years old, although some may have indeed come down closer. The oldest carbon-dated Cro-Magnon man lived about 26,000 years ago in Czechoslovakia. Between the two is a HUGE FOSSIL GAP that remains a mystery. How, when, where, and why human evolution crossed this gap CANNOT be explained by evolutionists (Ibid., p. 130).
Western Europe is generally regarded as one place where this evolutionary record SHOULD be preserved. “Yet,” declares Constable, “no fossil INTERMEDIATE between the local Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons has ever been found there” (Pfeiffer, Emergence of Man, p. 242).
The mystery remains. How hundreds of thousands of the Neanderthal race could have SUDDENLY perished, in Asia, Africa, and Europe where they are known to have existed, boggles the mind. Perhaps the ONLY solution to the riddle is some ECOLOGICAL CATASTROPHE, as some experts have speculated.
But if Neanderthal man can reliably be identified with the NEPHILIM of the Bible, then their extermination becomes apparent. Both ecological factors, climatic changes before and after the time of Adam, when the earth suffered tohu and bohu, and later the Flood, may well have been partially responsible for their demise; and the coup de grace may well have been administered by Cro-Magnon man, or modern man, thousands of years ago.
Who, Then, Was Adam?
If some of the dating systems are basically reliable, then how can we account for the Biblical epic of the creation of Adam? Who was Adam? When — and how — was he created?
Biblical evidence leads us to conclude that Adam — the first true man in whom YEHOVAH God breathed the spirit of man — was created by YEHOVAH and endowed with fully human understanding and consciousness probably 4024 B.C. — if the generations of men, related in the book of Genesis, are complete and entire and omit none of the historical record.
Adam, then, actually was a fully modern man who was created AFTER a period of pre-Adamic hominid existence. He was a relatively late comer to the scene. He was apparently PRECEDED by “Neanderthal.”
But the time came when YEHOVAH God chose to impart His unique gift to man — the spirit of man — to Adam, and CREATED him in the garden of Eden.
Now He was ready for His supreme masterpiece — the first man created in His very own image and likeness, PHYSICALLY, mentally, and psychologically.
And this new creature — Adam — was the FIRST TRUE MAN, the FOREBEAR of the entire modern human race!
The biblical account reveals that Adam was highly intelligent; modern in every way; sophisticated in knowledge and language; and was definitely religious and knew YEHOVAH God. The Scriptures also indicate that written history began in Adam’s lifetime, and agriculture was practiced by Adam and his descendants. Does this FACT square with the archaeological record?
INDEED IT DOES. The earliest beginnings of true agriculture, according to anthropologists, are currently dated at the close of the last Ice Age (Hamblin, Dora Jane, The First Cities, p. 9). The earliest signs of agriculture are in the “fertile crescent” along a 2,000 mile arc extending from Israel and Jordan up the eastern Mediterranean coast, swinging through Turkey and arcing to Iran and the Persian Gulf. Within this spot Adam was created and his descendants took up agriculture (compare Genesis 3:14-19). Adam’s own son Cain, we read, was a TILLER OF THE GROUND (Genesis 4:2). Abel was a HERDSMAN (same verse).
Archaeologically, the FIRST CITIES appear about this same time. “By 3500 B.C. cities were tightly organized, well governed and sophisticated, and by 2500 B.C. metropolises with the comforts and complexity of modern urban centers were in existence,” says Dora Jane Hamblin (Ibid., p. 10).
How are these dates arrived at? Says Hamblin:
The refinement of scientific dating systems, such as those that measure the age of ancient relics by the radioactivity of carbon in charcoal or from the glow emitted by heated pottery, has taken much of the imaginative guesswork out of prehistoric chronology.
These dates, of course, may not be entirely correct. But they are at least in the right ballpark. Refinements in dating techniques, in the light of Scriptural evidence, should continually be made. Since the Noachian deluge may have affected dates of the pre-flood world, the accuracy of carbon-14 dating, prior to the DISTURBANCES caused by a global cataclysm, such as a dramatic deluge, may well have been jeopardized.
