The Bible Tells It Like It Is

AUTHOR’S FOREWORD

This book is non-sectarian and unconventional, a veritable bomb-shell of well-documented good news, addressed especially to frightened, thinking people—people who are turned off by, or not getting enough out of traditional religion—rather than to satisfied churchgoers.

It presents the key that permits the reader himself to unlock the mystery of God’s magnificent plan, and of the prophecies that enumerate, describe and provide the solutions to every terrifying problem of today. It is an exposé of false fears and a revealment of secrets, unknown until recent years, that provides for even the most dejected a glorious reason for living.

It is written as briefly as possible to convey its message, and it should be read through, from beginning to end, because its individual topics are interdependent for depth of meaning. An index to the chapters is provided only for second reading reference, since no chapter is sufficient unto itself. An alphabetical index is provided as an appendix; not an exhaustive index, but an assist in locating items for second reading reference.

All Biblical references are to the authorized King James version of the Holy Bible, originally published in 1611. This is not because it, unlike all other translations, is without error, but because it is the most widely circulated and broadly recognized translation of the oldest recognized manuscripts.

It is my prayer that this writing will bring you, dear reader, comfort, direction, understanding and inspiration—a real zest for living!

AUTHOR’S PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

The First Edition of this joyous book of prophecy was published in 1972. Since then, a continuing love affair with the Bible, and a close observation of prophecies fulfilled by current events have served only to strengthen my wholehearted faith in the message this book relays: that God has a plan for the human race that may appear to be too good to be true, but that the Bible proves it is true beyond the shadow of a doubt!

The considerable correspondence this book has inspired from people belonging to a variety of the best known Faiths, as well as people formerly disinterested in religion, indicates that the book is serving its purpose to expose false fears which were contrived during the Dark Ages, and to bring to light the Bible’s explanation of God’s plan which has been withheld miraculously from our understanding until recent years—a plan so superior to the imagination of man that only God could have conceived it!

This Second Edition is published in grateful response to the beautifully expressed wishes of the book’s many friends in the United States and Great Britain, and with overwhelmingly humble thanksgiving that God is permitting The Bible Tells It Like It Is to continue to help with the distribution of Bible Truths due to be understood during the current transitional period—the end of this Age and the beginning of the next Age—a time when great advantages are available to those who recognize them, and strive for them!

[Dorothy Norwood of Pennsylvania]

Chapter I CREDIBILITY GAPS BRIDGED

You are deeply concerned about the trend of events and it is of little wonder. Our topsy-turvy world appears to be pitching and tossing like a gale-ridden ship with an unmanned helm, and men’s hearts are failing for fear of what—if anything—lies ahead.

Our minds are filled with terrifying questions, such as:

(1) Are there flying saucers threatening us with invasion from outer space?

(2) Might the nuclear, biological or chemical weapons we have stockpiled be released, advertently or inadvertently, to exterminate us overnight?

(3) Will the population explosion strangle us?

(4) Will the air, water, and/or land pollution overcome us before we find a solution?

(5) Is there a solution short of anarchy to the decay of our financial, political, religious and social structure—man’s inhumanity to man?

(6) Is there a God? If so, is He a malicious, vindictive fiend? Has He written us off as hopeless? Has He been overpowered by Satan or, perhaps—is God dead?

All these and related questions that scientists, psychologists, educators, theologians, statesmen and all our most educated minds are failing to answer, are questions that only God can and will answer.

This writing is designed to call your attention to God’s answers to these questions and, beginning at the beginning to provide these answers sequentially, in the order of their chronological appearance on the horizon of each episode necessary to an understanding of God’s unfolding plan. It is designed to erase false fears and to assure the fainting heart, in simple and forthright language, that God is not merely a vague cosmic force, incapable of miracles and individual consideration; that God is not dead; and that things are not out of hand; but rather that:

(1) God is a vibrantly alive, omnipotent, personal being;

(2) God has a magnificent plan;

(3) God is exercising His infinite wisdom, justice, love, and power to complete this plan exactly on schedule; and

(4) God has provided us with the Bible: (a) to spell out the details of His plan; (b) to make plain the rewards for good and the penalties for evil-doing; and (c) to supply us with perfect direction in determining the difference between right and wrong.

The Bible tells us that within a predetermined period of time, God plans to populate this earth with a predetermined number of perfect human beings who will live forever, under perfect conditions. The Bible tells us God knows "the end from the beginning" (Isa 46:10) and, although much can be done to the advantage of individuals, there is absolutely no one nor thing that can hasten or delay God’s timetable.

Yes, the Bible tells it like it is! And the best is yet to come—not in some remote region, at some remote time, in some remote after-life, but right here on earth, and very soon—within your life expectancy and mine—with the establishment of the Fifth Universal Empire.

The Fifth Universal Empire? Mere mention of the possibility of such an establishment sparks our curiosity with who, what, when, where and why questions.

The need for a universal empire or world government is increasingly obvious. We have seen our world grow smaller and smaller in direct proportion with the growth, larger and larger, of our abilities to travel and communicate. The need for world government was first recognized at the end of World War I with the establishment of the League of Nations. Since then, this need has grown to assume the proportions of a necessity in the eyes of many knowledgeable people, who are aware that our technological advancements make neighbors of us all. We can travel at a speed greater than sound, within and without our planet. We can communicate, through television, at the speed of light, now, extensively, and reportedly "when sufficiently sophisticated satellites in sufficient number are placed in orbit—it will be possible for any man on earth, individually, to reach any other."

As more people ponder over the effects of such neighborly facts—effects that bring into their individual living rooms an instantaneous verbal and visual exchange between people living in even the most separated areas of earth, an awareness of the need for world government grows. And, as we might suspect since this need is so apparent, the Bible prophesies the establishment of the Fifth Universal Empire and God provides the answers to our five "W" questions in considerable detail, which will be brought to light as they appear chronologically in God’s unfolding plan.

Today we might look upon the Bible’s presentation of God’s plan for mankind as a jigsaw puzzle, in which history already has placed so many of the pieces that the remaining pieces are dropping into place so understandably and so rapidly that we can easily see the whole picture. In other words, we are living at a time when so many of the Bible’s prophecies have been fulfilled that the remaining prophecies, concerning the redemption of man, are increasingly clear to us, provided our vision is not too clouded by erroneous traditions.

