Eleanor Davies reviews ‘Praying for a World in Crisis’: Awakening Faith and Hope' by Pete and Pip Gardner (2024)

Humanism: the fruit of a Greco-Roman worldview.

Modern society is increasingly wracked by division and unrest - but why?

Brexit, Iran and questions about the end of days.

The news media is awash with Brexit and we all know we are living in momentous days. Everyone is murmuring that this week may have been the most significant week in British politics for centuries.

I have no wish to detract from this state of affairs. Virtually all of us are, I believe, experiencing a sense of reverence for the seriousness of the situation in which we find ourselves. Seeking the Lord for how to pray must be a top priority. Nevertheless, let’s not forget that there is a big wide world out there, beyond Brexit, which has not dropped everything this week to stay glued to the BBC Parliament channel. Other things of significance have been happening that we would do well to heed.

Prelude to War

Top of the bill is surely Iran’s newest contravention of the 2015 nuclear deal, bringing the ayatollahs another step closer to nuclear capability. Previously enriching uranium at 4.5%, today (6 September) will see a move beyond this, potentially of up to 20%.¹ This comes in the midst of a spike in Middle East tensions that saw Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon narrowly avoid escalation to all-out war last weekend.

In the bigger picture, Iranian entrenchment across the entire region shows no signs of letting up, despite the combined efforts of Israel and its allies. Commentators have long warned that when the Syrian civil war finishes, Iran’s efforts to exploit regional instability to its own ends will start to consolidate. Indeed, the dust has not even settled in Syria and Hezbollah is on the brink of developing a precision-guided missile system with the express aim of attacking Israel, while Iranian proxies from Iraq to Gaza, Syria to Yemen are being resourced to the same end.

These are grave matters that go far beyond wars of words on Twitter. The mullahs in Tehran, openly hell-bent on wiping Israel from the face of the planet, are ideologically compelled: in other words, in the long run, sanctions and diplomacy may not make any difference whatsoever.² Barring pre-emptive (or divine!) intervention, we are witnessing the prelude to a combined assault on Israel that could end up being both ballistic and nuclear, with the IDF forced into a multi-front war with enemies on all sides - not unlike the situation Israel faced immediately after its national rebirth just over 70 years ago (though with much superior weaponry).

No wonder then, that in this ‘week of all weeks’ in British politics, Israeli PM Netanyahu has managed to book an unexpected visit to Boris Johnson, later seeing the US Secretary of Defense who has also been in London (as has US Vice-President Mike Pence). Perhaps Israel is quietly seeking support for military action on a different level from that on which it has currently been operating.

I have no wish to detract from the seriousness of the situation in Britain – but there is a big wide world out there, beyond Brexit, which has not dropped everything this week to stay glued to the BBC Parliament channel.

Are We Nearly There Yet?

This entire situation does not escape those with an interest in eschatology (that is, the study of the end times), because Persia (modern-day Iran) features in passages of Scripture that are clearly yet to be fulfilled. The most obvious example is Ezekiel 38-39, which tells of a multi-army war on Israel involving Iran, nations from north Africa, likely Turkey and possibly led by Russia.³

Although there is disagreement about just when this war is supposed to take place in the grand scheme of God’s end-time purposes, and we are clearly not there yet, we watch current trends with interest. Most of the peoples mentioned in these chapters harbour a militant hatred of Israel today (or ally with those who do), in an increasingly joined-up manner.

As children of our Heavenly Father, the question always hovering near us is the question all children notoriously ask their parents on long journeys: Are we nearly there yet?

Many generations have thought that theirs was the ultimate - the last - yet history has continued, God’s grace towards sinful man outlasting all expectations. But this is no reason to become complacent: we are all called to be watchful and alert, especially when we see a particular selection of signs coming to pass in close conjunction.

Signs All Around

These are outlined, most fundamentally, in Matthew 24, flanked by the Old Testament prophets, many other New Testament passages and of course Revelation. The signs include:

• The restoration of Israel from international exile to the Promised Land, for a second and final time;
  
• A widespread falling away from Christianity and rejection of belief in God;
  
• The spread of selfishness and moral licentiousness with a consequent rise in pride, greed, abuse and violence;
  
• An increase of deception and false prophecy within the Church;
  
• Political turbulence all over the world, part of the great ‘shaking of the nations’ prophesied in Haggai 2:6 and Hebrews 12:10;
  
• Worldwide persecution of believers and a general hatred towards the Gospel;
  
• The move towards a global government of an authoritarian, surveillance-based nature.
  

It is increasingly impossible to deny that these things are coming to pass today, albeit perhaps not yet on the scale described in Scripture. This begs more questions for believers here in Britain: where does Brexit fit into this big picture? If these signs are coming to pass, since they are biblically inevitable, why bother to defend our democratic freedoms or take a stand against the existential threats to our crumbling culture? What possibility for revival is left?

Many generations have thought that theirs was the ultimate - the last - yet history has continued. But this is no reason to become complacent. We are all called to watch the signs.

The Gospel at the Centre

I do not pretend to have all the answers to these questions – but then, I’m not entirely sure that we need them. What we need is a renewed and robust focus on the Gospel. “No man knows the day or the hour” at which the Son of Man will return (Matt 24:36; Acts 1:7). We might have every reason to believe that his return is truly ‘right at the door’ (Matt 24:33) - and we should certainly live like it. But we do not know what mercies the Lord will yet grant us, nor what intercession might yet achieve.

One thing we can all be asking with great fervency is for “the Lord of the harvest to send out workers”, for “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few” (Matt 9:37-38). We can be certain that the Lord is working his purposes out, chief among which is for the truth about Jesus to be preached “in the whole world as a testimony to all nations” (Matt 24:14), giving everyone the opportunity to hear and respond.

The Gospel – that is, the truth about Jesus Christ, his death, resurrection and soon return, and the coming Kingdom – is why God is permitting British politics to go into meltdown. The Gospel is why he is allowing nuclear threats to gather on the international horizon. The Gospel is why Revelation is in our Bibles. The Gospel is why you and I are here, right now, living another day. Let’s not forget the Gospel, in the midst of Brexit.

Notes

1 For whether or not this is a bluff and what it might mean for the region, read Jonathan Tobin at JNS.

2 Trump’s sanctions may yet drive Iran to its knees and to the negotiating table, but this is not a regime that can be reformed. Europe’s efforts to appease (led by President Macron, following Obama’s footsteps) have only fuelled Iranian aggression.

3 This is presuming that these chapters are to be read literally.

Persecution calls for joy in hope, patience in affliction and faithfulness in prayer.

Imagine feeling a shot of panic every time you hear a motorbike go past your home. Or waving your spouse off to the shops, or your children off to school, knowing there is a distinct possibility they may be abducted or slaughtered. Or wondering every time you go to a church service whether you and your loved ones will come out alive.

This is the grim reality for Christians in many parts of northern and central Africa, where Islamist militant gangs like Boko Haram and al Shabaab are spreading terror, inspired and supported by better-known groups like Al Qaeda.

