By Dewayne Bryant
“How did we get here?” Human beings have been asking this question since the dawn of time. Christians believe that God created the world. Science textbooks teach that life is nothing more than a product of chance. Still others entertain outlandish ideas, like the belief that mankind was the product of extraterrestrial invention. So where did human beings come from?
Archaeology provides a window into the past. An archaeologist can learn a number of things through excavating a site: how people dressed, what they ate, what tools they used, and what professions in which they were employed. The scholar can understand how ancient people thought by examining their law codes and religious writings. For all the things that archaeology can do, there are also a number of things that it cannot do. It cannot answer every historical question. It cannot address theological problems. It cannot speak with certainty in many areas, especially where the evidence is lacking. One problem for archaeology is the origin of human beings. Scholars identify a number of time periods going back several thou- sands of years in Mesopotamia, such as the Protoliterate period (ca. 3750-2900 BC) during which writing was probably invented, and the Ubaid period (ca. 4600- 3750 BC) when history reveals temples and irrigation canals and greater artistic expression developed. But the evidence for mankind going back tens and hundreds of thousands of years is undoubtedly driven by pre-conceived evolutionary ideas. While archaeology cannot reveal the secret of mankind’s beginning, it has unearthed a number of stories that have a bearing on this issue.
History is replete with stories of the origin of the universe and how man came to be. This kind of story is called a cosmology. It comes from the Greek word kosmologia (kosmos = universe; logos = study or discourse). Simply put, a cosmology is a way of explaining the beginning of the universe, as well as man’s place within that universe. The Babylonians believed the earth and sky were created from the corpse of a dead goddess. The Egyptians thought that all of creation was born from the eternal, primeval sea. For the Greeks, creation came about when the earth goddess and sky god were separated from each other, allowing space for the gods to be born and living things to grow.
The earliest cosmologies naturally come from ancient religions as people attempted to explain nature of the world and their existence. Ancient Near Eastern people came to different conclusions on these matters. But this was not just an exercise for ancient man. A person in 21st century America can turn on the television and see modern science struggling with these very questions.
Many ancient civilizations had myths to answer life’s important questions. Today the same questions are being asked, though modern man answers them a bit differently. Rather than concocting fanciful stories, experts use scientific observation and experimentation to arrive at their conclusions. Modern science has its own cosmology, stating that the universe was created by the Big Bang. At the very beginning of the universe, all of the matter in existence was allegedly compacted into a little ball the size of a marble. Then, supposedly, this highly condensed mass finally exploded, scattering matter in all directions. In time, the matter began to swirl together, forming stars, planets, and other celestial bodies. On one of these planets, life began to form and evolve. In time, mankind emerged. Or, so the story goes.
The theory of evolution is perhaps the most dominant view of man’s origins in 21st century America. But, the theory of evolution suffers from a variety of problems. First of all, the theory is purely speculative because scientists cannot witness evolution taking place on a large scale. Second, there is no evidence of transition from one species to another in the fossil record. For instance, we have no examples of fish with partially developed limbs or reptiles with feathers (or sceathers—that is scales evolving into feathers). Third, there is no evidence connecting human beings to supposed apelike ancestors. The “missing link” has not yet been discovered, nor will it be. Evolution simply has too many holes to adequately explain the origin of human beings.
Evolutionists believe that the account of creation in Genesis is mythical, not historical. Since the creation account in the Bible seems to share some features with other ancient myths, then surely the writer of Genesis borrowed from those myths in order to create his own. According to this view, Adam and Eve are nothing more than fictional characters.
Though evolutionists object to viewing the opening chapters of Genesis as historically accurate sources of information, many of their objections fall flat. One objection to the accuracy of Genesis is that similarities can be seen between it and other creation stories. But other stories are written in poetic fashion, while Genesis is not. The phrase, “These are the generations …” (Gen. 2:4) is used in historical contexts in the Bible, indicating that the biblical writer believed that he was indeed writing historically accurate material. In addition, both Jesus and Paul refer to Adam and Eve as historical figures (cf. Matt. 19:4; Rom. 5:14; 1 Cor. 15:45; 1 Tim. 2:13-14).
Others are critical of the story of Noah, claiming that the biblical writers borrowed from other flood stories of the ancient world. The problem is that similarity between two stories does not mean that one is dependent upon the other. In fact, a number of scholars now conclude that the account of Noah’s flood and those of Mesopotamian flood stories come from completely different sources, though ultimately they must have had a common origin. Naturally, Christians would agree. Other flood stories had time to be corrupted, while the biblical writer of Genesis was operating under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. While some criticize the Bible by saying that it takes too much faith to believe in a book full of miracles, Christians can contend that it takes an unreasonable amount of faith to believe in a scientific theory that cannot be proven.
The account of man’s creation in Genesis is extremely important for modern man. It is the only cosmology that places value on human beings. Ancient myths always record the creation of man later, as if human beings were nothing more than an afterthought. They are created to serve the gods, like a race of slaves created to do their masters’ bidding. But the theory of evolution can do no better, for there, man is the result of dumb luck. In a mindless universe where life comes about by chance, living creatures – including humans – are nothing more than cosmic accidents. Living creatures are simply nothing more than the same matter that makes up solids, liquids, and gases. Thus, evolutionists contend that a human being is nothing more than living matter without a soul.
Only Genesis, with its emphasis on the creation of man in the image and likeness of God, gives man distinction and worth. The theory of evolution has implications that are distinctly opposed to man’s view of himself. If mankind traces his lineage back to a single-celled organism in a random puddle of goo 4.6 billion years ago, who is to say that he has any worth? Organizations exist to defend the value of people in the United States, but if man simply arose by evolutionary chance, then there is no reason why human beings should have any value to defend.
In a head-to-head contest, only the cosmology that is True can win. The post- modern mantra of “you have your truth, I have my truth” is illogical. Although archaeology cannot explain the beginnings of man, we are not left clueless about our origins. Of all the different cosmologies we have to explain where man comes from, only the Bible is logical and consistent, and, therefore, trustworthy. Myths of ancient man, as well as some modern religions such as Hinduism, contain elements that are easily disproved by science. But, secular science’s offer of the notion that life is a product of chance does not stand up. The only reasonable option left is the inspired account in God’s Word.