These blinding, erroneous traditions are cunningly devised distortions of the truth, conceived by Satan and executed (often innocently) through man, to subjugate humanity. These falsehoods, born of Satan’s master mind for evil, reflect the ultimate of deceit: they are sugar-coated with appeal to the ambition, selfishness and greed of those used by Satan to promote them; and they are peppered with false threats and promises to arouse the fear and superstition of the masses enslaved by them.

Many erroneous traditions have been established through organized religions. It is not easy to "buck the establishment," as we must in many instances in order to divorce our, minds of truth-distorting tradition; but it is only reasonable to rely upon a "thus saith the scriptures," rather than upon a "thus saith a man of many letters," to learn the accurate word of God. Therefore it is contended that we must lift our Bible from its dusty shelf, read for ourselves what it truly tells us and, as they arise, eradicate from our minds any traditions proven false.

The Bible tells us that God says: "Come and let us reason together." (Isa 1:18). Again, this is not easy, because Satan has so cunningly devised false traditions or credibility gaps that "If it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." (Mt 24:24).

However, if we have the strength, the courage, and the. determination to think freely; to disabuse our minds of the man-made distortions of the truth that false tradition has taught us and, prayerfully, to approach the Bible with unprejudiced, teachable minds, the Bible’s simple truths will fill our hearts to overflowing. The Bible tells us: "Ask and ye shall receive." (Joh 16:24), and "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." (Mt 5:6).

One cunningly devised credibility gap is the concept of "no God." It contends that there is no God, a theory designed to appeal especially to the pseudo-intellectual; or it contends that God is dead, a theory designed to appeal to those with whom I wholeheartedly agree, who reason that there had to be a Creator but who would rather believe Him dead than believe Him to be the vindictive fiend described by traditional theology.

The Bible anticipates these concepts and provides myriad assurances that God exists; but here, since we have not yet established the authenticity and infallibility of the Bible, suffice it to quote: "The fool (one who ignores or lacks reason) hath said in his heart, ‘there is no God.’"( Ps 14:1); and "Even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." (Ps 90:2); and even that "The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary." (Isa 40:28). But, aside from the Bible, what does reason tell us concerning the existence of God?

Experience has established the fact that we acquire knowledge through our five senses. Applying this fact, we agree that we cannot literally see, hear, smell, taste, or feel God. However, continuing to use our intelligence, we apply the harmonious and equally established fact that for every effect there is a cause, and we find that we discern God through every sense.

We see our universe, we hear the woodland symphony, we smell the aroma of nature, we taste the fruit of the vine, and we feel the glow of the sun.

Surely a Supreme Intelligence was required to cause such effects. Surely the magnificent spectacle of Creation proves to the intelligent mind that there is a God, and that He continues to direct creation’s orderly operation. As Albert Winchester, well-known biologist, said: "A deeper and firmer belief in God can be the only result of a better insight into truth."

Atheistic evolutionists, seeking an explanation of creation without a creator, theorize that intelligent operations like our universe, and intelligent beings like ourselves, are the outcome of unintelligent happenings. Can the thinking mind believe that the endless variety of trees, flowers, and other vegetation just happened, and that their growth, each from a seed of its kind, has been unplanned? Can the thinking man observe himself, the intricacies of his being, and his ability to reproduce himself, and believe that he is not the creation of a magnificently intelligent Creator? Surely the thinking mind must conclude that this theory that our world and all that is in it evolved through a slow-moving, natural process from nothing is incredible.

If the theory of evolution were factual, we should expect to see multitudinous examples of one species evolving into another. However, no evidence of such evolving has ever been found in either plant or animal life. Darwin himself, in his Origin of the Species, was loathe to say: "In spite of all the efforts of trained observers, not one change of species into another is on record." Surely this complete absence of long-sought "missing links" lends credence to God’s decree that all plant and animal life was created, and propagated from seed "after its kind." (Ge 1:11,21).

Many honest people, particularly in the less enlightened past, have been duped by this Theory of Evolution. Fortunately, for those who might still suffer a hangup on this subject, the theories of Darwin, Lamarck, and others have been debunked by many fine authors; and many great scientists such as Albert Einstein have stated their belief in the existence of a supreme, intelligent Creator. For example, Michael I. Pupin, former president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, said: "Wherever science has explored the universe it has found it to be a manifestation of a coordinating principle, and that coordinating directing principle I call Divine Intelligence." Pupin also said: "When you see the stars, each moving in its own pathway, or see a seed grow up after a definite plan into a tree, or see a baby develop into a full-grown, self-directing human individuality, can you conceive of all that taking place as the result of haphazard happenings? Well, I cannot."

A. Cressey Morrison, former president of the New York Academy of Sciences, said: "By unwavering mathematical law we can prove that our universe was designed and executed by a great engineering intelligence."

It is believed that Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick, before his death in October of 1969, expressed well the thoughts of the thinking mind when he said: "Does any intelligent being really think that the cosmic scheme of things is mindless and purposeless, without meaning or destiny? To explain the law and abiding order of the world, the nobility of the human character at its best, as mere happenstance, is like saying that the letters of the alphabet were blown together by a chance wind to form the works of Shakespeare."

Thus we contend that Creation provides irrefutable proof to any conscientious seeker of the truth that God exists. In addition, as we might suspect, since He has imbued us with a longing for such information, if God has provided us with a revelation of our origin and destiny such as the Bible is purported to be, and if that revelation is in accord with His character and reason, then we are doubly assured that there is a God and we are anxious to inspect this last offering of evidence—the Bible.

Another cunningly devised credibility gap is the concept that the Bible is not the divinely inspired Word of God. We hear that the Bible is just a collection of Hebrew myths, that it is an old fiddle upon which any tune can be played, that it contradicts itself. Yes, we often hear: "They say the Bible has been discredited;" but, you will recall, the "they" is usually unidentified, the evidence of discredit is seldom given, and the proof has never been documented.

It is believed that most of the critics of the Bible have not even read, much less studied, the Bible; but have relied on hearsay (tradition) as a basis for their criticism. A case in point concerns Thomas Paine, who wrote Age of Reason, one of the most widely read attacks ever made on the Bible, and who admitted that when he wrote the first part of his book, he did not even possess a Bible. ( Cambridge History of the Bible, page 250.) The contentions of pseudo-intellectuals that most of the historical records of the Bible have no basis in fact but are merely allegories, myths, and fables, are being disproved by modern science.

