Human longevity
From CreationWiki, the encyclopedia of creation science
Human longevity according to many ancient historical records, including Genesis, record that prior to the flood of Noah, humans lived to approximately 10 times our current life expectancy. However, immediately after the flood, the lifespans recorded in the Biblical genealogy dropped quickly. Creationists have proposed a number of explanations for this:
- God's ordered at the time of the global flood that "Man's days shall be 120 years;"(Genesis 6:3 );
- Genetic drift and inbreeding among the descendents of the eight survivors of the flood;
- Increased environmental hardship due to changes in the atmosphere which had protected the antediluvian Earth;
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Pre-flood longevity
Prior to the flood, Genesis records that people lived extraordinarily long lives: routinely over 900 years. Methuselah is known for living longer than any other human in history, dying at the age of 969.[1] This longevity is believed to be so extraordinarily long in part because environmental conditions were optimal for longevity before the Earth was destroyed, perhaps maintained by a dense atmosphere which collapsed during the flood.
| Name | Years Lived | Name | Years Lived |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adam | 930 | Seth | 912 |
| Enosh | 905 | Kenan | 910 |
| Mahalalel | 895 | Jared | 962 |
| Enoch | 365 | Methuselah | 969 |
| Lamech | 777 | Noah | 950 |
It should be noted that there is nothing known about the human body which would fundamentally prevent humans from having lived that long in the past, or to one day live that long again.[2] Scientists do not know why humans age and ultimately die, although some have speculated that it might be due to the shortening of telomeres, which could theoretically have been much longer prior to the flood.
Post-flood decline in longevity
After the great flood, human lifespans declined quickly and precipitously as seen in the chart at right.
There are three explanations for this:
- The decrease in lifespan was the result of the harsher environment after the flood, with accelerated recombination, inbreeding, and the resulting genetic drift playing a possible role.
- The decrease was a result of God's order that "His days will be 120 years;"
- The decrease was a result of events occuring between 1997 A.M. and 2187 A.M.
- The ages and genealogies are fabrications.
Environment and Genetic drift
The first view provides that after the flood, the environment had changed a great deal. The fossil record indicates that prior to the flood, the Earth was a tropical paradise. The destruction of the Earth by flood would have altered the environment in harmful ways about which we can only speculate. Further, post-flood inbreeding would have been extreme with only a father, mother, three sons, and their wives remaining, causing the loss of a great deal of heterozygosity, and making humans more vulnerable to the new and harsher environment. Thie view is consistent with biology (particularly genetic drift,) flood geology, and the decline of humanity.
"His days will be 120 years"
The second view provides that the decline in human longevity was either an intended or knowingly concommitant result of the flood. The following passage quotes the Words of God when he basically says that the days of man will be 120 years because He would destroy the Earth by flood. Although one possible interpretation of this scripture is that this was a statement of when the flood would occur, it is very compelling that the maximum life expectancy for humans is almost exactly 120 years. The longest verified lifespan on record for a human was Jeanne Calment who lived to be 122 years of age[3].
Genesis 6:3-7 "3 Then the LORD said, "My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years."..... 5 The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them."
Chaotic events
The second chart at right shows that all of the post-diluvian patriarchs died within a 200 year period, from 1997 A.M. to 2187 A.M. Interestingly, Noah died only two years before Abraham was born. It is possible that their deaths were caused by events occuring during this period, such as perhaps the dispersion of humanity from the Tower of Babel, war, environmental changes, or some other events during that period that caused the death rate to increase greatly.
Fabricated genealogies
The third view leaves us with the highly improbable belief that whoever wrote Genesis had the foresight to make his fabrication consistent with facts about Genetic drift that would not be known for thousands of years. Such a detailed and sophisticated fabrication, while not falsifiable, would be totally unprecedented in history, as there are no other genealogies in existence which are as detailed and sophisticated as Genesis which are also known to be fabrications.
Josephus on early human longevity
Josephus, a first century Jewish historian, wrote:
| “ | Let no one, upon comparing the lives of the ancients with our lives, and with the few years which we now live, think that what we have said of them is false; or make the shortness of our lives at present an argument that neither did they attain to so long a duration of life; for those ancients were beloved of God and [lately] made by God himself; and because their food was then fitter for the prolongation of life, might well live so great a number of years; and besides, God afforded them a longer time of life on account of their virtue and the good use they made of it in astronomical and geometrical discoveries, which would not have afforded the time of foretelling [the periods of the stars] unless they had lived six hundred years; for the Great Year is completed in that interval. Now I have for witnesses to what I have said, all those that have written Antiquities, both among the Greeks and barbarians; for even Manetho, who wrote the Egyptian History, and Berosus, who collected the Chaldean Monuments, and Mochus and Hestiaeus, and besides these, Hieronymus the Egyptian, and those who composed the Poenician History, agree to what I here say: Hesiod also, and Hecataeus, Hellanicus and Acusilaus; and besides these, Ephorus and Nicolaus relate that the ancients lived a thousand years; but as to these matters let everyone look upon them as he thinks fit. (Antiquities, I:5:104-108) | ” |
Modern increase in human longevity
Recently, human lifespans have been increasing at a remarkable rate in the Western World. This is due primarily to improved medicine, hygiene, and nutrition. Changes in the human gene pool itself are not the cause of this increase. In the absence of our improved technology and nutrition, the human lifespan would be no higher than it was 1000 years ago.
Related References
- Genesis 5 The Genealogy from Adam to Noah
- Living for 900 years by Carl Wieland
- Decreased lifespans: Have we been looking in the right place? by Carl Wieland
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