Where did human beings come from, and where are we going? As has been elucidated, Darwin's Theory of Evolution fails to explain humanity's origin. We are people who have forgotten our past and do not know where we belong. Maybe, from the study of myths, religious stories, and historical records, we could reawaken some lost memories. There are stunning similarities among myths from different countries in the world, such as the descriptions of The Flood. Specifically, among the 130 American Indian tribes, hardly one does not have a myth about a great flood. The myths of China, Laos, Thailand, Japan, Australia, Greece, India, and Egypt, etc. also mention a terrible flood. Near the Himalayas, inside Tibet, people have discovered a tribe where the tribesmen look very similar to the ancient Greeks. It is said that they were the survivors of the great flood. In 1987, the Turkish official media announced the discovery of an object that looked like Noah's Ark on the top of 5200-meter-tall Agri Dagh (Ararat) Mountain. (http://www.pilgrimpromo.com/WAR/). Aerial photographs show the "ark" is onion-shaped in the front, and the body length fits the description in the Bible. Why did human have to encounter this disaster? Every country's fairy tales offered identical explanations the great gods decided to punish humans because of humanity's degeneration. The Bible says: "And God saw the wickedness of man on earth was great, and that every imaginable thought of his heart was evil. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on earth, and grieved his heart." (Genesis, 1:5,6) "And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth." (Genesis, 1:13) Archaeologists have found traces of the degeneration of humans from ancient Greek relics excavated in Europe. Was the last human civilization really destroyed in a great flood? We are a group of forgetful people. Jesus and Sakyamuni indeed existed in history and their deeds have been recorded. For example, when Jesus was crucified, passers-by laughed at him: "If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross." (Matthew, 27:40) "He saved others; himself he cannot save." (Matthew, 27:42) "He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God." (Matthew, 27:43) Jesus was in great pain on the cross, "when he cried again with a loud voice, it yielded up the ghosts. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and rocks rent;" (Matthew, 27:50,51) The crowd at the scene was stunned, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God." (Matthew, 27:54) Three days later, Jesus rose. There were also many records of Buddha Sakyamuni's miracles. Today, however, all these seem to be forgotten. Not only have we forgotten the past, we know nothing about the future. Prophets throughout history have made many prophecies for human history and many countries in the world have great prophets. For example, Nostradamus in France predicted the First and Second World Wars, the Gulf War, the break-up of the Soviet Union etc. The Tuibei Tu in China predicted the changes of the dynasties and the foundation of Communist China. Some prophecies mention a time period (around this time) when humans and gods would co-exist. Some prophecies have predicted a disaster for humanity, and also mentioned that the prophecies would not come to pass if a certain event would happen. Humans, what do you choose? These fairy tales and prophecies may provide us with some deeper thoughts.
Historic Truths
February 17, 2001