Archaeologists are unearthing one after another of the ancient landmarks previously claimed nonexistent, such as the cities of Babylon, Bethel, Gibeon, Jericho, Nineveh, Ur, etc. Also, as they excavate the ruins of these cities, archaeologists are finding texts and monuments amounting to a vast treasure of knowledge illuminating the great historical narratives of the Bible. Your time will not be taken now to explore the great bulk of this information that is available, but your attention is called to books such

as Everyday Life in Bible Times published by the National Geographic Society, Keller’s The Bible As History, and New Discoveries in Babylon, and James A. Michener’s novel, The Source.

The Space Program may provide additional evidence that Bible stories, falsely claimed to be myths, are true. This seems apparent in the following astonishing development, related by Mr. Harold Hill, president of Curtis Engine Company in Baltimore, Maryland, and a consultant in the space program.

While checking the positions (past, present and future) of the sun, moon and planets (a step necessary to the mapping of a collision-free course of orbit, covering the life span of each satellite launched), the astronauts, space scientists and IBM technicians at Green Belt, Maryland, were baffled when the computer, running measurements back and forth over the centuries, came to a stop and flashed a red signal, indicating an error in either the input of information or the comparative standards.

The computer’s result indicated the seemingly impossible fact that "a day is missing in space in the elapsed time;" and they were stumped until finally, in the face of considerable skepticism, they called upon the Bible to tell it like it is.

At first they thought that the missing day was explained by the Scripture, "The sun stood still and the moon stayed—and hastened not to go down for about a whole day." (Jos 10:13), but the computer was not satisfied. The computer indicated the elapsed time missing in Joshua’s time was only 23 hours and 20 minutes—not a whole day; rather, as the Bible stated, "about (approximately) a whole day." An unaccounting for forty minutes may appear relatively unimportant in thousands of years of time, but not so in the eyes of the computer or space scientists, because forty minutes multiplies many times over in orbits. Additional Biblical research brought to light the Scripture, "And he (the Lord) brought the shadow (of the sun) ten degrees backward." (2Ki 20:11), and ten degrees is exactly 40 minutes.

It is now logged in the space program logbook that the 23 hours and 20 minutes in Joshua plus the 40 minutes in II Kings equal the 24 hours of the missing day in the universe. Thus it was that the Bible explained a perplexing problem for the space program; and thus it was that the space program supported two Bible stories, formerly pronounced myths:

(1) the story of the time when God made the sun stand still, in recognition of Joshua’s fear that the surrounding enemy, with nightfall, would destroy him; and

(2) the story of the time when God turned back the sun ten degrees in response to Isaiah’s request for this sign to convince Hezekiah that the Lord would heal him.

(For additional information, you may wish to refer to the article entitled "Bible Helps Astronauts Track Trajectory Of Planets In Space" by Robert Schwartz, Press religion editor, and published in the Pittsburgh Press of January 8, 1972.) The most serious assaults ever made on the authority of the Bible have come not from atheists and scientists but from the Christian ministry which, often unintentionally, has misrepresented the Bible’s teachings in an effort to make it support tradition. In addition, today very few theologians will accept the Bible as an authoritative standard; in fact, many of them openly challenge the authority of the Bible.

About these, the Bible tells us: "Lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord, and what wisdom is in them?" (Jer 8:9). It is most disillusioning, when we approach the ministry for guidance, to learn only that the clergy does not reach for the Bible as an end to all dispute, and that our questions are unanswered because they concern issues controversial among the clergymen themselves. To this, God says: "But if they had stood in my counsel and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil ways, and from the evil of their doings." (Jer 23:22).

We give excuses for not reading the Bible; as the Bible tells us, "Men deliver (The book) to one that is learned, saying, ‘Read this, I pray thee;’ and he saith, ‘I cannot; for it is sealed:’ And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, ‘Read this, I pray thee:’ and he saith, ‘I am not learned.’"( Isa 29:11,12). But what is the reason we do not read this book of simple instruction from God? Is it because we have been brainwashed to believe that we should rely upon the professionals in the field of religion to read and interpret God’s message for us? Is it because we fear we will discover in God’s message instructions requiring us to change our way of life?

Or is it that the secret has been withheld from us that the Bible reveals explanations of the present and promises for the near future that are more fabulous than anything we ever have dreamed?

No book has had so many enthusiastic supporters or so many bitter enemies as the Bible. It is the world’s perennial best seller, the oldest and most widely published book in existence. An estimated ten million copies of the King James Version of the Bible are reported to have been sold in 1969, and it is impossible to estimate the total number of hundreds of millions of copies printed and distributed throughout the years. Despite the fact that men have tried every means possible to destroy it, the Bible

lives on! As the Bible tells us, "The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away; but the Word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto you." (1Pe 1:24,25). The Bible has survived these many centuries, despite unparalleled efforts to destroy it. Is this not strong evidence that God, whom it claims as its author, is also its preserver?

The Bible has been called the torch for civilization and liberty. Its influence for good in society has been recognized by the greatest statesmen; our best laws have been patterned after it, and even the skeptics agree that wherever the influence of the Bible has been felt, its moralizing force has made the world better. If the laws of the Bible had been faithfully followed there would be no world crisis today!

We are told that "Nothing is sure but death and taxes;" the Bible contradicts this adage on all counts and supplants it with the thought that nothing is sure but the Word of God! We are told that "Nothing is certain about what the future holds for ourselves and our children;" the Bible contradicts this statement and gives us definite assurance of what the future holds for us. The Bible calls our attention to its "sure word of prophecy: Whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn." (2Pe 1:19).

The prophecies came from God; they were not conceived by man; as the Bible emphatically tells us, "No prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved of the Holy Ghost (Spirit)." (2Pe 1:20,21). In fact, the prophets foretold many events which they themselves did not understand; as Daniel said, "I heard but I understood not." (Da 12:8).

About one-third of the Bible is prophetic. The fact that history has proved and that current events are proving the bulk of these prophecies accurately fulfilled, surely excites interest as to what prophecies remain to be fulfilled in our time.

