GOD, MAN AND THE UNIVERSE

The Unification of Science and Religion

Foreword

We are all Brothers and Sisters both biologically and spiritually. Since this is so I am dedicating this work to my Brothers and Sisters. This manuscript is the result of a lifetime of trying to logically fit together the seemingly opposite versions of the creation put forth, by religious belief, and science fact. My hope is that these insights may help those who believe in God our Father, but who also accept the truths of science, to come to a unity of thought with regard to the two.

Before you begin this manuscript I must provide my background so that you may have insight in to my perspectives. This personal background is important in understanding why "God, Man and the Universe" was written. I am a Christian as will be self evident to those who read this book. One of the great challenges of my life is that I have Aspergers Syndrome (high functioning autism) and was always considered by my peers and teachers to be rather stupid because I think and talk slowly. Because of this school was always a challenge for me although things did improve slowly in my high school and college years. I studied Chemistry and Math and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry and a year of postgraduate study in Biochemistry. My writing skills were always below par and as a result in my junior year in college I suffered the indignity of having to take Dumb Bell English. This was before the time when a handicap such as Aspergers Syndrome was considered as anything other than being slow or crazy. My motivation to understand the Universe has always pushed me to understand all that modern science has revealed. On the other hand I have always known our Father "God" on a basis that most cannot understand. I don’t say this with any presumption of superiority but rather as a fact, which has led to my all-consuming passion to somehow unify what, I know to be true with science, which also should be true. I have always been disturbed by those around me who proclaim the Earth to be 7,000 years old and totally ignore the ancient rocks around us on which are recorded the passage of billions of years. While attending school I discovered a strange dual view to be the rule among those in the scientific ranks that believed in God. Some made stabs at rationalizing the seeming infinite gap between the two points of view and I read their words with great enthusiasm. Unfortunately while explanations abounded I felt that they all fell short of the truth or seemed contrived.

Over the years since then I have continued to read science journals, and even thought that I could close the gap between religion and science. I desired to record my thoughts in this regard, and tried many times but found that my writing skills were so poor that I could not even complete one page before complete disgust of my inability overcame enthusiasm.

A few years ago a vast change came to my life. As one learns to expect in life, I was completely blind sided by the events that brought change. I was sent by my doctor to a heart specialist to check out some mild chest pain that I had experienced during the week. However, during a "routine angiogram" my blood clotted despite of the most advanced anticoagulants. Emergency heart bypass surgery was performed during which our Father had me escorted home. Almost all the things that I relearned in that place can’t be related simply because of the inadequacy of human intelligence and language, but a small part can be told. That knowledge came back to me as I stood in the presence of our Brother (The Savior) and was bathed in light and love so intense that I felt overpowered. While in this condition I was told by him of those things that I had yet to do. I told my Brother that I would gladly do all that I was asked, but told him that my physical body some how prevented me from writing. He already knew this and informed me that this was the reason for my being called home. He then placed his hands upon my head and blessed me that I would be able to fulfill the work and further blessed me that I would feel no pain from the surgery. IT WAS SO!

Some to whom I have told about my experience grow very silent as though this is some apostasy (which might claim their souls?) but I cannot deny what happened to me when I left this universe for that short period of time. What is written in this manuscript is somewhat revolutionary and this is somewhat disturbing to me as a person who prefers anonymity.

I have completed part of the work, that which you are about to read. I would like to challenge you to read the entire manuscript with an open mind. I realize that some of the concepts are rather revolutionary but nothing contradicts the teachings of Jesus Christ. The most important concept is one of perspective and being able to view the world through the eyes and minds of those who have gone before.

Some have asked me why a Buddhist upon returning from a near death experience would believe he or she had met Buddha as the being of light, and the answer again is one of perspective. If we imagine ourselves as a person who has no other life experience but Buddhism how else can they describe the being in the light upon returning? We all are limited by the knowledge we have gained in this life and are hard pressed to explain in any other terms.

To gain understanding of our natural world and our spiritual roots it is necessary that we consider some basic science. There is no requirement that the reader have a background in science to understand. Those sections, which deal with relativity, may be difficult to some but this characteristic of space-time must be considered to understand time itself. I do not presume that my understanding is final truth, or even a good beginning toward understanding time and space. I have, however, written to the best of my ability and understanding. It is difficult to quantify the story of creation as given in the Bible. I have tried to extract what science there may be therein. I present to each of you my perceptions with love and the hope that mankind in general may be helped by the information contained. I cannot separate my experience from these perceptions, as I am sure none of you could. I cannot deny that the need to write this was spurred by my experience as I lay on an operating table and left this place for a time. As a result of that, I personally can say that the only real fact, or truth, is that we are all the children of God. Such knowledge is by nature personal and cannot be given as proof to others. Therefore my hope is to convince a few of my Brothers and Sisters to seek their Father and follow the path established by our Brother Jesus Christ.

I am well aware that many that are devoted to science are uncomfortable with religion. May I call your attention to the fact that, there have been many great seekers of truth that have believed in our Father, while practicing the pursuit of scientific truth (i.e. Albert Einstein for one). May I ask you then to consider what is written and then ask your Father for his assurance that you are his child? If you will seek with real desire to know the truth you will receive it. However, do not seek him if you have no intent to follow his advice, for then knowledge will bring you sorrow.

Your Brother:

Brent Anderson

CHAPTER ONE

THE CREATION

In the place called Eternity there was God our Father and with him his Family. Not unlike mortal fathers, our Father’s sole purpose, with regards to his children, was/is to provide sustenance, education and life experiences so that they can become responsible adults. As would be expected in such a large family the children are spread over a continuum of growth and abilities. At any one time a small percentage of his children reach a point in their progression at which they must undergo what might be compared to a quantum leap in learning, a thoroughly new and unique experience for them. They have to leave home and journey to a place where for the first time in their lives they will be totally cut off from the presence and intelligence of their Father and Family. He would never force any of his children to undergo any test, so each of them is free to choose whether to participate. We are told that some of our spiritual siblings preferred a plan in which all were guaranteed success while giving up freedom of choice in this life. This particular plan was brought forward by one of our more forceful brothers. The familial disagreement led to a number of our brothers and sisters refusing to come to this testing place and therefore putting a stop to their progression or in other words they were damned. Their motivation for embracing this position was simply that they knew that the test was extremely difficult and they feared they would not be successful. All of us feared the test but recognized the need to move forward and fulfill our Father’s wishes. Our Father’s view was promoted and championed by another of our brothers who would become the Savior. The difficulty of the test was living without constant communication with our Parents. We who are now mortal are learning just how difficult with each passing year of our short mortal existence’s. This whole process is eternal and the number of children is vast beyond our limited conception. With regard to those who elected not to come they have opportunity to change their minds and resume progression or in other words become no longer damned.

To summarize, this Earth represents the next step for those of God’s children who have reached the ultimate attainable progress without the trial of mortality. That life here is a step in our education is clear from the teachings of our Father. The opportunity of life upon the Earth or its analogs is absolutely necessary if we are to continue our growth and maturation. The difficulty arises from the fact that we for the first time in our immortal existence find ourselves cut off from the constant and all encompassing presence and knowledge of the Father which was a beacon for all our actions prior to this life. During our spiritual existence it was not nearly as difficult to make correct choices. Granted that some did disagree but a great majority did not.

The plan was to establish a place of isolation where the children of the Father would be free to make decisions for themselves. This universe is that place. Its creation was not difficult for our Father since it is an often-repeated process.

God is eternal and he has told us that we are as well. Therefore we must develop some understanding of our Fathers time to grasp the relationship of Eternity and our time. Time as we know it, requiring beginnings and ends does not pertain to the Kingdom of our Father. In fact time, as we know it, is completely relative to the speed with which any body of mass (in our universe) is traveling in comparison to any other body. For example when we consider an extreme case of a hypothetical observer on a photon of light we discover that for him that distance and time do not exist (this solution occurs in Einstein’s equation at light speed). The reality of our Observer is incomprehensible from our frame of reference, causing us to stretch our imaginations. Even so the fact remains that as relative speed of an object composed of mass increases, time and distance decrease until at near speed of light time and distance approach zero and mass approaches infinity.

