On Graham Hancock

Up until a couple of weeks ago, I had no idea who Graham Hancock was. There is currently a series on Netflix called "Ancient Apocalypse" and because it aligned with my interests, I watched it. If you aren't familiar, the 8-part series has been labeled a documentary, and the central character is Graham Hancock, who has spent the last 30+ years of his life traveling to ancient sites all over the world and developing a theory (which appears to be borrowed from others). The theory is that there is some kind of lost ancient civilization, pre-flood, and that certain members of that pre-flood civilization survived and passed on their advanced knowledge to the post-flood survivors throughout the rest of the World. The Ancient Apocalypse series is very well done - its a bit over-the-top in terms of production - engaging and interesting. Having said that; I was firm in my own mind, after finishing the documentary, that while I appreciate what Hancock has brought together, I can't agree with his conclusions because our worldviews very different. He is not a believer and as far as I can tell, he is firmly against the idea of a Creator God. Having said all that, the series was enough to interest me in what else Graham Hancock has put out there. He is an accomplished author as well, with several titles available for purchase, and after reviewing my options, I decided to read "Magicians of the Gods", his 2017 update to his original best-selling book, "Fingerprints of the Gods."

I had a couple of lengthy car rides over the Thanksgiving break and so I finished that book in a few days. I then listened to an episode of the Joe Rogan podcast that he did in early November (just a few weeks ago) and after taking all of that in, I decided to go and see what his opponents say. I read a lengthy critical review of his 'Magicians of the Gods' book that was particularly scathing. With that as the backdrop, I wanted to share my take on his work, from the point of view of someone with a Biblical worldview.

One thing I have wondered for awhile now is why we see the same ancient motifs in locations all around the world, in entirely separate and disconnected cultures. In cultures from all over the world, we see flood and/or ancient catastrophe stories/myths/legends. In cultures all over the world we see pyramid structures. Egypt is the one that comes to mind, but there are large pyramid structures in Mexico and South America, China, India, etc. (all oriented towards celestial objects, by the way) Another common theme amongst ancient cultures from all over the world is snakes/serpents (often associated with 'wisdom'). That is of particular interest to me because of the Genesis narrative about the serpent in the Garden of Eden. Another common theme is Giants - again, particularly relevant to the Genesis narrative (Nephilim), and also the narrative of books like Enoch and The Book of Giants. What I like about Hancock's work is that he brings alot of these elements out from the various ancient narratives that have been passed down.

The more I see these types of things, the more convincing it becomes that these things must point to actual reality. It is possible that they all emanate from one origin point, but it is equally possible, and more likely, that they all have the same stories because these things all actually happened, all over the world, and were interpreted differently, depending on where they happened. If you believe the Bible, then you believe in a worldwide flood; some have argued that it wasn't a literal flood, but I think you would have a hard time arguing that point. Additionally, there is a number of non-Canonical writings that talk more extensively about Giants in Biblical times, as well as other semi-divine beings. Interestingly, you see a similar theme in the writings of other ancient cultures. In the Hebrew culture it is the Watchers, in the ancient Sumerian culture, it is the Apkallu, in the Mesoamerican culture it is the figures of Quetzalcoatl and Tlaloc, in the ancient religion of Zoroastrianism, it is Ahura Mazda, and so on and so forth. I believe this is something to be grappled with. I should be clear here that I don't think that these other divine beings are The God - Yahweh - nor would I argue that it is Him, just using different names. Rather, I think these are other created divine beings and I would base that off of some of the work that Dr. Michael Heiser has done (read "Unseen Realm" for more). Interestingly, Heiser doesn't seem to think very highly of Graham Hancock's work.

What I Like

Modern archeology suffers from the same thing that most major disciplines do and that is politics. There is a 'mainstream' view and then there are the fringe folks. The mainstream has a way of censoring views that don't align either by offering no platform for those views to be discussed, or by the withholding of funding. Hancock is solidly fringe (some would argue not even that), and perhaps unqualified, but he at least recognizes that there is an issue with the way things are being portrayed. Whether his ideas hold any weight at all, what he at least seems to be willing to accept is that there is more going on in ancient times than has been suggested. For example, many opinions have been offered as to how the Egyptian pyramids were built, but no one really knows, and there was little-to-no evidence that explains it. If the narrative of slow human progression over vast amounts of time is true, then why do we see these ancient cultures doing very complex things, particularly with regard to architecture and astronomy? Back to the Egyptians, how did they build a base for the pyramid of Giza that is accurate to the North Star (Polaris) with 3/60ths of a degree and that is level to within 2 centimeters across 13 acres? These aren't impossible feats, obviously, but they also aren't done by uneducated, unsophisticated people. At minimum, ancient Egyptians possessed very advanced quarrying technology, an advanced understanding of engineering and logistics, and a very advanced understanding of astronomy. It is also clear that other cultures around the world, existing at the same time as the Egyptians, also possessed these advanced technologies...which is simply to beg the question: How? Because we don't know - shouldn't that necessarily mean that multiple theories are considered, and open discussion promoted? I appreciate someone who asks questions and pokes the status quo. It doesn't mean they are right, but any area that contains uncertainly deserves investigation.