The fact that we are imbued with a great thirst for knowledge of our past, present, and future would lead us to believe that our loving Heavenly Father, who created this thirst, would provide the information to satisfy it. It is contended that the Bible is God’s presentation of this information; that it is the divinely inspired Word of God, through which God reveals to us His character, His four attributes including infinite wisdom, justice, love, and power; and through which God provides us with the only satisfactory explanation there is of the origin and destiny of man.

The Bible tells us that "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." (2Ti 3:16,17). Think of it: God has provided us with a perfect Book of Instructions!

We are accustomed to reading sheets, leaflets or books of instructions, designed to assist us in getting the most out of things we acquire; but heretofore few of us realized that the Bible tells us that it, itself, is God’s perfect Book of Instructions, designed to direct us in getting the most out of life!

It is this Book of books that we confidently present to the conscientious seeker of the truth, as final evidence of proof, conclusive beyond the shadow of a doubt, that (a) God is a vibrantly alive, omnipotent, personal being; that (b) God is actively exercising His infinite wisdom, justice, love and power to execute, exactly on schedule, each phase of His magnificent plan; and that (c) the Bible is the divinely inspired Word of God, provided to explain the detail of His plan, guide our individual footsteps, and answer our every question.

Do we want to be bothered reading the Bible? It would seem that anyone with a spark of curiosity, whether or not he yet believed the Bible to be the divinely inspired Word of God, or whether or not he yet believed in God, must conclude that such a book as the Bible is claimed to be is a must on his reading list Therefore, "avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so-called" (1Ti 6:20), and WITH BIBLE IN HAND, let us proceed to verify what it really says about our past, our present, and especially our future.

Chapter II FACTS—NOT FICTION—ESTABLISHED

You will observe that the Bible is divided into two main sections, known as the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament tells the story; the New Testament amplifies the story; and we can be sure that the Bible—Genesis through Revelation—will not support a single thought contradictory to the story-the story of God’s divine plan.

The Old Testament is subdivided into thirty-nine books. The first seventeen books (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, I and II Samuel, I and II Kings, I and II Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther) are largely historical, supplying the background of human experience to which the outworking of the divine plan has been related. The next five books (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon) are largely inspirational, presenting God’s promises of guidance and sustaining power to His people, although they also contain prophecies pertaining to developments in the divine plan. The remaining seventeen books (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi) are largely prophetic, although they contain some history as well as assurances of God’s love for His people.

The New Testament is divided into twenty-seven books. The first five books (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and The Acts) are largely historical, recording the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, calling attention to many events that were in direct fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies, and furnishing accounts of the experiences of the Apostles and early Christians. The next twenty-one books (Romans, I and II Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, I and II Thessalonians, I and II Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, I and II Peter, I, II, and III John, and Jude) are largely doctrinal, outlining the details of the divine plan for the recovery of man from sin and death. The last book (Revelation) is largely prophetic and, in beautiful, symbolic language, assures that the divine plan will be executed fully, and that "there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away." (Re 21:4).

The Bible does not present God’s plan in sequential story form, but it reflects complete harmony of purpose and direction from its opening three chapters, which describe the creation of man and his fall from favor with God, to its closing three chapters, which describe the restored creation, with sin and its curse removed.

The Bible opens with the statement that "In the beginning (not of the universe, but of our planet) God created the heaven and the earth." (Ge 1:1). It then provides a brief description of what was accomplished on each of the succeeding six creative days. The Bible does not tell us how long ago the "beginning" was, the time prior to the "creative days" when "the earth was without form and void" (Ge 1:2), and in need of preparation as man’s habitat. It may be interesting to note that with the telescope we have photographed spheres, the light of which, at the speed of 186,000 miles per second, required 2,000 million years to reach the earth and that scientists have calculated the age of the earth to be from 28 million to over 3,000 million years. However such calculations do not concern our faith, for the Bible neither supports nor denies such figures but assures us that God is "from everlasting to everlasting" (Ps 90:2), which encompasses any number we might calculate.

The Bible does not divulge the exact length of each creative day, but there are indications that each of the creative days was 7,000 years in length. There are those who would have us believe that the "days" of creation are twenty-four-hour days but they are not; they are eras of time, each era having an obscure "dark" beginning, described as "evening," and a bright ending of the accomplished project, described as "morning." In accordance with this, it should be noted that, while God introduced light on the first creative day the sun, which God appointed to determine the length of a twenty-four-hour day, was not visible until the fourth creative day. This does not mean that the sun did not exist prior to the fourth day but rather that, prior to its appointment, it did not penetrate the clouds of vapor and gas surrounding the earth as brightly as it did after its appointment.

The creative "day" is a translation of the Hebrew word yawm, and while yawm is often applied to a literal day of twelve or twenty-four hours, it also is often translated "year," "season," "time," etc. The Biblical word "day" (yawm), like our English word "day," must be defined in context to assure its meaning. For example, when we read of "Abraham Lincoln’s Day," our thoughts are no more confined to a twenty-four-hour period than they should be when we read of "the day of temptation in the wilderness" (Ps 95:8), which refers to the forty years the Israelites spent in the wilderness; or of a "creative day" which refers to an era, let us assume, of 7,000 years.

In recent years some evidence has been unveiled indicating that certain numerical figures are mistranslated in the Bible, and that each creative day was an era of 8,400 years (7x1200), rather than an era of 7,000 years (7x1000). (An interesting presentation of this thesis is provided in Pyramidology, a four-volume publication available from The Institute of Pyramidology, 31 Station Road, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, Great Britain.) This information is brought to the attention of only the reader who wishes to delve deeper into Bible chronology, because the bulk of the discrepancy concerning this seventh era in which we live concerns the period prior to the flood, and is of little consequence to the message of this book.

The creation and preparation of the earth for man’s inhabitance is broadly described in Genesis, and additional information is provided in other books of the Bible such as Job and Isaiah. Scientists are not able yet to comprehend all the Bible states about our earth but, with the increase of knowledge, elaborated upon later, more and more is understood. For example, until 1492 it was broadly thought that the earth was flat; now, especially since we have seen pictures of the earth televised from outer space, it is well-established that the earth is a spheroid, and now we can understand what the Bible proclaimed 3,000 years ago in the Book of Isaiah, where we read of "the circle of the earth," (Isa 40:22). Now that we know that the earth’s atmosphere does not extend to the moon and that we earthlings dwell in an oxygen tent, we are able to comprehend "that (God) stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in." (Isa 40:22). Now we know that the earth is not resting on the back of Atlas but that "He (God) stretched out the north over the empty place and hangeth the earth upon nothing." (Job 26:7).

