Remove from a library shelf any volume on ancient man. Examine its opening chapter. What will you find? Expressions as: “it is thought,” “there appears to be some basis for believing,” “it has been suggested,” “it may be presumed,” “one may safely assume,” and “others are of the opinion” — just to mention a few.
What do all these carefully chosen expressions really signify? Just this: Science has no demonstrable evidence for accepting as fact what has been written in the book. The conclusions are mere speculation!
Never Safe to Assume
Just how old is Man? Is there any AUTHORITY who can tell us? Several modern writers, relying only on geological inferences, place the appearance of man about 25,000 to 35,000 years ago. Others suggest the period is no less than 100,000 years ago. No small number of scholars assume it may be 500,000 years ago. And there are a few who place it several hundred thousand years earlier. Do any of these men really KNOW?
And how could intelligent, able men arrive at such absurdly varying figures for the origin of man and the beginnings of ancient history? They all have access, remember, to the same geological and archaeological sources of information. They all have the same facts — but they don’t have the same answers! Why?
The answer is, they are all interpreting geologic and archaeological evidence in accordance with their private theories. They are only guessing. They have no way of knowing.
One well-known writer phrased it this way: “We know that there is no absolute knowledge, that there are only theories; but we forget this. The better educated we are the harder we believe in axioms” (Lincoln Steffens “Autobiography”, page 816). (more…)
The Apple Of God's Eye 