Sunday 7 June 2015

Why We Speak So Many Languages?

Why Do We Speak So Many Different Languages?

Was there ever one, universal language? Why do we speak so many different languages - is it simply because over time, we decided to create new languages, splitting off into different groups of people, or is there another, more powerful reason? In the entry, we take a look at the answer, straight from God's Word. Understand that I am not referring to different accents, but to different languages. Also, we go into this with foreknowledge that humanity all spoke one language in the beginning. Now, let's get up to speed on a few things before we answer the question. Realize this is from an Biblical Creationist Scientist Apologist approach, and has been continually verified through logic, facts, science, and documentation, as well as faith. (Picture Credit to: Answers in Genesis/The Creation Museum)

In the beginning, God created the universe. It took him six, literal days to create, and he made Adam and Eve on Day 6. (Genesis 1-2, Exodus 20:11, Mark 10:6) The question that critics always seem to pose is, "How is it possible for Adam to name all the animals as well as have a mate created for him on Day 6?" Good question.

Think of it this way. Adam and Eve were created with perfect bodies. This means they also had perfect minds. Does this mean they could use these minds in a negative way, such as believe a lie and succumbing to Lucifer, therefore eating of the Tree? Of course. Even the greatest scientists and philosophical thinkers can succumb to things that sound a certain way - i.e. Evolution. (See entry: Science in Brief: Scientific Facts of the Bible) On that note, take Solomon's word. "There is a way that appears to be right [Evolution], but in the end it leads to death." (Proverbs 14:12)

With that mindset, think of the fall of man. After the fall, after the birth of Cain, he went off and built the first city. His descendant, not too many years later, invented bronze. Musical instruments, simple machines, and other such things were invented. Now let's fast forward say... two thousand years. Egypt. Many people, to this day, are puzzled as to how the pyramids were built, using the technology of their time.

Many are puzzled as to how things like Stonehenge and other such things came about, since, according to Evolution, these people were "less intelligent" than us. Of special note... the Mayan Calendar - we all know that their calendar ends in 2012. Does that mean the world will end? No. But you know what we never hear? When their calendar began. They place the creation of the world around 4,000 BC - just as the Bible does, a Young Earth that's a little over 6,000 Years old. Now, I am not saying that 2012 will happen, because for it to occur, the Tribulation must first happen. (See entry: "The End Times (Part One)")

What I am saying is, Secular Scientists tend to overlook these things. Now, how could people with such little intelligence actually build such amazing things, such detailed calendars, such accurate astronomical contraptions? The answer? They had more intelligence. Now, a skeptic will immediately, off the bat, say, "Oh, but we have better technology, we've grown in knowledge!"

I'm not saying that is false. But think of it this way: Do we talk the same way Shakespeare did centuries ago? No. Can our brains seem to retain entire books without notes, or anything? Not usually. Why is that? Deterioration. I promise you, this all ties into why we speak different languages, bear with me. After Adam and Eve sinned, the first offspring's genetics were near-perfect, since Adam and Eve were created as such. That being said, this also means that their minds worked a LOT quicker - they were able to use 100% of their minds, and each generation since, because of sin, our minds have slowly deteriorated. Yes, it is true that we may have more knowledge and more advanced technology. But we certainly do not use all of our brainpower.

All of that said, because Adam's brain capacity was fast, he was able to name all the animals within less than 24 hours. The reason so many find that hard to believe is because in today's word, that would be impossible to do. That is true, we cannot do that within the span of a day. But Adam could, because his mind had not yet been in deterioration. After the Flood occurred, man tried to re-group together, the offspring of Noah and their descendants gathered in one place. You can find the following account in Genesis 11:1-9, but for the sake of the entry, I will provide the text here: (NIV)
The Unfinished Tower of Babel

"Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar [Babylonia] and settled there.They said to each other, 'Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly.' They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.'" *Note: Knowing to bake the bricks would require at least some intelligence.

"But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that they were building. The Lord said, 'If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will become impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other. So the Lord scattered them for there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel - because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth."*Note: When God refers to "us," many believe he is referring to the Trinity.

The Tower of Babel. In essence, all the people got together, we are told elsewhere led by a man named Nimrod the Hunter, (Genesis 10:10) who would become the ruler of the Babylonian Empire, and tried to build a tower so that they could be higher than God. Sounds familiar, does it not? Think of Lucifer (Satan). He tried to do the same thing. "I will ascend to heaven, I will raise my throne above the stars of God." (Isaiah 14:13a)

Satan tried to take over God's Throne. He, to this day, still believes that in the end, he will win. But it has been foreknown that God triumphs. (Genesis 3:15, Revelation 20) Men tried to make themselves higher than God. What do we know about Babel? Read the following by David Livingston, 2008:

"The religion-political systems that developed in early cities would later expand into empires. Babel was just the first. Fifty-four miles south of Baghdad, it was a huge city in its heyday, with walls 14 miles (23 km) long and 135 feet (41 m) thick. The famous Hanging Gardens were a part of the temple tower. Among many archaeological treasures discovered in the city were the clay tablets with the Enuma Elish Creation Epic, which some scholars mistakenly say inspired the biblical creation story. However, even a cursory reading of the Enuma Elish shows that it is a later corruption of the true account in Scripture. 