In 1955 the first edition of Creation’s Amazing Architect, subtitled "How the Modern Science of Geology Was Anticipated by 3,500 Years," was published. It was written by Walter J. Beasley, then president of the Australian Institute of Archeology, and provides an interesting account of creation, comparing the Biblical narrative with geological and biological research and showing how amply the Bible is supported by modern scientific investigation. Many other publications are available to make extremely interesting a Bible versus Science analysis of Creation; no evidence has been found to disprove the Bible, but a growing amount of evidence has been found to support the Bible and to make us more aware of the incomprehensible wisdom, justice, love, and power of God. However, your time will not be taken now to explore this subject because, for the purpose of this writing, we are anxious to move on to the morning of the sixth creative day and the crowning feature of God’s earthly creation, man—male and female.

Chapter III MAN-MADE TRADITIONS DENOUNCED

The Bible tells us that toward the end of the sixth creative day, "God created man in his own image; in the image of God created He him." (Ge 1:27). That is, God created man not as a robot but as a free moral agent, with the capacity to reason and the ability to choose between right and wrong.

The Bible tells us that "God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." (Ge 2:7).

Science concurs that man’s body is composed of the chemical elements inherent in Mother Earth, and that man lives by virtue of the oxygen that he breathes.

Another interesting item that the Bible tells us about our anatomy is that "The life of the flesh is in the blood." (Le 17:11). This is interesting, especially as another of the Bible’s truths that we were unable to understand until more recent years, when medical science discovered that the oxygen taken into the lungs is carried by the blood to every part of the body, and that it is thus that the body is kept alive.

In the above-mentioned verse, "God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul," the word "soul" appears in the Bible for the first time, and with it appears the definition. Note that man was not given a "living soul," as tradition would have us believe, but that the body plus the breath of life became a "living soul." The same Hebrew word, here translated as "living soul," is translated as "living creature" in Genesis (Ge 1:21; 24), where the reference is to lower animals. Such lack of uniformity in translation appears to uphold the Immortal Soul tradition by evading the Bible’s simple truth, that man and beast alike were created living souls (living creatures or living beings); both with one and the same breath of life, and that "as one dieth so dieth the other." (Ec 3:19-21).

The Immortal Soul tradition is another of the Devil’s cunningly devised credibility gaps. It claims that man has a spark of indestructible life hidden somewhere within his anatomy, which, when the body dies, escapes and survives death. This tradition denies God’s word, "Thou shalt surely die," (Ge 2:17), and supports Satan’s lie, "Ye shall not surely die," (Ge 3:4).

In both the heavenly and earthly realms, the Biblical word "soul" is synonymous with the words "being" and "creature;" and whether our reference is to a "living soul" or a "dead soul" depends entirely upon whether the body concerned continues to breathe.

In the Bible, the word "immortal (Greek: apthorsia —deathless or death-proof)" appears only once, and refers to God as "immortal" (1Ti 1:17). The word "immortality" (Greek: athanasia —deathlessness or death-proofness) appears only five times: once, referring to Jesus Christ as one "who only hath immortality (God, as always is excepted)," (1Ti 6:16); and four times referring to Christ’s Bride (later discussed) who will "put on immortality" as a reward for great sacrifice and suffering. (2Ti 1:10; 1Co 15:53,54; Ro 2:7).

It is true that God has immortality, that Christ has immortality, and that Christ’s Bride, after the marriage, acquires immortality. It is not true that any other spiritual or human being has immortality, nor does the Bible in any way intimate that any other being, soul or creature will ever have immortality.

We reason that God displays great wisdom in doling out immortality very sparingly when we consider, for example, that Satan, created as a perfect spirit being of very high order, has degenerated to the very depths of evil; and when we realize that if Satan were immortal, it would not be possible to put him to death, as God has promised to do. (Discussed later).

Exceedingly great as is the prize of immortality, won by Christ’s Bride and lost by the estimated 99.99998% remainder of mankind, we should not be shook up or depressed for having lost this prize because everlasting life, under conditions exceeding our fondest dreams, still is within our reach—everlasting life that can be destroyed if it becomes hopelessly evil, not immortality which is indestructible!

The Immortal Soul tradition did not become popular as a tenet of the Christian faith until well after the death of the Twelve Apostles, but after its inception it soon developed into an abominable weapon for keeping the people in line—for terrorizing those ignorant of the facts.

This abominable weapon stemmed from the notion that when the body died, the dreamed-up Immortal Soul had to have some place to go, and the idea was conceived that if a man was "good" (abided by the man-made rules), he would go to Heaven; and if he was "bad" (did not abide by the man-made rules), he would go to Hell—a place described by the rule-makers as a roaring furnace of everlasting torment. What a blasphemous thing it was to claim that our loving Heavenly Father could relegate any of His children to such a place!

This fiendish doctrine of Eternal Torment defamed God’s character to the extent that today many poor deceived souls are too afraid of God to seek His loving care and guidance; others, unable to believe such a fiendish doctrine, have turned away from the Bible which is falsely accused of teaching it The Bible does not teach this God-dishonoring, truth-beclouding theory of Eternal Torment. It teaches that "the wages of sin is death." (Ro 6:23); nothing more, nothing less! Again it says, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die," (Eze 18:4, 20), and "There is no work nor device, nor knowledge in the grave (sheol) whither thou goest." (Ec 9:10). If there is no knowledge in the grave, certainly there can be no suffering!

The verses of the Bible falsely accused of teaching this doctrine are those concerning the word "hell;" therefore it is necessary for us to examine the instances in the Bible where the word "hell" is used.

We must bear in mind the fact that our English Bible was translated—the Old Testament from the Hebrew language, and the New Testament from the Greek language.

The English word "hell" was selected, in every instance that it appears in the Bible, to translate into English the Hebrew word sheol and the Greek words hades, tartaroo, and gehenna. These same Hebrew and Greek words (sheol and hades), are also translated "grave" and "pit."

