Tom’s out sick from the 2018 Higher Things conference in Lawrence, KS. Does that mean his breakout session on the Lifespan of the Ancients is kaput? Thanks to the modern technology of podcasting—by no means!
Listen in as Tom asks the question: does Adam’s lifespan defy credulity? Or is it another example of the truth being stranger than fiction?
In this BONUS episode, Thomas Lemke proposes scientific mechanisms responsible for the dramatic decline in human longevity since the flood. Turns out it’s not just possible for the ancients to have lived for centuries—based on modern discoveries it’s downright likely!
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Tom’s notes:
* Could it be that ancient man lived three, four, five… or even nine hundred years old?
* This is a sticking point for skeptics
* 126 years old
* We have a dilemma
* The Genesis account speaks of men routinely living into their 900s
* In our day we see folks topping out not long after 100
* Outside of faith it sounds fantastic to us because it’s outside of our experience
* Does that mean it’s not so?
* Don’t discount ancient stories just because they seem too fantastic
* Dragons sounded fantastic too – and then we found dinosaur bones
* Discernment is one thing – encouraged
* But don’t rule it out based on nothing but skepticism for things we don’t have first-hand experience with
* Avoid chronological snobbery (anachronism)
* Just because modern people don’t, does that mean our ancestors couldn’t?
* Don’t assume we have exhaustive knowledge of the ancients
* Neanderthals, for instance
* Look at what scripture says – does it jive?
* Let’s take a look and find out
* Scripture tells us that man was created to be essentially immortal
* The threat of the consequences for defying God’s command was that of death
* The command was broken, and the sentence carried out, the first man stopped breathing at 930
* Men for nine more generations lived most commonly more than 900 years old
* A man called Noah was called to build an enormous boat and set to the task even though he was over 500 years old at the time – so by all accounts in top shape
* A cataclysmic flood swept over the entire globe, wiping out every living creature save those native to the sea and those on the ark
* The following generations born successively after the flood saw shorter and shorter lifespans until, by Moses’ time 800 years later, 70 or 80 was the norm
* And that trend continues until today
* There it is – that’s what the Bible says
It’s one thing to say “don’t worry about it, just trust your Bible”
I want to take it a step further
Ask the question:
* Is it plausible that this happened based on our limited scientific knowledge?
* Absolutely. Let’s talk mechanisms
* Firstly, what really is aging? What causes it?
* Compromised cellular function – as the result of:
* Slowed cell turnover
* Loss of ability to restore damaged tissues
* Reduced ability to remove exogenous and endogenous toxins
* Resulting in the buildup of damaging substances
* Cell death
* But why do those things happen? In the words of aging researcher Bernard Strehler, “genetic damage (particularly gene loss) is almost certainly (or probably the) central cause of aging.”
* Why?
* Healthy cellular function is dependent upon a healthy genetic code producing normal molecules
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