This month alone, the Barnabas Fund has reported that Islamist gunmen have been on a killing spree in northern Burkina Faso, storming church services, rounding up congregants and shooting them dead. In predominantly Muslim Niger, a pastor has been shot and a church looted, following a spate of attacks on churches. In mainly Christian Cameroon, two Christian villages have been ransacked.

In Nigeria, one of the deadliest countries in Africa for Christians, 17 church-goers were abducted by Boko Haram last weekend whilst at their choir practice. ISIS-inspired Boko Haram are intent on establishing a caliphate from north-eastern Nigeria to northern Cameroon.

Writing this on a beautifully sunny spring day in England, it’s difficult to imagine what these believers and their families are going through. The long night of Islamist persecution in Africa (particularly in the Sahel region) grows ever darker, with no sign of dawn.

Great is the Darkness

The vast regions of western Africa provide sadly plentiful examples of the persecution of the faithful but, as Open Doors unveils every year with its ‘World Watch List’, Christians are being discriminated against and abused, imprisoned and murdered all around the globe.

The Easter Day attacks in Sri Lanka made shocking headlines, but the fuller list is exhausting: Christians are being targeted by hard-line Islamists in Indonesia and Pakistan, communist state pressure in North Korea, China and Vietnam, radical Hindu attacks in India and Nepal, radical Buddhists in Laos and Myanmar, and Islamic persecution in virtually every country in central Asia, the Middle East (save for Israel) and north Africa.

Christians are being discriminated against and abused, imprisoned and murdered all around the globe.

Such a bleak map spurred the Bishop of Truro to claim in his recent report to the Foreign Secretary that persecution of Christians in some areas is at ‘near genocide’ levels, though political correctness has generally stopped it being reported in the mainstream Western press.

Open Doors' 2019 World Watch List map, showing in colour the 50 worst countries for persecution of Christians.Here in Britain, we may justifiably be concerned about the erosion of free speech, or the gradual encroachment of secularism or Islam, or the threats posed by a Corbyn government. But even with the recent spate of Islamist terror attacks on people and churches in Europe, Christians in the West do not yet face anything like the danger being faced on a daily basis by our brothers and sisters elsewhere around the world.

Refining Fire

In Matthew 24, speaking to his disciples, Jesus said that in addition to deception, wars, famines and earthquakes, one sign of his imminent return would be that “you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me” (Matt 24:9). But just because these things ‘must happen’, it does not mean that Christians in the comparatively safe West should turn a blind eye, or fail to speak up on these issues, or withhold their prayers. It may not be long before we are next.

Mark well Jesus’ subsequent words: “At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” (emphasis added).

High levels of persecution lead to a flourishing underground Church; the Gospel has always, paradoxically, produced most life in the fires of hardship. These fires are refining: strengthening faithful believers and removing their impurities through testing.

But they are also refining in another sense, purging the dross from the Body of Christ. As persecution increases, we see the less committed falling away, their attachment to Christ not strong enough to withstand threats to their personal safety or dignity. Still others become ensnared by the smooth words and enticing promises of false prophets, who provide a tempting diversion from harsh reality.

I believe that we are seeing the beginnings of this refining in the Western Church today, where false teachings have already ensnared many and where an increasingly stark division is apparent between Christians who cleave to Scripture and to their Lord (whatever the cost), and those who have accepted a syncretistic or worldly gospel which cannot save.

Just because these things ‘must happen’, it does not mean that Christians in the comparatively safe West should turn a blind eye.

Momentous Drama

It may be that one day soon, believers in the old heartlands of Christianity will face the same long night as our brothers and sisters are currently enduring elsewhere around the world. We must pray that if and when it comes, we will be found faithful.

The wonderful news is that a worldwide surge in persecution will be accompanied by the worldwide spread of the true Gospel and the adding of many more believers to the true Church, who is being prepared as a Bride for her Husband (Matt 24:14).

As this momentous drama unfolds, we are enjoined by the Lord Jesus to guard our hearts and not let our love grow cold – which I take to mean both our love for him, and our love for each other. May this dreadful news from west Africa this month fan the flame of love in our hearts, especially for our persecuted family, in the knowledge that one day soon, our Lord will return and justice will be done (Rev 6:9-11).

Here are several ministries through which you can stand with the persecuted Church. If you know of others, please post them below.

• Barnabas Fund https://barnabasfund.org/en
  
• Open Doors https://www.opendoorsuk.org/
  
• Release International https://releaseinternational.org/
  
• Samaritan’s Purse https://www.samaritans-purse.org.uk/article/help-persecuted-christians/
  
• Sat-7 (satellite network reaching the Middle East and North Africa with the Gospel) https://www.sat7uk.org/
• Morningstar News (news service focusing exclusively on the persecuted Church) https://morningstarnews.org

The dreadful consequences of touching the apple of God’s eye

As we once again recall with horror the terrorist atrocity witnessed by the whole world when New York’s Twin Towers were reduced to rubble in 2001, few will be aware of an earlier 9/11 that destroyed an entire city.

It happened on the night of 11 September 1944, when the German city of Darmstadt suffered a devastating air raid by RAF pilots sent out from my home town of Doncaster, headquarters of Bomber Command.

12,000 residents were killed and many more made homeless amid ongoing controversy even in Britain as to whether it was really necessary as the war was almost won by then.

But as fire swept through the smouldering ruins, a devoted young German Christian wept bitterly over her nation’s terrible sin against the Jewish people – she clearly saw the bombing as the judgment of God.

Sister Thekla (sitting) and Sister Glory pictured at Jesus’ Return, their home near London.Basilea Schlink determined to do something about it and subsequently founded the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary, dedicated to confessing the sin of her nation and making restitution with God’s chosen people, chiefly by loving and serving them in whatever way they could.

Touching the Apple of God’s Eye

More than 70 years later, the order is represented in nations across the globe, including Australia and the United States, and I have just spent a weekend at their UK base near London where a coffee-table book on their history recalls that fateful night in Darmstadt:

For years our mothers had prayed for revival in the girls’ Bible study groups they led; now their prayers were answered – far differently than they had ever expected. That night the girls encountered God in his holiness as Judge and Lord over life and death…

Following that night of terror, there was a move among those young girls to bring sin into the light and receive forgiveness…God’s moment had come. Out of the ashes emerged new life.¹

Have we still not learned that there are shocking consequences for those who touch the apple of God’s eye, which is how the Bible refers to Israel?

Not surprisingly, the British-based sisters are deeply grieved at the rise of anti-Semitism all over Europe so soon after this terrible disaster caused by the Nazis’ sickening murder of six million Jews in the death camps of Poland and Germany.

Have we still not learned that there are shocking consequences for those who touch the apple of God’s eye, which is how the Bible refers to Israel (see Zechariah 2:8)?