This universe has three spatial dimensions with a fourth dimension which we call time. The author can testify that the Father and those living with him observe us on a constant basis while we cannot with any of our senses detect them. From this the only possible conclusion is that the realm of the Father is composed of other dimensions in addition to ours, which we cannot detect. The creation of this universe in terms of our time occurred billions of years ago but what that time period translates to for our Father is beyond our ability to understand. More importantly we are hard pressed to understand time in our universe that can vary from no time (at light speed) to very fast time (for very slow moving objects of mass). Our comfort with the three spatial dimensions and time comes from the fact that this is all we remember. Reality, for those of our Family not confined to this world, is that the seeming solid artifacts of our existence are completely relative and ethereal. Our observation is that the universe began with an explosion. The result was an expansion of the space-time previously trapped in the primordial black hole along with dissociated mass and very high-energy photons. The state of mass shortly after this incident is hard to envision. Theory suggests that the early stage of expansion was at light speed, and so time and space in those circumstances were, for us, incomprehensible. If we could look into the infant universe we would see only very bright light. As the universe expanded, a gradual cooling allowed the condensation of mass. With still more cooling mass began coalescing into proto galaxies and the ambient temperature of the Universe fell below that required for visible light. For the first time since the universe began, human eyes could detect areas of space that were not luminous. In Genesis we read (“ And God said, let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.”) The similarity of this account with what science suggests is evident. At that time life as we know it could not have existed because of the high ambient temperature of the universe. This was the time in which stars were being formed and they in turn were building heavier elements as they rushed through sometimes-short life spans to explode as novas and supernovas. The debris of these stellar cataclysms were swept up in the formation of later generation stars and the planetary systems that circle most stars.

The galaxy and solar system in which we live are part of an immense universe. It would be folly to assume that this universe was created solely for this planet, since there are probably innumerable such worlds. However we should not ignore the remote possibility that this universe was created for just our world and no other.

The post big bang events that resulted in our universe are rapidly being deciphered by science, and our understanding will increase with time. The Solar System itself is yielding its secrets and its formation is somewhat better understood. The Sun and its planetary system were formed from the cinders of other stars. We know this to be true since the heavy elements that make up the Earth are only produced in the cores of stars. In the beginning the only matter in the universe was hydrogen and from it, through the process of fusion, higher atomic weight elements were produced. The solar system as it began to form must have looked like a huge whirlpool of dust and gas. As gravitational contraction continued the center of the whirlpool became the sun. Within this vast cloud there were eddies which became the planets and moons.

The heavier elements were more prevalent towards the center of the proto solar system and so the earth and other inner planets are mostly rocky in character. If we consider the inner planets it is obvious that only Earth is capable of comfortably supporting life at this time. Yet that was not always the case for the Earth. Billions of years ago the Earth’s surface was pocked with impact craters and ran with constant lava flows while the atmosphere was, for us, poisonous. As time passed the Earth cooled and water began to condense from the atmosphere. The first rains were immediately vaporized as they fell on molten rock. The surface of the Earth was unrecognizable because the plasticity of the then very thin crust would have not allowed for large variations in height. Because of this the first oceans, when they finally formed, would have covered most of the planet surface with only volcanoes showing above the surface of the sea. As the crust of the Earth thickened, tectonics became the prime shaper of the Earth. Its effects were to create the first dry land and mountain ranges.

Compare this with the account in Genesis. (While doing this please keeps in mind that when the Father imparts knowledge to a man, that that message will be reported within the framework and language of that individual’s perception of the world.) “And God said, let there be a firmament”(Atmosphere)” in the midst of the waters,’ (gaseous and liquid water) ‘and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters, which were under the firmament from the waters, which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God created the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God created the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.” The two days of the creation that are reported took hundreds of millions of years from the beginning of the Earth. We the children of God on Earth may have difficulty in understanding the vastness of millions or billions of years but to God time is just another dimension to be used in the creation process. It also helps to keep in mind that to God this universe is insubstantial and of a temporary nature.

The Earth continued to cool and in the warm seas mortal life began. The first life would not look like life to us for it was based on complex chemical reactions. It could be characterized as organic molecules with the ability to use chemicals found in the ocean to reproduce. (Life is fundamentally defined by reproduction.) If you were to place modern bacteria in the oceans of the time they would probably not survive. As time progressed these molecules evolved forming more complex and viable molecules. Some used sunlight as a source of energy in the building of progeny and some used the molecules of others for energy. Over great periods of time this evolution led to organisms that became more like modern algae and bacteria. Each step in this progression was building a base upon which further advancements would be made and the food chain evolved with ever more competitive organisms. God’s chosen tool for creation was/is evolution.

The sea was the birthplace of life on Earth. It was from the sea that the first land life came and that life derived its energy from the sun using gases and the broken bits of rock in tidal flats for raw material. Plants have always provided food for animals that followed in their wake. Each would continue to evolve to more complex and efficient forms with the passage of time. Life in the sea became profuse and complex while competition was driving evolution ever more swiftly. The profusion of life forms provided ever more possible sites for mutation and evolution to occur. Life upon land lagged behind the sea because it is a harsher environment. However those organisms that were able to adapt found a vast ecological niche with virtually no competition. With time life forms in the sea were forced by competition to the less crowded environment of the land and so the quickening pace of evolution swept from the sea to the land. The Earth of the time was still quite warm by our standards with abundant rainfall and high humidity. All of these factors helped provide abundant primitive life with favorable living conditions. Even the catastrophes of meteor falls and volcanism added to conditions favoring evolutionary change. The acceleration of evolution is recorded in the rock strata of the Earth and that change in rate can be attributed to burgeoning numbers of life forms and the expanding food chain. It is evident to the student of paleontology that the time from the beginning of the Earth to the first complex life forms is measured in billions of years while the time after the advent of those organisms is measured in millions of years. (The 80-year human life span makes understanding such time periods difficult.) Time is strictly an artifact of our universe and the days of creation will appear to grow shorter with each passing epoch. The next passage in genesis tells us in a poetic way that for animal life to exist there must first be plant life to extract energy from the Sun. “And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself upon the earth: and it was so.”

Several thousand of years ago a prophet (Moses) received these revelations from God and did his best to translate them for contemporaries. The question for each of us is a creation that takes billions of years the same as a creation that takes seven days when we don’t comprehend what either time period means. There are those who will say that any concept of creation that does not encompass a magical and literal seven earth day beginning for this Earth is wrong. Are they, in their ignorance, challenging the methods of God by saying that their concept of time is more correct? It should not be assumed that the creation was anything but strictly controlled and was not just allowed to progress by chance alone. Every step led to the next as soils evolved, which then played host to new plants that could use those soils to advantage. The food chain pyramid of both animals and plants grew layer upon layer in a slow but accelerating crescendo.

The age of dinosaurs represents a focus that excites us because of the shear size of these amazing creatures. This era also was home for many less imposing forms of fife. The rock records of the time show us an accelerating evolution of plants and animals as life forms struggled to fill ever changing ecological niches only to be displaced by ever more competitive life forms. Warm seas in which life abounded surrounded the continents and to this point survival was a function of competition for available food or space. Toward the last of the age of dinosaurs, other factors became important. The Earth was continuing to cool with atmospheric carbon dioxide levels declining with the slowing of volcanism. With the advent of mammals the age of reptiles slowly retreated. During these times mammals became ever more competitive and they claimed increasingly more ecological space. The dinosaurs were evolving as well but their heritage resulted in the much smaller but very showy birds. Plant life evolved just as quickly as animal life during these times. The age of mammals blossomed in cooler climates brought by continued cooling while the continents began to resemble those of today. The rock record testifies of many large and small mammals that existed only to be replaced by improved successors. Among these were animals that resembled modern apes and monkeys.

Before continuing further with the chronicle of the creation there is need to consider some background information that should help to bring understanding to a subject that at very least is highly inflammatory. The creation up to the time of the introduction of Adam and Eve into the world was/is typified by survival of the fittest. After the introduction of Adam and Eve to mortality, God expected that they, and eventually all men and women, would live by a new law that demanded man would become responsible for and concerned for others. The difficulty of such behavior is apparent considering the millions of years of competition induced genetic programming that tells each of us to survive at any expense. We all understand selfishness from our own experiences. This innate behavior would have us dominate others and be allied only with the socially dominant. Competition to establish superiority over other members of a tribe is obvious with most social animals including the primates. With supremacy goes the right to reproduce and eat the best food. That these desires are still a part of the instinct of modern man is inarguable.

These traits are a part of mankind’s genes. These same genetic imperatives were evident as well in the children of Adam an Eve. The parents of the sowing are first spoken of as being created in and living in the Garden. The Garden was unique in several respects. The first was that life there did not require survival of the fittest. All life within the Garden was perfect in every sense for it was patterned after the life forms found in our Fathers universe. This perfection was not only cosmetic but also genetic. Adam and Eve were truly Son and Daughter of God in a physical as well as a spiritual sense. We should assume that these two had perfected genetics, which were based upon the genes of this world and more importantly, knowledge of Gods laws. This subject will be expanded further in a later chapter.

