The Bible, Prehistory, And Evolution
...Toward a Better Understanding
Preliminary Manuscript Copy
© Richard R. Burky 2021
Concepts to Consider...
Rejecting or ignoring prehistoric truth and adopting extreme fundamentalism and creationism will cause one to misunderstand the Bible and the Creating God revealed in it. One must let truth modify how the Bible is understood.
The answers to some of life’s most important questions are found outside the science box. There are logical and valid reasons to think outside materialistic limits of scientific methodology.
Faith is a necessary component for every human to live life effectively.
Faith is a judgment and decision that should be based on the best possible information, not merely on inherited culture, emotional feelings, or poor reasoning. Faith must not be based on scientifically disproven facts and concepts!
Truth matters! Truth must be the foundation of faith. Always modify faith or belief when either is found to contradict truth from any source. …ALWAYS! Truth is trump! A deuce of truth trumps an ace of faith, belief, or tradition.
Faith that the earth’s myriad, complex life forms and the incredible human spirit were created without intelligence is incomprehensible.
Render to science the things of science and to faith the things of faith. Evaluate each in the light of the understanding provided by the other.
Understanding the Bible: One extreme is fundamentalism. The other extreme is emasculating the Bible with a materialist’s razor. Question both extremes!
Canonization: The process of changing the words of men into the words of God.
Jesus was not a fundamentalist.
Nothing in life is as absolute as the faith of the fundamentalist or atheist. A wise person avoids their bullying attitudes and conclusions.
It is difficult to teach someone anything, if they already know everything.
Most people do not want truth, but merely to be told that what they already believe is true. Do I become your enemy if I tell you the truth?
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 The Mystery of Life and Necessity for a Valid Faith
Chapter 2 A Rational Christian Faith in a Scientific Age
Chapter 3 The Case Against Bible Infallibility and Fundamentalism
Chapter 4 Genesis 1-11 in Light of the Physical Evidence
Chapter 5 The Biblical Exodus: A Historic, Non-fundamentalist View
Chapter 6 Two Billion Years of Earth History in Context
Chapter 7 How Life on Earth Has Changed Thru Time
Chapter 8 The Case for Intelligently Driven Changes in Life Forms
Chapter 9 The Deep History of Hominins
Chapter 10 Two and a Half Million Years of Archaeology
Concluding Summary
Introduction
When faith or belief becomes more important than truth, there is a problem. However, faith remains a vital and critical element for a meaningful and effective human life. But a faith, to be valid, must not contradict truth or scientific fact. Just ignoring the scientific facts does not solve the problem.
The Bible and the God revealed in it have taken a severe, many would say fatal, hit with the rise of science. Is it really time to forget the Bible as a reasonable source of true faith about the meaning and purpose of human life? This author thinks not. The Bible has been given unreasonable condemnation by many of its critics and unreasonable fundamentalistic support by many of its proponents. Wrong or poorly reasoned support is no support at all!
Some biblical defenders have trashed much of the factual scientific data from geology, paleontology, and archaeology so they can maintain an obsolete understanding of the Bible. In their desire to support the Bible by such means they actually discredit it by basing that support on false data. Opponents have seized upon these obsolete and faulty conclusions to further reject the Bible as a source of meaningful faith. One must evaluate and understand the Bible in the light of the scientific knowledge of prehistory and of the history of the writing of the Bible itself. Such an approach to understanding the Bible is being proposed in this book. This is not as simple as it sounds. A significant number sacred cows have to be slaughtered to proceed toward the truth and that is hard.
Science is a very effective tool for exploring the material world. It is a weak and ineffective tool for discovering, understanding, or defining a spiritual or metaphysical world. While science can give us factual material which we must consider as we make our decisions on questions of faith, it can neither confirm nor deny the non-materialistic, supernatural world described in the Bible. Certain biblical narratives and descriptions are based on human experience and eye witness accounts which are not verifiable by scientific methodology, but are not falsifiable by it either. They are outside the “science box.”
Science is materialistic by nature but it does not require a philosophy of materialism to use it effectively. Materialism being a philosophy is also not scientifically verifiable. It is necessary to understand the difference science and the philosophy materialism.
