Who Wrote the Book of Genesis?
by David Demick, MD

For many years now, the traditional authorship of Genesis has been under attack. Thus, many modern Bible scholars hold that Genesis is not a firsthand historical document, but rather a rambling collection of ancient myths. However, a different approach to the literary analysis of Genesis was also pioneered many years ago — one which authenticates rather than denies its historicity.

This book is a collaborative work by a father-and-son team, P.J. and D.J. Wiseman.1 The father was a British military officer stationed in Mesopotamia in the 1920’s, who became interested in the archaeological excavations going on there. He took particular interest in the ancient records, and he noticed stylistic similarities between Genesis and the ancient cuneiform tablets that were then being excavated and translated.

The Wisemans’ theory centers around the recurring phrase in Genesis, translated in the KJV as, “These are the generations of ...” (or, perhaps more accurately, “This is the account of...” in the NIV). Translators of Genesis have generally assumed that this phrase is an introduction to a genealogy or historical material which follows it, and have made section and verse divisions in the text accordingly. However, the Wisemans contend that this is actually a colophon, or signature/ownership entry, according to ancient scribal practice. This is significant, because in the ancient Babylonian cuneiform tablets, colophons appeared at the end of a document, not the beginning. Thus, if this phrase is indeed a colophon, it generally refers back to the preceding section, not the following one.

According to the “colophon theory,” this phrase divides Genesis into eleven sections. The first section (Gen. 1:1-2:4a) is identified as “the account (generations) of the heavens and earth.” It mostly covers creation events before the creation of man; thus it presumably was given directly by God, either to Adam or Moses. The middle sections contain historical narrative, genealogies, or both, and are often linked together by repetition of preceding material. The authors/owners are identified by the colophons as (1) Adam, (2) Noah, (3) the sons of Noah, (4) Shem (5) Terah, (6) Isaac, (7) Ishmael, (8) Jacob, and (9) Esau. The last section has no colophon; it shifts markedly in style and setting from Mesopotamian to Egyptian as the narrative follows Joseph into Egypt.

Perhaps the most significant implication of this theory is that the second section (Gen. 2:4b-5:1a) is the eyewitness account of Adam himself, describing the sixth day of creation and subsequent events throughout his life. As if to emphasize this point to future generations of skeptics, Gen. 5:1a states, “This is the book (Hebrew “sepher,” meaning tablet or written record) of the account (toledoth) of Adam.”(NIV)

The Wisemans suggest that Moses later served as editor, compiling Genesis from pre-existing family records, which were probably in the form of a linked series of ancient clay tablets. Indeed, Moses would have been an ideal editor for these ancient records. As a well-educated prince of Egypt, he would have been familiar with ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian forms of writing, as well as with the emerging North Semitic alphabet and other ancient proto-Semitic forms.2

This theory explains several aspects of Genesis which may appear to the modern reader as strange quirks of style. The Wisemans do a masterful job of interpreting these stylistic clues in a sympathetic rather than destructive manner, and of encouraging cultural sensitivity to the very remotest chapters of human history. In so doing, they also call attention to the subjective arrogance of modern critics, who judge Genesis out of their own minds by modern rather than ancient standards.

1Wiseman, P.J. and Wiseman, D.J.
Ancient Records and the Structure of Genesis, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, 1985.

2Moses: The Five Scripts He Would Have Known, in “the Alphabet Makers” section, www. jaars.org/museum/alphabet.

Mathematics: Is God Silent?
by Mark Sonmor

We are always excited when we can recommend good resources to our readers. However, to simply say that Mathematics: Is God Silent? is a good book is like saying Michael Jordan is a good basketball player. Even though the statement is true, it falls woefully short of conveying its full meaning. For someone like me, who floundered dimly through high school algebra constantly asking, “When am I ever going to need this?”, author James D. Nickel has opened a door to a world of numbers and relationships that finally have significance and meaning. Since they reflect the mind and nature of God, we as believers, can have a fuller understanding of the character of our Creator.

For example, whether we look at the spiral of a galaxy, a hurricane, or the cochlea of the human ear, we see recurring mathematical themes. The hexagonal design of a honeycomb “just happens” to be the most mathematically since it uses the minimal amount of surface area. Nichols lists many more exciting examples that should cause anyone to acknowledge and praise our Creator.

Sadly, that is not always the case. Many praise mere man and echo the words of John W. Sullivan who said, “We are the lawgivers of the universe; it is even possible that we can experience nothing but what we have created and that the greatest of our mathematical creations is the material universe itself.”

Man has always had the challenge of placing faith in his own reason or in God. It is evident throughout the first half of this book, how well man has responded. By relating key movements in science, philosophy, theology, and the history of Christianity, Nichols shows the dilemma that arises when modern man rejects absolute truth. “In essence,” he says, “unbelieving scientists can do science only because they operate secretly on Christian premises while denying that faith.” After all, why does math work at all? Why is it consistent? How does finite man deal with the concept of infinity?