In Genesis, the prophet Moses records his interpretation of what was revealed to him by God which misplaces several events that occurred earlier in the creation. The problem may not have been in the original but could have crept in with subsequent translations or recopying. However, as currently written the Sun and Moon and stars are created after the plant life of the Earth. It cannot be said that anything is impossible for God, but in the orderly creation, which we see recorded in stone it is apparent, that God constructs in an orderly manner. Therefore, it is extremely probable that the creation of the stars, Sun, and solar system occurred much earlier in the creation. In no way does this mean that seven periods of time or eras were not used by God only that somehow that the current text has been scrambled, or was not fully understood by the prophet or those who scribed the original record. The rock strata of Earth shows that plants and animals were developing at the same time and the sea was the medium where the first plants and animals existed. This knowledge does not detract from the account in Genesis but rather is a testimony of the difficulty of rendering immortal truths using the flawed tool of mortal language. Consider Moses a man whose whole experience is ancient Egypt and nomadic animal husbandry, who was challenged to find words to describe the creation as accurately as he did when we are just beginning to understand the creation today. Consider now the words of Moses. “And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.” Moses recorded what he was shown by God in his words and concepts, but he also gave us a record that conveys the importance of a whole and complete ecological system to support life.

As we consider evolution we are mindful that it was the tool God chose for creation. Many hundreds of thousands of years ago a branch of the primate family began to walk full time on their hind legs, thus freeing the front legs for manipulation of objects. These early primates left their skeletal remains in layers of sedimentary rock just as their ancestors did. The evolution of this family of primates is of intense interest to modern paleontologists because they believe them to be the progenitors of modern man. The animals and indeed the primates of this era would still appear very strange to us.

The climate of the Earth was gradually cooling and this factor led to decreasing or changed food supplies as the Earth moved toward another ice age. Because adversity fuels evolution, this event saw increasing numbers of organisms that could take advantage of the cooler climate. This adaptability is plainly seen in modern insects that develop tolerance for poison sprays or bacteria that develop immunity to antibiotics. This does not mean that the mutations that were more successful under new conditions would have been successful if conditions had not changed. It means only that life evolves to take advantage of current conditions.

The primates that walked on two feet continued to evolve and became expert in the use of rudimentary tools and their brain size increased in response to the challenges of the changing environment. The creation of the Earth was/is not a random happening, it was an orchestrated building of layer upon layer of life. In time, the equivalent of modern man appeared with the ability to construct sophisticated tools, to paint, and to mourn the dead. However their creation did not complete the work. Another step was to occur and it was essential. The Earth at this time was a place of kill or be killed, a place that made no allowance for weakness. The ice ages had repeated themselves several times and all the animals of Earth were competitive and strong but the strongest were the tribes of early man, they could and did eradicate some of the largest and fiercest land mammals.

The next era is the most important of all creation for the Earth was ready for planting that most important of all crops. In Genesis we read: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. The creation was not finished with this statement however because he had yet to build a Garden in Eden and place in the garden his son Adam and his daughter Eve. It is important to understand that two creations are referred to in Genesis the first is the creation of the Earth and the second the creation of the Garden of Eden. To this point we have been concerning ourselves with the first.

The plan called for a garden in Eden with a man and a woman who would be named Adam and Eve. The garden was not of the Earth but rather was isolated from the rest of the world by God. How this was done will be discussed in a later chapter. Nevertheless it was done because the laws of the garden were not survival of the fittest. Everything in the garden was perfection genetically and physically including the two children of God. There was no death in the garden; all life within was immortal. The animal life ate only the fruit of plant life so that even plants did not give up their lives to sustain animals. Outside of the garden life continued as before with survival of the cleverest and strongest. This state of affairs may have continued for some time and we have no information from which to estimate the length of time they stayed in the garden. We are aware of the story of Adam and Eve, the fall and how that occurred. It is a story that has both Adam and Eve in the untenable position of obeying a rule and by so doing preventing the eventual harvest, or disobeying and launching the great work of creation.

There was never any question that the two would metaphorically eat of the fruit of the Tree of knowledge of good and evil. The fruit was the conscious decision of Adam and Eve to become mortal. Once the decision was made and implemented the two were of necessity ejected from the idyllic and innocent state of the garden. It is certain that they were schooled by the Father in survival in this world prior to their departure. One of the most profound changes for them was going from a state in which they were in constant communication with God to one in which communication was very infrequent. Students of the New Testament are aware of the immense suffering of Christ when he was cut off from that constant communication the same happened to Adam and Eve. They certainly suffered for the loss of that privilege as well as coming into a world of pain and suffering. The era of creation culminated with this event.

CHAPTER TWO

THE PATRIARCHS

Upon leaving the garden Adam and Eve found themselves in the position of supporting life in a hostile world. Obviously, the change to an environment in which survival was not guaranteed was very difficult. Plants and animals that had competed and won their right to exist including the hominids inhabited the mortal Earth. The law that was used to create them sculpted the life forms of this world.

Evolution is controlled by many factors but there is one without which it could not occur, and that was and is death. Death is imperative for without it the whole process ceases. What progress could there be if the young did not replace the old, and the possible beneficial mutations they carried? On this world of limited resources the adults must make way for their children. Without this all the ecological niches would have been filled by the first life forms that appeared on the Earth and never relinquished, and if that were the case no room could be found for any but the immortals that came first.

Adam was immortal upon entering this world. His body was constantly replacing cells and parts as they wore out. That does not mean that he could not be killed by physical trauma, but only that physically his body was designed for eternity. The eventual death of Adam after 930 years can be attributed to mutation of his DNA. These changes were caused by background radiation and defensive chemicals produced by the plants and animals that formed their new diet. Life after the garden had only one sure outcome and that was eventual death of the body.

Adam and Eve began having children at a later age than the norm for endemic man. The record only makes mention of the male children which does make extrapolation more difficult. We know that there were female children but we are not given names or birth dates for them. Nor are we given names for male children other than the first-born or the birthright male in most instances. It appears from the record that the first-born male was never born prior to the sixtieth year of the patriarchal father. As we observe in the case of Enoch and his son Methuselah, and sometimes not till the father is over 100 years.

We are told that Adam and Eve had many children but unfortunately we are not told how many. Estimating the number is possible by making assumptions and using the age of the few children who are mentioned. We know that Abel (birth date approximately 90 years after garden) was the first born male in the family of Adam and that there was another son called Cain (birth date not given). Cain killed Abel and the third son Seth (birth date 130 years AG) received the birthright. Assuming that Adam and Eve began having children at 90 years (as later children and grand children did) and that they had an equal number of male and female children then in the period from 90 to 130 years approximately six children were born or about one every 6.7 years. The record states that Noah was nearly 500 years old when his first son was born. Since his son Ham was born so late in his life we could conservatively assume that they remained fertile up to 600 years. That would lead us to the assumption of a 510 year period of fertility with approximately 76 children being born to a couple in a life time. Further we will assume that most children survived because of the superior bodies they inherited from their parents. Since Adam was still alive to celebrate the birth of Lamech, his five fold great grandson, in the line of first-born sons. We can comfortably assume that the population at that time was approximately 250,000. This population figure could be adjusted because of voluntary exiles or defections, which probably increased with time, and some would have been murdered or killed in wars, leading to a lower figure of around 150,000. At the time of the flood it is possible that the number of the children of Adam was close to a million. As time passed genetic mutations were occurring in the bodies of the patriarchs and these were passed on to succeeding generations. Considering the perfection present at the beginning, all of these mutations would lead either to no effect in most cases, and deleterious effects in a significant few with regard to life span and health. However, another factor was probably even more important in this regard, but first we must consider some background information before proceeding.

To this point in the narrative we have not considered the men and women found on the earth prior to Adam's departure from the garden, but they also are important in the history of the patriarchs. These indigenous people would have been attracted to the borders of the lands inhabited by Adam’s extended family. This attraction would have grown with time as the prosperity of the group increased. The average life span of these men and women was approximately 30 years, as estimated by archeologists. Their appearance was not dissimilar to the children of Adam nor evidently did their genetics prevent interbreeding (this will be discussed later). From (6 Genesis 1-2) it is evident that the children of Adam were instructed not to interbreed with these men. The source of this instruction is not stated, but surely it was based upon the vast difference in the manner of life between the two groups (the men of the Earth lived the law of kill or be killed). However, this formed the foundation of the prejudice observed in later times among the children of Israel against those who were outsiders, or gentiles. Certainly there was a great need during the early years to prevent the decline of the Adams children to a condition of spiritual ignorance and savagery. However, from our Fathers point of view if any of these indigenous people (who are also His children) wished to observe his new law they would be welcomed in the Father's church and the community of Adam’s children. Certainly some were converted and after which intermarriage began. The patriarchal line, however, scrupulously observed the non-intermarriage rule until the time of Noah. In the case of Cain intermarriage was the rule rather than the exception and it is likely that few of his children were interested in Gods desires.