There is a legitimate need for humans to think and make judgments outside the box of scientific methodology. Many judgments and decisions in everyday life have to be made without the control of scientific methods. Such judgments and decisions should, however, be made rationally and logically. However, decisions should not be conclusions that are contrary to scientifically proven data. Human faith is this type of decision. The reality of life is that everything cannot be scientifically tested, proven or disproven. We have to draw conclusions and make decisions based upon the best information available to us. Religious faith is one of those important decisions.
Faith can’t wait for all the facts to be in. Life is not long enough. A decision has to be made based on the best facts available at the time, even if partial. Faith then has to be modified as more facts become available. This requires a “modifiable” faith.
Many fundamentalist Christians argue about the wrong things… Geologic time …Evolution …Missing links …And insist upon an absolute literal interpretation of the Bible as though it fell directly down from heaven intact, translated into English... “God said it. I believe it. That settles it.”
Most materialistic critics of the Bible really don’t understand the Bible either. Their criticism is often based on the understanding and/or behavior of religious people, a shallow, incomplete understanding of the Bible, or the theological and cultural encrustations and interpretations that have been read into and added to the Bible over the years. Concepts like humans possessing an immortal soul that can never die, the never ending punishing of bad humans forever in hell fire , or good humans going to heaven upon death. These, and many other concepts, have been read into the Bible, not out of it. The biblical story is quite different than most people, even many Christians, often realize.
If religious people do not bring their understanding of the Bible into alignment with solidly supported scientific truth and reality they will pass on to their children and others a flawed faith. They are setting them up for failure of faith when they begin to understand this knowledge. Changing one’s faith to correspond to truth is certainly a proactive and necessary endeavor. Why would anyone do anything else?
A few words about the author…
I started my adult life pretty much as a biblical fundamentalist with a sincere concern about the evidence from geology, paleontology, and archaeology and how it fits within the Bible. As a teenager I was attracted to the ministry of Herbert W. Armstrong. He, I believe correctly, pointed out many of the differences between the basic teachings of the New Testament and the doctrines of most of modern Christianity (Catholic and Protestant both included). I received a bachelor’s degree in theology from Ambassador College.
Soon after graduation I began a long sequence of college courses on geology, paleontology, and archaeology at local colleges and self directed fieldwork . That sequence, through two master’s degrees, eventually ended with a Ph.D. in anthropology/archaeology from the University of California, Riverside. My dissertation research explored techniques for radiocarbon dating fossil bone . The results of that research was published in the professional journal, Radiocarbon, (Burky et. al. 1996). During that research I discovered a new amino acid not previously known to be in fossil bone. That discovery was later published as a chapter in a book published by Oxford University Press, (Burky et. al. 2000). During my research at UC Riverside I did the lab work to date two human burials from western Nevada that were around 10,000 years old, and animal bones from human occupational levels at the French archaeological site Abri Pataud that were 19,000 and 31,000 years old (Burky 1996). During my studies at Riverside I was also able to take a couple of courses in vertebrate paleontology by noted American vertebrate paleontologist, Michael Woodburn. All this course work was coupled with extensive geology fieldtrips and paleontology museum study over many years.
Ambassador College and the associated Worldwide Church of God were very fundamentalist in orientation. While I greatly appreciated (and still do) much of the biblical grounding I received there, the truth of the physical world of geology, paleontology, and archaeology radically dictated against the fundamentalistic approach to the Bible. All I published and presented to the Church and College pretty much fell on deaf ears, with not a few vehement personal attacks.
Being over 80 years of age and challenged by a bout with cancer, I feel it is time to present an overall view of how I believe one should correctly correlate the Bible with the physical record of geology, paleontology, and archaeology. Much has been published on this subject. Do we really need another book on the subject?
I find my approach to the subject different in many important ways than anything I have seen in print. I believe it is an approach worth examining. Perhaps it will generate a few new ideas to those of open minds and help pull the blinders off the eyes of a few creationists and fundamentalist believers, allowing them to make further progress.
