Where, then, in the light of these archeological facts, is the evidence of the slow development of the human mentality and the emergence of primitive man from his “brutish” state? Unfortunately for the high-priests of the dying sect of organic evolution, the science which delineates the true condition of ancient races offers them no help or proof whatever. The opposite is the case in archeology, as all the evidence that has come to us from the honest attempt to see man as he was, and not as he was reported to have been, has proved conclusively that organic evolution is a false religion. It is inevitable that this fact should some day come to light; for although it may be that science moves with leaden feet, when it does finally overtake error, it smites with an iron fist!
Thus the false theory that man has struggled upward from a valley of brutish darkness is refuted by archeology, and the premise of specific creation, as set forth in the Bible, is established by the discoveries in the realm of this science. In every land that man has occupied for a long period of time, the tide of culture has ebbed and flowed from that hour to this present moment of writing. Just as the night follows the day, and the next day dawns only to be succeeded by the darkness in turn, so the learning and progress of man has been a cycle, rather than a steady climb up a ladder of learning, from level to level, until the heights of present civilization were reached. The old error must now be abandoned, or else we must close our eyes to the entire record of archeological discovery, and frankly confess that we are not interested in facts which refute erroneous, but accepted theories.
CHAPTER III
Converging Streams
In a systematic presentation of the evidences in the field of Christian apologetics, it is necessary to review the Egyptian and Chaldean records as they bear upon the text of the Scripture, and illumine its meaning. For it is here that the streams of History and Revelation converge, to continue their flow in mingled harmony throughout all the centuries which follow this original conjunction.
In the very nature of the case we would not expect direct archeological confirmation of a great deal of the earlier portions of the Old Testament. The record of creation which was handed down from Adam to each generation delineated an event which was not witnessed by any human being. As has been very clearly shown in the illuminating book, “New Discoveries in Babylonia about Genesis,” by P. J. Wiseman, this record was undoubtedly preserved in a written form from the very time of Adam himself.
Khnum and Thoth in Creation Tradition.
The events of the Garden of Eden and the subsequent history are not such as would leave archeological material for the exact enlightenment of later generations. There is, however, a manner in which the study of antiquity can bring a tremendous light to shine upon the dark problem of the credibility of these records. It is generally conceded by ethnologists that when races of people hold a strongly developed idea or belief, in common, there must have been an historical incident as the basis of that universal tradition. Thus, among the very earliest traditions of ancient Egypt, there is a record of the creation of man that bears a valuable relationship to the account in Genesis.
The Mosaic record states that God stooped and created the body of man out of the dust of the earth. Life was imparted to that body by the very breath of God.
The earliest Egyptian record recounts how the god Khnum took a slab of mud, and placing it upon his potter’s wheel, moulded it into the physical form of the first man. The illustration facing this page shows the entire process, with Thoth standing behind Khnum, and marking the span of man’s years upon a notched branch. Here then is a coincidence of traditional belief in the manner of creation of man that is of tremendous significance.