Furthermore, Mathematics: Is God Silent? is an excellent model for all Christians who wish to reinterpret their disciplines, professions, or any area of life from a Biblical position. With the disciplines of science dominated by secular thought, it is instructive to see that even a topic like this, can be taught from a distinctly Biblical perspective.

So, is this book reserved for scientists, theologians, or those who love math? Absolutely not. Whether you are a university professor, a home educator or someone who simply hates math, Mathematics: Is God Silent? is especially for you. This book is for all Christians who want to bring all of life into a Godly frame of mind — even mathematics!

Overview of Content:

Part 1: Mathematics in History
1. Does it Really Matter?
2. From Adam to Christ
3. From Christ to Wycliffe
4. From Wycliffe to Euler
5. From Euler to Gödel
6. Why does Mathematics Work?
Part 2: How Should We Then Teach?
7. Objectives
8. Pedagogy and Resources
Also included:
• Timelines • Bibliography
• Credits • Scripture index
• General index
This book is available from AOI. Please call us or visit our website.

Did you Know? In many cases, if you multiply a number by nine and add the digits of the answer, you will end up with the number nine! For example, 2 x 9 = 18 and 1+8 = 9. See how many you can come up with.

The Fungus Gnat Sciara — A Survivor?
by Grant D. DeJong

In June 2002, I was hiking about 80 miles north of the AOI headquarters in Grand Junction, CO. As an entomologist, I’m almost always looking for insects and, as I passed near an exposed cliff face near a BLM trail, I saw an interesting bunch of insects all fossilized together. The first insect that caught my attention was a cricket. However, as I looked closer, I saw some beetles and a couple of flies sitting there, too.

The rock containing these insect fossils is from the Parachute Member of the Green River Formation. To evolutionists, this means it is a limestone oil shale from a freshwater lake bed which dried up 50 million years ago in the late Eocene period. It is this same formation that makes up much of Dinosaur National Monument. The area is famous for producing fish fossils, but insect fossils are also not uncommon.

Interestingly, my rock contains a specimen with very good evidence against the theory of evolution. You see, even though most of the insects were smashed terrifically, one fly is clearly identifiable from its well-preserved wing veins. It is not an extinct taxon but is a fly we could collect this summer if we wanted to. It is the fungus gnat Sciara. If the rock and the fly are truly 50 million years old, then it should seem reasonable to look at the earth’s supposed evolutionary history since that time and determine if that assertion makes sense. What changes have occurred since this fly’s death and fortuitous burial in the mud at the bottom of an ancient lake?

Well, according to the evolutionary view of earth’s history, a meteor hit Chesapeake Bay, creating a crater 85 km in diameter. This released tons of debris into the atmosphere and into the skies over the region where Sciara was living. As a result, the very last of the dinosaurs finally died off, and the whole realm of mammals arose and diverged from those few scurrying shrews which had been evading the dinosaurs.

Later, the Pacific Plate supposedly moved to the northwest, subducting and buckling the North American landscape, raising the infant Rocky Mountains from near sea level to over 14,000 high. Land bridges formed in Beringia and Panama, connecting Asia, North America, and South America. This would have allowed all kinds of exotic animals to invade the area. These would have included competitors, predators, and parasites along with potential mates possessing novel genetic material and mutations.

The Colorado Plateau is thought to have gone from a swampy-edged lake to a high, dry desert. There were lots of ice ages with alternating cold and warm climates, and Man progressed through his entire evolution from a handy little marmoset-like animal to his glorious self today. Meanwhile, the descendants of the next-of-kin to my fly lived on and prospered for more than 50 million generations. Surprisingly, over all that time, Sciara apparently hasn’t changed one bit. Now that must be a survivor story.



Many evolutionists point to the fossil record to refute Creation. Their opinion is that all those organisms were buried millions of years ago. But what if a “living fossil,” such as the Coelocanth, is discovered, showing physical traits identical to its fossilized relatives? Evolutionists argue that the traits were conserved because the animals lived in the deep oceans or some other place which was not so affected by the changing environment as was the land surface. Thus, they can look today like the fossils buried so long ago.

However, here I have a fly that has experienced all kinds of environmental changes over those 50 million years. By the evolutionist’s books, it should have formed new adaptations for the greatly altered environments and evolved into something different. But it is still the same old Sciara. Obviously, that evolutionary scenario just doesn’t make sense.
The book of Genesis is very clear as to the recent origin of all of life, including mankind and Sciara. It tells us how this Sciara specimen probably died and was buried in a great worldwide flood. It tells us how God instructed Noah how to survive the flood along with other specimens of Sciara. So is Sciara a survivor? Yes, but by God’s grace! Most importantly, the Bible in Colossians 1:12-18 tells us why — so that mankind and all of nature can bring glory to the God Who created it

[Editors note: Sciara is one of a myriad of plants and animals found in the fossil record which are identical to their living counterparts. Horseshoe Crabs, for instance, remain unchanged after 140 million “years.” The same for Dragonflies 300 million “years.” One exhibit at the Denver museum states, “The first sharks evolved over 450 million years ago. Sharks have changed very little over the years...” The fossil record resoundingly shows stasis, not change.] indicates stasis, not change.]