The tower had a small temple on top for the patron god. It would not be Jehovah, the Creator, but a god of their own choosing. At Babylon the god was, no doubt, Marduk. The tower on top was to reach up to heaven. Why? In defiance of Jehovah and to establish their own power and might. As they said, “Let us make us a name lest we be scattered.” Then they devised a religion-political system that bound men in slavery."

So, "Why Do We Speak So Many Different Languages?" The answer, folks, is because man mimicked Satan, in essence. God "confused their language." Picture this: You are working on a large tower, everyone speaking your native language. All of a sudden, people start speaking Spanish, English, Chinese, Egyptian, Hebrew, the like. You wouldn't be able to continue, because all of a sudden, you're all speaking what sounds like gibberish!

In modern times, travel, knowledge, translators and cultural diffusion seem to have eliminated most of the language barriers. In short, the construction of the Tower of Babel is the reason why we have so many different languages. The number of the world's languages today is estimated to be 4,000-5,000. Many smaller languages are dying out, while English-speakers seem to be growing in number. One of the rarest spoken languages is Biblical: Aramaic, which is generally only spoken in two villages in Syria, though featured in some films, such as Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ.

Understand that I am by no means a linguist, but I can tell you that based on the Biblical Worldview, the tower is the reason we speak so many different languages. Yes, it is true that most of our modern languages come from a common language, for example, it is assumed that Dutch, English, and German are part of the Germanic Heritage, while others are different. But for a group of people to randomly create a language takes a lot of work, as you can ask anyone who has created a modern language, such as Esperanto.

Let us examine linguistics for a moment. The study of linguistics is called philology. Research shows that all languages trace back to a "mother tongue." Now, according to the Harvard Chinese-Japanese Library, written Chinese dates back to about 2500 BC, which is very close to the approximate time of the Flood. (Sometime between 2500's-2302 BC) Many believe the Flood to have occurred between 2349-2348 BC, with others believing it to be around 2302 BC, +/- 11 years. If the former is the date, this would place the birth of Peleg around 2247 BC. (Peleg was named so because he was born during the division of the nations)

The Chinese language is very interesting. Consider the following: the Chinese word for boat is depicted as eight mouths (eight people) inside of a container. There were eight people on the ark. The word for total is a uniting of eight people, who join hands over the Earth. Again, eight people: Noah, his wife, his three sons, and their wives. The Chinese word for empty is made up of two words: cave, and work. Cave is depicted as eight people under one roof. Some believe that when Noah and his family left the ark, they originally moved into a cave for shelter, eight people under one roof.

After this, Noah's family left the cave each day to work on emptying the ark and proceeded to share these experiences with future generations - eventually making its way into the Chinese language. The Chinese character for devil is formed from three other characters: man, garden, and private. (See Genesis 3:1-7) Also, the words rebellion and confusion link together the words for tongue and for walking. (See Genesis 11:4-9) The word for garden (or field) is a square. Inside the square are four straight lines which radiate outward in a crossroads/plus sign shape. Now, according to Genesis 2, a river in the Garden of Eden flowed out into four streams that also watered the entire garden.

Just as the biblical account states, the people began "spreading forth" out from a single source: from babel. Let us examine this. Historical evidence shows that around the time of the Dispersion at Babel, this is when the nations of the earth began "springing forth" from a single source. Based on the records of Chaldeans, the nation of Babylon - right next to the Tower of Babel, was founded in 2234, which may have been around 13 years after the Birth of Peleg. (If born in 2247 BC. If the date of 2302 is accurate, he should have been born around 2201.)

Another historical evidence we can examine is Egypt. Egypt was founded around the year 2188 BC, which is a little further south, around 60 years after the birth of Peleg. According to historian Eusebius, the nation of Greece was founded around 2089, which is yet farther west, around 160 years after the birth of Peleg. Notice how Babylon was founded first, close to the point of origin, followed by Egypt, which was a bit further away, proceeded by Greece, still further away, just as the biblical account shows.

But if this were so, we would find records, legends, tales of the Flood aside from Genesis, right? We do. There are over 500 flood myths and legends all over the world, just as we would expect to find if there really was a worldwide flood. Now, skeptics will claim the Bible is based on other myths or flood legends, and try to say that the Bible was made using old religions. Not so. We find flood myths and legends around the world because there really was a global flood, just as evidence shows. Take for example the fact that we find fossils in the Himalayas - and since the flood water covered the mountains, that is exactly what we would expect to find.