Given the situation where else would one who was exiled go but to the camps of the men of the Earth, where, because of the mystique these advanced men were surely welcomed. The result of crossbreeding was children with shortened life spans, compared to the patriarchs, but lengthened as compared to those in the tribe. Certainly some of the half-breed children would seek to join the children of Adam as converts.

It would have been very surprising if Cain was the only rebel and so we should presume that many became disaffected for myriad reasons leaving the fellowship of Adam's and Eve's family and Gods Church. Intermarriage of the two groups was inevitable and certainly was not unplanned for by God, for he knew it would happen. It should be clear that if the plan formulated by God did not make provision for the ability to interbreed, then the genetic makeup of the men of the earth would not have been compatible with the sons and daughters of Adam. Surely the patriarchal line avoided the intermixing longer than probably all other lines. The first noticeable effect is with Noah's son Shem and his son Arphaxad who lived 600 and 440 years respectively. By the time of Abraham life spans were down to 180 years and falling. To help visualize all these trends refer to Figures 1,2,3, which follow.

It should not amaze us that the children of Adam began straying quickly for almost all families have black sheep. Certainly, their family did, it began with the second born son Cain. The reason for this disaffection certainly was not for lack of good example from Adam and Eve or the lack of Gods discourse with Cain. In fact he talked to God directly after he murdered Abel, at which time he thought to lie to God, he was then told his punishment. He broke the law of his God in a moment of passion and afterward must have known that he would be discovered and punished. We might assume that he felt the reward was worth the risk of his punishment. But what did he believe his reward to be? Some have argued that he felt that he would become more powerful than Satan is by this act. It seems unlikely however that this could have been his immediate goal since the prospect of that reward, if such it is, was certainly rather far removed for a man who had no idea when he would die or possibly if he would die. Rage and jealousy were probably his only motivation and he in all probability murdered his brother in a fit of passion. His exile came swiftly and he would not have been able to take any of Abel’s possessions into exile. He of course was probably convinced that he was unjustly punished. In his mind he rationalized that his brothers perceived superior attitude justified his actions. We may safely presume he taught his children that he was innocent and unfairly judged. This is a familiar story, the same story is told every day in the courts and jails of the modern world. Those who commit crimes rarely admit they were at fault. The excuses are legion, but usually revolve around the concept that they were compelled to do what they did by their victims. They despise those who they consider to be goody-goody. This rationale of course is evident even in the non-criminal interplay between men. The one thing we can be sure of and that is that Cain was not repentant of his action and he would have lied to God if he could have done so. He indeed founded and institutionalized the art of lying amongst Adam’s children. We should also remember that Cain probably lived over 900 years and had opportunity to spread his version of events as is the way of all who choose that course. He probably fathered many more children, than his brothers or sisters, through the vastly more fertile women he discovered in his exile (compare the birthrate of the women of the family of Adam with that of modern women).

Seth, the son of Adam, received the birthright and he observed the law of his father and of God. He had a son whose name was Enos who probably followed the law and teachings of his father and grandfather. The number of children in the family must have been fairly substantial during his later years. The progression of events within the group surely was one in which the children moved to new spots along the fertile river valley in which Adam had settled to establish settlements for themselves and their children. Obviously the river valley or valleys would offer the easiest and most convenient place to live, and there was plenty of room for expansion for this primarily agrarian people. The distance between communities would provide a buffer between groups but not be so great as to prevent a common defense. Travel to other settlements would have been primarily local in nature but on the whole they would have tended to stay in close geographical proximity except for the exiles.

The record becomes brief after Seth with just cryptic references to the years and who was next in the line. Cainan was the son of Enos and his son was Mahalaleel. The line continued with Jared then Enoch. With Enoch something extraordinary occurred in that we are told that he "walked with God and he was not; for God took him". The Father does not take or translate a man or woman unless that individual has reached a state of perfection that will no longer allow them to remain on the Earth. When Enoch was taken, it should be noted that only Adam and Seth had died and all the other patriarchs were alive (see figure 3). We observe that though Enoch was translated that others of the patriarchal line remained including his son Methuselah and grandson Lamech. Lamech's son was Noah of who there is much recorded.

Noah is well known to us but there is much more to be understood about his times that pertain to religious history. In chapter six of Genesis verses one and two we read "And it came to pass, when men (indigenous man) began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters (Indigenous woman) were born unto them, That the sons of God (Adam's progeny) saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them to wives of all which they chose." In other words the sons of god (the male members of the family of Adam and Eve) took wives from the camps of men (who were probably a mixture of the original men and women of the Earth and the dissidents from the sons and daughters of Adam). The result is that we see (figure one) that the life spans of the children of Noah became much shorter which leads to a question. Why didn't Noah have children until he was 500 years old (see figure #3)? This was extremely unusual even for the relatively late reproducing patriarchal line. From the reference in Genesis it would seem likely this occurred because of a lack of, purebred women for him to marry. From this we might presume that when he finally married, with Gods knowledge and consent, he took as wife, or wives, who were of mixed genetic ancestry, but were nevertheless spiritually qualified. We read in the third verse of Genesis six "And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years." In other words the mixture of the two groups would result in shorter life spans for the patriarchs. But, more importantly this change seems in some way to make communication with the Father and his Kingdom more difficult. Why the latter occurred we can only conjecture but it would seem likely that some basic difference in the ability to hear and understand God was a part of the genetic makeup of the bodies of the sons of Adam.

We know that Noah labored to redirect those who had strayed from the path outlined by the Father. He did not enjoy great success in this for he had only his family with him on the Ark. All of those who would have been classed as the sons and daughters of Adam had fallen away. This in spite of the fact they enjoyed a greater ability to talk to and understand the Father.

God told Noah that he would destroy those who had fallen and the lands, on which they lived and instructed him to make an ark for him, his family and the animals he prized. The need for their destruction most certainly came from open rebellion against God. They would have delayed the implementation of his plan if He did not take action. For their part they had sure knowledge of God and his laws yet sought after power and dominion over the Earth. In the end however, cleansing the Earth needed only the elimination of the rebels, not all life.

Noah was instructed to build an ark 450 feet long (137 meter) 75 feet wide (22.9 meters) and 45 feet high (13.7 meters). There were three levels with an approximate square footage of 27,000 square feet (3,137 square meters) per level. Into this space Noah was instructed to load food for he and his family and the animals that were to accompany them. The food had to be sufficient to support the lives of all for approximately one year. We are told in Genesis that all life upon the face of the Earth was destroyed in the flood and certainly to those who were on the ark it must have seemed so. From their point of view the flood was truly awesome as it swept down the valleys that had been inhabited by the children of Adam since the departure from the garden. Those on the ark, from whom the story came, must have believed that all life was swept from the Earth. However, if we look at the information given and the evidence recorded in the Earth's record we must conclude that the flood covered only the area inhabited by the progeny of Adam.

First consider the capacity of the ark and the amount of food plus animal and human life it could carry. Consider as well the plant life that would be necessary for establishing life after the flood. Certainly if the whole world were covered with water for ten months almost all plant life would die except for a few odd seeds that could survive being completely waterlogged. The scriptural record tells us that Noah, his wife or wives, three male children (and probably their sisters), and their wives or husbands were on the Ark. If we assume that each person would consume two pounds of food a day and that there were probably at least 10 people then the food for required would run about 8000 pounds (3628 kg). This figure is fairly inconsequential though, when compared to the amount of food eaten by the herbivores of which mostly there were seven (the clean beasts) of each species aboard. Food for seven horses for a year would require 168,000 pounds of hay (76,190 kg), seven cows would require 252,000 pounds (114,285 kg), and seven Elephants would require 2,520,000 pounds (1,142,857 kg). If we then consider all the herbivores of the Earth, as large as the ark was there would not have been sufficient room for that much food let alone the animals. That leads us to conclude that the ark was meant only for the animals and seeds that were used commonly by the people of Adam. The only conclusion is that the flood was a local event that was great enough to destroy the wicked and their land but not great enough to cover the whole Earth. Then we don't need to rationalize the existence of the unique species of Australia, America, and Africa etc. Or invent insupportable theories to explain their re-establishment in their ecological niches. Further we don't need to explain where all the water came from and went.

Noah and the Ark therefore were washed out to sea by a very large flood. The ten-month voyage most certainly covered a great distance from the lands of Adam. We know that the voyage carried them to what we know as the Middle East. The starting point of the Journey can be extrapolated, since we know the time spent adrift at sea, to somewhere in the Americas. Further refinement of this extrapolation could be made. By considering the large area of the flood, we would suspect a large fairly flat area relatively close to rivers in a Temperate Zone where ice dams formed by receding glaciers might be located up stream. Such an area could have been located in the central United States.

