What is The Stone Age?
The Stone Age is theorized to be a period of history dating beyond 4000 B.C. it is said that during this time period man began to use tools and weapons made from stone as well as lived in caves made of stone. The Bronze Age is a period of history from roughly 4000 B.C. During the Bronze Age, people learned to make tools from bronze and the wheel and the ox-drawn plow were in use during that time. The Iron Age is a period of history, following the Bronze Age, this is when people first learned to extract iron from ore and use it to create tools, weapons, and other objects. The first organized production of iron objects developed in southwestern Asia is recorded shortly after 2000 B.C.
There is no question that as the centuries advance so does technology, what is in question here is the years in which all these occur, especially the Stone Age. Archaeologists theorize that this period is subdivided into three periods, the Paleolithic period, about 750,000 years ago, the Mesolithic period, about 15,000 years ago, and the Neolithic period, about 10,000 years ago. In spite of all that archaeologists and anthropologists contend about these early Stone Age cultures and their supposed long ages, simply cannot be true.
Proof From The Bible
The Bible speaks of the very
earliest cultures as being highly civilized, with musical instruments,
woven tents and clothes, metal working, animal husbandry, etc. Again we only need to turn to the Bible for perspective. "And
in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of
the ground an offering unto the LORD. And
Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat
thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But
unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very
wroth, and his countenance fell." - Genesis 4:3-5.
"And
Cain knew his
wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and
called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. And unto
Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat
Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech. And Lamech took unto him two
wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.
And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and
of such as have cattle. And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the
father of all such as handle the harp and organ. And Zillah, she also
bare Tubalcain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and
the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah." - Genesis 4:17-22. A Tubalcain was an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron. This was before the flood.
The fact that we find people in the very earliest times living in caves
simply means that they lived in caves instead of houses. We find people
around the world doing this very thing today. For instance, some
families living along a 40 mile stretch of the Rhone River in France
dwell in the caves that are situated there. The Bible has incidents of cave dwelling also, refugees lived in caves too.
"And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters." - Genesis 19:30.
"And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds." - Judges 6:2.
"When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, (for the people were distressed,) then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits." - I Samuel 13:6
After The Flood
After the Flood of Noah’s day, it took some time for enough people to gather together and build cities. But it did not take thousands of years!
As researchers write about this situation, they grossly overestimate the time from early man to modern man. For instance, highly respected anthropologist Robert Braidwood said, “Prehistory means the time before written history began. Actually, more than 99 per cent of man’s story is prehistory. Man is probably well over a million years old, but he did not begin to write history (or to write anything) until about 5,000 years ago.”
Think
about that statement, "he did not begin to write history until about
5,000 years ago." It seems ridiculous that we should be expected to
believe that man could not
read or write for 995,000 years. The Great Flood occurred approx 2450
BC, which means that would have been approx 4459 years ago (2009).
Archaeologists try to determine age with the use of Carbon-14. However, Carbon-14 and other isotopic elements should not be used to determine the absolute age of a specimen, according to Willard Libby, founder of the method. Only measured are the amounts of the remaining 14C against stable 12C.
Consider the following quotes from “Rolling Back the Years”: “With radiocarbon, it’s not possible to obtain absolute dates—there’s always a bit of the unknown.”
Even though there have been some
noteworthy improvements in the radioisotope methods, the same problems
still persist. And this goes for all radioisotopes used in dating, 14C
dating because it is too inconclusive.
What scientists are really holding out for is tree ring data that can calibrate absolute radiocarbon dates back to 60,000 years. . . . This hinges, of course, on whether they can find sufficiently old trees and samples that represent a continuum of ages throughout the past. However, these secular researchers know, and so do we who accept the Biblical time frame, that they will never find successive tree rings with which to date 60,000 or 30,000, or even 10,000, years ago. The researchers have calibrated back around 5,000 years, but tree rings can take them no further. Isn’t it interesting that 5,000 years ago was roughly the time Noah and his family members were saved by the Ark!
The Bible is God’s inerrant Word. Is it possible that some evangelical scholars are afraid of what their contemporaries will think of them if they oppose the “scientists” of today? Biblical archeologists are not against actual science and hard evidence. But we are against arbitrary estimates and interpretations that contradict the clear revelation of history given by God in His Word.
There are some tough problems to explain in correlating ancient history with the Bible. We cannot be dogmatic about these things, but our modern youth are hearing so much bad thinking. Neither are they given enough information and guidance to think things through Biblically. They—and every one of us—need to learn how to question what they are hearing from their teachers and the media, while constructing alternative interpretations that honor the Bible and the best methods of archaeology.
Resources:
Answers in Genesis
The Bible and The Ice and Stone Age
Reference.com
