As Christians who believe inside the Bible, naturally we believe the events in the Bible occurred just because the Bible records them. But when did they take place? This article will examine this query.
The Final Common Denominator
Young earth creationists say that the world is 6,000 years old, consequently they would say the events in Genesis occurred much less than six,000 years ago. As opposed to young earth creationists, old earth creationists just don t know exact dates (some YECs believe Adam was produced at 9:00 A.M., on October 23, 4004 B.C.!) Even so, old earth theory calls for these events to be older, due to the scientific proof which must match the Bible s story. We will start with the last widespread denominator, and function our way back for the Garden of Eden.
Theres no method to know for particular what the correct age is for any of those events, but we are able to make certain speculations about the age. As an illustration, for many years, scientists believed that the first humans in North America ventured here by way of a land bridge among Russia and Alaska about 13,000 years ago.
Yet another internet site, the Meadowcroft site in Pennsylvania, consists of artifacts dated to 16,000 years ago. Depending on this along with other discoveries, many scientists now believe that North Americans also arrived through boat, prior to the Bering Straight land bridge of 13,000 years ago.two Hence, for archaeological evidences, the earliest date weve for North America is about 16,000 years ago.
Essentially the most recent event, which would be the last common denominator for all human races, is spoken of in Genesis 11. The Tower of Babel tells the story of how God confused the language on the individuals, and spread them all through the world. Therefore, these early North Americans should have migrated at some point soon after the Tower of Babel. Consequently, the only issue we can say with any certainty is that the events of Genesis 11 occurred sometime prior to 13,000 to 16,000 years ago. This really is our beginning point for understanding Adult Dating of events inside our old earth framework, and it truly is only a rough estimate of the real date for the Tower of Babel. We only know for particular that the Tower of Babel could not be younger than 13,000 years ago (or could it? A lot more on this later.)
However, this assumes that the people spread from the Tower within a couple of years of God confusing their language. Did they come directly in the Tower to North America or did they steadily spread in North America s direction. This could drastically add to the time since the Tower of Babel.
The Flood of Noah
The next event before that would be the Flood of Noah. We do possess a excellent estimate for the time from Noah s Flood towards the Tower of Babel, as you will see.
According to Genesis 9:28, we realize that Noah lived 350 years following the flood. Genesis 10 then goes on to list the genealogies from the descendants of Noah s Ark. Its apparent that the genealogies of Genesis 10 usually are not necessarily in chronological order with Genesis 11. In other words, the Tower of Babel in Chapter 11 occurred sometime inside the middle of those genealogies in Chapter 10. I say this due to the fact Genesis 11:1 says And the entire earth was of a single language, and of one speech. However, we study in Genesis ten:four, 20, that the clans each had their very own language. The truth is, Genesis 10:25 in fact refers to the events of the Tower of Babel. Appropriate in the middle of Shem s descendants it says One was named Peleg, due to the fact in his time the earth was divided (NIV). (Other versions say the inhabitants of earth had been divided up).
Concerning these genealogies, the NIV states that in the original Hebrew, Sons could also mean descendants, successors, or nations. Even though not significant for the genealogies among the Flood and the Tower, well come back to this thought later.
One of the most definitive passage for Adult Dating back to Noah s Flood is Genesis 11:10-19. This gives the descendants, from Noah s son Shem, to Peleg, who we previously learned was alive when the Tower of Babel incident occurred. Thus
0 Shem is 98 when the flood ended
two Shem is one hundred when Arphaxad is born
37 Arphaxad is 35 when Shelah is born
67 Shelah is 30 when Eber is born
101 Eber is 34 when Pelag is Born
310 Pelag lived to become 209
Using this chart, the Flood have to have occurred a minimum of 101 years before the Tower of Babel. When the split in the Tower was caused by God near the time of Pelag s birth, this would lend support to his father, Eber, naming him after this occasion. Nevertheless, we can t be certain of this. The only issue we know with any degree of certainty is that it occurred throughout Peleg s lifetime. Therefore weve got a range for the Flood of 101 to 310 years prior to the Tower of Babel.
Adding this to our minimum age of 13,000 to 16,000 years, and we come up having a range of 13,101 to 16,310 years ago for Noahs Flood. That is assuming the migrations to North America involve post-Adamic guys...much more on this later.
Eve
Subsequent we must consider mankind s origins. Essentially the most favored theory now is the Out of Africa theory, which shows that a genetic Eve from which we are descended came from Africa about 150,000 years ago. This genetic proof is determined by mutation prices of mitochondrial DNA of 1 each 20,000 years. Some analysis suggests a ratio of 1 to 10,000, hence cutting 150,000 to 75,000 years.
Interestingly, the men and women from this genetic Eve are stated to have migrated from Africa to the Middle East, and from there they spread out over the world. Even though the African Eve is said to become 150,000 years ago, the migration for the Middle East is mentioned to possess occurred around 80,000 years ago. Therefore, 80,000 years ago would be the last common location for all mankind (using this model).