The old English word "hell," before theologians gave it a new and special significance, simply meant "to conceal, to hide, to cover;" hence, any concealed, hidden, or covered place such as a grave. In old English literature you will read of "helling the potatoes" (putting them into pits), and of "helling the house" (covering or thatching the roof). Therefore the word "hell" can be said to have been properly used synonymously with "grave" and "pit," to translate especially the Hebrew word sheol and the Greek word hades.

The Apostles supported the exact correspondence of the words sheol and hades when, quoting from the Old Testament, they used the Greek word hades to translate the Hebrew word sheol. For example, the Apostle Peter quoted from Psalms: "Thou will not leave my soul in hell (sheol, hades)." (Ps 16:10, Ac 2:27).

Yes, the word "hell" was used properly; however, the hanky-panky became obvious when the translators, apparently afraid to make plain the truth yet ashamed to tell a lie, used the word "hell" in instances where they thought the word "hell" could be twisted to support the theory of Eternal Torment, and used the words "grave" or "pit" in borderline or other instances where they thought the use of the word "hell" would dispute this theory.

It is not questioned that the scholars who translated the Bible knew well the meaning of sheol and hades; it is believed that they dared not buck the "establishment," which was willing to twist God’s word in order to terrorize the ignorant, and which in many instances is still willing to perpetuate the error.

In the Old Testament the word "hell" appears thirty-one times; each time it is translated from the word sheol. In addition, this identical word sheol is translated as "grave" thirty-one times and as "pit" three times. It is obvious that this Hebrew word sheol, like the Greek word hades in the New Testament, must mean the same in all instances, and that if the Bible reader simply substitutes the accurate phrase "the condition of death" or, for ease of handling, the word "grave" for the word "hell," much confusion will be eliminated.

As mentioned earlier, the New Testament includes two other Greek words that are translated as "hell"; gehenna, which occurs twelve times, and tartaroo, which occurs only once.

Gehenna is the Greek for the Hebrew Valley of Hinnom, which was located outside the city of Jerusalem and served as a dump for the refuse and offal of the city. Fires were kept burning, with brimstone being added to assure complete destruction; but the Jews were forbidden to torture any creature, so no living thing was permitted to be cast into this dump. The High Council, or Sanhedrin, at times sentenced certain very obnoxious criminals to the indignity after death of being refused burial, and these corpses, along with the carcasses of dogs, the city refuse, etc., were cast into the Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna) to be consumed. This was a very severe sentence because the Jews, hoping for a resurrection, were (needlessly) very careful of the manner in which they buried their dead. Gehenna represented complete destruction at that time, and it is used in the Bible to represent complete destruction: death without hope of resurrection—"the second death." This same refuse dump is referred to elsewhere in the Bible as "the lake of fire." For example, in describing events to take place at the end of the Millennial Age, the Bible tells us "and death and hell (the grave) were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death." (Re 20:14).

This means simply that death and the grave will be completely destroyed; there will be no more death after the fulfillment of this prophecy!

The Greek word tartarno occurs but once in the Bible, and it is translated "hell" as follows: "God spared not the angels that sinned but cast them down to hell (tartaroo) and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment." (2Pe 2:4). Peter’s word tartaroo closely resembles tartarus, the name for a dark abyss in Greek mythology, but tartaroo seems to refer more to an act than to a place. It is thought, especially in the light of other references to these fallen angels, that a more accurate translation might read, "God spared not the angels that sinned but degraded them to the atmosphere of the earth and delivered them unto chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment." Of course, this verse does not concern human beings; it concerns angels and will be referred to later.

In addition to the false usage of the word "hell" to prove the doctrine of Eternal Torture, there is an erroneous theory that people, not "bad" enough to go to Hell yet not "good" enough to go to Heaven, go immediately to a place called Purgatory when they die. It is falsely claimed that in Purgatory these people suffer until, purged of their sins, they go to Heaven. The word "purgatory" does not appear in the Bible and there is absolutely no hint of the traditional Purgatory teachings in the Bible! There is much said in the Bible about Christian cleansing or purging from sin, but this takes place before death, not after death.

The Bible records the accounts of several people, such as Lazarus (John, Chapter 11), whom Jesus awakened from death as a sample of a future resurrection, in the Millennial Age. We search these accounts in an unsuccessful effort to reconcile this experience of these sample-resurrection people, with the false concept that each of them had an Immortal Soul which, if immortal, of necessity must have sojourned in Heaven, Hell or Purgatory from the time they died until the time Jesus awakened them. We reason that:

(a) They did not sojourn in heaven. None of these sample-resurrection people appeared greater than David, whose heart was perfect before God (1Ki 11:4), and whom God described as "a man after mine own heart" (Ac 13:22). Yet, more than a thousand years after his death, the Bible tells us that even the worthy David "is both dead and buried—for David is not ascended into the heavens." (Ac 2:29,34). In addition, we note that Jesus himself assured us that He did not do these people the injustice of calling them from heaven, when He said, "No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man (Christ)." (Joh 3:13).

(b) They did not sojourn in Hell or Purgatory—none of these sample-resurrection people mentioned being in the traditional Hell or Purgatory—obviously because no such places exist; for otherwise, we should expect hair-raising tales to have been told.

(c) They sojourned nowhere because they were dead.

The facts are not reconcilable with the false concept of an Immortal Soul, and we must conclude that, as the Bible tells us, these sample-resurrection people were unconscious in death and "the dead know not anything." (Ecc. 9:5).

Replacing tradition with fact, we reason that it appears clear that the Immortal Soul tradition and its associated Hell’s Fire or Eternal Torment doctrines, is completely false. The expression "Immortal Soul" appears nowhere in the Bible and, as the Bible tells us, "That which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts. All go unto one place; all are of the dust and all turn to dust again." (Ec 3:19,20).

One might hope that, with exposure of the erroneous Hell’s Fire and Purgatory doctrines, and assurance that in the grave there is no consciousness, a release from the fear and abhorrence of death might come; but no, this is not the case. The condition of death is and—at least until the likelihood of it is abolished—will continue to be feared and abhorred by every person in his right mind (not physically and/or emotionally disturbed), because death is not a natural condition.

Vibrant life is the natural condition of mankind!

It is true that some of the most violent records of history are recorded in the Bible, but any cruelty and vindictiveness found are not the will of God; they are the works of man, contrary to the laws of God. The wrath of God is turned not on man but on the establishments that suppress and enslave mankind.