Before the Deluge
There is, of course, the possibility that dating techniques for early man are in error due to unknown factors. In particular, the dates assigned to Cro-Magnon man are still primarily based on C-14 dating. Is it possible that this particular dating method is INVALID for the period before the Noachian deluge?
During the pre-diluvian world, we find described waters ABOVE THE FIRMAMENT as well as beneath (Genesis 1:7). At the time of the Deluge, the WINDOWS OF HEAVEN were opened like a mighty sluice, and the fountains of the great deep were broken up (Genesis 7:11). The waters which were ABOVE THE FIRMAMENT apparently cascaded down to the earth, altering the composition of the atmosphere. The waters above the firmament may have acted as a shield, absorbing much of the cosmic radiation, vastly reducing the formation of C-14 prior to the Deluge. The absence of cosmic radiation may be partly responsible for the long life spans of man before the Flood, as recorded in the book of Genesis. But after the Deluge, and the break up of the concentration of waters above the firmament, cosmic radiation would have INCREASED in the atmosphere and on the earth, resulting in a rapid increase of C-14 (which still hasn’t reached equilibrium), and also in SHORTENING the life span of man on the earth.
If this theory is true, then we can account for the apparent great age given Cro-Magnon man and Neanderthal man by the C-14 method. For Example, if 4,000 years ago the C-14 in the atmosphere had reached equilibrium, a sample would now be dated close to 4,000 years by the C-14 method. However, if C-14 had not yet reached equilibrium, the sample might have received only ONE HALF the expected amount of C-14 in its tissues. Thus it would appear to have been 8,000 YEARS OLD according to the C-14 method. If a sample started its decay curve with a level of C-14 content LESS THAN ONE EIGHTH the strength of a fresh sample, today, it would appear to be 15,000 YEARS OLD, when it might be only 5,000 years old. If originally there was VERY LITTLE or NO C-14 content, a sample from 4,000 years ago (or from the pre-diluvian world) would appear to be extremely ancient — 35,000 OR 40,000 YEARS OLD.
This is a very strong possibility which we should keep in mind. Several creationist schools of thought tend to think this is the proper explanation for early dates of man derived from the C-14 dating technique.
A Deceitful God?
If ALL the radiometric evidence is wrong, and the duration of the geological and paleontological eras is grossly distorted, then YEHOVAH God must have seen fit to play DECEITFUL TRICKS on geologists and biologists. If fossils were placed by the Creator where we find them now, deliberately giving the appearance of great antiquity, then YEHOVAH must be absurdly deceitful.
Does it make sense that YEHOVAH God created the universe to appear much older than it really is? The idea that YEHOVAH God created the universe and the earth with “apparent age” is a common belief among creationists.
Would YEHOVAH go to the trouble of making the universe appear older than it really is? Why would He do this? Is such a “universal joke” in keeping with the character of a God “THAT CANNOT LIE”?
YEHOVAH God is not a great deceiver, or a cosmological practical joker. YEHOVAH had no reason to create a world which appears old, but in reality is only 6,000 years old. The great age of the earth, and life upon it, DOES NOT conflict with the Scriptures in any way.
When we take both the Biblical record, and the data amassed by scientists, and let the facts speak for themselves, then we must conclude that YEHOVAH God indeed created the world, and life upon it. But much time passed in the process. The geologic record indicates that YEHOVAH created new forms of life at VARIOUS STAGES of His Divine plan. Thus in the earliest strata of the earth containing abundant fossil remains, we find trilobites and brachiopods and other creatures of the sea predominate. At a much later era, we find that dinosaurs — huge reptilian creatures that cause us to stand in awe, today — suddenly appear. At a later time, deciduous trees, mammals, and finally MAN, take their place in the creation.
– Edited By John D. Keyser
gave me a speaker that plugs in like a headset. Now I have stereo quality music blasting all over the house from my favorite little phone.