When Noah and his family released a dove and the dove returned with an olive branch, they felt that they might leave the ark and begin their new life. It should be noted that an olive tree that had been under water for ten months would not have survived to produce a new shoot. The record of the patriarchs, of course, was kept by Noah through this time and reflects his understanding of the events of the flood. If you refer to figure one, you will see that Noah was still alive when Abraham was born and died only 30 years before Isaac was born. Shem, the son of Noah, was still alive when Israel marked his 50th year. The isolation of the families or groups of people must have been great in this new land for youngest of the patriarchs to record so little of the events of the older men in that line. Essentially the only information recorded is the birth and death dates for most in the line (this probably came from a memorized oral history). Little bits of information sneak into the account occasionally that have the ring of stories that were passed from father to son, but these are unfortunately few.

The tower of Babel represents one of these, and from it we can extract some information. The first concerns the language of the descendants of Noah, which had been passed down from his fathers, and all of Noah’s children used it. This was not true for the many indigenous tribes they encountered that were attracted to the civilization of the children of Noah. The confounding of speech was probably of natural origin. The result was that isolation of groups of Noah’s children became more pronounced as communication became difficult. Another point of interest is that the group that founded Babel came from the East. This leads us to believe that the original landing place of Noah's Ark may have been somewhat different than the traditional view.

The result of the breakdown of communication is many sided. The children of Noah were not able to complete the Tower of Babel its true. The inability to communicate must also have caused a good deal of mistrust for those who were no longer close. The method of the confounding of languages was very simple and natural. Certainly the building of a large tower would have attracted men (tribes of men) from great distances and each of the new tribes would certainly have brought with them their language. Since the time of construction was relatively long, the children of Noah would have tended to marry into and have been assimilated into the various tribes that had come to witness and perhaps help build the tower.

It is natural for those speaking the same language to separate themselves from other groups. The net effect was the dispersion of the children of Noah across the face of the Earth. As with all occurrences, there are negatives and positives and it is obvious that the spreading of Noah's seed throughout the world was important to the plan of God. If you consult figure one, you will also see the trend of shortening life span continue in the line of the patriarchs, which leaves us to believe that the intermixing of the genetics of the children of the Earth was progressing very rapidly. This trend would be much more pronounced in the non-patriarchal lines where the selection of mates was not necessarily meticulously scrutinized. The dispersion from Babel would have accelerated the intermixing of the two groups of men. However, the record follows only the patriarchs, and we hear little of the others except when they are referred to as gentiles. The intermixing is complete in modern man where we see a great many individuals with features that were typical of Cro-Magnon man. It also explains the statement of Christ when he said that God could provide children for Abraham from the rocks of the Earth. Referring to the fact that all life was created from the elements or dust of the Earth. The dispersion of Noah's children can be likened to the leavening of bread, for it led to mankind, as we know it today.

The record becomes sketchy after Noah and his sons and remains so until Abraham. We are told cryptically that in the days of Peleg the lands were divided. How they were divided remains a question. Did the children divide the lands creating borders or did sea level rise enough to cut some land bridge between two areas? It's hard to say with the information in Genesis.

The record becomes voluminous with Abraham and marks the beginning of many of the Middle Eastern tribes. The most important of these was Israel. Little is said of priesthood until Abraham, but certainly all the patriarchs were holders of the priesthood that God gave to Adam. This priesthood can be characterized as the right of proxy in the administration of Gods kingdom on Earth, as well as the right of prophecy both personal, and that meant for all the children of the Father on the Earth.

CHAPTER THREE

ABRAHAM, ISAAC, and ISRAEL

Abraham, his son and Grandson were all a part of the patriarchal line, which is traced back to Adam. However the record changes radically with them and we must presume that this reflects the change from oral history to written history. Another factor in this change was the fervor with which the prophets and children of Israel devoted to this new form of history. This caused a wealth of information representing the views of those who could write. We of necessity, have to winnow the recorded thoughts of the many divergent views to arrive at the truths that dovetail with the laws of God and the Universe.

When Abraham was seventy-five years old he was led to the land that was later to be called Israel, and there he made sacrifice to God. The reason for sacrifice was the dedication of the new land for the use of his family. At their arrival in the land Abraham and Sarah were without children. His tribe consisted of his father Terah, probably his mother who is not named and many servants. Additionally, Lot, the son of Abraham's brother, was part of the tribe. It is interesting that there were many others with them who were "servants" owned by Abraham and Lot. The servants were considered to be a part of the family rather than just slaves. Their number was fairly substantial, for Abraham was able to field a small army when necessary. Terah, Abraham's father, is never mentioned again, even though he must be a part of the entourage. If he had left, it would surely have been mentioned, and yet he shares the fate of those before him in that he disappears from the record. He died when Isaac was over thirty years old and was outlived by his sixth great grandfather Shem (figure 3). If Abraham were alive today many would view him as a despot, but of course in his day such a lifestyle was advantages for him and also for those who served by providing security to all.

Abraham and those with him were all nomadic shepherds and did not build permanent dwelling places. The narrative informs us that, after his first visit to the land of promise, he found a famine in the land and so moved south to find better pasture for his animals. This eventually brought him to the land of Egypt which for him was a wicked if prosperous country. Before entering Egypt he took his wife aside and told her, and probably all those with him, to say that she was his sister. He feared that the Egyptians would kill him if they knew that he was married to such a beautiful woman (This clearly shows us his opinion of the Egyptians). Sarah at the time was at least 65 years old, and yet was attractive enough to cause such concern. This should not surprise us, for in both she and Abraham ran the blood of the patriarchs, genetically speaking. The relative youthfulness of Sarah and Abraham was undoubtedly proportionate to their total life span.

To help keep our perspective, it should be noted that at this time in the life of Abraham Noah had just died and Shem, Arphaxed, Salah, Eber, Reu, Serug and Terah, all members of the patriarchal line still lived. It is evident that the intermixing of the genetics of the children of the Earth was occurring ever more rapidly with each new generation in the line. Those who had died tended to be the youngest, like Nahor, Abraham's grandfather and Peleg, Nahor's great grandfather.

The morality of the day is exemplified by the account of Sarah being taken into the Pharaoh's house, with Pharaoh bargaining with Abraham for her purchase. We are told that for this, God plagued Pharaoh and when he discovered that she was Abraham's wife he accused Abraham of lying. He also asked him to explain why he had done this to him. He, being still aggrieved (perhaps feigned), ordered Abraham, Sarah and the rest of their group to leave Egypt, with an escort to make sure they did. The record thus gives us a somewhat fuzzy view of this Pharaoh. Was he wicked, or was he a man of principle who would not take another mans wife or life? It is difficult to cast him as a wicked man in light of his reaction, but alternately he may be a man of devious intent who feared a furtherance of the plagues. Then again, perhaps Abraham prejudged the people of Egypt and found that his prejudice was not correct. Certainly it is the kind of mistake that comes from judicious consideration of potential pitfalls in a foreign culture.

We know that Abraham then traveled to the north and there found that his herds and Lot's herds could not coexist in the same area, so they amicably separated so that there would be no friction between the two groups. Sometime after the separation, the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah lost a battle with other kings of the area and Lot was taken captive with them. Abraham, on hearing, sent a force of 318 men who rescued Lot and his family. From this we can presume that the number of people in this nomadic camp was fairly large. Surely if an army of 318 could be enlisted there were more than a thousand (perhaps two or three thousand) men, women and children in his camp. It also gives us reason to believe that the kingdoms that his army defeated were not much, if any, more populated.

Most of those in the camp must have been servants for Abraham did not have an heir, and this worried him greatly. He was wrong in his concern because he should have known that God was not going to let the line expire with him. Abraham and Sarah were vulnerable to self-doubts, and evidently felt they must find an alternative to the lack of posterity. The solution was that Abraham would take another woman as a wife (a gentile). This was not an uncommon arrangement for the times but it is one that brought with it many problems.

Sarah was chosen from the few available females in the highly inbred line to be Abraham's wife and the mother of the continuing line of patriarchs. When Sarah was about 75 years old she gave her handmaid to Abraham as a second wife. Her name was Hagar and she was an Egyptian. Abraham either purchased her for Sarah when in Egypt, or she may have been a gift to Sarah from Pharaoh. Nevertheless, she was not the approved mother (by God) for the line of patriarchs. The result of this marriage was the birth of Ishmael. When Hagar became pregnant she rather naturally felt that she had done that which Sarah could not. This led to a very predictable response from Sarah, who now felt like even more of a failure. However, she had one advantage; she was the first love of Abraham. It is evident from Abraham's response to Sarah's complaint about Hagar's pride, that even though Hagar was his wife that she was still considered to be Sarah's maid (servant) and she therefore was subject to the will of Sarah. She was treated "hardly" by Sarah who felt that Hagar was showing disrespect for her. This prompted Hagar to run away to avoid further retribution.

