The Strand Study Bible

THE OLD TESTAMENT AND WORLD HISTORY ABOUT THE BIBLE ANDWORLD HISTORY - World history would be hard to write were it not for the Bible and/or archaeology. Though humanists hate to admit it, historians have nowhere else to turn for written historical information before the year 2200 BC but to the Bible and/or the latest archaeological dig. The Wall Chart of World History , based on the famous and now very rare Victorian wall chart, published in 1890, is one of the most exhaustive works concerning the 6,000-year history of mankind ever produced. Interestingly enough, according to The Wall Chart of World History , there is no written world history before the year 2200 BC.The only historical account we have of what happened before the year 2200 BC is what the Bible records for us in Genesis 1-11. 1 The Columbia History of the World , edited by John A. Garraty and Peter Gay and published by Harper & Row, is probably the best secular book written on world history today. Amounting to nearly half a million words, this work, as they put it, covers “everything” of historical importance. Written entirely by Columbia professors (over a five year period), this mammoth work, as they put it, “finds a balanced and judicious distillation of historical knowledge that is the characteristic mark of open minds.” In other words, these professors who put this work together were not ideologists seeking to convert naïve readers to preordained views. They simply stated the facts. Listen closely to what these professionals had to say on the very first page of the very first chapter, called Before History , of their work, We know much, and we know nothing. The origin of what is – man, the earth, the universe – is shrouded in a mystery we are no closer to solving than was the chronicler of Genesis. Indeed, our very best current knowledge, lacking the poetic magic of scripture, seems in a way less believable than the account in the Bible or in any of the ancient texts. 2 Wow! These folks, though secular, are honest enough to admit that what they have been taught concerning evolution “seems in a way less believable than the account in the Bible or in any of the ancient texts.” Due to the fact that origins are beyond the reach of science to test (i.e., we are unable to experimentally “observe” how the universe came into existence), neither evolution nor creation can ever be scientifically proven. Thus, both become theories requiring faith to believe in them. Seeing that I have chosen to trust God over man, my faith is in the Scriptures. There are four reasons for this trust: 1. Historians agree that HISTORY BEGAN in the Near East ( Columbia , p. 49-51). The Bible also agrees (Gen 2:7-14). Historians also agree that: * Agriculture began in the Near East ( Columbia , p. 52). The Bible also agrees (Gen 4:1-3). * The invention of writing began in the Near East (Sumerian) ( Columbia , p. 56). The Usborne Illustrated World History book notes: Writing develops in Sumer (c. 3300 B.C.) 3 The Smithsonian Timelines of History agrees. It notes: The first true script was developed by the Sumerians of Mesopotamia (now Iraq) around 3300 BCE. 4 Moses, the man God used to pen Genesis through Deuteronomy, was a direct descendant of Abraham, who was from Sumerian - Genesis 11:31! * The earliest preserved lawbook ever recovered came from the Near East (the law of Ur-Nammu, a king of Ur - written c. 2060 BC) ( Columbia , p. 50,58) * Hammurabi’s laws (written c. 1800 BC) came from the Near East ( Columbia , p. 62-63) 2 . Historians agree that BABYLON and EGYPT are the main source of our historical memory ( Columbia , p. 49). Genesis 11-12 agrees! In a systematic presentation of the evidences in the field of Christian apologetics, it is necessary to review the Babylonian and Egyptian records as they bear upon the text of the Scripture, and illuminate 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. 3 . Historians agree that EPICS OF CREATION, in various forms, on tablets, which were in circulation before the time of Abraham (c. 1800 BC), were recovered in the Near East ( Columbia, p. 56,59,66). The Bible agrees! It is generally conceded by ethnologists (i.e., people who study the different races of men) 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. Early Babylonian inscriptions abound in references to a “tree of life,” from which a man was driven, by the influence of an evil spirit personified in a serpent, and to which he was prevented from returning by guardian angels. For example: * The Eridu Creation Tablet (dated c. 2000 BC) This account of Creation was discovered in Eridu, twelve miles south of Ur ( Columbia, p. 56,59). This ancient Babylonian inscription reads:

Near Eridu was a garden, in which was a mysterious Sacred Tree, a Tree of Life, planted by the gods, whose roots were deep, while its branches reached to heaven, protected by guardian spirits, and no man enters. 5

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