Friday, December 9, 2016

The Story Behind Human Origins And The Bible by Marvin Heavin




On Why I Wrote Human Origins and the Bible

When I heard my first sermon in 2nd grade; it seemed right, I could not imagine anyone not believing what seemed obvious, and I have walked with God ever since.  My grandparents gave me a King James Bible when I was in 3rd grade, and I started from Genesis 1:1.  While the creation days made perfect sense to a young future engineer, I had lots of questions about Adam and Eve.
High School, then Purdue University, and 50 years of sermons and Sunday school classes were very helpful in further understanding more about God, Scripture, and science. Typically, my earlier pastors questioned if engineering personalities made good Bible teachers or pastors. 
Later a new pastor asked me to start teaching classes in my local church and God blessed this with good attendance.   This included various trips to Palomar, to Griffith Observatory; Jet Propulsion Laboratory etc. to help them better integrate religion and science.
Later I felt a calling from God to attend Talbot Theological Seminary, where so many of my fellow Boeing engineers also had felt a calling later in life.  Talbot Seminary led to a more literal understanding and increased scholarship of Scripture.  Also one realizes different people understand scripture thru their worldviews shaped by their various talents and life experiences.  Doctors better understand the healing side of Jesus, teachers better see Jesus as the greatest teacher, more doctrinal people better understand the theological side, and caregivers better see His compassion for others.  But many of the finest pastors and Bible commentators lacked a scientific bent in an increasing technological culture.  Most of the greatest commentators/authors “could not see” chiastic structures or truly understand the scientific orientations God wrote into Scripture.
After retirement from Boeing after 50 years, I took a class in Human Origins from Biola as part of a MA level Christian Apologetics program.  None of the Human Origins textbooks written by religious leaders used scripture, except for the Theistic Evolution leaders who had a low opinion of Scripture.  I was very dissatisfied that no one had deeply understood Adam and Eve from both a Biblical and a scientific perspective. After the class, I spent a year poring over the scriptures, trying to first be true to both scripture and then science, and came to the following conclusion:
1.            The story of Adam and Eve was literally true and occurred perhaps 8000 years ago as the Bible describes,
2.            Modern humans migrated out of Africa about 50,000 years ago, just as archeologists say they did, and
3.             God formed Eve, the first woman, about 135,000 years ago, just as DNA findings conclude.

The “Human Origins and the Bible” book provides a rational explanation for this, based on being totally true to scripture, and thus provides a theology of sorts for the modern age.   This book speaks to our youth and younger generation, who want to see both God’s Word and His creation as consistent, for He wrote the Bible and He spoke creation into being.  Rejection of God’s Word as literally true and rejection of God’s creation go hand in hand, for both are rejections of God.
The first half is Bible Study on relevant scriptures, while the second half describes the latest advances in both archeology and DNA research to help us better interpret scripture.  This approach is totally unique in this field.  It has shorter chapters ideal for small groups or individual study with questions at the end of each chapter.

Myron Heavin

Ps.  More detailed Power Point slides are available for teachers / students by requesting them from mgheavin@mac.com.

About The Book


For More Information:

Human Origins And The Bible is available at AmazonBarnes & NobleGoodreadsRedemption Press

Discuss this book at PUYB Virtual Book Club on Goodreads


About the Author




Myron G. Heavin graduated from Purdue University with a BS in aeronautical engineering, and has a BA in biblical and theological studies from Talbot Theological Seminary, and is currently enrolled in Christian Apologetics MA studies at Biola University. After fifty years as an engineer for the Boeing Company, Heavin retired and continues teaching and leading seven different Bible studies. Heavin and his wife Sharyl, who have been married over fifty years, have three grown children, and make their home in Lompoc, CA.


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