Hagar, however, was certainly innocent of error in the events up to the point that she became proud in doing what Sarah could not, and because of this God blessed her that her son would be the father of a great posterity. She was instructed by God to return to Sarah and to be submissive to her, which she did. In her mind, and probably Abraham's and Sarah's, this child would be the heir. This all occurred when Abraham was in his mid eighties.

When Abraham was 99 years God the Father told him that he and Sarah would have a son. Abraham, being somewhat amused, asked, "can a man who is 100 and women 90 have a child will you not rather consider Ishmael and bless him"? Abraham's incredulity would, upon first glance, appear to be well founded. However, if you accept the fact that a man of 50 years and a woman of 40 years can have a child in a life span of 70, years then proportionately Abraham and Sarah might well expect to have a child at ages 128 and 102, respectively, in a life span of 180 years. We can assume that since Abraham was doubtful, he was judging his ability to father a child with Sarah by the yardstick of his experience with shorter-lived servants in his traveling city. It would seem that he did not fully understand his heritage. His difference sprang from the heritage of his fathers, and the line of the patriarchs would be the last to reach genetic equilibrium with the rest of mankind. We can also presume that Abraham had lost touch with the others of his line who were still alive during his life span. This is what we would expect considering his nomadic lifestyle. Ultimately, the promised heir was born to Abraham and Sarah, and his name was Isaac.

Sarah was in fact Abraham's sister; they shared the same father, Terah, but they had different mothers. The practice of marrying sisters was traditional, in that it started with the children of Adam and Eve when the danger of genetic deformity due to inbreeding was zero, due to the genetics of Adam and Eve. With time, however, the chance of genetic deformity increased as the children of the covenant intermixed with the men of the Earth. This may be the reason that Abraham and Sarah were relatively infertile while Abraham's fertility with unrelated wives was extraordinary. Abraham took another wife whose name was Keturah, after the death of Sarah, at an age of at least 135 years and she bore him six sons. Abraham's father and probably others of the patriarchal line practiced polygamy, the first mention of which comes with the record of Abraham.

The joy brought by the birth of Isaac was short lived in the household of Abraham, for with it the jealousy between Sarah and Hagar boiled to the surface. Sarah saw, or believed she saw, Ishmael mocking the birth of her son. The result was that Hagar and Ishmael were banished, but not without Abraham blessing them. The blessing was not the same that would go to Isaac, but one that guaranteed a great posterity to Ishmael. The banishment represents the beginning of a feud that still continues between the children of Israel and the Arab nations. The feud seems to us rather pointless because the homogenous nature of mankind almost guarantees that there is no real genetic difference between the two groups today.

We are enlightened as to the process of selection of the covenant wife in the case of Rebekah, who was selected to be Isaac's wife. Abraham's brother Nahor, and probably a sister Milcah, had a son by the name of Bethuel, who in turn fathered Rebekah. Abraham chose her as the wife of Isaac. The inbreeding of the patriarchs had not reached the point of total disaster with Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. God allowed and encouraged this practice because of the need for a direct link from Adam to Jesus Christ. To practice such inbreeding today represents extreme folly, because such marriages would bring many genetically deformed children. That this was not the case for these men adds credence to the concept of the genetic perfection of Adam and his children. However, equilibrium was surely in sight, for with each passing generation the life spans of the patriarchal line continued to decline and approach the life span of the men of the Earth.

The story of Jacob and Esau is well known, and we will not discuss it at length, but it shows us that the birth right was a spiritual reward and could be granted to the second born or as in the case of Adam's son Seth to the third born. With Jacob (Israel) a rather significant milestone is passed in that Shem, Salah and Eber all died during his life. Thus passed the last men who lived for several hundreds of years. The lifestyle of Jacob and his brother was that of nomadic herdsmen, just as it had been for his father and grandfather. They were prophets of God, but they were also men who had to deal with the daily necessity of living in a world that was greatly different from the world of today. Their interpretation of the things they were shown by God would be told in the words and understanding of their culture. We must remember this as we try to understand their perceptions from our vantage point. We have little in common with these men in almost every respect, and if one of these men and his entourage were suddenly placed in our time he would be in court telling a judge why he should not go to jail on charges of slavery. Certainly women, in general, would be offended by the fact that his wives were highly valued possessions who had to obey their husbands every command. If the lifestyle or their actions offend us we should remember that they were important in establishing the heritage and teachings of God. These men were not perfect and made mistakes and learned from them. A prophet, in any case, speaks for God only when directed by God and has no authority beyond that. Additionally, those acts for which we might condemn them might in actuality have been adjudged as the correct thing to do by a jury of their peers.

The children of Jacob, of whom there were 12 sons (daughters?), were largely an undisciplined lot who embarrassed their father with deviousness and caused him great agony when they sold the favored son Joseph into slavery. They told their Father that he had been slain by a beast. The birthright son Joseph was the first-born son of Rachel, the woman whom Jacob would have married first if not for the duplicity of his father in law. He was next in the long line patriarchs. This brought the wrath of the older siblings on Joseph.

The connection with Egypt runs deep in the lives of the patriarchs as a place where they find refuge from various hazards. From the point of view of the children of Abraham, Egypt certainly was a gentile country with a pagan religion. Yet again and again the covenant children, including Joseph, Mary and the infant Messiah, fled to Egypt for refuge. The logical reasons for this pattern is that Egypt was a large and relatively stable civilization that provided a means of survival in hard times. However, from a spiritual point of view perhaps what we observe is that the chosen people chose disobedience rather often and when they were chastised they would flee to Egypt. Leaving Egypt was not always easy as in the case of Moses and the degree of difficulty seems to be proportionate with the relative innocence of the people. So Egypt represented both prison and safe haven to the children of the patriarchs.

The existence of slavery in this society should be troubling to us. The reason for men and women living in this universe is freedom of choice to do either good or evil, and so there can be no greater wrong than to deprive men or women of the chance to exercise that freedom. If we examine this concept carefully we see that murder is the ultimate act of denial of this right and slavery is also a very serious breech. If we examine in detail the economic systems of the modern world, we will conclude that all enslave man in one way or another? Even in the nations that practice free enterprise the majority are economically enslaved to the few who manage to ascend to the top of the power structure? Those who achieve the lofty peaks of power would say that their gain is deserved because they are more talented, beautiful or intelligent than those lower than them in the social pecking order. They forget that God gave the advantage that they enjoy for the benefit of all mankind and not solely for themselves. The tyranny of the few over the many can be witnessed in all aspects of human society from grade school through adult culture. It is a natural genetic trait that is mirrored in all animal and plant species of the Earth. Certainly mankind's genetic instructions include the directive to gain power and by so doing achieve a greater chance to survive and breed. We should always be mindful of the fact that all life on the Earth is a product of evolution that grants survival to the fittest.

This state of affairs is right with respect to evolution but wrong from the standpoint of our mission on the Earth. In terms of the pasts lack of freedom however, current free society is a vast improvement. The goal is, at some time, hopefully in the near future; that we can live as God has directed us in a society in which all would share all things in common. Ideally man should be able to live in a community in which no one would seek advantage over any other.

So we must judge our ancestors with understanding and remember that by this time in history the Adamic line was no longer what it once was, and the spiritual advantage that was afforded them was certainly waning. Hopefully, we can understand that they were men and women, and the deification of these ancestors does nothing to help the cause of God. Rather it detracts from it as antagonist’s point out the flaws of those who were prophets.

It is difficult for us to discern how the social fabric of Abraham’s time differs from that founded by Adam because of the lack of any real description of the life of the first family. However, it is obvious that those with perfect breeding could and did break the laws of God. We can safely assume that Adam did not make slaves or own other human beings whether indigenous or not. It also seems obvious that Eve was a partner not a possession as shown by equality of the two in the Garden and subsequently after the expulsion. There were certainly changes in family life with the passage of 2000 years, and many of those were in response to the constant battle for survival but it is hard to understand how polygamy was anything but counterproductive.

Some claim that the lot of mankind is a gradual decline into total savagery. That this is wrong is obvious to any student of history. While recorded history reveals many reversals of civilization they have always been countered later with higher standards of freedom. Layer upon layer of generations have built a better world in which more men are made free with the passing years. The accumulation of knowledge and understanding are leading us inexorably to the millennial reign of the Messiah.

Chapter Four

The Children of Israel

Israel conferred the birthright on Joseph, and Joseph probably bestowed it on Ephraim. So at the beginning the patriarchal birthright and priesthood leadership was in their hands. The sojourn of the children of Israel in Egypt started pleasantly, but ended in animosity. In addition the patriarchal thread is broken along with the continuity of the record. The only assumption we can make is that for reasons not stated; leadership by patriarchal birthright was lost in a miasma of Egyptian paganism. The children had fallen into many pagan practices, which they amalgamated with their own religious heritage. This is understandable in light of the multitheistic nature of Egyptian society. The only thread that tied them together in this environment was family and tribal bond. However, leadership was no longer invested in one man, but rather consisted of a loose weave of tribal leaders who could not bring coordinated effort. The inevitable Egyptian persecution is what solidified the children of Israel as a people.

