Cave paintings are among the more intriguing evidences for the age of human civilization. Archaeologists have long used cave paintings as evidence that primitive man live and developed art at least 40,000 years ago. This timeline directly contradicts the Bible, which states God created the earth around 6000 years ago. Which is correct? Got Questions writer Sally Plemons discusses the science and the implications of cave paintings.
Cave paintings are not proof that humans have existed on earth longer than 6000 years; they are simply proof that humans lived in and/or used cave walls as canvases for their art work, but the dating process for these paintings, etchings, and drawings is riddled with error. Carbon dating (determining the rate of decay of carbon 14), which is the popular method for determining the date of a specific fossil, or other relic of antiquity, was compromised by the flood of Noah; however, since science disagrees with Scripture, scientists continue using carbon dating in their quest to prove an eons-old earth and to disprove the existence of God.
There were cave dwellers. Job speaks of those who lived in caves, but they were not the pre-societal, pre-civilization, grunting, club-carrying Neanderthals that evolutionists would have you believe; they were the dregs of society—the ignorant, socially inept—and yet they ridiculed Job for all of his problems, according to Job 30:1-10:
But now [they that are] younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock. Yea, whereto [might] the strength of their hands [profit] me, in whom old age was perished? For want and famine [they were] solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste. Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots [for] their meat. They were driven forth from among [men], (they cried after them as [after] a thief;) To dwell in the of the valleys, [in] caves of the earth, and [in] the rocks. Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they were gathered together. [They were] children of fools, yea, children of base men: they were viler than the earth. And now am I their song, yea, I am their byword. They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face.
Spitting on someone is a sign of utter contempt, and it is not a socially acceptable manner of behavior; therefore, these men who dwelt in caves, were the base element of society—unsophisticated, ill-mannered, and crude—a pattern that has permeated and continues to permeate all of human history.
Before the deluge, the environment and ecology of the earth were in perfect order; after the flood, however, the whole planet was catastrophically altered, and it took a long time for men to begin again—structuring a social order, building cities, and living in a civilized manner. Since caves provided readily available housing, surely many people set up housekeeping within their sturdy walls and limited-access entrances, but these men and women were not
prehistoric people, they were just trying to eke out a living in the most expedient way possible. There were no prehistoric people; even the term is an offense to the truth of God's word. The Bible is HIS-STORY—history begins with Genesis 1:1 and will end yet in the future, but all is recorded within the pages of God's word, so there is no "
pre-history".
The Bible introduces a man named Nimrod in Genesis 10:8. He is only two generations after the flood, the grandson of Ham, and he was known to be a "
builder of cities" and of "
kingdoms", so civilization began to flourish again within a relatively short time span.
Caves are mentioned throughout the Bible as natural dwelling places, shelter from the elements, and for protection from enemies. After being removed from Sodom, Lot and his daughters sought shelter in a cave, according to Genesis 19:30: "And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters." Abraham buried his wife, Sarah, in a cave, as documented in Genesis 23:19: "And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre: the same [is] Hebron in the land of Canaan." Abraham was later buried in the cave with his wife (Genesis 25:7). Burying in caves, or tombs made from rock, has been the tradition throughout the ages of man, and Jesus was even buried in a tomb made from rock, according to Mark 15:46: "Joseph bought a linen cloth, took Him down, wrapped Him in the linen cloth and laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb."
There are two totally and completely different schools of thought concerning cave paintings and the people who may have created them. The paleontologists and anthropologists of the secular world believe in the theory of evolution (Darwinism), and the basis of this theory teaches that the world is somewhere between 4.5 and 5 billion years old; however, the Bible—God's holy and inerrant word—teaches that the entire creation is somewhere around six thousand years of age.
God declares in Exodus 20:11: "For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy." If God states exactly what was created on each of these six days in Genesis 1, then it is possible to count the ages from Adam to today, making it clear that the creation is only about six thousand years young. The argument exists because secular science does not believe in the Bible but in their own, educated, man-centered ideas about how and why the universe, which includes earth, came into being.
Since humans were created on the sixth day, according to Genesis 1:26, and since each generation from Adam forward is recorded and appears to be literate and highly intelligent, it is biblically impossible for there to have been a lengthy time period in which the human race dwelt in caves; had no discernible language pattern; could only draw crude pictographs on cave walls; and had no fire, no wheels, and no sense of civilized behavior, especially since the Bible clearly speaks of the sons of Adam—the 2nd generation of humans—Cain and Abel—as understanding the necessity of making sacrificial offerings to God.
