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About Hesperian student / (Lincoln [Neb.]) 1872-1885 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1878)
No. 7. WHKN DID ADAM 1,1 VK? 437 WHEN DTD ADAM LIVE? The length of time sinco the hunmn nice nnulo lis appearance upon the earth is a subject of much inquiry among scion title men. None pretend Unit n precise answer can bo given , anil hence the whole range of our knowledge, as Car as il re lates to the problem, is resorted to lor an approximate solution. In itself, the mat ter may not seem of much importance; yet connected with it are questions in re- ligion and philosophy on which there is much discussion at the present day. Some investigators estimate the period of time in question at several hundred thousand years. This view is held, though not exclusively, by the advocates ol Dar winism; for others, holding the same opinion, claim that it conflicts with the evolution hypothesis. Another class of inquirers, basing their arguments on the statements of Sacred Writ, claim that a much shorter period will meet all the re quirements of the case. When an old opinion is attacked, we ought not to abandon it until plainly shown that the new belief is the more probable. So in this instance, as the shorter period has been the more general ly received, it is legitimate for us to seek to prove that il is not also the more tena ble. In view of the attacks made on 1Mb lira) chronology, and the misunderstand ings with which it is apprehended, we purpose to notice a few facts which ap-pe-ir to support it. We must first remember that the dates which the Bible furnishes do not afford, any more Unit) others, suflicient data for computing the time that has elapsed since the creation of man. Hence, all the com pulations thai have been made are but approximate, none having authoritative value. The chronology of Usher, found on flic margins of the English Bible, pla cs4(Mll years between the creation of Adam ami the birth of Christ. But this has long been discarded by the learned, being con. tiow-ited by fw'lH And yet some contin ue to assail it as if it were claimed as nn inspired part of the Bible. The chronol ogy of Hales, which makes the same ep och o411 years in length, is more accurate, though considered too short ; yet the speculation which would extend this to a vastly greater length is not, we think, warranted by facts. Ethnology presents quite evident proof of i( great centre of population in Western Asia, from which, at various times, in part historical, people spread out in all directions. Europe seems first to have been peopled by Turanians. Of the.su, the Basques of the Pyrenees, and the Finns and Lapps of northern Europe are the only present representatives. Later came the Celts and Gnuco.Latin nations, and later still, the Germans, Sclaves, and Huns. In Asia the Hindoos and Chinese, though very long settled in their respco live countries, have preserved some indi cation of an eastward migration. America seems to have received an influx from the east at a very early day, and later acces sions from the opposite direction. Some of the Pacific nations seem to have been peopled quite .recently, and .nearly all na tions bear evidence of having migrated from oilier places. The race has a dispcrsivetendeney, which in early times, was perhaps stronger than at present. Diversify of race, the preva lencc of war, and nomadic habits, opera ted powerfully to facilitate the peopling of the earth. If all mankind were once in the hunter state, and evolutionists uphold this view, the circumstance would alone lie a powerful cause, for a savage depon pendent on the chase requires a large ter ritory for his support. Now when we consider the steady increase in population during the presont century, of Europe and America, it is evident that a few thou sand years are amply suflicient to allow for the peopling of the world, even admit ting the fact that some countries once con tallied a greater population than at pros ent. If the race is half a million years old, nothing short of almost constant war and fli i. vl