Planet Earth, the Early Years

This book proposes a harmony between Genesis 1-11 and modern mainline science. It argues that a basic distinction must be drawn between the actual words in the Bible and our attempts to interpret those words. Dr. Isham maintains that the apparent contradictions between science and the Scriptures have been caused by blurring this distinction. The popular, traditional interpretation of Genesis 1-11 is at odds with modern science, a fact that has led liberal Christians to treat these chapters as ancient Israelite mythology. However, Dr. Isham argues that the literal words of the text can be harmonized with modern science, provided that a new interpretive model is found. In this book, Dr. Isham attempts to provide such a model for the Biblical stories of Creation, Eden, Cain and Abel, Noah's Flood, and the Tower of Babel. The connective genealogical materials are also harmonized with the Sumerian King List to produce a new chronology of Biblical events.