I remain a theist and a committed Christian believer, holding the Bible and its moral teachings in the greatest respect. I see it as a humanly written account of human interaction with the intelligent Creator over a long period of time. I do, however, understand it from a substantially different perspective than that of the typical fundamentalist and many modern Christians. It is this new understanding for eliminating the apparent contradictions between scientific data and the Bible that I am exploring in this book. The book is also highly critical of the basic faith of most scientists who believe the earth and its complex life were put together by random chance and necessity alone, without intelligent guidance. It retains the concept of an intelligent Creator while accepting the latest scientific knowledge. Certainly there will be much to add on the subject in the years to come. I believe this understanding gives a much truer foundation upon which to build additional knowledge.
Richard R. Burky, PhD.
Altadena, CA
December, 2021
References for the Introduction
Burky, Richard R.
1996 Radiocarbon Dating Archaeologically Significant Bone Using the Unique Amino Acids Gamma-Carboxyglutamic Acid (Gla) and Alpha-Carboxyglycine (Aminomalonate). An unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California, Riverside.
Burky, Richard R., Donna L. Kirner, R. E. Taylor, P. E. Hare, and John R. Southon
1998 14C Dating of Bone Using γ-Carboxyglutamic Acid and α-Carboxyglycine (Aminomalonate).
Radiocarbon, Vol. 40, No. 1, 1998, pp. 11-20.
Burky, Richard R., Donna L. Kirner, R. E. Taylor, P. E. Hare, and John R. Southon
2000 Isotopic integrity of α-Carboxyglycine (aminomalonate) in fossil bone based on 14C data.
In Perspective in Amino Acid and Protein Geochemistry, edited by Glenn A. Goodfriend, Matthew J. Collins, Marilyn L. Fogel, Stephen A. Macko, and John F. Wehmiller, pp. 60-66. Oxford Univ. Press
Chapter 1 The Mystery of Life and Necessity for a Valid Faith
The existence of this material universe, the myriad life forms on earth, and especially the human mind, present a mystery of origin for humanity that is only resolved by faith. That is true whether one is a theist, an agnostic, or an atheist. Each of these is a statement of faith. None of these can be absolutely proven true or false by physical, scientific methods. Each is a matter for personal judgment and opinion. It is foolish to base one’s judgment on facts that can be scientifically proven wrong. It is likewise foolish to accept the opinions and conclusions of others without critical consideration.
In reality, most do not make a faith decision for themselves. Some, perhaps most, accept the faith into which they were born and reared. Others are converted to a faith by a convincing or dominating religious teacher. Many college students are talked out of their faith by dominating and/or convincing agnostic or atheist professors.
To truly make a decision on faith for one’s self is difficult and almost overwhelming! This is especially true now when such an overwhelming amount of knowledge is available on so many subjects that are critical to faith. This is complicated by the impact of bullying personalities who have already made their decision on faith and want to impress that decision on as many others as possible. This is especially true when such bullying personalities have knowledge in key areas not familiar to most others, whether it is religion or science. It is almost impossible for the average person to see the holes in their logic if specialists in the field are not pointing out such errors for them. Because humans are humans, group think also plays a dominant role in faith for most theists, agnostics, and atheists alike.
How do we solve this conundrum?
How do we develop and maintain a truly valid faith?
One has to ask and answer many questions. The first question to ask is, “Is what I believe reasonable and rationally true?” Is it based on true facts or only imagination, tradition, or superstition? Another is, “If it is not true, am I willing to acknowledge error and modify my faith to fit what is true?”
Faith is faith, it is not provable fact. Being human we have to accept this reality. However, the foundation upon which faith is built must be the best truth that we, as individuals, can obtain and know. In the world of faith and belief, TRUTH HAS TO BE TRUMP! Faith must be true belief not be just a game of pretend.
Viable faith must also be dynamic, not static. When new knowledge comes to us faith often has to be modified to accommodate it. A rigid faith may shatter when presented with new knowledge. An unchanging faith will become obsolete as new knowledge accumulates.
Since this book is about a biblically orientated theistic faith let’s see how these principles can be applied to such a faith.
The core question is, “Does a supernatural God, or Gods, exist?” The Bible indicates that at least two Gods exist, God the Father and the one we know as Jesus, the Son. It also witnesses other supernatural beings, both good and evil. We cannot scientifically test God by putting Him in a box and having Him do tricks for us so we can “scientifically” prove He exists. This is not an option. We don’t tell the creator God what to do. He is not subject to our directing or scientific manipulation. We must look at the truth to which we have access.