When Moses was sent to rescue them they were ready to follow him and leave Egypt in spite of the unknown dangers of the trip. The Egyptians created the motivation of the people, and Moses, who was slow of speech, had no need of oratory to get them to follow him. This first taste of slavery was just a harbinger of the future in which the children of Israel would be beaten like a piece of metal in a blacksmith's shop. That they were the chosen people in Gods eyes cannot be argued. That they in general acted otherwise is obvious. The record shows us a people much given to leaving the path marked by God, and this propensity eventually led to the institution of the Mosaic Law. This law was a lesser, but very specific, written law that circumscribed in Ten Commandments what was acceptable and not in daily life. Even then it was evident that the law was ignored to a large degree as soon as the influence of Moses, Joshua, other great spiritual leaders was absent. This people, however, represented an island in a world in which the only law was survival of the fittest. Despite their faults, God continued to alternately nurture and discipline the children of Israel. As a result, they became a resilient people who at times were very obedient to the law of their fathers.

With Joshua the last evidence of the decline in the length of life is given, for we are told that he lived 110 years, and we may safely presume that within the next few generations life spans would approximate those of modern man. It is noted, however, that when God took Moses he was 120 years old (the process of translation will be discussed in a later chapter).

The exploits of most of the sons of Jacob (Israel) were of a questionable nature even in their own time, but today they would seem to us the acts of hardened criminals. We must presume that since there was no retribution for their acts they might be considered the norm for the times (might makes right). The world of 2000 BC was brutal. We should not presume that God in anyway condoned much of what we read in the record, only that he was using the best material he had to work with. From this sometimes unlikely material were raised the prophets of God who taught values that have become a beacon to all men.

Moses was called by God to lead organize and in general domesticate the children of Israel. He was unusual in that he conversed with God face to face, which reminds us of Adam, Enoch and Noah. As to why this is unusual is somewhat perplexing, for surely God is willing to impart knowledge to his children at any time. Nevertheless Moses needed every bit of help he could get for the challenge was certainly great. If we could have talked to him after the breaking of the first tablets he brought from Sinai, which contained the higher law that the savior would later re-institute, he would surely have told us he felt like a failure. He of course was not a failure; he persevered and brought the children of Israel to the gates of the land of promise as a unified nation. The legacy of his great work was the founding of the source from which the word of God would spread to all mankind.

When the children of Israel entered the Promised Land Joshua led them. Moses, who was about to be translated, passed leadership to him. With the departure of Moses, we witness a change in emphasis from teaching the law to a more militaristic stance. This transition causes concern in some ways but it does reflect, perhaps, the simplest method of securing a land where the nation of the children of Israel could grow in isolation from the paganism of the rest of mankind. That which causes concern is the killing of those who were in the way. It must be presumed that since they were led by Joshua, who was after all the ordained leader and prophet of God, that the best solution to the problem of preservation of this people as Gods chosen was to remove the source of pagan contamination. This was not necessitated, as a function of genetic purity, as some might believe, for the intermixing of the two groups of men was nearly complete. Therefore the reason was simply the elimination of paganism from the sight of a people who had shown a great propensity to wander into such worship. With regard to the elimination of resident pagans, we should remember that life in this testing place (the Earth) is a gift of God and our Father may withdraw that gift. God certainly has the right to direct the course of his creation, and he had to prevent this fragile beginning from reverting.

After Joshua died, the children of Israel were living in separate tribal areas, and in those parcels of land cities were founded. The chosen people had finally returned to the land of their inheritance. This was a great change for a people whose roots were nomadic, and it was an important step. The gentile world had been living in cities and enjoying the benefits of communal action for many generations. One of the benefits of permanence is that it allows the development of communication skills like writing and record keeping. We observe that the children of Israel soon had a rich society of artisans of every walk.

The leadership of the people fell back to the tribal level, in the post Joshua era, with various tribes acting alone to prosecute the goals of their tribe. It is fair to say that the tribes did not always agree, but if a common enemy came on the scene unity could be immediate if slow. This method of government did leave the children of Israel at a disadvantage, in that the leaders of the surrounding gentile nations were building ever-larger empires with the commensurate increases in fighting men.

The concept of tribal life in which disputes are handled by judges is superior in that it offers more freedom. This, then, is the method that God would favor for his children for that reason. However this method of governance does not generally allow for the quick fielding of an army. This was not a disadvantage as long as God helped them in their battles, for on those occasions relatively small numbers were required to defeat their numerically superior enemies. On other occasions, when they were not so favored by God, the superior forces of the gentiles easily defeated them. This course of events is typical of the relationship of God to man, and it is simply stated that when man is obedient God actively assists, and when he is not he has to solve problems on his own. However in the case of the children of Israel, it is noted that they were at a strategic disadvantage when it came to solving their own problems. The result was a huge swing in the affairs of the children depending on whether God helped them or not.

There is a great deal that is puzzling in the written record of the Old Testament. The concern is that some individuals would appear, in light of the Ten Commandments and modern morality, to be less than perfect, and yet still claiming that God is with them. One cannot help but think of the exploits of Samson and wonder. Perhaps the chroniclers of the record at times were overcome by partisan fervor when writing of a mighty man of the world and his deeds. Nevertheless, it is true that God does not aid those who do evil. He may not hinder them, for that would infringe on the all-important freedom of choice. Therefore, if it appears that God is helping those who do evil it is not so. There is one other possibility as well and that is perhaps the actions of those involved were misrepresented in the record. One truth always remains and that is any act by man that in any way removes the freedom of choice of another is wrong, and would not be condoned by God unless the removal of that freedom is for the protection of society. There is ultimately one judge of man, and to him we should all defer.

The chosen people of God were aware of the method of government among the gentiles, and they coveted it just as they sometimes coveted the pagan gods. During the reign of Samuel, God, who was in fact the king of Israel to that time, reluctantly approved this step backward. Samuel, who had been the judge, or administrator, for the Father was disturbed and felt he had not adequately served. The children of Israel suffered from a common human failing, for which he was not at fault. They simply wanted to be like there neighbors, and have one of their number rule them as King. The people were happy to have God select the king for them, and this is what happened as Samuel was directed to anoint Saul the king of Israel. It proved very difficult for the kings of Israel to remain in favor with God, and in a fairly short time David replaced Saul.

The change in government removed the disadvantage that Israel had suffered in that with central government of all the tribes coordinated action became possible. The gentiles no longer had the advantage they held in the past and with David, who pleased the Father most of his life, Israel now had an even playing field. It, therefore, was not surprising that under David that Israel became a significant power in the region. Those were jubilant years for the children of Israel, for before that time they probably were not worth notice to the king conquerors that were building huge empires amongst the Gentiles. They had become like their envied neighbors.

From our point of view it is clear that even at its height the kingdom of Israel was never a threat to the likes of Egypt and other powerful kingdoms of the time. The reason we of today even remember them is that they were chosen of God. The years of relative power were short lived and the decline began after Solomon was king of Israel, but the people of Israel were survivors and through the years of subjugation they built a society that would weather thousands of years of discrimination and abuse.

The focus of the faith of Israel was the promised savior who would deliver them from their enemies and reward them for their obedience. The prophets of God preached to them and told them of these things. They, in their way, continued to look for that golden age. The majority of the people must not have followed the teachings of the prophets for they were constantly being condemned for their wickedness. Yet, in the way of men, they looked for their big brother to come and settle the score with those who offended them. It is apparent that they did not understand that the plan of god is spiritual in nature and not of the Earth. The temporary nature of life in our dimension is easily forgotten. They, like modern men, had difficulty in understanding that the reward for following the rules of our Father is not temporary, like the things of this Earth. The reason for this myopia is understandable when one remembers that in the creation of this universe the prime requirement was that we be removed from the presence of our Father so that we could prove to ourselves, and to God, that we could make decisions for right. The unique experience of this existence is that other mortals may not know what we are thinking unless we tell them. Because of this and the fact we are not privileged to remember our past existence, men are inclined to think that physical things of this life have importance. The mission of the promised savior was entirely a spiritual one and therefore, was a vast disappointment to the majority of Israel.