When and Where to Flee

According to Alex Brummer in a Daily Mail article,² all the talk among British Jews is now focused on which country to flee to if Jeremy Corbyn gets into No. 10 as he has failed miserably to deal with the rise of anti-Semitism in his party, which has traditionally had the support of the Jewish community (and it now appears there has been a cover-up over party members allegedly involved in anti-Semitic hate crimes3).

According to my sources, many have already fled traditionally Jewish suburbs like Golders Green in north London in order to set up home in safer areas following a series of anti-Semitic incidents.

And although British Jews have become accustomed to bias against Israel in recent decades, “never before has a major political party in Britain regarded the creation by the post-war so-called Great Powers (including Russia) of the state of Israel in 1948…as an act of colonialist occupation”, Brummer writes, referring to Mr Corbyn’s stated beliefs.

“But that this [fleeing the country] is even being discussed, just 70 years on from the horrors of Auschwitz; that British Jews should be feeling so insecure in the country they love, is deeply disturbing,” Brummer adds.

And he pointed out that Israel wasn’t necessarily their first choice of destination, because some see it as a move from the frying pan into the fire. But I disagree with that. I go along with a participant on BBC2’s We Are British Jews programme⁴ who said that “It’s the safest place in the world to be”.

All the talk among British Jews is now focused on which country to flee to if Jeremy Corbyn gets into No. 10.

God’s Purposes

Yes, the Jewish state is surrounded by implacable enemies with an insatiable desire to wipe them off the map and, yes, they are threatened once more with annihilation. But Israel’s security is very tight – and effective.

In any case, should physical safety be their only consideration? Isn’t the safest place of all in the loving arms of God – the God of Israel? And his purpose is that they should return to the Land of their forefathers, the Land promised to Abraham as a permanent possession (Gen 17:8). After all, the Tenach (Old Testament) prophets foretold of a great ingathering of Jews from every corner of the globe.

Picture: Charles GardnerAlmost half of world Jewry are now living in Israel and, according to the Bible, it would appear to be God’s will that they should all return (Ezek 39:28). But don’t misunderstand me. I do not wish to encourage persecution so that they feel forced to flee. Jewish contribution to European societies has been priceless – without the ongoing input of their high achievers we would all suffer. But woe to those whose intimidation does cause them to leave; for they will come under a curse (Gen 12:3).

Nevertheless, it is God’s purpose that his chosen people should be back in the Land before Messiah returns. Yes, there will be a battle over Jerusalem, and the nations will come against it, but the Lord will intervene and defeat the enemies of Israel, once and for all (see Zechariah 12-14).

Messiah’s Return

When Jesus ascended to heaven as his perplexed disciples watched in wonder, angels explained to them that he would one day return in the same way he had left – and this took place on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem (Acts 1:11).

The Prophet Zechariah confirms this – that Christ will indeed place his feet on the Mount of Olives and that the Jewish nation will have their eyes opened as they recognise Jesus as the One they had pierced (Zech 12:10).

Almost half of world Jewry are now living in Israel and, according to the Bible, it would appear to be God’s will that they should all return.

The Messiah for whom Jews have longed will appear on earth, and they will acknowledge that he has been here before – as the suffering servant (Isa 53). Although they will mourn over what they did to him (we all need to confess our sin in order to be cleansed), their hearts will be sprinkled clean – and “all Israel will be saved” (Ezek 36:25; Zech 13:1; Rom 11:26).

Jesus is coming again – and the establishing of the people of Israel in their Land is a major sign.

References

1 A Celebration of God’s Unfailing Love, published by the Evangelical Sisters of Mary.

2 Daily Mail, 30 August 2018. According to a Jewish Chronicle poll, almost 40% of UK Jews would ‘seriously consider’ leaving if Corbyn became PM (Times of Israel, 5 September 2018).

3 Daily Express, 5 September 2018.

4 A two-part series screened last week (on 4 and 5 September).

...and does it matter? Part 2 of 3.

Editorial introduction: Following his opening article last week on scientific evidence for a Creator, Paul Garner looks at three more theological problems presented by an ‘old Earth’ model of history.

4. Thorns and Thistles Before Sin

An ‘old Earth’ model forces us to accept that ‘thorns and thistles’ have been around for hundreds of millions of years, long before humans appeared or sin entered the world.

The biblical term ‘thorns and thistles’, used in Genesis 3:18, seems to be a ‘catch-all’ that embraces all plants with thorns, spines and prickles.¹ Botanically speaking, these terms have different meanings. Thorns are derived from shoots and spines from leaves or some part of a leaf. Both contain plant vascular tissue. Prickles are derived from the outer epidermis of the plant and do not contain vascular tissue. Plants with these features are known in the fossil record at least as far back as the Lower Devonian Period, conventionally 419-393 million years ago.

Lower Devonian examples include the spiny species Psilophyton princeps,² Drepanophycus spinaeformis³ and Sawdonia ornata⁴. Spiny cacti⁵ and prickly roses^6,7 date back to the Eocene Epoch, conventionally 56-34 million years ago. But the existence of these plants long before there were humans runs counter to the biblical claim that thorns and thistles were brought forth only as a result of human sin.

Genesis 3:17-18 tells us that the ground was cursed because of Adam’s sin, and that his life subsequently became one of sweat, sorrow, hardship and toil. From that time, thorns and thistles have been a constant reminder of the curse that God pronounced.

Thorns before sin...or as a result of sin?The connection between thorns and thistles and human sin is illustrated most graphically in the crown of thorns that adorned Christ at his crucifixion, as he bore the curse in our place (Matt 27:29; Mark 15:17; John 19:2, 5). But how can thorns and thistles symbolise the effects of the curse if they were around for hundreds of millions of years before Adam sinned, and were a normal part of the world that God described as “very good” (Gen 1:31)?

5. No Adam and Eve Ancestral to All Humans

Fifth, we would have to accept that there was no first human couple, and that humans were not all descended from Adam and Eve.

Modern humans have a fossil record that can be traced back a very long way - according to conventional dating methods. The first modern humans are thought to have appeared in Africa around 300,000-200,000 years ago.^8,9 Some of their descendants are thought to have migrated out of Africa as early as 177,000 years ago,¹⁰ followed by a more lasting dispersal event beginning about 74,000 years ago.¹¹ Modern humans then spread along the southern coastline of Asia, reaching Australia by about 65,000 years ago,¹² Europe by about 45,000-40,000 years ago^13,14 and the Americas by about 24,000 years ago.¹⁵

So even if we consider only members of our own species (Homo sapiens), there is no way that all humans alive today could be descended from one man unless Adam lived at least 300,000-200,000 years ago.¹⁶ This is problematic, given that a straightforward reading of the biblical genealogies (e.g. Gen 5:1-32, 11:10-32) indicates that Adam lived about 6,000 years ago.¹⁷

How can thorns and thistles symbolise the effects of the curse if they were around for hundreds of millions of years before Adam sinned, as a normal part of God’s ‘very good’ world?

