"In a word, the Scriptural data leave us wholly without guidance in estimating the time which elapsed between the creation of the world and the deluge and between the deluge and the call of Abraham. So far as the Scripture assertions are concerned, we may suppose any length of time to have intervened between these events which may otherwise appear reasonable. The question of the antiquity of man is accordingly a purely scientific one, in which the theologian as such has no concern."

B. B. Warfield, "On the Antiquity and Unity of the Human Race"
reprinted in Biblical and Theological Studies (P & R, 1968), pp. 238-261.

These words were spoken by B. B. Warfield, a stalwart champion of the divine inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture, about a century ago. Warfield was among a number of famous theologians and Christian thinkers who have argued the same premise, men such as Charles Hodge, James Oliver Buswell, R. K. Harrison, and Francis Schaeffer. Basically they claimed that when it came to the question of chronology and the age of the earth, Scripture and science had different, but not necessarily mutually exclusive aims. So if we allow Scripture to be Scripture and science to be science, is there reason to believe that God’s Word is true and that human beings are his special creation, made in God’s likeness and image? As we consider this question, we will find that as science advances, it comes closer and closer to the biblical account.

Just what are the odds of intelligent life emerging by means of gradual random natural processes from some anonymous bacteria that spontaneously generated 3.8 billion years ago? A team of non-theistic astrophysicists got together once and tried to figure it out. They concluded that the chance of such an event happening would be about 300,000 times less likely than “the probability of randomly picking out a single marked proton out of all the protons in the observable universe” (More Than a Theory, 183). In case you are wondering, this would be no chance.

This is why it is important to understand who those bipedal creatures popularly referred to as “missing links” really were. Evolutionists argue that they were the natural ancestors of modern humans from which we differ only in degree, not kind. However, DNA tests on a number of Neanderthal and Homo Erectus specimens have revealed that these species were very stable throughout the duration of their tenure on earth, showing little if any evolutionary progress toward human morphology. Not only that, but human DNA samples that date back 25,000 years show no overlap with and substantial difference from Neanderthal DNA (More Than a Theory, 185).

Additionally, these earlier “hominid” species showed much faster physical maturation, particularly in brain size as a proportion of body mass. The modern human is unique as a creature whose extended adolescence allows a much longer period for the maturation of the brain. Hence, the biological connection between these earlier creatures and humans appears quite remote, and most of these bipedal species were extinct long before or early during the tenure of humans on earth. Whatever they were, they were not human or in the process of becoming human.

Through the study of mitochondrial DNA (which we inherit only from our mothers) and y-chromosomal DNA (which we inherit only from our fathers), researchers have come to conclude that modern humans (Homo sapien sapiens) have descended from a single female and a single male who lived approximately 50,000 years ago somewhere at the juncture of East Africa and Asia. Interestingly, anthropology and archeology seem to offer confirmation of this date. It was at this moment in history that a sudden explosion of technology and culture occurred.

Excavation of sites estimated to be about 40,000 years old have uncovered sophisticated tools such as axes, awls, shovels, knives, harpoons, fishhooks, hammers, and needles. Cultural artifacts such as clothing, jewelry, musical instruments, pieces of art, and evidence of complex language and religious ceremonies all appear suddenly, not gradually, in the archeological record about 40,000 years ago (More Than a Theory, 190). Furthermore, no evidence of any such technological or cultural trappings appears among earlier or concurrent hominid remains. Little if any evidence exists for such “evolutionary” progress among these more primitive bipeds leading up to this explosion.

These archeological findings indicate an anthropological Big Bang just as remarkable as the cosmological Big Bang that brought the universe into existence 13.7 billion years ago and the biological Big Bang that occurred during the Cambrian Explosion about 5.5 million years ago that suddenly brought into existence the majority of the major animal phyla. Each of these events defies Darwinism and leaves evolutionists pondering the cause of such mysteries. None of these events fits the picture of billions of years of gradual, incremental change and adaptation by means of random natural processes, but rather the sudden creative activity of an intentional agent.

Therefore, if we as Christians accept the wisdom expressed in the words of B. B. Warfield and allow science to do its job, we find that science is our friend as it continues to uncover evidence that verifies the Scripture’s claims even though it may not support our preferred notions of biblical chronology. Science informs theology of what theology cannot know from the Bible alone, such as the age of the earth and the timing of Adam’s and Eve’s creation. Theology informs science of the purpose and the meaning of the events that its methods continue to reveal. God has not left the mysteries of the natural world unsolvable nor has he allowed legitimate scientific discoveries to contradict his Word. We should celebrate these findings as the evidence continues to guide us to a conjunction of theology and science and the conclusion that modern humans differ in kind, not just degree, from any other creature that now inhabits or who has ever inhabited the earth. The findings of science increasingly support the notion that humans are created beings possessing marvelous capacities by virtue of bearing the image of their maker.

Blessings,

Arnie Gentile