Reasons to Believe

Birth of Languages

December 1, 2003
By Dr. Hugh Ross

TNRTB Archive - Retained for reference information

A language study affirms the Bible’s account of the recent origin and spread of human civilization. A computer analysis of 87 languages and 2,449 cognate sets (related words descending from a common ancestor word) reveals that Indo-European languages diverged between 7,800 and 9,800 years ago somewhere in southeastern Turkey. This date and location are consistent with the birth of large-scale wheat and goat domestication, pottery technology, and commerce. The timing and location of these events also resonate with statements in Genesis regarding the birth and spread of human civilization.

Russell D. Gray and Quentin D. Atkinson, “Language-Tree Divergence Times Support the Anatolian Theory of Indo-European Origin,” Nature, 426 (2003), pp. 435-439; David B. Searls, “Trees of Life and Language,” Nature, 426 (2003), pp. 391-392,

http://www.nature.com/ cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v426/n6965/abs/nature02029_fs.html

 

RTB article: articles in Connections and Facts&Faith on land bridges and the spread of human civilization

Subjects: Origin of Agriculture/Human Civilization

Want to leave a comment on this article?

Sign me up for the RTB newsletter

Your comments are welcome.
Please use the form to the right.

Dr. Hugh Ross

Reasons to Believe emerged from my passion to research, develop, and proclaim the most powerful new reasons to believe in Christ as Creator, Lord, and Savior and to use those new reasons to reach people for Christ. Read more about Dr. Hugh Ross.