Shame on those who would make us fearful of God!

The Bible tells us that "Fear toward God is taught by the precepts of man," (Isa 29:13), certainly not by the Bible! Let us not accept as gospel what "they" say is in the Bible; rather, let us follow God’s advice to "prove all things; hold fast that which is good." (1Th 5:21).

God proclaims that He is "merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and in truth," (Ex 34:6), and these characteristics are amplified throughout the Bible as it unfolds His magnificent plan. Therefore, let us divorce our minds of bigotry and tradition, and proceed, BIBLE IN HAND, to learn more of what the Bible really does tell us.

The Bible tells us that God placed man in the Garden of Eden, where God had made to grow "every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil." (Ge 2:9).

God told man to "be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish (fill) the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." (Ge 1:28). (The word "replenish" is a faulty translation; the word "fill" is properly used in the Revised Standard Version and other translations—it is translated from the Hebrew word male, meaning "to fill," not "refill.")

God provided man with a bountiful supply of the food necessary to sustain everlasting life and commanded him, saying: "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." (Ge 2:16,17).

The Bible tells us that, through the serpent, Satan beguiled Eve by saying, "Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." (Ge 3:4,5).

This was the first of many, many times Satan has used a mixture of truth and error to deceive mankind.

It was true that, as a result of disobedience to God’s law not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, Adam, Eve, and, by inheritance, their entire progeny would acquire by experience a knowledge of good and evil. This truth was confirmed later by God (Ge 3:22). It was a lie that as a result of this disobedience they would not die. Satan often uses this cunning method of deceit in which the truth lends credence to the lie.

The Bible tells us Eve was deceived by Satan’s lie and "she took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat." (Ge 3:6). It was at this point that man exercised unwisely his freedom of choice—his freedom to choose between good and evil.

There is no doubt that Adam and Eve were well aware of God’s law and of the penalty for breaking it, but they lacked a personal knowledge of evil and, rather than accept as their own the infinite wisdom of their loving Heavenly Father, they chose to disobey him and, consequently, to learn through bitter experience the exceeding sinfulness of sin. Man chose to learn the hard way, and thus displayed a quality expressed to this day in even the littlest child as it reaches, in defiance of its earthly father’s command, to touch the burning stove or to run into the street.

The Bible tells us that because man broke the law and ate of the forbidden fruit the death penalty was invoked. God expelled man from the Garden of Eden, saying, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it was thou taken; for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return." (Ge 3:19).

God had said plainly, "the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die," (Ge 2:17), and history confirms that no man has lived longer than the specified thousand-year-day which, in this instance, is defined as "one day with the Lord is as a thousand years." (2Pe 3:8).

It is reassuring to know that "Adam lived 930 years, and died." (Ge 5:5); and Methuselah, the oldest man ever to have lived, died at the age of 969 years (Ge 5:27); no man’s life span has exceeded the thousand-year-day in which he was sentenced to die. (It was after the flood that man’s age limit was set at 120 years—Ge 6:3.) We do not question that, since God created man and his environment, God had every right to set the rules whereby man should live. However, since on the surface death appears to be a mighty stiff penalty for eating a little fruit, we find ourselves questioning why God made the penalty for disobedience so great—why God did not overlook man’s first offense—why God did not restrain our first parents—and why God permitted Satan to tempt man.

The Bible tells us—and we are assured our first parents understood—that God provided us with perfect laws, the keeping of which assures enduring happiness and everlasting life; and the breaking of which results in misery and death. We know that each law is important to our individual and collective happiness; if it was not important, it would not be included among God’s perfect laws. We know also, that God never changes; "he (God) can not deny himself," (2Ti 2:13), and it is "impossible for God to lie," (Heb 6:18); and we are grateful for this knowledge because it gives us assurance that always we can depend exactly upon what He says!

The more we analyze God’s laws the deeper grows our admiration and respect for them—laws which man has never been able to improve; and, too, we shall see that the more we analyze His laws the more we shall become cognizant of the infinite wisdom, justice, and love God displays in his decree that the penalty for disobedience to these laws is death. Obviously God’s laws are not designed to enslave mankind; on the contrary, they are designed to free mankind—to guide us away from unhappiness unto happiness. History relates the depths to which man has stooped to break one after another of these laws and, although we shudder with thoughts of the evils that are rampant in the world today, our visions are trivial as compared with our visualization of the chaotic state in which our world would be if the penalty for sin was not death; if we were permitted to compound generation after generation of evil-doing. With little thought, it becomes obvious indeed that it was exceedingly wise and merciful to make death the penalty for sin, and thus eliminate greater suffering.

We know there are four ways of knowing things: by intuition, by observation, by experience, and by infallible information. Intuitive knowledge belongs only to God, "the eternal fountain of all wisdom and truth." No object lessons concerning the effect of evil

were available for man’s observation, and man demonstrated by his disobedience that he was unwilling to accept infallible information—that he would not accept God’s superior wisdom as his own; and therefore, that he was determined to learn through experience. We know that mankind serves as an object lesson to angels and fortunately that, since Adam s time, many humans are spared bitter experience by gaining knowledge through their faith in God’s laws, or through their observation of the painful results of others’ wrongdoing; but by and large, mankind still is determined to learn through personal experience.

The Bible tells us that "known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world," (Ac 15:18), and there is no doubt that God knew exactly how man would react to temptation. God could have created man a robot to automatically obey him, but instead God created man, a God-like, free moral agent to have dominion over the earth. God knew that man would require practical knowledge of good and evil in order to develop the quality of character necessary to the role he was to play; but he allowed man, the free moral agent, to choose his own course.

It is not easy at first for our finite minds to grasp the wisdom of God’s decisions. However, in the instance of Adam’s and Eve’s transgression, we reason that God did not flaunt the death penalty as a big stick over man’s head to subjugate him; on the contrary, God, as a loving Father, pointed out to our first parents the reward of doing right and the penalty of doing wrong. He gave them a fair and square opportunity to choose, as a source for their knowledge of good and evil, either their Creator’s infallible information or their own bitter experience.

