accorded with the highest development of architecture is shown by the richness of the graves. Objects of gold and silver are abundant, not only personal ornaments, but vessels, weapons, and even tools being made of the precious metals; copper is the metal of everyday use.” In a succeeding article, I shall continue this subject and it will be abundahtly shown that the discoveries of modern science do not support the widely-held view of a gradual development of civilization. What we see everywhere is that man began at the top, and ever since that early time, has been degenerating. We quote again from Woolley’s, The Sumerians, p. 27: "About 2000 B.C., after the third dynasty at Ur, Sumerian scribes took it in hand to record the glories of the GREAT DAYS THAT HAD PASSED AWAY . . . hav ing at their disposal a mass of documentary evid'ence from which they compiled not only the political history, but the religious traditions of the land." While the Bible does not need the corroboration of science to ehable us to accept its complete accuracy, yet it is highly satisfactory to find that all the discoveries in every realm of scientific investigation but confirm its amazing and divine infallibility. We shall Bee that it is not possible to reconcile evolu tion with Génesis, and further than that, if we accept the available evidence offered us, proof which must be con sidered conclusive, the idea of a bestial origin of man is not based upon fact, but upon pure speculation. It represents the innate wickedness of man, biased against the claims of God to be Creator of the heavens and earth and all that is found in them, including man. As we continue our study of this important subject, we begin to appreciate as never before the statement of Jeremiah 17:9 (R.V.): “The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it?” Then we join with Jeremiah in his great cry: “There is none like unto thee, O Jehovah; thou art great, and thy name is great in might. Who should not fear thee, O King of ihe nations? for to thee doth it appertain; forasmuch ás among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their royal estate, there is none like unto thee” (Jer. 10:6, R.V.). A second installment of this discussion will appear in the December issue of The King’s Business.
I mention one great authority, although many others could be named if space permitted, archaeologist Stephen Herbert Langdon, who died in 1937. He, as professor of Assyriology at Oxford University, was perhaps the most eminent authority that the world has produced on Cunei form literature. In his monumental work, Semitic Myth-- ology, Volume V, under the article, The Mythology of A ll Races, we find the statement: "Monotheism preceded polytheism and belief in evil spirits. I reject the totemistic theory absolutely... that the history of the oldest religion is a rapid declihe of monotheism to extreme polytheism and widespread belief in evil spirits . . . It is in a very true sense tne history of the fall of man.” This was a remarkable pronouncement from a scientist whose standing could not be denied. Evolution invariably claims that man began as a Very low specimen of the race, in barbarism and savagery, gradually evolving progressively to his present lofty (? ) state. This view is completely contradicted by the evi dence. The Genesis record indicates that man, from the beginning, was highly endowed mentally, and was capa ble of astonishing feats of mechanical skill. Jubal and his family were musicians, inventing and playing both stringed and wind instruments. The family of Tubal-Cain were artificers of “every cutting instrument of brass and iron.” Undoubtedly they had a knowledge of smelting and the use of blast furnaces. It may easily be that these early men were actually taught by God Himself. The fact that man began his history on earth as a citizen fully and astonishingly equipped to produce civ ilization at its best and highest is so surprising at first glance, and so contrary to the theory of evolution, that more is required than a mere statement to that effect. I f this be the case, then evolution would seem to be shat tered before we begin a study of its alleged “evidence.” It has been proven beyond the shadow of doubt by innumerable archaeological excavations that civilization appeared suddenly in the world. It used to be held, and still is in many quarters, that the more ancient the period j investigated, the more primitive the civilization discovered, i But the archaeologists, although prepared by almost uni versal consensus of opinion to find evidence of this, and working in the oldest-known habitations of man, such as Egypt and Babylonia, have been compelled to reverse their opinions. Wiseman, a co-worker with Langdon and Wool- ley, wrote in his book, New Discoveries in Babylonia about Genesis: “When civilization appears it is already full- grown . . . Sumerian culture springs into view ready made.” Dr. L. W. King, in Sumer and Akkad, p. 3, states: “ Although the earliest Sumerian settlements in Southern Babylonia are to be set back in a comparatively remote past, the race by which they were founded, appears at that time to have already attained a high level of cul ture.” Wiseman quotes several writings on this subject, some of which I select in somewhat abbreviated form for the purposes of this article. It has been accepted that the earliest men lived in the Mesopotamian plain aroUnd the area from which Abraham came, Ur of the Chaldees. In this region, archaeologists have dug down to virgin soil to the very earliest traces of civilization, of the period 3500-2500 B.C. Sir Leonard Woolley, discussing the era of 3500 B.C. in his book, The Sumerians, p. 37, asserts: “It is as tonishing to find that at this early period the Sumerians (in their building operations) were acquainted with find commonly employed not only the column, but the afch, the vault, and the dome, architectural forms which Were not to find their way into the Western world for thou sands of years. That the general level of civilization NOVEMBER, 1946
Colossi of Memnon, Egypt. Photo bv Geo. R. Kin*
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