The Secrets of Ancient Man

Title: The Secrets of Ancient Man
Author: Don Landis
Major Themes: Creation, Ancient Times
Synopsis: How have the attitudes of men at Babel affected the world’s cultures since that time?

Every day, as part of our homeschooling, I read a page or two from a book of history or science from an unusual perspective. We just finished the book The Secrets of Ancient Man by Don Landis. This book gives quite a unique look at history, one that I hadn’t thought of before.

The author begins by pointing by talking about Babel and what man was trying to accomplish there. Man was trying to “make a name for himself.” That rebellious attitude went with the people who were scattered from Babel, all around the world. The author explores ancient civilizations around the globe and points out how each one has similarities to Babel. He begins with the civilizations in Mesopotamia, illustrating his points with some documents that were found there on clay tablets, as well as ruins of ancient buildings. Then he moves on to the Minoans in the Mediterranean, an ancient fortification in Spain I have never heard of and then civilizations in Turkey and India. Of course, he describes the Egyptians, too. Several chapters discussed the Americas and China and in each one he shows what has been found there that illustrates the level of technology available to the ancient peoples, their intelligence, and their rebellion against God.

Chapter 7 briefly describes the land of Israel and how God worked with the people there and kept his hand over them but how they turned to idolatry. A very interesting table in this chapter lists the pagan gods that were worshipped by Israel, describes their idols, and quotes verses from the Bible that give evidence of their idolatry. Then the author shows how God brought judgment on the people of Israel for their sin and briefly describes each of the nations that conquered them.

Another chapter lists many people who ruled the known world and what they were like. Some of these men of course claimed to be God. What ended up happening with their empires?

What I really appreciated about this book was the way Don Landis has traced the influence of Babel throughout the cultures of the world up to the present time. He shows how ungodly ideas and ways of thinking have permeated the world since the beginning of time, as man has rebelled against God. One thing that I did question a little in this book was the author’s suggestion that possibly many large ancient buildings were built with the help of spirits. I appreciate that this author did not say for sure that that’s what happened, but I have questions in my mind about it. Otherwise, I agree with and very much appreciate everything this author said. The Secrets of Ancient Man is a helpful resource that gives a broad perspective of not only the intelligence of advanced ancient civilizations but also the infiltration of all of human society from the very beginning.

No warnings!

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Related posts:

Streams of Civilization Volume One A Child’s History of the World The Story of the World series The Mystery of History, Volumes I and II