Later, a more advanced group of men left Africa and populated the world. They were called Cro-Magnon men, and that’s who we are today. A large group settled in Asia and Indonesia and traveled to Australia and America (Embers 1996, 81,103).

There was an ice age that lasted from 600,000 BC to about 50,000 BC. During that time, men became stranded and isolated from each other for thousands of years. This was how race started, isolated man adapted to his environment.

Cultivating the earth to grow food was the most important task in early civilization. Planting was calculated by the lunar months of the year. These secrets were known to only those few who studied and were educated. They also knew about planting and medicine. These intellectuals and gifted men came to run the civilization and were considered gods to the people. This was the start of religious practice. Leaders could manipulate people because they had all the power. A civilization was usually united under one god because it was easier to control that way. They celebrated holidays together, and there was unity.

The gods took on many different forms, depending on the civilization. It could be that of a great man or of a natural wonder, such as thunder and lightning. Evidence of half-man-half-animal gods was common, such as they had in Egypt.

Humans have a natural instinct to believe in a Creator God. Most civilizations have a creation story to tell their children. People would make up a creation story or legend if one was not present because this was how they taught their children.

As time passed, cities grew and became sophisticated. Irrigation and sewage systems developed in the advanced city-states. Walls were built around the cities. Some of the greatest civilized areas of the world that came together at this time for trade were Mesopotamia, China, Egypt, and India.

There were groups of people who lived in tents and made life by traveling and trade, usually herding animals. These people lived what we call a nomadic existence. They were generally of mixed races and did not owe allegiance to any specific country. They preferred this lifestyle and found it prosperous and rewarding. There were many opportunities in traveling, trading, and tending sheep. Nomads were not inferior people. In fact, many were more educated in worldly affairs than the city people. They learned about other civilizations, languages, religions, and cultures from all over the world. They were self-sufficient, and they were tolerant of others. They knew about trade routes, minerals of the soil, and precious gems. They traded with the big cities and became prosperous. The Hebrews were one tribe of such people.

The King James Version of the Bible (1974) states that God made Adam and Eve in his image and likeness and put them in a lovely garden to live. There were many trees with good fruit in the garden of Eden where Adam and Eve lived. One tree held the knowledge of good and evil, and God told Adam and Eve not to eat off that tree.

One of God’s angels, Lucifer, refused to give homage to a man made of dirt even if he was made to the image and likeness of God. Lucifer was thrown out of heaven and took one-third of the angels with him. Lucifer disguised himself as a snake and lured Eve to eat the forbidden fruit and disobey God. She did so and gave some to Adam. This became the first sin in the world.

Man became corrupt after generations on the earth, except for Noah. God told Noah to build an ark because he was going to flood the earth and destroy everyone except him and his family. Everyone else had forgotten about the God. This was probably around 4000 BC if we were to date this. Scientists found that there was indeed a flood in that area at that time (Tourney 1997).

The legend of the Tower of Babel is another story from the area that became known as the Sumerian civilization. Noah’s people, who later became known as Semites or Hebrews, settled in the land of Sumer and began to thrive. At some point, around 3000 BC, there was a corrupt king named Nimrod. King Nimrod considered himself a god, which was natural for leaders at that time to do. He started to build a tower in honor of himself that would be the highest in the world (Genesis 10:1...