The Bible, being reliable, and true, is the true account of the Flood, however, many cultures have their own flood stories, many of which have similarities to the historical event. According the Bablyonian legend, pre-flood people were giants who had become impious (bad) and depraved, expect for one who revered the gods and was wise and prudent. His name was Noa, and had three sons: Sem, Japet, Chem, and their wives Tidea, Pandora, Noela, and Noegla. Noa had foreseen the destruction and began to build an ark. 78 years later, the oceans, rivers, and inland seas "burst forth" from below, followed by many days of violent rain.

The Babylonian legend continues that these waters overflowed the mountains, drowning the entire human race - save for Noa and his family who survived on the ship. This ship came to rest finally, on the top of a mountain. China also has a flood legend. There is a temple with pictures pertaining to this story. Fuhi, along with his wife and three daughters escaped the great flood, and he and his family were the only people who were left alive on the Earth. The picture shows the boat in raging waters with dolphins swimming around the ark and a dove - with an olive branch - in its beak, flying back towards the boat.

India's legend is also interesting. According to legend, long ago there lived a man named Manu, who was warned about a great flood that would come soon after and destroy everything on the Earth. Manu was instructed to build a large ship. The rains began rising until the entire earth was covered by water. According to Greece legends, a long time ago, humans became proud, this bothered the gods since the humans kept getting worse. The gods decided to destroy the humans. Before doing this, they warned a man and his wife, and placed them in a large wooden chest. The rains began and continued until the whole world was flooded. The chest came to rest upon a mountain. The man and his wife got out and say everything was flooded, so lived on provisions in the chest until the waters receded.

Hawaiian legend says that long after the death of the first man, the world had become a terrible place. In this world, only one good man was left, whose name was Nu-u. Nu-u made a great canoe with a house on it and filled it with animals. The waters came and killed everyone on the Earth, except for Nu-u and his family, who survived on the canoe. A flood legend was discovered from the Toltec Indians of ancient Mexico, which says that the world lasted 1716 years before it was destroyed by a great flood that covered even the highest mountains. The story tells of a man named Tapi who was a very pious (good) man.

Now, the creator told Tapi to build a boat so that he could live and escape the coming destruction. Tapi was told to take his wife and a pair of every animal alive. People thought Tapi was crazy. Then the rain came. After the flood, people began to multiply and build a very high tower, to provide a place in case the world was ever destroyed again. However, people began to speak different languages, and became confused. So different groups, speaking the same language, wandered to other regions of the world. Toletcs claim that they began as a family of seven friends and their wives who spoke the same language, and crossed great waters, lived in caves, and wandered for 104 years until they finally came upon southern Mexico. According to the story, this was 520 years after the great flood.

Of 120 tribes surveyed in North, Central, and South America, flood ;legends were found among all of them. There was a lot in common, including: A general wickedness among men and women, God finding that a flood was necessary, one family - with eight members - surviving, a giant boat or ship built, the family, along with animals and birds, going onto the boat, a flood killing everything on the Earth, the flood covering the Earth for a time, the boat landing in a high mountainous area, two or three birds being sent out, the people finally leaving the boat with the animals, the survivors worshiping God for sparing them, and a promise given never to flood the entire Earth.

Since there are so many legends, myths, accounts, records of a worldwide flood, some coming from Babylonian texts, others from cuneiform tablest of Mesopotamia, others from mythology and traditions of different nations, we find that no event has occurred either in ancient nor modern times about which we find more numerous records or better evidence than a worldwide flood. To ignore such evidence, including the geologic evidence - fossils of sea creatures found high above sea level due to waters having flooded the continents, rapid burial of animals and plants, rapid or no erosion between strata, sediment transported long distances, rapidly depositied layers of sediment spread across vast areas, along with many strate being laid down in rapid succession - is, quite plainly, foolish.

In the above entry, the Babylonian account of Noa and his sons Sem, Japet, and Chem, along with their wives, may be so close in its description of the flood (not with the gods, but with a global flood and the names of the individuals involved) because Noah was still alive when Babylon was formed, and Babylon was formed not long after the Flood and this may be part of the reason the account is so close to the truth. We find legends of floods and of the dispersion all across the world, nearly in every culture. Evolutionists and atheists may not like the concept because it does not necessarily agree with their worldview, but this evidence supports a worldwide flood and a dispersion of languages: just as the Bible shows.

Even the first century historian, Josephus, confirmed the biblical account, in The Antiquities of the Jews 1.4.3, "but he caused a tumult among them, by producing in them diverse languages: and causing that, through the multitude of those languages, they should not be able to understand one another. The place wherein they built the tower is now called Babylon; because of the confusion of the language which they readily understood before; for the Hebrews mean by the word Babel, Confusion."

I trust this entry has been insightful and helpful. Thank you for taking the time to read this entry of, "The Truth." If you have an comments, questions, or concerns, feel free to comment below, email vexx801@yahoo.com, or visit the facebook page. In the name of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World, I wish you well. God Bless, and Take Care. Troy Hillman

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