The concept of a spiritual existence is very difficult for man to comprehend because of the inability to see or measure any aspect of it. The only proof we have of its existence is the testimony of the prophets and those who have had near death experience. This lack of concrete evidence was part of the plan for this universe and countless other universes. Because we live on this Earth with its four dimensions with no memory of our previous existence, we think that this life is the real or substantial life while the spirit world of our Father is insubstantial. In actuality the opposite is true. To those who are residing in the multidimensional universe (more than four) of the Father, this universe is no more than an ethereal projection. Is it any wonder then that we are told to gather our treasures in heaven for here all things are transitory, save the knowledge we accumulate?

Israel, after the reign of Solomon, was periodically conquered, enslaved, freed and dissected by the more powerful gentile kingdoms of the area. God probably did not cause the punishment they endured, but rather it represents the constant battle of survival of the fittest. When they were victorious certainly it was with the help of our father in most cases, but not necessarily all. It would be wrong to suppose that the children of Israel were not fit and able to survive without the help of God. The truth is that the truly good times they enjoyed as a people were when they served God, while the times when they only managed to survive were during spiritual lows. God is somewhat misrepresented in the record in that he is sometimes portrayed as a vengeful father much given to extreme punishment. Rather he is the father of children who must be taught right from wrong; who with infinite love, patience and justice lets his children make mistakes, hoping they will learn from them. The times when he actively brought death to his gentile or fallen children was when it was imperative to insure the survival of the fragile seed that was to eventually grow and fill the Earth. Of course all men are children of God, but he had to preserve the children of the patriarchs because of his promise to them. The promise was that the savior of the world would be born to the line of Abraham, Noah and Adam, and that the children of the patriarchs would fill the Earth. This promise was kept.

In terms of racial purity, the children of Israel were increasingly less pure with each conquering by other kingdoms. The reason for this is obvious, for the children would intermarry with the children of the conquerors and this was to be expected. Can we help but notice that in our times the Jewish immigrants to modern Israel resemble the people of the countries they immigrate from? But before the complete randomizing of the genetics of the children of Israel occurred, the Son of God would be born of the House of Abraham. That was the promise.

The prophecies concerning the savior increased in number as the time of his birth approached. All of Israel looked forward to his coming. The expectations of the people would prove to be their downfall. The history of this people was not good with regards to their treatment of prophets. Most prophets were vilified during their own time only to be recognized after they died. The actions of the children of Israel should not be viewed with great scorn, for certainly they were doing nothing that modern men would not do. The reaction of most men today to the claim of a contemporary receiving communication from God is one of antagonism and derision. Why men will say they believe the teachings of God and in the same breath proclaim that he no longer communicates with his children is mystifying. Why do they think God communicated with the children of Israel? It certainly wasn’t because they were in more need of guidance was it? We are no better or worse than they as we all stumble through this short life. Is not the need as great for we of today to receive guidance from our Father? Surely those who receive revelation today would be very private about the knowledge they gain, for they would be humiliated and scorned by the majority. Have men changed from the days of old? Would modern man accept the Son of God or lock him in an insane asylum? The Savior of the world was born the king of the Jews and all who call themselves Christians should love and cherish the Jews for the gift they gave to the world.

As we study the record of the children of Israel, we see a society that has fragmented into sects. This is, it would seem, the natural pattern for men as individuals of strong ego promote their particular view as the only correct way of worshipping God. The role of the prophets was one of trying to correct these wanderings and return the people to the path God would have them follow. This always brought the anger of those whose egos were bruised at being criticized. The liturgy of the children had evolved through the days of persecution into a system of laws that closely prescribed every act of life. This, of course, bonded them as a people, but left each of the sects very inflexible. Thus, as the people of Israel approached that most important, and central event, the coming of the Messiah, we find them fragmented and unreceptive (not unlike modern men). We also find them in a condition that they must surely have been accustomed to, under the domination of another conqueror, this time the Romans. Additionally, they are no longer whole as a people because most of the tribes had been led off into captivity. Those tribes are called the lost tribes, for no one knew where they had gone. It is likely that they fanned out through the population of the world in a dispersion that predated that of Judah. They, of course, are not lost to God, for he knows his children.

The Romans through a tyrant called Harrod, who called himself the king of the Jews, ruled Israel. In Harrod we find no aspiration to kindness or justice, only greed and lust for power. In the Romans we find only boredom and contempt for the people they had subjugated. Harrod is revealed as a murderous corrupt politician who could be compared not unfairly to Hitler, Stalin or countless other modern tyrants. He did not have a corner on the wickedness market in his time any more than those to whom we might compare him in our time.

Some think that the Jews of that time were the most wicked of all people in the world because they killed the Messiah. That is not true, for they were in terms of belief in God, and in terms of living the law of God among the best the world had to offer. The fact of the matter is that there are any number of countries and religions of today who would react in the same way to one that spoke plainly against the religious institutions of the powerful. The leadership would arrange to arouse the people against him, and then have him conveniently put away. Certainly, of the peoples of that time, it is fair to say that most, if not all, would have killed the savior, for his message was, and is, an affront to all who are "natural men".

It is important that a perspective be maintained in terms of the relative importance of the children of Israel and the teachings of God with respect to the vast majority of mankind. Obviously to the Romans, Greeks, or the Egyptians these people and their religion were of little importance. Needles to say that in terms of the great powers of the Earth, and hence the majority of the people, they hardly caused a ripple. They were indeed, like the yeast in bread, a very small part that will have a very large effect on the whole.

Chapter 5

The Messiah

The prophets foretold the coming birth of the Messiah to the house of David, Abraham, and Adam. The need for a Messiah was not a result of the "fall of Adam and Eve", but rather a part of a plan that was laid by the Father before this Universe began. The roll of Jesus the Christ is, to some, somewhat hard to comprehend, and yet it was one of profound simplicity. His genealogy shows that he was indeed a descendant of David through both his mother and his adoptive father. He offended the establishment in that he did not help them throw off the rule of Rome. The Romans viewed him as a religious nut. He earned the wrath of his own people for condemning the error that had been built into the religious institutions of the children of Israel. He alone could blaze and mark the path back to our Father, and it is now open to all mankind (both living and dead) to simply follow him.

Jesus Christ voluntarily sacrificed himself, but the full measure of that selfless act cannot be understood without understanding the enormity of what he gave for us. To comprehend, we must first understand the need for a messiah. That need was created by the very creation of this Earth, and the sacrifice of the Savior is mirrored in the sacrifice of Adam and Eve. They gave up life in Paradise, in what was the final step of the creation. The selfless act of Adam and Eve was that with full knowledge of the consequences, they elected to become mortal.

The Garden was home to not only the first couple but also to perfect animals and plants of many kinds. When Adam and Eve departed the Garden the rest of its inhabitants had to be removed from the Earth (because they simply could not have survived in this harsh environment). However, the central reason for the removal was simply that its presence would interfere with freedom of choice. The exodus of Adam and Eve resulted in the eventual death of the perfect bodies they possessed, but more importantly, it brought an instantaneous spiritual death, which only Adam, Eve, and Jesus Christ could fully appreciate.

Prior to the expulsion, Adam and Eve enjoyed the ability to communicate with God at any time they so desired. This communication was of a nature that none of us living on the Earth could fully comprehend. It is communication between minds, not the clumsy mechanism of spoken words that we use on the Earth. Obviously this sort of communication does not allow something that we mortal men practice often, and that is deciding for ourselves, in total secrecy, what to do. Obviously, all of our pre-mortal existence was spent in the same communication environment that Adam enjoyed in the Garden. If you can imagine then a peaceful happy existence in which there was no evil, and where a loving father was always just a thought away you might only begin to understand why the severing of that relationship can only be called spiritual death. The sorrow of the two so exiled must have been almost beyond endurance for they remembered heaven lost. The only consolation for them was that what they did was essential to the plan. Additionally, God continued to talk to them on occasion, and so eased their pain. They experienced some of the same suffering that Jesus bore when the bond of communication with the Father was severed at the beginning of his ultimate sacrifice.

All of us are living in a place of spiritual death where we can choose either right or wrong, and can conceal what we are thinking from all but God. The reason for a savior is dictated by the need for man to return from this limited universe. We may then deduce that when physical death occurs for man, his spirit would be trapped in this universe if some provision was not made for return to the realm of the Father. The ultimate reason for this detention can be understood if we again use our imagination. Let us visualize the shock of an average man, who in life has accumulated an average amount of lying, stealing and fornicating, then being thrust into the society of the Father and Family. Where all is known (no lies are possible) and all past selfishness is revealed to all. Such an unrepentant man would find himself extremely uncomfortable, even tormented, in this society, and would consequently wish to hide, or flee hoping to find a place where he would fit in. The need for a messiah then was to provide a method for man to mentally perfect himself so that he could return to the father without shame.

The goal of perfection is seemingly impossible to those who would seek it, for always after achieving some intermediate goal there is a next challenge. However, since we were placed in this place of testing by a loving Father who most certainly wants us all to return to him,