Even if the genealogies are incomplete, as some argue, the amount of time that can be inserted into them is extremely limited. Since the fathers listed in Genesis 11 had their sons at age 35 or less, about 300 missing generations would be needed to add even 10,000 years to the chronology.

To extend the date of Adam’s creation back to 200,000 years we would have to insert 6,000 missing generations – clearly an absurdity in genealogies that together contain only 20 generations! And the problem gets worse if we consider earlier members of our genus to be descendants of Adam too. Homo ergaster and Homo erectus have a fossil record going back almost two million years!¹⁸

An alternative is to locate Adam much more recently in history, say less than 20,000 years ago. This is more in line with the biblical genealogies, but it would mean that Adam could not be the ancestor of most people living today, for the simple reason that humanity was already widely dispersed across the globe by that time. This runs counter to the biblical claim that Adam was the first man (1 Cor 15:47), Eve the mother of all living (Gen 3:20) and that all humans that have ever lived arose from this one, primordial couple (e.g. Acts 17:26).

It also raises disturbing questions about the spiritual status of the Homo sapiens that lived before Adam. Did they bear the image of God, or were they animals? And what about the people alive today that are descended from those other Homo sapiens, and not from Adam? If Adam was not the first man, but only one among many, the implications are startling and far-reaching.¹⁹

6. No Worldwide Flood

Sixth, we would have to accept that there was no worldwide flood within human history.

Lifesize ark built to Noah's specifications (Kentucky, USA).

Assuming the standard geological time-scale, most of the sedimentary rocks, with their enclosed fossils, were deposited in the hundreds of millions of years before humans made their first appearance. It logically follows from this premise that these sediments could not be the product of a global flood within human history.

Furthermore, the sediments that were formed since the first appearance of humans in the fossil record show no signs of having been deposited in a global flood. They mostly represent the deposits of ‘normal’ environments such as lakes, rivers and shallow oceans.²⁰ Thus, there is no place in the standard chronology for a global flood. In fact, even a geographically local but anthropologically universal flood cannot be accommodated unless the Flood was a very long time ago, since we have already noted how widely distributed humans have been for many tens of thousands of years according to conventional dating.

The biblical genealogies do not allow us to place Noah so far back in history, and in any case the idea of a local flood runs counter to the many lines of biblical evidence that point to a global flood.²¹ Others have suggested that the Flood may indeed have been global, but that it left no trace in the geological record. But a geologically ‘tranquil’ global flood is a contradiction in terms, and there is no evidence in the fossil record that human populations were ever wiped out by such an event.

The biblical claim is that Adam was the first man (1 Cor 15:47), Eve the mother of all living (Gen 3:20) and that all humans that have ever lived arose from this one, primordial couple.

Was the Original Creation “Very Good”?

Big questions confront us as we consider the logical consequences of embracing the old-Earth chronology. Perhaps the biggest is whether a world replete with death, agony, sickness and disease for hundreds of millions of years is compatible with the biblical description of a world that was “very good” in the beginning. If physical death was not the consequence of human sin but a normal part of the world from the outset, then what are the implications for our theology of Christ’s atonement and bodily resurrection?

Some may be tempted to say that the ‘death’ attributed in the Bible to Adam’s sin refers only to ‘spiritual’ death. But if that were the case, why was it necessary for Christ to suffer and die physically in order to save us?^22,23 Others will perhaps say that the death and suffering of animals for millions of years before the first appearance of humans is of no theological consequence because the death brought by Adam’s sin applied only to humans. But this is to downplay what the Bible says about animal suffering and death, which is connected to human sin in many passages.²⁴ And problems remain even if we consider only human death and suffering.

Consider Neanderthals, for instance. Neanderthals, whose fossil remains are conventionally dated to 250,000-40,000 years ago, are known to have suffered from bone fractures,²⁵ arthritis,²⁶ dental abscesses,²⁷ infectious diseases²⁸ and abnormalities arising from malnutrition.^29,30 One Neanderthal individual appears to have sustained crush injuries and head trauma, perhaps from a rock fall; he was probably also blinded in his left eye.³¹ Another shows evidence of widespread degenerative joint disease, as well as a rib fracture and loss of teeth.³²

Stringer and Gamble write that “evidence of injury or disease in some form or another is found in almost all reasonably complete adult Neanderthals.”³³ Are these Neanderthals descendants of Adam, suffering the effects of the Fall? If so, Adam must have lived a very long time ago - much further back than even the most generous interpretation of the biblical genealogies would allow. But if these Neanderthals lived before Adam, what are we to make of their cultural continuity with modern humans? Neanderthals are known to have manufactured stone tools and bone implements,³⁴ worn jewellery^35,36,37 and buried their dead.³⁸ In fact, genome sequencing has revealed that Neanderthals and modern humans interbred with one another.³⁹ Most modern Europeans and Asians have some Neanderthal genes – are Europeans and Asians the offspring of bestiality?

It is also important to note that all these problems apply as much to the old-Earth creationist model as to the theistic evolution model (both defined last week). If we accept the standard geological time-scale, we must abandon much well-established biblical theology.

Conclusion: Only the Young-Earth Model Explains the Data

It seems to me that we can only make sense of both the biblical and the scientific data if we are ready to question the standard time-scale and embrace the shorter chronology proposed by the young-Earth model. According to young-Earth creationism, the world was created in six days about 6,000 years ago.

From this perspective, the fossil record is a witness to the thousands of years of biblical history, not to the hundreds of millions of years of the old-Earth model. In fact, in the young-Earth model much of the fossil record is considered to have formed during the worldwide Flood in the days of Noah.⁴⁰

Is a world replete with death, agony, sickness and disease for hundreds of millions of years compatible with the biblical description of a world that was “very good” in the beginning?

The death, agony, sickness and disease evidenced in the fossil record is thus a snapshot of what the world was like at the time of that global judgment, not what it was like at the time of Creation. And the fossil record of humans is telling us a story not about human origins but rather about the patterns of human migration and dispersal after the Flood.⁴¹ In other words, in young-Earth creationism it is not our theology of the goodness of Creation or the atonement that we must re-think, but our scientific interpretations - specifically our understanding of the geological record and its millions-of-years time-scale.

Undoubtedly this is a radical proposal, one that requires many aspects of Earth history to be carefully re-considered. In fact, it is so radical it raises an obvious and pressing question: is such a wholesale re-envisioning of Earth history scientifically viable? Is it really credible to contemplate an Earth history spanning only thousands, rather than millions of years? What about the ‘mountains of evidence’ said to favour an old Earth? These are very good questions and I shall seek to address them in my next article.

References

1 Catchpoole, D, 2012. A thorny issue. Creation, 34(3):52-55.

2 Lang, WH, 1931. On the spines, sporangia, and spores of Psilophyton princeps, Dawson, shown in specimens from Gaspé. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B, 219:421-442.

3 Rayner, RJ, 1984. New finds of Drepanophycus spinaeformis Göppert from the Lower Devonian of Scotland. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences, 75:353-363.

