The Antiquity of Man by R. F. Cottrell

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 21, 1875

The Antiquity of Man.

By R. F. Cottrell

By chance, or by providence, I lately went into a church. I omit to give the denomination, because it is a rule with me to treat all with equal courtesy, and to say nothing prejudicial to any particular one. The minister gave notice that on the next Sunday evening he would give a lecture on the antiquity of man, in which he would prove that Adam was not the first man, but that men had existed on the earth two hundred and eighty thousand years at least. What a strange annunciation from the pulpit by a professed minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. But the Spirit expressly testified that in the last days it would be so. “They shall turn away their ears from the truth, and be turned unto fables.”

I heard the lecture. It was attempted to prove, from profane historians, that certain kingdoms of the earth had existed forty thousand years, more or less; and secondly, by deductions from geological investigations, that men had existed on earth for hundreds of thousands of years. From the announcement of the subject, when the appointment was given, I had anticipated the drift of the argument; and at the close of the lecture, having before asked the privilege, I was kindly permitted to make the following remarks:—

The apostle Paul says, “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God.” No greater miracle can be thought of than the bringing into existence of the whole material universe; hence there can be no greater act of faith than that which believes the statement that “in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Therefore, the apostle, in Heb. 11, where he specifies many of the great acts and achievements of faith, places this at the head of the list.

“The worlds were framed by the word of God.” Says the sweet singer of Israel, “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.” Again, “He spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.” Accordingly it is said, “And God said, Let there be light, and there was light.”

A person whose faith is bold enough to accredit these statements of the Scriptures sees no necessity for the creative work to occupy a longer period of time than that given in the first chapter of Genesis. The days of the record were such days as an evening and a morning—a night and a day—constitute, that is, days of twenty-four hours. Otherwise the record is utterly unreliable, and calculated to mislead. They were such days as the sun, to which it was given to rule the day, marks off for the inhabitants of the earth. To him who could speak the word, and countless worlds would spring into existence out of nothing, the time is amply sufficient; but if nature had to create itself, eternity itself would be too short a period in which to accomplish it.

It is by faith, and not by exploration and observation, that we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” The believer walks by faith, not by sight. In those things which are beyond his own observation he takes the word of God, simply believing what God has said.

We speak of geological formations; but the earth did not make itself. We speak of certain portions of the earth as new lands, alluvial soils, the soil having been removed by the flowing of water and deposited in a new locality. This takes time; but the creation of the material itself is quite another thing. The earth did not create itself; and it cannot tell us how old it is. We cannot tell how long a time it has taken to accomplish certain changes in the earth. Hence the confident assertions of many geologists is merely guess-work. And when men's guesses conflict with the revelation which God has given us, we hope to be excused though we choose to believe the latter.

After these remarks I read in conclusion the article in the REVIEW, Vol. 36, p. 146, entitled, “That Old Skull,” which was quite applicable to the arguments of the lecturer, and which I think worthy of republication for the benefit of those who have not read it.

R. F. COTTRELL.