Consider that there is a complex world of living organisms on earth, including humans ourselves, and which, by rational thought, defy emergence from non-living elements by chance or necessity. The explanation for this existence has to come by faith. The odds against it happening without intelligent direction strain rationality. Scientific fact shows much change in living organisms clearly happened over very long time periods. There was an evolution or developmental processes involved. They were not created all at once in their final form. There is good fossil evidence for sequences of development in many animal lines over these long time periods. As we will explore later, these reflect very similar patterns to the development of many human technologies over time, e.g., automobiles, airplanes, radio, TV, computers, etc. which have been developed by human intelligence. Evolution of design is a product of intelligence.
Science, without question, proves these changes occurred over very long time spans. The world was not created in seven days as a literal reading of Genesis 1 would indicate. Something else was going on with the writing of that early Genesis material. This is a case where scientific facts should modify what may have been a former belief. But science doesn’t prove how most of the developmental changes in living organisms were made. Theories abound, provable truth usually does not. By my understanding and faith it is more rational to believe that intelligence was driving the most significant changes rather then mere chance and necessity. Others, in faith, have concluded otherwise and they are free to do so. But realize their basis is faith, not fact or provable science. Their faith should not alter my faith no matter how dominating and bullying they may be! But my faith must, however, accommodate what can be proven scientifically true.
The origin of life remains a great mystery. One for which there are a variety of opinions, but no consensus among scientists. Because the chemistry of life is so complex, most conclude that life’s origin could only have ever happened once. This conclusion is based on the belief that there was no guiding intelligence involved. If a supernatural intelligence does exist, the true history can be very different.
Incredible transitions have taken place in nearly every branch of animal life over the geologic ages. Fish were given legs to walk on land. The amazingly complex amniote egg was developed that can survive and function when laid on dry land. Reptile lower jaw bones were repurposed to provide the ear bone structures for the hearing mechanism in mammals. Reptiles were given feathers, wings, a pneumatic skeleton, endothermy, and taught how to fly with marvelous maneuverability.
Many living organisms develop and grow from a single celled egg. The incredible human body, brain and “mind” has to be the greatest achievement of all. And it too comes from a single fertilized cell! This real mystery is truly astounding!
If one has no knowledge of geology and paleontology and only has access to this material through the instruction of an atheist, one can easily be led to a different conclusion. That is a real challenge for developing a true faith. An atheist is not going to tell you of the weakness or limits of his faith. He and all his “group think” associates believe they are right. Of course the same point could be made about religious fundamentalists. A true faith is difficult to obtain!
Faith covers a broad range of applications. It varies from faith that our next door neighbor will not steal from us, that our auto mechanic will not overcharge us, to faith in the reason and purpose for our existence. It is this last, critically important aspect of faith in which we are most interested. But the nature of faith, as opposed to scientific certainty, is a topic worth thinking about.
Without faith in a purposeful reason for our human existence, life can become meaningless and directionless. To live confidently we need faith. We humans live by faith in multiple ways. We don’t live only by the things we can absolutely prove for certain. Faith is a wonderful faculty. It allows us to generalize and to move confidently forward with life. We have faith in our mates that they will be faithful to us. We have faith in friends that they will do what friends should do. We have faith in business associates to do what they have contracted. We have no absolute proof for this faith, just past experience, rational belief, and good judgment. Faith allows life to work as smoothly as possible. A lack of faith or a breakdown of trust leads to unhealthy relationships and frustration of goals.
Faith is not science. Faith lies outside the “science box.” Faith requires one to think outside the realm of scientific methodology. Science is a wonderful and powerful tool for physical things that repeat or can be repeated to examine their cause, effect, and function. One would be foolish to have faith in something that can be disproven by sound science.
The faith evaluation must NOT be made a question of science verses faith. That is not what it is. It is a faith verses faith issue. It is a question of which faith is most likely correct. Science may help in many ways to answer the question, but science can not give the answer.