This brings up an apparent problem. Based on the Bible, Eve came in the Garden of Eden, which was located inside the Middle East. How could our genetic typical ancestor have come from Africa?
Its depending on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). mtDNA is passed down from mother to offspring. As opposed to other DNA, mtDNA is passed down with no adjust, with out merging together with the male mtDNA. It is topic to random mutations, thus more than time, minor differences may be shown.
If Ive a certain mutation, and someone else also has it, it confirms that sometime previously we had a typical maternal ancestor. This ancestor might be a number of generations, or perhaps a hundred generations ago.
Utilizing mtDNA extrapolations, and assuming a mutation price of 1 per 20,000 years, and by examining mtDNA proof of fossil hominids, they arrive at the conclusion that there was a genetic Eve from Africa 150,000 years ago. This may be true, but it doesn t impact our conclusions more on that later.
Now, on for the subsequent piece in the puzzle. We should think about when migration in the Middle East occurred. Archeological and DNA evidence suggests human migration to Europe about 50,000 years ago, and migration to Australia no later than 40,000 years ago. With all the very first migration in the Middle East about 50,000 years ago, exactly where does this leave us? We now have a array of 50,000 to 16,000 years ago for the last widespread place for our ancestors the Tower of Babel. This is assuming that were all descended from these migration peoples. Even so, this might or could not be the case.
Will the Genuine Eve Please Stand Up!
How could there be a genetic Eve in Africa 150,000 years ago, as well as a Biblical Eve within the Middle East? At some point, Adam and Eve (the Biblical ones) were developed. Before Adam and Eve, other non-soulish hominids were created by God. We share similarities in mtDNA with these pre-Adamic hominids. As an illustration Neanderthal mtDNA differs from ours by 7 percent enough to show similarities (93 %), but far adequate apart to prove that they did not contribute to our existing gene pool. The hominids that existed 50,000 to 150,000 years ago also shared a considerable portion of their mtDNA with us.
It offers the look of God using each successive pre-Adamic hominid to refine the model. Is this saying God could not generate us perfectly in the 1st place? No, it merely is actually a record of what God did. We can not infer something from this about God s energy and abilities after all, can you produce a hominid? No, you can t you will not be God!
Why He did it that way, we don t know. We only know that sooner or later, He designed a hominid in His image (with an eternal spirit), and ended the creative method. Therefore, these early hominids from mtDNA evidence, which might be said to become our ancestors, may possibly not be at all! They may have spread around the globe, and after that when God created Adam and Eve, some 20-30,000 years ago (?), these other people went extinct. We share the majority of our mtDNA with them because they had been our template.
My Proposal for Adam and Eve s Date of Creation
1 point is clear we now have a single hominid species, produced inside the image of God. Where in the past can we point to a spot in time, when the final non-modern hominid went extinct? This could be a great basis for the maximum Adult Dating in the Biblical Eve. This could be the Neanderthal, which went extinct around 29,000 years ago.
Though not conclusive, it might be protected to assume that when God produced Adam and Eve, his final creation, there have been no preceding hominids present. This would place the Garden of Eden no later than 29,000 years ago, and would enable a lot of time for the migration for the Americas following the Tower of Babel, which occurred a minimum of 16,000 years ago. With this conclusion, prior dated hominids do not create an issue for us they have been merely non-soulish hominids, not in God s image.
To tie up loose ends...keep in mind our Tower of Babel date, which had to be a minimum of 13,000 years ago...not so. I give 29,000 years because the oldest date for Eden, nevertheless it could happen to be younger. These 13,000 year old migrators could have died when Adam and Eve have been created. As a result, they could sex tonight have already been pre-Adamic, non-eternal hominids. So, we genuinely have a array of 29,000 years, all of the way down to six,000 years, if you like.
Hebrew Scholars
Dates for the Garden, as provided by a number of the best Hebrew scholars, location it in between 30,000 and ten,000 years ago, with some scholars placing it as young as 6,000, or as old as 60,000 years ago. This can be within the selection of 29,000 years ago or later which I propose because the oldest possible date for the Garden.
Conclusion
The bottom line is that we don t know the exact dates for early Biblical events. All we can do is make an educated guess. Since the final non-modern hominid died out 29,000 years ago, its safe to assume that Biblical history starts sometime within the last 29,000 years. Does it matter when it began? Praise the Lord that it will not. Our salvation does not depend upon the timing of God s creation. As a result, youre free to debate these matters and come to your own conclusions. I hope that this short article provides you with some meals for thought to get you started.
This is a condensed write-up. For a list of references, access the original page on the Answers In Creation web site.
This article comes in the Answers In Creation internet site (http://www.answersincreation.org). The supply article is situated at http://www.answersincreation.org/biblicalAdult Dating.htm.
