After the Flood, by Bill Cooper
It is astonishing how much information comes to the surface once a document has been released from the veil of obscurity that modernism has thrown over it. Who would believe, when reading a modernist commentary on the book of Genesis, that so much evidence was available to prove, not its falsity, but its authenticity? Not its mythical nature, but its truth and astonishing historical accuracy? Who would believe, when reading a modern evolutionary book on dinosaurs, that so many records were available to demonstrate that these creatures did not die out millions of years before man came along, as the evolutionary scheme of things would have it, but have lived alongside man who recorded their activities and physical appearance in records both ancient and modern? And who would have believed, when reading a modern history book on the ancient world, that so many peoples from such diverse cultures actually recorded their own descent from the patriarchs of Genesis long before they could have heard of the Bible or have been taught any of its contents? And who would have believed that the creation/evolution controversy was such an ancient debate? It is a sobering matter, and one which presents us with a picture of our past that is quite unlike that which we are used to seeing.
It must certainly give us pause, and in the light of it all, we should surely now consider adopting a more reasonable and constructive approach to the study of the early history of mankind, and of the Genesis record in particular. Some, no doubt, will be quick to decry such an acceptance of the truth of the biblical record as an act of blind faith. But where does blind faith come into it when that record is so fully endorsed by the writings of so many disinterested, not to say antagonistic, witnesses, many of whose voices we have listened to both in the preceding chapters and the appendices which follow? When we read a book about king Henry VIII of England, we are not learning about him by way of blind faith, for we know that there are many independent sources to which we can go in order to verify what we have read. Rather, we believe the historical accounts of Henry VIII by way of informed reason, not faith. And exactly the same thing applies when we read the history that is contained in the book of Genesis and other parts of the Bible. We accept that history as well because, in the face of so many disinterested witnesses and corroborative statements, that is simply the reasonable thing to do. To discard such a vast weight of independent testimony would be most unreasonable, and would itself be a most irrational act of faith in the approach and highly questionable tenets of modernistic philosophy.
Thus it is by our accepting the overwhelming testimony of so many witnesses that we come to accept the Genesis record as a truly factual and historical account, surely a most reasonable approach. And if this leads us on to a saving faith in the God of Whom Genesis so eloquently testifies, then that faith too is seen to be a reasonable and informed faith, whatever our critics might think.
The student who has read thus far and would like to pursue some or all of the matters raised in this book, will find in the following appendices a great deal of information and source-material that should point him or her in the right direction. The casual reader also will find much of interest there which will expand his or her thought with profit. And on that note, I now leave the reader to either browse or burrow, hopeful that this book has shed a little light at least on a vast and complex subject, the early history of mankind. Most of all, though, I hope that when the Christian reader turns once more to the pages of Genesis, then he or she will do so with the added confidence that its contents are factual and accurate and that they have every sound reason for believing it, whatever modern biblical commentators might tell them to the contrary.
Those who have been stimulated by what they have read in this book, and who would like to join the Creation Science Movement in its work of restoring to beleaguered Christians the world over a confidence in the Bible's historical and scientific accuracy, may like to read carefully the following chapter which will tell them all about our work and aims. We are the oldest creationist organisation in the world and our workload is increasing all the time. But we cannot work alone.
The CSM needs you.