I also think that for the Christian - it is important to understand what these other cultures say because it helps us understand the Bible better. For me, reading that other ancient cultures have a similar story to the ancient Hebrews bolsters my faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I see Genesis as participating in a conversation that was happening within the ancient Mesopotamian world. It is Moses saying, "ok - this is how you say that the world came about, let me tell you about how it actually came about, let me tell you about the one True God." Genesis (and really the Torah overall) is a response to those other cultures and their stories and worldview. I also see that the flood story is not a story that is only found in one place. Rather, it is found all over the place, which means that something like that probably did happen. It increases my faith in the Biblical narrative.

What I Don't Like

Hancock clearly bears a chip on his shoulder and that comes through loudly in his book, interviews and in the documentary. He feels snubbed by the archeology community and he wants everyone to know it. Maybe that is an unfair criticism because I don't know what its like to walk in his shoes, but I digress. If you're going to be the one with the counter-narrative, kill them with evidence.

Another thing I agree with his critics on is that he often seems to not have the full picture on a given subject. I have no doubt that he is well-read, but when taking on such a wide range of topics (everything from archeology to history to architecture) you have to have some extremely specific knowledge on the body of study that has gone into these things before you can really criticize them. When you read what his critics have to say, some of whom are the very 'experts' he rails against, it becomes clear that either by accident, or deliberate neglect, Hancock doesn't know everything that has been discovered, discussed or studied when it comes to something he comments on. I thought Jason Colavito's review of his book was illustrative of this.

The last thing I'll say is that from a Biblical worldview, Hancock's conclusions are rubbish. I think the Biblical worldview presents a much more plausible explanation for the things that Hancock brings to light, namely, that ancient cultures seem to have possessed advanced understanding. I think the Younger Dryas Impact Theory has some interesting implications for a potential cause of global flooding, but clearly there is a lot more study to be done on that. One thing that Hancock fails to deliver (completely, in my estimation), is evidence of a lost advanced civilization. The only inference for this civilization seems to be that there is no other explanation for how ancients could have obtained the advanced technological information they possessed. It takes faith to believe in any of this stuff, no matter what evidence we do have - and I think its possible to explain all of these things within a Biblical worldview. The conclusion Hancock reaches is that we are doomed to repeating the mistakes of the past, but without hope of salvation, which I find to be dreadfully nihilist.

What it Reminded Me Of

As I was reflecting on all of this (Hancock's work), I was reminded of something I read about a year ago that tangentially relates to all of this. At that time, I was investigating the Mazzaroth and I came across a passage, in a book called "Mystery of the Mazzaroth" of an account from the writing of Josephus, where he talks about a Jewish legend of two pillars, carved by Seth, which were created to pass on the knowledge of astronomy that he had been given. Here is the passage from Josephus' "Antiquities of the Jews":

"[The descendants of Seth] discovered the science of the heavenly bodies and their orderly array. Moreover, to prevent their discoveries from being lost to mankind and perishing before they become known - Adam having predicted a destruction of the universe, at one time by a violent fire and at another by a mighty deluge of water - they erected two pillars, one of brick and the other of stone, and inscribed these discoveries on both; so that, if the pillar of brick disappeared in the deluge, that of stone would remain to teach men what was graven thereon and to inform them that they had also erected one of brick."

There is so much fascinating stuff in this short passage. There is a lot more in Josephus' accounts that relates to this, but let's just stick with this for now. First, Adam knew that the earth was going to be destroyed and presumably it was God that told him about that. To me, this displays God's mercy. It's not as if He suddenly made up his mind - rather, he warned everyone ahead of time. There is further evidence, in other non-canonical books, that figures like Noah and/or Enoch were sent to the Sons of God/Nephilim to warn them about what was going to happen.

Second - there are mentions of two catastrophes, which meshes with what we know from Scripture. God destroyed the Earth once by water and will again destroy the Earth by fire on the Day of the Lord (2 Peter 3).

Third - whether by God or by The Watchers, mentioned extensively in the Book of Enoch, knowledge about the stars and celestial bodies was given to mankind. Not only that, but it was important enough to Seth (and/or to his descendants) that they sought to preserve that knowledge for the rest of humanity by writing it down. This gives Psalm 19 added meaning and also passages like Job 38:31-33.

I know that the writings of Josephus are not necessarily historical fact, but in this particular instance, it lines up very well with what we know about what has happened so far and with what Scripture tells us is going to happen. The reason I'm reminded of all of this in light of Hancock's work is because of how it tells a similar story, but within the Biblical framework.

One More Thing

One last interesting tidbit from the 'Magicians of the Gods' book: it has to do with the Mayan calendar, which somewhat famously ended in 2012. Hancock presents something he learned from John Major Jenkins,

"the real scholars on this subject [the Mayan calendar], amongst whom there is none more pre-eminent than John Major Jenkins, made valiant efforts - for a long while before 2012 - to teach us that what the end-date of the Mayan calendar was based on was in fact the once-in-26,000-years conjunction of the winter solstice sun with the center of the galaxy, i.e. with the dark rift and nuclear bulge of the Milky Way. Because of the diameter of the sun and limitations of naked-eye astronomy this conjunction cannot be pinned down to an exact year but is best considered...as a window 80-years-wide spanning the period 1960-2040."

As with anything - don't miss the broader point through the specifics here. Psalm 19 says, "the Heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech, night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world." God himself wrote a story in the stars and makes it clear that the message is available to anyone, no matter where they are on the planet. Is possible that a culture, half-way around the globe from the ancient Hebrews, saw this message and understood its significance? I think that's very possible. Am I putting all of my faith on this? No, of course not, but to me it is just another sign that the end of the Age is coming, and soon.

One day closer! Maranatha!