4 Rayner, RJ, 1983. New observations on Sawdonia ornata from Scotland. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences, 74:79-93.

5 Chaney, RW, 1944. A fossil cactus from the Eocene of Utah. American Journal of Botany, 31:507-528.

6 Becker, HF, 1963. The fossil record of the genus Rosa. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, 90:99-110.

7 DeVore, ML and KB Pigg, 2007. A brief review of the fossil history of the family Rosaceae with a focus on the Eocene Okanogan Highlands of eastern Washington State, USA, and British Columbia, Canada. Plant Systematics and Evolution, 266:45-57.

8 Hublin, JJ, Ben-Ncer, A, Bailey, SE, et al, 2017. New fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco and the pan-African origin of Homo sapiens. Nature, 546:289-292.

9 Richter, D, Grün, R, Joannes-Boyau, R, et al, 2017. The age of the hominin fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco, and the origins of the Middle Stone Age. Nature, 546:293-296.

10 Hershkovitz, I, Weber, GW, Quam, R, et al, 2018. The earliest modern humans outside Africa. Science, 359:456-459.

11 Appenzeller, T, 2012. Eastern odyssey. Nature, 482:24-26.

12 Clarkson, C, Jacobs, Z, Marwick, B, et al, 2017. Human occupation of northern Australia by 65,000 years ago. Nature, 547:306-310.

13 Higham, T, Compton, T, Stringer, C, et al, 2011. The earliest evidence for anatomically modern humans in northwestern Europe. Nature, 479:521-524.

14 Benazzi, S, Douka, K, Fornai, C, et al, 2011. Early dispersal of modern humans in Europe and implications for Neanderthal behavior. Nature, 479:525-528.

15 Bourgeon, L, Burke, A and Higham, T, 2017. Earliest human presence in North America dated to the Last Glacial Maximum: new radiocarbon dates from Bluefish Caves, Canada. PLoS ONE, 12(1):e0169486.

16 And even then, it is claimed based on studies of modern genetic diversity that the ancestral population size of Homo sapiens cannot have been lower than about 10,000 individuals. See Venema, D, 2010. Genesis and the genome: genomics evidence for human-ape common ancestry and ancestral hominid population sizes. Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, 62:166-178.

17 Garner, P, 2009. The New Creationism: Building Scientific Theories on a Biblical Foundation. Evangelical Press, Darlington, pp66-70.

18 Wood, B, 2005. Human Evolution: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp84-93.

19 Lloyd, S, 2017. Chronological creationism. Foundations, 72:76-99.

20 For example, in England and Wales, deposits assigned to the Pleistocene (conventionally dated from 2.58 million years ago to 11,700 years ago) include scattered outcrops of glacial and interglacial sediments and cave deposits. See Boulton, GS, 1992. Quaternary, pp413-444 in Duff, PMD and Smith, AJ (eds), Geology of England and Wales. The Geological Society, London.

21 Lloyd SJ, 2014. Flood theology: why does Noah's flood matter? Origins, 59: 4-8.

22 Lloyd, S, 2009. Christian theology and Neo-Darwinism are incompatible: an argument from the resurrection, pp1-29 in Finlay, G, Lloyd, S, Pattemore, S and Swift, D, Debating Darwin. Two Debates: Is Darwinism True & Does it Matter? Paternoster, Milton Keynes.

23 Lloyd, see ref. 19, pp86-89.

24 As we have already noted, this connection is evident in the Flood account but is seen also in the Passover narrative (Ex 12:12, 29) and in the fate of the animals in Nineveh (Jon 3:7-8, 4:11), as well as many other passages. It also provides the basis for the Old Testament sacrificial system.

25 Berger, TD and Trinkaus, E, 1995. Patterns of trauma among Neandertals. Journal of Archaeological Science, 22:841-852.

26 Dawson, JE and Trinkaus, E, 1997. Vertebral osteoarthritis of the La Chapelle-aux-Saints 1 Neanderthal. Journal of Archaeological Science, 24:1015-1021.

27 Brothwell, DR, 1959. Teeth in earlier human populations. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 18:59-65.

28 Fennell, KJ and Trinkaus, E, 1997. Bilateral femoral and tibial periostitis in the La Ferrassie 1 Neanderthal. Journal of Archaeological Science, 24:985-995.

29 Guatelli-Steinberg, D, Larsen, CS and Hutchinson, DL, 2004. Prevalence and the duration of linear enamel hypoplasia: a comparative study of Neandertals and Inuit foragers. Journal of Human Evolution, 47:65-84.

30 Barrett, CK, Guatelli-Steinberg, D and Sciulli, PW, 2012. Revisiting dental fluctuating asymmetry in Neandertals and modern humans. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 149:193-204.

31 Trinkaus. E, 1983. The Shanidar Neandertals. Academic Press, New York.

32 Stringer, C and Gamble, C, 1994. In Search of the Neanderthals. Thames and Hudson, p95.

33 Stringer and Gamble, see ref. 32, p94.

34 Hayden, B, 1993. The cultural capacities of Neandertals: a review and re-evaluation. Journal of Human Evolution, 24:113-146.

35 Radovčić, D, Sršen, AO, Radovčić, J and Frayer, DW, 2015. Evidence for Neandertal jewelry: modified white-tailed eagle claws at Krapina. PLoS ONE, 10(3):e0119802.

36 Finlayson, C, Brown, K, Blasco, R, et al, 2012. Birds of a feather: Neanderthal exploitation of raptors and corvids. PLoS ONE, 7(9):e45927.

37 Welker, F, Hajdinjak, M, Talamo, S, et al, 2016. Palaeoproteomic evidence identifies archaic hominins associated with the Châtelperronian at the Grotte du Renne. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 113:11162-11167.

38 Hayden, see ref. 34.

39 Pääbo, S, 2014. Neanderthal Man: In Search of Lost Genomes. Basic Books, New York, pp185-195.

40 Garner, see ref. 17, pp194-208.

41 Garner, see ref. 17, pp226-238.

Paul Luckraft reviews ‘Wonders of Creation’ by Stuart Burgess, Andy McIntosh and Brian Edwards (Day One Publications, 2017)

This is an excellent and attractive production which combines hundreds of magnificent colour photos and diagrams with a clear explanatory text full of fascinating details.

On page after page we are shown the many incredible complexities of the world around us which point to the creative power and design of Almighty God. Across a multiplicity of topics, we gain not only a wealth of information but also a sense of awe at the amazing designs that our Creator has placed into his (and our) world.

Beauty and Functionality

The opening section covers land mammals – including the horse, kangaroo and sheep as well as man’s best friend, the dog (including information about how it smells!). Other groups within the animal kingdom (sea creatures, birds, insects) are equally well-documented, including the remarkable capability of birds to fly and whales to sing.

Leaving Earth for a while, we are taken into the mysterious realms of the other planets and stars. This section is full of useful information that is perhaps not usually known and adds to the sense of reverence and inspiration that the book as a whole induces.

