Contents
Part I: Longevity In Antiquity And Its Bearing On Chronology
Chapter 1. The Biological View
Chapter 2. The Records of Antiquity
Chapter 3. The Evidence of Archaeology
Part II: The Nature Of The Forbidden Fruit
Chapter 1. Some Considerations of Theology and Genetics
Chapter 2. The Testimony of Tradition
Chapter 3. The Testimony of Scripture
Part III: If Adam Had Not Died
Chapter 1. Is Immortality Possible for Man?
Part IV: The Virgin Birth And The Incarnation
Part V: The Trinity In The Old Testament
Chapter 1. The Significance of the Pronoun "Us" in the Old Testament
Chapter 2. The Use of the term "Lord" for the Trinity in the New Testament
Chapter 3. The Appearances of the Lord Jesus in the Old Testament
Chapter 4. The Evidence of Two Persons in the Old Testament
Chapter 6. The "Angel of the Lord" and the "Voice of the Lord"
Chapter 7. Specific Old Testament References to the Trinity
Appendixes. 1. The Lord as "the Word"
2. The Lord as "the Promised Seed"
3. Jesus in the Old Testament: A Bibliography
4. Unitarianism and Psychology
5. Corruption of the Original Revelation in Ancient Traditions
Part VI: A Fresh Look At The Meaning Of The Word "Soul"
Chapter 1. The Spirit and the Body
Chapter 2. The Emergence of the Soul
Part VII: How Did Jesus Die?
Chapter 1. Did the Lord Really Die on the Cross?
Part VIII: The Resurrection Of Jesus Christ
Chapter 1. The Historical Aspect of the Resurrection
Part IX: The Unique Relationship Between The First Adam And The Last Adam
Chapter 1. The Body of the First Adam and of the Last Adam
Chapter 2. The Character of the First Adam and of the Last Adam
THERE ARE nine papers in this volume, all related to a single theme: the redemption of man by the offering of the body of Christ, once for all.
Since these papers were first published between 1957 and 1971, much additional information has become available. This new data m no way detracts from the basic thesis presented here. Not a few aspects of the subject which were still unexplored when these papers were being written have now been elucidated in wonderful ways, and some things in this volume that were speculative have now been demonstrated.
But it was felt better, in view of cross references in the other papers in this series, to present these essays as they were originally written, except for a few corrections respecting the spelling and some minor rewriting to improve sentence structure here and there.
The penalty in any field of accelerating research is that almost any attempt to synthesize the data over a broad field is likely to appear "dated" by the time it appears in book form. In due course, my thesis will be updated and further elaborated.
The first paper, "Longevity in Antiquity," is a consideration of the evidence that man was initially created possessing the potential for endless life, continuing without ever experiencing death. In the light of present knowledge there is no longer any reason to doubt that physical immortality is possible. A study of the historical evidence, moreover, bears out the fact that in the earliest periods of human history, even fallen man still retained enough of the initial energy m Adam, as created, to be able to live on for centuries before dying. The traditions of extreme longevity in early times are well-nigh universal and are almost certainly a reflection of a fact.
The second paper, "The Nature of the Forbidden Fruit," deals with the identity of the possible poison which may have entered the bodies of Adam and Eve from the forbidden fruit and introduced death into human experience. Moreover, this poisoning was an acquired characteristic and inherited, a circumstance which tells us some very important things about this mortogenic factor itself. Early Jewish, pagan, and Christian traditions regarding the identity of the Tree of Knowledge shed some further light upon this aspect of man's Fall.
The third paper, "If Adam Had Not Died," explores in greater detail the possibility of physical immortality and some of the consequences which would have ensued if Adam and Eve had not partaken of the forbidden fruit, but had lived on century after century--and their children after them, likewise. Would the world have been buried under the burden of an ever multiplying population of immortals? Or was there another alternative? Particular attention is given to the nature of Adam's temptation as opposed to that of Eve showing that it was, in fact, such a temptation as no other ordinary man has ever faced throughout the course of human history.
The fourth paper, "The Virgin Birth and the Incarnation," moves on to the genetic consequences of the acquired character already mentioned, and how God has established laws of reproduction and inheritance to make possible the appearance of a Second Adam as the Redeemer, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is seen that the virgin birth plays an absolutely fundamental role in the plan of redemption.
The fifth paper, "The Trinity in the Old Testament," follows next quite logically because it shows how this Redeemer, called Lord, was in fact none other than the Jehovah of the Old Testament, the Creator of the world and of man. The existence of more than one person m the Godhead as revealed by many statements in the Old Testament is brought out in a new and wonderful way. Only if the Redeemer was God Himself made man could He satisfy the demands of the role. For He who is to be a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice for the sins of that innumerable host of the redeemed, must be more than a mere man, how ever perfect such a man might be--if He is to bear the sins of many.
The sixth paper, "The Nature of the Soul," deals with a sensitive issue, but forms an essential part of this study, if we are to achieve some understanding of the chain of events which signaled thee birth of the Savior at the tremendous moment in the history of the universe when the Lord came down from His glory and entered that little body so "perfectly prepared" (Heb. 10:5) and the Word became flesh and dwelt among men. Surprisingly, God has in a wonderful way graciously illuminated that unique moment for us in certain passages of Scripture that are not always linked together as they should be.
The seventh paper, "How Did Jesus Die?" moves forward to the fact of the Lord's death, examining the circumstances surrounding it--not in this case as a theological event, but rather as a biological event, seeking to penetrate into certain factors involved in the Crucifixion which are not usually dealt with in most commentaries. The meaning of this death, which is quite without parallel in the whole of human history, is of special significance because it was a physiological event of absolutely unique character in a very specific way. The title of this paper indicates that the burden of its subject is not the why but the how of the Lord's death.