In no way does evolution have any partnership with Scripture—they are diametrically opposed to one another, although some religious systems, such as Roman Catholicism, teach and espouse evolution as "a viable theory" and even a "fact" (Pope John Paul II, October 23, 1996, "To the Pontifical Academy of Sciences"). Also, for over 60 years, the Roman Catholic Church has recognized and promoted "Theistic Evolution", even teaching it in their school systems. This theory follows the same guidelines as Darwinism, except it is believed that at some point in the evolutionary chain, God instilled a soul into the creature—and that is where the story of Adam begins—he is the first one to become a human being, with a soul—in essence, Adam is the "missing link".
God created Adam as a highly intelligent, sophisticated, capable human being; not as some humanoid, bi-ped who crawled up out of a swamp as a one-celled creature and, after millions of years, evolved into a 2 legged man, able to stand upright and create a social order—this is preposterous. Neither was he the product of panspermia—an alien life form seeding the planet with DNA, in order to populate earth with their own kind (or a reasonable facsimile thereof…), and there was no collision of nothing against nothing (the "Big Bang Theory"). The whole creation was designed; therefore, it requires a Designer—God, in the person of Jesus Christ, according to Colossians 1:16-17: "For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."
Adam was lovingly and carefully hand-formed by God (Genesis 2:7) and placed into a pristine, beautiful environment, to become the landlord—the caretaker (Genesis 1:28)—of God's property, the earth, as stated in the following passages of Scripture:
Psalm 50:12: "If I were hungry I would not tell you, For the world is Mine, and all it contains."
Exodus 19:5: "Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine."
Each living creature was bounded by their "kind" (species), and no creature could morph into a different species. For instance, Adam was the original pattern for all future human beings; he was the pattern, but within the boundaries of the pattern was the variable of either male or female, the parameters being limited by the human genome—the identifier of the species of mankind. Each species of plant, animal, and human were limited to the boundaries of the original patterns, and each had a built in identifier that made each one unique. On the other hand, evolution would have you believe that dinosaurs eventually morphed into birds, that apes morphed into humans, and so on throughout each species, until the line between each one is blurred.
The only way a species can be altered is by the introduction of a different genome (identifier) into the genetic coding, causing a corruption of the DNA and creating a new species—an altered one—that abominates (or corrupts) the pattern set by God. Cross-species breeding has achieved new heights in recent years, with the quest to "enhance the human genome"—also known as "transhumanism", in which man, inspired by Satan and his minions, believes that he can improve on God's special creation. This is nothing new, it's just an old attempt (Genesis 6), dressed in modern clothes, to corrupt the human genome so that there will be no redeemable people. Jesus stated, in Luke 19:10: "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." Only human beings—fully human beings—are lost; not animals, not plants, not fish, not birds—just humans.
The agenda of Satan is to so corrupt the human genome that no fully human beings will be left on earth; therefore, Jesus will have no reason to return. Jesus made a statement to this effect, when referring to His 2nd coming, in Matthew 24:22: "And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." Evolution has gained a foothold in society and the majority of people today believe the lie over the absolute truth of Scripture.
In recent times, to support the theory of evolution, the "discovery" of the "Neanderthal genome" has become popular. Supposedly, these mutant-looking humanoids were the ancestors of all humans. Published reports state that Neanderthals are "much closer kin to us than are chimpanzees." They "diverged from the human lineage 5 to 7 million years ago," and are currently believed to be "our closest evolutionary relatives." These God-hating evolutionists claim that "modern humans" probably "shared a common ancestor" with the Neanderthals "within the last 500,000 years, possibly in Africa." All of this is a direct denial of what is written in Scripture, basically calling God a liar.
The art work found in caves is legitimate, but reasonably, how could such paintings and drawings survive for millions, or even billions of years, in such an environment? Realistically, how could even a bone survive in rock strata for millions and/or billions of years, being squeezed constantly by the pressure of the rocks upon it? Also, a lot of the drawings found on cave walls depict man walking and/or otherwise interacting with dinosaurs, but evolutionists would have you believe that these beasts were extinct long before man walked the earth, even though Job 40:15-24 speaks of a member of the brontosaurus family, and declares, in verse 15, that both man and dinosaur lived at the same time: "Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox."
Resources
Panorama of Creation, by Dr. Carl Baugh
www.ignatius.com
www.aloha.net
www.catholicnewsagency.com
www.humanityplus.org—"Elevating the Human Condition"
www.wordpress.com—"The Neanderthal Genome"
The Antiquities of the Jews, by Flavius Josephus