Back in our own world we examine the beauty of flowers and trees, and learn about why certain colours are prominent and how birds manage to sing in the wonderful ways that they do (including in harmony). The next section, on mathematics and music, continues to fascinate - not just because of the patterns they display, which speak of the Lord - but also because of the ability of our brains, which he made, to enable us to understand and appreciate such things. Even if we are not particularly mathematical we can agree that the “Beauty and elegance in mathematics reflects the very wisdom of God” (p151).

Across a multiplicity of topics, we gain a wealth of information and a sense of awe our Creator’s amazing designs.

The sections on the human body and how it functions may contain familiar material, but this is also well-explained, and some of the facts and figures are quite startling. Clearly we are fearfully and wonderfully made.

The book also talks of other aspects of the natural world, rocks and minerals, fossils, dinosaurs and radioactive dating.

Inspiration to Gratitude

We are then told there is no doubt that everything we have been considering was created in six literal days and that the account in Genesis is definitely “history and not poetry” (p202). It is perhaps rather unnecessary to the aim of the book to insist on this, which seems like an intrusion especially as there is no discussion as to what ‘literal’ means in this context. There is also the unfortunate implication that anyone who thinks the time periods involved might not be exactly 24 hours each are classified as evolutionists.

Nevertheless, these few pages should not spoil the enjoyment of a book which is a convincing tour de force. It glorifies God on every page and should make us look around with more gratitude than ever. It should inspire us to say a big ‘thank you’ to God, not just once but several times each day.

A convincing tour de force that glorifies God on every page.

It is also a book that can be shared with friends, whether believers in Creation or not. The facts it contains will help with sharing and witnessing, and as a ‘coffee table’ book it could well spark conversations you might otherwise not have. As the subtitle ‘Design in a fallen world’ suggests, the authors do not shirk from saying that this world with all its brokenness and suffering is no longer the world that God originally intended. They do not hesitate to mention the Fall and salvation in Jesus, which brings the book to a satisfying conclusion.

Highly commended.

‘Wonders of Creation’ (216pp, hardback) is available from the publisher for £25. Also available elsewhere online with discounts for bulk buys.

...and does it matter? Part 1 of a new mini-series on Creationism.

Editorial introduction: We are delighted to publish the first in a three-part series on scientific evidence for a Creator, written by researcher, author and lecturer Paul Garner. The relationship between science and faith is an important spiritual battle-ground in the modern world, so it behoves us all to know what we believe about Genesis.

Whether you subscribe to a ‘young Earth’ or an ‘old Earth’, a seven-day Creation or a ‘millions of years’ evolutionary model, we hope that Paul’s in-depth research and writing will provoke you to think seriously about what you believe and why – for the sake of the Gospel.

In this first part of the series, Paul lays out different possible theories about the origins of human life and asks what kind of theology each requires.

 **********

The debate about origins – the origin of the universe, of life and of human beings – rages as fiercely today as it did at the time of Charles Darwin. A central question in the debate concerns common ancestry. Are all organisms related by descent from a single, common ancestor (as evolutionary theory proposes) or were many kinds separately created in the beginning (as creation theory proposes)?

Another question concerns the age of the Earth. Is the Earth 4.6 billion years old (as conventional science suggests) or is it about 6,000 years old (as a straightforward reading of the Bible suggests)? Although these two questions are rather different, they are connected. For example, if it could be shown that the world was young, common descent would in effect be disproved.

Christians today tend to fall into one of three ‘camps’. Theistic evolutionists (sometimes referred to as ‘evolutionary creationists’) embrace common descent and an old Earth. Young-Earth creationists reject common descent and an old Earth. Many Christians seek a middle way between these positions by rejecting common descent but embracing an old Earth.

It is often difficult for ordinary Christians to navigate their way through this maze of different opinions. The issues, both theological and scientific, can seem formidably complex and many believers feel ill-equipped to evaluate them.

The debate about the origin of the universe, of life and of human beings rages as fiercely today as it did at the time of Charles Darwin.

But I think there is a way to assess these ideas that most Christians can grasp, and that is to compare the relative sequence of events given in Genesis with the relative sequence of events according to the old-Earth, evolutionary model of origins. For contrary to common opinion, it is actually the age question that has the greater theological implications (rather than the ancestry question), and that is why I am making it the focus of this short series.

In this article, I begin with an overview of Earth’s history according to an ‘old Earth’ model, and then present three ways in which this conflicts with the sequence of events described in Genesis, with more to come next week.

History According to the Old-Earth Model

The conventional scientific view is that the Earth is about 4.6 billion years old and that its geological development has been immensely long and gradual. The multi-million-year dates assigned to Earth history come from the application of radiometric dating, a set of methods that uses the decay of naturally occurring radioactive isotopes as a kind of ‘clock’ to date the rocks and minerals of the Earth’s crust. The rock layers, with their enclosed fossils, are thus said to document the history of life over long eras of time.

Figure 1: The standard geological column representing the history of life on Earth according to the old-Earth model. Fossil organisms typical of each geological era are shown (‘my’ stands for ‘millions of years ago’). After Garner, P, 2009. The New Creationism: Building Scientific Theories on a Biblical Foundation. Evangelical Press, Darlington, p195.

This understanding of Earth history can be summarised as follows (Figure 1).

• Precambrian rocks are considered to be the oldest rocks on Earth, deposited between 4,000 million and 541 million years ago. Most Precambrian fossils are micro-organisms resembling today’s bacteria and blue-green algae. Dome-shaped structures called stromatolites, thought to have formed when sediment became trapped by sticky algal mats, are abundant in Precambrian sediments. Towards the end of the Precambrian Eon, the first multi-celled organisms are thought to have appeared – represented by some strange segmented and frond-like creatures first discovered in the Ediacara Hills of South Australia.
  
• Palaeozoic (‘early life’) rocks follow the Precambrian and are said to have been deposited between 541 and 252 million years ago. The beginning of the Palaeozoic Era was marked by the sudden appearance of many hard-bodied animals including sponges, brachiopods (‘lamp shells’) and trilobites. By the middle of the Palaeozoic Era, fish had become numerous in the oceans, and plants and animals had begun to populate the land. By the end of the era, the first large reptiles and modern plants (conifers) had appeared.

Something we can all do is compare the relative sequence of events given in Genesis with the relative sequence of events according to the old-Earth, evolutionary model.

• Mesozoic (‘middle life’) rocks are thought to have been deposited between 252 and 66 million years ago. This was the ‘age of the reptiles’. Life on the land was dominated by the dinosaurs, in the skies by flying reptiles called pterosaurs, and in the oceans by aquatic reptiles such as ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs and mosasaurs. Ammonites (squid-like creatures in coiled shells) were also common in the warm, shallow seas. The mammals, birds and flowering plants (angiosperms) also made their first appearance during this time.
  
• Cenozoic (‘recent life’) rocks are said to have been deposited between 66 million years ago and the present day. During the Cenozoic, the flowering plants are represented by a great array of trees, shrubs and vines. This was also the era in which most of the modern groups of birds and mammals appeared, as well as the first humans.