The eighth paper, "The Resurrection of Jesus Christ," naturally deals with the next step in the divine drama, for the work of the Lord's death was not completed until God had set His seal of satisfaction upon it and raised Him bodily from the grave. But other important things depended upon His bodily resurrection and even upon the form which His body took afterwards. The three days and the three nights spent in the grave had special significance also. Nothing was accidental: God's plan is perfect and to the child of God perfectly satisfying and fully reassuring.
The final paper, "The Unique Relationship Between the First and the Last Adam," shows how wonderfully all these events really did hinge upon the nature of the two Adams, the First and the Last, thus creating a unique relationship between them both physically and experientially.
As is seen from other papers appearing in these volumes, the very universe itself seems to have been designed and created for just such a plan as this.
The reader should bear in mind that each of these papers was previously published separately by the author, and therefore there is some repetition of material.
Part I: Longevity In Antiquity And Its Bearing On Chronology
ONE OF THE great classics of earlier anthropology is a five-volume treatise, The Physical History of Mankind, by James Prichard. Though seldom quoted now it is a mine of information, and it is characterized by evidences of wide reading and breadth of comprehension that are so lacking in these days of extreme specialization. Unlike modern authors, Prichard gave some attention to the question of longevity and its possible relevance in the study of the history of culture.
The indifference of anthropologists today in this matter is surprising for several reasons. In the first place, biologists are showing increasing interest in the subject, because research has indicated that natural death is probably not a characteristic protoplasm per se. The question is why living organisms die at all, and whether it may not be possible (if it should prove desirable) to extend human life for centuries. The study of aging, now recognized as a field in its own right and classified as Gerontology, is however not merely a question of adding years to life but also of adding life to years. And this raises some interesting possibilities in the matter of possible effects this might have upon cumulative experience and the possible effects this might have on the acceleration of historical processes and the development of both the desirable and undesirable characteristics of civilization. The good that some men might do when given a longer life, would also be balanced against the against the evil that other men might do in the same circumstances. It is therefore a cultural as well as a biological matter, and should be of some concern to anthropologists and sociologists. What will be the cultural consequences of any marked extension of human longevity? Do we have any light on the subject from past history to guide our thinking
In the second place, ancient traditions have been receiving some remarkable confirmations from archaeology. One need only mention Homer and the cities of Troy and Knossos to illustrate this Heinrich Schliemann and Sir Arthur Evans, to say nothing of a host of men who have excavated sites in the more ancient centers of civilization in Sumer and the Indus Valley, have substantiated much in Greek, Babylonian, and Aryan traditions which was thought to be pure fancy. The records of antiquity have proved to be remarkably dependable even where it has often seemed most unlikely that they could be. This has consistently been the case with the early records of the Bible, wherever it has been possible to test them. If these traditions can now be treated with sufficient respect to inspire men of good Judgment to invest considerable sums of money for their investigation, ought we not perhaps to pay some attention to those features of these same traditions which, while not actually verifiable in the same way, are clearly a part of the same oral or literary heritage. Ancient tradition is almost unanimous in attributing great longevity to the men of earliest times Granted that there is gross exaggeration (assuming that we are reading them rightly), may there not be a kernel of historical fact underlying them, as there has proved to be behind the other elements of these same traditions.
In the third place, there is evidence that civilization developed with extreme rapidity in its initial stages, as though men had more energy than we have today, and found workable solutions to basic problems almost at once. Early Middle East civilizations seem to spring into view "ready made." Suppose for the sake of argument that men did live for centuries; would we not expect to find just this, for the cumulative experience of each individual over such greatly extended periods of time would compound knowledge in a way that is quite impossible now. Interpretations of early cultural history might need to be seriously modified. Certainly the biblical record implies this, for if we allow the record to speak for itself, within a few generations, five or six at the most, almost all the arts and sciences basic to city life were founded and flourishing, including metallurgy and the bifurcation of society into rural and urban communities.
What then are the objections which render the subject so improper in scientific circles? Perhaps there are three chief objections:
1. There could be little or no evidence to demonstrate that men have lived for hundreds of years, except for the records of antiquity. And these records are challenged as pure fiction.
2. As far back as analysis of skeletal remains has been undertaken by anthropologists with this specifically in view, the evidence seems to show that human life was if anything shorter than it now is.
3. It is supported by the Bible, which for many reasons makes it suspect at once in the minds of many people.
But we have three good reasons for looking into the subject in all seriousness, namely, its biological interest, the nature and unanimity of ancient traditions, and the witness of archaeology to the speed with which the earliest cultures developed in the Middle East. And we have to recognize three kinds of objections, namely, the absurd claims made by some of the ancient traditions, the absence of any evidence for great longevity from fossil remains, and prejudice against the biblical record.
This paper is an attempt to examine the evidence, the argument being
that men probably did live for centuries at the very beginning, that their
life span dropped steadily for reasons which were possibly genetic, that
there is a simple and reasonable way in which t e absurdities of some ancient
traditions may be explained so that they contribute useful information,
that those records from antiquity which can be evaluated by modern statistical
methods show every evidence of being factual, that there is no biological
reason for doubting that men might have lived for centuries at one time--or
might survive for centuries in time to come, and that some light is hereby
thrown upon the sudden appearance of high cultures in many parts of the
world within a very short time of one another so that the total chronology
may well have been considerably shorter than is generally assumed.
Author's Note: In a number of places the in biblical Greek and Hebrew, who holds and M.A. in biblical Greek and Hebrew, while relying essentially on the King James Bible, has changed words where he feels some clarification of the Elizabethan English might be helpful on the basis of his study of the original languages.