Faithfulness is a quality we want in our mates, families, friends, business partners, neighbors, and leaders. We can only have faith in someone if they prove to be faithful. Faithfulness is the basis of faith. If we place faith in an unfaithful person or a false concept we set ourselves up for failure. Religious faith is slightly different but similar in many ways. The stakes are higher and the issues more important.
The dangers in finding, building, and maintaining the ultimate faith… Religion
Because faith cannot be readily proven by physical science it can be more easily perpetrated, manipulated, or destroyed by other means, especially by convincing personalities. Convincing preachers convert many to their views. Bullying materialist professors talk many college students out of their faith. Convincing writers convert readers to turn to, or away from, religious faith. A charismatic “spiritual” leader can talk many into sharing his or her faith. Finding a true source of faith can be challenging. Refining faith by eliminating or keeping wrong ideas and conclusions out of faith is also challenging. A pure, true faith is valuable and precious. It must be continually tested, refined, and rehearsed to be preserved as a living, working faith. The world is a jungle of many competing, overlapping, and contradicting ideas, faiths, religions, and philosophies.
Even faiths based on the Bible can be complex and contradicting. There are considerable differences between the Catholic and Protestant faiths and other faiths based on the Bible. All faiths and religions of the Bible are not created equally! This too creates a challenge for developing a true biblical faith.
One must consider the basis of the fundamentalist’s faith. Its core belief is that the Bible, as it is currently put together from multiple sources and time periods, is the perfect, literal “Word of God.” Even though history and science proves parts of it are not literally true, e.g. much of Genesis 1-11 which is discussed in chapter 4, this traditional faith is maintained in spite of such truth. Interpreting the Bible with a late 19th and early 20th century fundamentalism leads one up a box canyon when it comes to understanding the Bible in light of modern scientific knowledge. The rejection of modern scientific knowledge and understanding has led to an interpretation of the Bible that counters truth and makes such a faith obsolete. This destroys faith in the biblical God for many. It can also lead to the rejection of that part of the Bible that is fully worthy of faith. That which provides a moral guide to life and a viable reason and purpose for human life.
Such destruction of biblical faith because of fundamentalist interpretation is unfortunate. When theologians turn agnostic or atheistic you know there is a problem.
Bart Ehrman is the chairman of the department of religious studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He is a popular writer and has written many books on the Bible. He started his academic life as a confirmed fundamentalist. In high school he had a “born-again” experience. After high school he was talked into attending Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. At Moody all the professors and all students had to sign a statement, “the Bible is the inerrant word of God. It contains no mistakes. It is inspired completely and in its very words- verbal, plenary inspiration.” (Ehrman 2005, pp 2-4)
This naive approach and belief, after studies at Wheaton College and a doctorate at Princeton Theological Seminary, was destroyed and replaced by a radically different one. He states:
It is a radical shift from reading the Bible as an inerrant blueprint for our faith, life, and future to seeing it as a very human book, with very human points of view, many of which differ from one another and none of which provides the inerrant guide to how we should live. This is the shift in my own thinking that I ended up making, and to which I am now fully committed. (Ehrman 2005, p 13)
When theologians turn from their faith you know there is a major problem if you share the same basis for your faith as they do for their faith. I do not know the current status or definition of Dr. Ehrman’s faith.
How does one refine faith with knowledge, rather than tossing faith out altogether?
Faith should be based on a wide variety of evidence, not just an experience or two or a single line of logic. Life is complex. The evidence for faith is complex. Individuals differ in their level of understanding of the many different lines of evidence.
A few examples of evidence might include:
The presence and creation of such an incredible, complex universe and the impossible odds against it being created from nothing without an intelligent, guiding force.
The necessity for intelligence in the production of the complex biologic world we have, including the incredible human mind.
The excellent, golden moral and ethical guidelines, and wisdom contained in the Bible.
The evidence of miracles and their impact on the lives of those who witnessed them.
Personal experiences with God by self and/or others.
Faith is a personal thing and does vary greatly from individual to individual. I do not believe it is beyond reason for God to grant someone a gift of faith not based on physical evidence. I have read of many instances where people found themselves in hopeless situations, prayed, and received unbelievable help. However, I have also seen situations where miracles, healings, and personal experiences are later “second guessed” and give way to a loss of faith.