Many Christians suppose that there are few, if any, theological consequences of embracing this standard account of Earth history, with its time-scale of hundreds of millions of years.

But in fact there are massive theological difficulties, some of which I am going to highlight in what follows. I will do this by asking the question: what theology would we have to accept as true if we did embrace the old-Earth time-scale?

1. Agony, Death and Bloodshed Before Sin

First, we would have to accept that physical agony, death and bloodshed have been around for hundreds of millions of years, long before humans appeared or sin entered the world.

It hardly needs saying that fossils are the remains of dead things and therefore provide prima facie evidence of physical death. Conventional dating places the first appearance of animals in the fossil record at least as far back as 541 million years ago, probably earlier.¹ But even if we restrict our considerations to sentient beings capable of experiencing pain, evidence of agony and death goes back a long way.

Consider mosasaurs, a group of large marine reptiles, now extinct, preserved in the Upper Cretaceous deposits of North America and Europe. Conventionally, these fossils are 92-66 million years old and long pre-date the first appearance of modern humans (Homo sapiens) around 300,000-200,000 years ago. Many mosasaur skeletons show evidence of physical trauma, including bite wounds² and bone fractures.^3,4 These injuries would have been extremely painful when they were inflicted.

What theology would we have to accept as true if we did embrace the old-Earth time-scale?

Another dramatic example is the mass-death assemblage of horses, camels and rhinos at Ashfall Fossil Beds in Nebraska, USA, conventionally dated to about 12 million years ago. Bone lesions in these animals show that they died slow and agonizing deaths by asphyxiation as the result of inhaling volcanic dust in the aftermath of an eruption.⁵

Ashfall Fossil Beds: a Teleoceras female and her calf.But such evidence of agony and death long before there were humans runs counter to the biblical claim that death and bloodshed came into the world as a consequence of Adam’s sin (Gen 3:19; Rom 5:12; 1 Cor 15:21-22). When Adam fell, God told him he would return to the dust from which he had been taken (Gen 3:19), the ground was cursed (Gen 3:17) and Creation itself was subjected to corruption (Rom 8:20-22). And it is this causal connection between sin and physical death that explains why it was necessary for Christ to suffer and die physically to pay sin’s penalty (Matt 16:21; Mark 8:31; Luke 24:46).

As for the animals, they were caught up in the Fall because they were part of Adam’s dominion (Gen 1:28). When he fell, he dragged the rest of Creation down with him. The original diet of both humans and animals was vegetarian (Gen 1:29-30; cf. Isa 11:6-8, 65:25), and carnivory (meat-eating) is explicitly mentioned only after the Flood (Gen 9:3).

Indeed, the account of the Flood highlights the unnaturalness of animal violence, for we are told that the destruction of “all flesh” included the animals as well as the humans (Gen 7:15-16, 21), because both were corrupt and violent (Gen 6:11-13).

2. Disease and Sickness Before Sin

Second, we would have to accept that disease and sickness have been around for hundreds of millions of years, long before humans appeared or sin entered the world.

Clear evidence of pathology can be seen in the fossil record of many organisms, as we have already seen in the case of the animals that died of lung damage in Nebraska. In fact, the study of ancient disease is a discipline in its own right, known as palaeopathology.

Consider mosasaurs again. Many fossil specimens have pathological features of the skeleton, such as fused vertebrae,⁶ and some of these animals even show evidence of decompression sickness associated with diving.^7,8

An old-Earth model requires us to accept that pain, death, bloodshed and disease were around long before humans appeared or sin entered the world.

Bone abnormalities are common in certain types of dinosaurs, with one specimen displaying no fewer than eight maladies of its forelimb, including a permanently deformed third finger.⁹ Painful conditions such as malignant tumours, ripped tendons, broken teeth and arthritis are also known to have afflicted dinosaurs.^10,11,12 But such evidence of sickness and disease long before there were humans runs counter to the biblical claim that in the beginning God made a “very good” world that was later spoilt by Adam’s sin.

During Creation Week, God expressed his satisfaction with the things he had made by stating six times that they were “good” (Gen 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25). Upon completing his work, he crowned it all with a seventh, even stronger declaration – that the finished creation was “very good” (Gen 1:31). Sorrow, suffering and death were not part of this “very good” world but came about as a consequence of Adam’s sin.

It was Christ, the last Adam (1 Cor 15:45), who came to undo what Adam did. Christ’s healing ministry (Matt 8:16-17; cf. Isa 53:5, Ps 103:2-3), culminating in his atoning death on the Cross, points forward to the day when God will wipe away every tear, and sorrow, pain and death will be no more (Rev 21:4, 22:2).

3. Natural Disasters Before Sin

Third, we would have to accept that natural disasters, such as famines, floods, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, have been around for hundreds of millions of years, long before humans appeared or sin entered the world.

Indeed, the fossil record is largely the product of such natural disasters, more being accomplished geologically during short-lived catastrophic events than in many years of quiescence.¹³ Some of these ancient natural disasters are known to have dwarfed any experienced in the present day.

The Chile earthquake of 1960 was the most powerful ever recorded on a seismograph.¹⁴ But much larger earthquakes would have accompanied the formation of large asteroid impact craters, such as the ones at Popigai in Siberia (conventionally formed 35 million years ago) or Sudbury in Ontario (conventionally formed 1.8 billion years ago).¹⁵

The most violent volcanic eruption in recent human history took place at Taupo, New Zealand, in about AD 186, and it left behind a pumice layer up to 1.8m thick with a volume of about 24 cubic kilometres.¹⁶ But much larger volcanic eruptions are known from the geological record, evidenced by deposits tens to hundreds of metres thick and with volumes exceeding 1,000 cubic kilometres.¹⁷

During Creation Week, God stated six times that what he had made was “good” and crowned it all with a seventh, even stronger declaration – that the finished creation was “very good”.

A popular Christian apologetic is to say that natural disasters such as these are a consequence of the Fall of man, and that they were not part of the world that God originally created. For example, here is what Tim Keller says in his book, The Reason for God:

Human beings are so integral to the fabric of things that when human beings turned from God the entire warp and woof of the world unravelled. Disease, genetic disorders, famine, natural disasters, ageing and death itself are as much the result of sin as are oppression, war, crime and violence.¹⁸ (my emphasis)

But this apologetic is baseless if such natural disasters were occurring long before the origin of humans or of human sin. In such a scenario, we could not say that natural disasters are consequences of living in a fallen world.¹⁹ Instead, we would have to acknowledge them as a normal part of how the world functions and that it had been this way from the beginning. This also seems to run counter to the biblical claim that the world as originally created was “very good” (Gen 1:31).

Next week: Three more theological problems presented by an ‘old-Earth’ model.

Author bio: Paul Garner is a full-time researcher and lecturer for the Biblical Creation Trust (www.biblicalcreationtrust.org). He has an MSc in Geoscience from University College London, where he specialised in palaeobiology, and is a Fellow of the Geological Society of London. He has taken part in research funded by the Institute for Creation Research and has written numerous papers, popular articles and a book.

