Question: How would one give an apologetic answer about early civilization's great engineering feats? Some people believe these were impossible for man to do and the only way was for ancient aliens to have visited or helped with such feats. How can we give an apologetic answer to explain how these were built? Did some advanced civilizations exist and records lost in the flood? Thank you.
Answer: Greetings, and thank you for your question.
Before I look at how early civilizations could accomplish this, as you say, "great engineering feats," I want to look at the option you provide that some people put forward as explaining things like Stonehenge or the Pyramids.
The fact that some people attribute ancient building projects to aliens is astonishing. Just think about this for a moment. If you look at the available evidence, what do you see? Fact: Ancient pyramids and ziggurats exist. Fact: Human beings are the only sentient and rational creatures on the planet (this would be true from both a Creationist point of view and an evolutionary point of view). The only logical conclusion one can draw is that human beings constructed these monuments. The problem from the unbelieving perspective is that according to the evolutionary model, mankind (Homo Sapiens) had to progress from lower levels of intelligence and capability to higher levels of intelligence and capability. Thus, the fact that ancient structures like the pyramids were built by human beings throws a bit of a "monkey wrench" into their paradigm. That's why some of the more eccentric skeptics turn to extra-terrestrials as a hypothesis to explain how primitive human beings could make the pyramids.
So, let me get this straight, all the available evidence suggests that human beings built the pyramids, but because your paradigm can't handle that conclusion, you hypothesize that aliens must have helped? Where is the evidence that alien life even exists, much less visited earth in the past? The SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) Institute was founded in 1984 and to date, they have found zero evidence of intelligent life in the universe. That's 40 years (not to mention some of the earlier SETI initiatives that were independently launched). Some may say, "Well, 40 is just a drop in the bucket from a cosmological perspective." Okay, but there is no evidence that aliens have ever visited earth and there is (to date) no evidence that alien life even exists. Let's play devil's advocate a little longer. Suppose there is intelligent alien life "out there." What are we to conclude? This intelligent alien life traveled the however many light years to earth and helped us build the pyramids and then left never to return? I'm a huge fan of science-fiction, and this is science-fiction to the Nth degree.
What this clearly demonstrates is the effects of the fall (Genesis 3) on man's thinking. Paul says in Romans 1:18-21:
[18] For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, [19] because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. [20] For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, [21] because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. (Romans 1:18-21 NKJV)
We know God exists, yet we suppress this truth in unrighteousness. We have darkened hearts and minds, so that we are willing to attribute to aliens what was clearly built by human beings because we want to maintain an anti-God worldview. It's a preposterous worldview. For people who are always saying "trust the science." they are willing to engage in science-fiction to support their claims.
So, how did ancient, primitive human beings build the pyramids? They did so because they were far more technologically advanced than we give them credit for. There is a modernist bias in people today that suggests we, in the 21st century, are far more advanced than people in bygone eras because we have things like cellphones, internet, electric cars, etc. What they fail to understand is that technology is more "organic" than we like to think. We have things like cell phones because in ages past they had telephones, and before that telegraphs, etc. Most of our modern technology is based on previous technology. We can make these amazing advances because of the advances of a previous generation. Also, with vastly more people alive today than millennia ago, there is a larger pool of knowledge to draw upon.
Another thing to consider, and something I hinted at earlier, is that skeptics and unbelievers fail to acknowledge mankind's fall into sin. When God created Adam, he was created as the perfect specimen of human being. Adam wasn't some neanderthal "missing link," but a fully formed human being with no physical or mental defects. The fall introduced sin into the world and sin brought death. What we see in the biblical narrative isn't evolution, but devolution. We're not getting better, but worse. We see this in the long life spans in the early chapters of Genesis. Before the flood, mankind lived on average 900 years. After the flood, due to environmental changes and scarcity of resources, life spans began to decline more rapidly. The average age was reduced to about 400 years. By the time of the patriarchs, they were living about 120-150 years. Until the advent of modern medicine, life spans reduced to 30-40 years old (mainly due to infant mortality and constant war). Thanks to modern medicine, we've increased the life span t0 75-80 years. My point being, mankind was always intelligent and creative because we were created in the image of God. The early chapters of Genesis describe people who were shepherds, musicians, and metallurgists:
[20] And Adah bore Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. [21] His brother's name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the harp and flute. [22] And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah. (Genesis 4:20-22 NKJV)
Noah was able to construct a massive floating vessel that was able to house and support many animals. After the flood, humanity constructed a tower (a ziggurat) to "reach the heavens." Mankind was not primitive or stupid. They were smart, strong, creative, and driven. The ancient artifacts we have scattered about in history museums confirms this fact.
I hope this helps.