As one trained in science I feel more comfortable with my faith based on a more extensive and solid foundation than just a few personal experiences.
Why would one ever set one’s faith against something that can be proven by science? This seems the most illogical thing to do. Faith covers those things we cannot know and determine by science. One would be foolish to set one’s faith against those things that can be proven by science. Yet many in the Christian community have chosen to do so. Faith must be “updatable” as truth and new knowledge come to us. We must not change our faith with every wind of theory or new idea. But if an idea or theory proves to be true science we need to modify our faith to accommodate what is true. We do, however, need the patience to wait for verification.
Copernicus and Galileo had to deal with bullying theologians as they expanded the understanding of the universe. Today a person of faith often has to deal with the bullying of scientific atheists, agnostics, and materialists. Bullying is a human thing. “Nothing is as absolute in life as the conclusions of a bullying fundamentalist or atheist!”
The argument is not between faith and science. The real argument is between faith and faith... The faith of a theist, the faith of an agnostic, or the faith on an atheist.
Why should we consider the Bible a reasonable source for faith?
I believe the universe, earth, living, and fossil organisms are the most rational evidence for an intelligent creator. None of the Middle Eastern, Egyptian, or Greek gods are viable entities to be that creator. In my judgment the God of the Bible is the only viable choice. It presents a creator with a valid reason and purpose for creating human beings. It presents a goal and purpose for them that requires the moral character that is necessary for knowledgeable beings to live together successfully and at peace with one another. The basic moral values and ethics of the Bible are unsurpassed in quality and depth of wisdom.
The Bible contains stories of people’s experience with that God. The quality and veracity of each of those stories may vary somewhat. That would certainly appear to be the case. They need to be judged on their individual merit. To say that they are all exact and perfectly true in every detail, I believe is stretching credibility. To toss them all out as patently false is the other extreme.
Many fundamentalists like to quote Paul’s statement in 2 Timothy 3:16 and state that the Greek literally means “God breathed.”
2 Timothy 3:16
(NKJV) All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
To which manuscript and translation of that manuscript would such perfection apply? This can be glibly stated with fervor and power but the “devil is in the details” of actually applying it to every part of the Bible. Such a belief glosses over all the errors and problems known to exist in the Bible as it is presently assembled. Such a belief would make God out to be a liar. The verse may over state the true meaning of what Paul was trying to put across to Timothy. Or it may also be attributed to Paul’s background and training as a Pharisee. Paul quoted most often the Septuagint text. The Masoretic text is usually considered the “official” text. The texts differ in their details. Which one was “God breathed?” More will be discussed on this topic later.
There are different qualities of personal judgments on faith. Some are based on pure whim and emotion. Some are based on strong religious or cultural bias without substantial reasoning. Some are based on the currently accepted status quo and group reasoning of a subculture of which they are a part. This is true of many church groups. This is also true in many academic groups. It is a “human thing.” How many religious young people go to college and lose their religious faith by assuming the “group think” faith of the academic community which is most often materialistic and antagonistic to religion in general and to the Bible specifically.
Others are induced into certain faith and beliefs by emotional and psychological pressure from a strong religious preacher or group leader. This is how many religious movements and even churches start and move forward. The antidote to all this is to use truth, from whatever source, to trump, sort, and change wrong ideas.
For many people the questions are simply too big to examine for themselves so they merely accept someone else’s conclusion. This is hit and miss in its quality. There are dangers in merely accepting someone’s statements, beliefs, and conclusions.
In summary…
Faith provides answers to important human questions about life that science cannot. Faith is good for one’s mental, emotional, and physical health. Faith can increase confidence and productivity. Don’t undervalue it.
Faith allows one to live life with confidence, making the best use of the human emotions and abilities. It provides a positive boost to accomplishing life’s goals. All faiths, however, are not of equal validity, quality, and value. Even a wrong faith, however, may provide some of the benefits of having a faith. But why would anyone want to knowingly embrace a wrong faith?
Reference for Chapter 1
Ehrman, Bart D.,
2005 Misquoting Jesus. Harper Collins Publishers, New York, NY.
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