Medford mail tribune., April 13, 1958, Image 40

CHAPTER 8
T Mrimfl erot. Tk all o imr r parent.
Tktir punuAmmt. Tht promu of a Rtamt
rOW the serpent was more
imr.
subtle
1T(
I ml . . - . , i . . i . l
1 1 man any or me oeasis oi it eann
..-Vi J .Vi iUa Tivvl hurl tTinHn And hoi's
said to the woman: Why hath God cott(-
tnanded you, that you should not eat of j
every tree of paradise? J
2 And the woman answered hiro oyC
in a: Of the fruit of the trees that are in
paradise we do eat: or"
3 But of the fruit of the treemch
in the midst of paradise, God hath com?-,
manded us that we should not eat: and
that we should not touch it, lest perhap's-'(
we die.
? mi L p)
SCIENCE
HELPS
YOU
BELIEVE
by William F. McDermott
The bible stories of the Garden of Eden, the Flood, the Walls of
Jericho, Solomon's reign, and other familiar Old Testa
ment accounts are they fact or fable? The science of
archaeology supports those who believe them to be true.
Strangely enough, it is a distant relative of a great scientist
Edmund Halley of England, discoverer of Halley's Comet who
spotlights the Scripture records and their scientific verification.
He is Henry II. Halley of Chicago, who publishes a "Bible Hand
book," which registers many of the discoveries in question.
"Archaeological research steadily increases the evidence of
Biblical accuracy," says the 82-year-old author, "and piece by
piece the Old Testament is being confirmed. Science thus is
proving our faith is founded on solid rock. The time will come
when additional discoveries will completely validate the history
of man as the Bible records it."
Let's look at some of archaeology's findings:
Long shadows of one of the world's greatest oil fields hover
over the traditional site of the Garden of Eden near the mouth
of the Euphrates River. "Edin" was the ancient name of the
Babylonian plain. The particular spot is known as Eridu, and
ancient Babylonian inscriptions, uncovered by excavators, say:
"Near Eridu was a garden, in which was a sacred tree, a tree
of life, planted by the gods, whose roots were, deep, while its
branches reach to heaven, protected by guardian spirits, and no
man enters into the midst of it."
Other Eden evidences are two prehistoric seals found among
ancient Babylonian tablets. One, called "The Temptation," is now
in the British Museum; the other, called the "Adam and Eve
seal," is in the University of Pennsylvania Museum;
The "Temptation" seal (see picture above) obviously refers to
the Garden of Eden account, for at the center of the tablet is a
tree; on the right, a man; on the left, a woman plucking the
fruit; behind the woman, a serpent standing erect.
The "Adam and Eve seal," dated about 3,500 B.C., shows a
naked man and woman walking, downcast and disheartened,
followed by a serpent.
This Eden setting in the Caucasus-Euphrates region is at ap
proximately the geographical center of the Eastern Hemisphere
not inappropriate for the beginning of man, the central figure
of creation. Many ethnologists agree that the human race origi
nated in this area, from which also came the ox, goat, sheep,
horse, pig,' dog, and other domestic animals.
Only 12 miles from Eridu lie the buried ruins of Ur, the city of
Abraham. "It was the most magnificent city in the world in its
time," Halley asserts. "Then Babylon slowly eclipsed it, the Eu
phrates changed its course, and Ur was buried by desert sands."
British and American archaeologists have uncovered an area
of the city two miles long and a half-mile wide. A residence
section of Abraham's time revealed homes, shops, schools, and
chapels, with thousands of tablets, business documents, contracts,
hymns, and liturgies. Abraham may have walked these very
streets centuries ago.
Historic evidences of the Flood, which the Bible says Noah and
his family survived in the Ark, are numerous, Halley affirms.
Ancient tablets from Ninevah speak of "the Flood," "the age
before the Flood," and "the Flood that overthrew the land." Thus
the Flood apparently was a fixed fact in the memory of the early
inhabitants of Babylonia.
At Ur, under several strata of human occupation, archaeolo
gists found a great bed of solid water-laid clay eight feet thick,
without trace of human relic. Yet the ruins of another city were
buried beneath it! The leader of the excavating party said eight
feet of sediment implied a very great depth and long period of
inundation, that it could have been put there only by some such
vast deposit of water as the Biblical Flood. He added, "The
civilization underneath the flood layer was so different from that
above that it indicated a sudden and terrific break in the
continuity of history."
In spite of wars and upheavals, the fall of dynasties and
dictators, researchers continue to dig in ancient ruins, finding
new verification of ancient records. Thus, in Halley's view,
archaeology is drawing science and religion closer together.
6 Family Weekly. April 13, 195