Now, having developed more responsible vision, we look upon the sentence of death as merciful and, since man still is choosing bitter experience rather than God’s laws to guide his life, we see how futile it would have been to overlook man’s first offense, even if it had been morally possible for God to do so. This reasoning indicates that we are beginning to respond to the Bible’s tutelage, and we are delighted with this early evidence that indeed, our minds may develop the capacity to accept God’s flattering invitation to "Come and let us reason together." (Isa 1:18).

The Bible tells us God is "not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness." (Ps 5:4). His purpose is to make manifest the perfection and righteous authority of his laws and to prove to us, and to angels, the evil consequences of violating his laws. God has permitted Satan to tempt us and the associated reign of evil only insofar as it serves His purpose in planning our ultimate good, as will be elaborated upon later.

Thus it was that the sixth creative day ended, with our perfect first parents living in the perfect Garden of Eden under perfect laws which, if obeyed, assured enduring happiness and everlasting life; and thus it was that the evening, the dark beginning, of the seventh day began, with our disobedient first parents turned out of the Garden onto the uncultivated earth, destined to learn the evil of wrongdoing through bitter experience, and sentenced to die.

Chapter IV FIRST SIXTEEN CENTURIES

For about the first sixteen centuries of this seventh seven-thousand-year day, the period from Adam’s disobedience until the flood, God withdrew the personal guidance man had spurned in the Garden of Eden, committed the supervision of mankind to angels, and favored only a devout character or two. (Only Abel, Enoch and Noah receive honorable mention in the Bible).

Man had been created perfect, with a knowledge of God’s law written into his very nature to serve as a guide in his daily life; and after man sinned, God left him measurably to his own course so that he might observe the result of wrongdoing, and learn to appreciate God’s wisdom in demanding absolute obedience to His laws.

The angels failed miserably in their endeavor to lift mankind out of sin, as is elaborated upon later in this writing, and man’s course was down, down, down—until man became so corrupt and depraved that God did "bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh," (Ge 6:17), except that flesh saved in Noah’s ark.

God knew the angels would fail but He permitted their endeavor that by their failure all might learn that the one and only effectual remedy for sin is that provided in Jesus Christ, as is discussed later.

The Bible tells us "the world that then was being overflowed with water perished." (2Pe 3:6). "Every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth; and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark." (Ge 7:23).

The Genesis account of the flood is offered—to those who doubt its authenticity—as the only plausible explanation for the great bulk of evidence, accumulated by science, that there was a time of world-wide cataclysm in man’s history.

In all parts of the world, paleontologists have found fossils of substantial numbers of animals and vegetation irrefutably reputed to have expired en masse under catastrophic circumstances; but, reluctant to admit a catastrophe of world-wide proportions, paleontologists fail to agree on an answer to the puzzle of what happened to so abruptly terminate life.

For example, an expert paleontologist has said that the destruction that came to the dinosaurs, and ended other types of reptilian evolution, was one of the outstanding events in the history of the earth, and that it was an event that still defies all efforts of explaining it In the frigid areas of Alaska and Siberia, considerable evidence of the suddenness with which herds of numerous kinds of animals perished lies in the frozen muck blanket, which has preserved great numbers of them for several thousand years; some have frozen in their teeth and stomachs undigested leaves and grasses. You may wish to read Dr. Frank C. Hibbon’s book, The Lost Americans, for an account of the Alaskan disaster, and the works of Dr. Ivan T. Sanderson, famous British zoologist, for a description of the Siberian catastrophe.

Archaeologists have confirmed the fact of such a flood in the Mesopotamian Valley, and geologists offer proof that such a vast flooding existed in many other parts of the world; in fact, world-wide evidence of the deluge is so convincing that in 1960 Dr. Rhodes W. Fairbridge was prompted to say in Scientific American, "A deluge such as that described in the Book of Genesis occurs in the legends and folklore of almost every ancient people ...such agreement among the legends of so many peoples living in distant parts of the world has caused scholars in modern times to wonder whether mankind did in truth experience the world-wide catastrophe of a deluge." Bravo for Fairbridge; it is impossible to understand how any other conclusion can reasonably be reached!

Prior to the flood Noah, under God’s direction, had built an ark to serve as a refuge for his family and for pairs, male and female, of all of the animal kingdom specified by God (Ge 7:1-3). After the flood subsided, the ark came to rest on Mount Ararat and "Noah went forth, and his (three) sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him. And every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kind, went forth out of the ark." (Ge 8:18,19). It was from these that came from the ark, that the world, as we know it today, multiplied.

The Bible tells us that God instructed Noah, "Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shall pitch it within and without with pitch. And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits (547.3 feet by sacred cubit of 21.88 inches), the breadth of it fifty cubits (91.2 feet) and the height of it thirty cubits (54.72 feet). A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above (an opening 21.88 inches high all around the ark under the eaves); and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it." (Ge 6:14-16).

These dimensions provide a capacity of 2,730,782 cubic feet and a tonnage of 81,052. Therefore, we reason that the immensity of the ark was ample to accommodate the eight passengers, the pairs of all the species of animals specified, and the supplies necessary to the voyage ..."The waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days." (Ge 7:24).

After the flood, the Bible tells us, "The ark rested ...upon the mountains of Ararat." (Ge 8:4).

A recent development that may provide additional evidence of the accuracy of the Genesis account of the flood is described in an article by Louis Cassels, in the Pittsburgh Press of June 11, 1970, entitled "That Wood Mass In Glacial Ice: Is It Noah’s Ark?"

Cassels’ article indicates that in June, 1970, a team of eight American scientists and explorers, representing a foundation called SEARCH, would fly to Turkey to determine whether the mysterious mass of hand-hewn timbers that lies embedded in glacial ice about 14,000 feet up the side of Mount Ararat could be the remains of Noah’s Ark. (See also, Science News: 6/13/70, p. 574).

In 1955, explorer Fernand Navarra, following clues given in Middle Eastern history and literature dating back to the time of the Babylonian Empire, discovered a mass of wood embedded in a glacial ice pack at the 14,000 foot level of Mount Ararat He estimated that at least fifty tons of wood were visible through the ice and that it appeared to be organized in a bow-shaped structure, including hand-hewn timbers 150 to 200 feet in length.

In 1969, SEARCH sent Navarra back to the mountain with diamond-tipped boring tools to obtain samples of the wood which, since then, have been tested at scientific laboratories in Europe and America.