References

1 dos Reis, M, Thawornwattana, Y, Angelis, K, Telford, MJ, Donoghue, PCJ and Yang, Z, 2015. Uncertainty in the timing of origin of animals and the limits of precision in molecular timescales. Current Biology, 25:2939-2950.

2 Everhart, MJ, 2008. A bitten skull of Tylosaurus kansasensis (Squamata: Mosasauridae) and a review of mosasaur-on-mosasaur pathology in the fossil record. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science, 111:251-262.

3 Schulp, AS, Walenkamp, GHIM, Hofman, PAM, Rothschild, BM and JWM Jagt, 2004. Rib fracture in Prognathodon saturator (Mosasauridae, Late Cretaceous). Netherlands Journal of Geosciences / Geologie en Mijnbouw, 83:251-254.

4 Lingham-Soliar, T, 2004. Palaeopathology and injury in extinct mosasaurs (Lepidosauromorpha, Squamata) and implications for modern reptiles. Lethaia, 37:255-262.

5 Tucker, ST, Otto, RE, Joeckel, RM and Voorhies, MR, 2014. The geology and paleontology of Ashfall Fossil Beds, a late Miocene (Clarendonian) mass-death assemblage, Antelope County and adjacent Knox County, Nebraska, USA, pp1-22 in Korus, JT (ed), Geologic Field Trips along the Boundary between the Central Lowlands and Great Plains: 2014 Meeting of the GSA North-Central Section. Geological Society of America Field Guide 36.

6 Martin, JE and Bell, Jr, GL, 1995. Abnormal caudal vertebrae of Mosasauridae from Late Cretaceous marine deposits of South Dakota. Proceedings of the South Dakota Academy of Science, 74:23-27.

7 Rothschild, BM and Martin, L, 1987. Avascular necrosis: occurrence in diving Cretaceous mosasaurs. Science, 236:75-77.

8 Martin, LD and BM Rothschild, 1989. Paleopathology and diving mosasaurs. American Scientist, 77:460-467.

9 Senter, P and Juengst, SL, 2016. Record-breaking pain: the largest number and variety of forelimb bone maladies in a theropod dinosaur. PLoS ONE, 11(2):e0149140.

10 Rothschild, BM, Tanke, D, Hershkovitz, I and Schultz, M, 1998. Mesozoic neoplasia: origins of hemangioma in the Jurassic. Lancet, 351:1862.

11 Rothschild, BM, Witzke, BJ and Hershkovitz, I, 1999. Metastatic cancer in the Jurassic. Lancet, 354:398.

12 Rothschild, BM, 1997. Dinosaurian paleopathology, pp426-448 in Farlow, JO and Brett-Surman, MK (eds), The Complete Dinosaur. Indiana University Press, Bloomington and Indianapolis.

13 Ager, D, 1993. The New Catastrophism: The Importance of the Rare Event in Geological History. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

14 Kanamori, H, 1977. The energy release of great earthquakes. Journal of Geophysical Research, 82:2981-2987.

15 Clube, SVM and Napier, WM, 1982. The role of episodic bombardment in geophysics. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 57:251-262.

16 Walker, GPL, 1980. The Taupo pumice: product of the most powerful known (ultraplinian) eruption? Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 8:69-94.

17 Heiken, G, 1979. Pyroclastic flow deposits. American Scientist, 67:564-571.

18 Keller, T, 2008. The Reason for God. Hodder and Stoughton, London, p170.

19 One author, understanding the force of this objection to the old-Earth chronology, has sought to explain the hundreds of millions of years of death, suffering and other ‘natural evils’ before there were humans as the effects of the curse applied retroactively! See Dembski, WA, 2009. The End of Christianity. Broadman and Holman, Nashville, Tennessee.

Paul Luckraft reviews ‘The Battle of the Ages’ by Lance Lambert (2014).

This book is a call and a challenge to genuine intercession and “is directed to the remnant of the faithful in the Western nations” (p5). It is based on the transcripts of several messages given in America, turned into seven chapters and an epilogue entitled ‘The Mystery of Israel’.

The book begins by encouraging us to ‘watch and be sober’. The Church has largely been silent while our nation’s Christian foundations have been destroyed. A colossal removal of Christian principles from Western society has taken place before our eyes while we have sat back. Our Christianity is far too comfortable.

Lambert warns that we are now facing not so much a flood of evil as an avalanche, with powerful forces arrayed against us. He explains what these principalities, powers and world rulers of darkness are like and how they engage in ‘the battle of the ages’.

This title, ‘the battle of the ages’, is key. Although there is a strong focus on prayer in this book, it is not a handbook on prayer, as such. Rather, it contains much wisdom and wider analysis of society, which should inform intercessors and direct their prayers.

Seeing the Spiritual Dimension

In the next chapter Lambert shows us that this world is essentially spiritual, if we have eyes to see. All of global history is the expression of a cosmic battle between God and satan, of both fallen and unfallen invisible beings.

Lambert warns that we are now facing not so much a flood of evil as an avalanche, with powerful forces arrayed against us.

Prayer is engaging in this spiritual battle. Equally important, though, is the fight for the truth contained within God’s word, especially defending it against critical analysis (which began in Germany), disputing the Bible’s divine inspiration.

Each chapter is headed with a significant passage of Scripture, of some length - presumably the reading before each talk that he gave. One such passage is the well-known Daniel 9 which informs the book chapter that focuses on the strategic need for intercession. Daniel is the best example of how to counter the excuses we make not to be an intercessor! The whole chapter is an excellent survey of what intercession is about and how to become more powerful in it.

Lambert also provides personal examples and other stories to help illuminate and inspire. These include the Hebrides revival (1950s), the awakening in the Thames Valley and the Welsh revival (early 1900s). But primarily, his appeal is for people to take the first step into intercession, namely to say to the Lord, “I want to be an intercessor”. The Lord is so short of candidates, he argues, that he will snap you up immediately. Despite the humour, this is a serious point. This is how it begins, with a heart which is prepared to be transformed by the will, which says ‘Take me!’

Israel at the Heart

The title of the book emphasises that the battle has run throughout world history and will continue until the very end of the age. It began before Adam and Eve fell, and will climax when the Lord returns victorious.

The Lord is so short of candidates for intercession, Lambert argues, that he will snap up willing volunteers immediately.

Meanwhile, at the heart of the battle today is the tiny nation of Israel. The final two chapters are devoted to this theme which lead naturally into the epilogue, The Mystery of Israel, taken from Romans 11.

Overall, an excellent book from the pen of one of God’s mighty warriors who entered into his rest and reward shortly after its publication. Even if it doesn’t turn everyone who reads it into an intercessor, it will certainly help us all appreciate the vital and costly role that they undertake.

‘The Battle of the Ages’ (130 pages, paperback) is available on Amazon for £6.52.