Thursday, May 5, 2011

My antediluvian baby



I've always loved the music of Donovan in general, and Donovan's Atlantis in particular.

Besides being an evocative song all by itself, and being an excellent example of the intersection between the issue of ancient civilization and popular culture, Atlantis is one of the only songs I know of that uses the excellent word "antediluvian." The entire second half of the song is a beautiful "round" consisting of the lines

Way down below the ocean
Where I want to be She may be

My antediluvian baby I want to see you someday

The word "antediluvian" has become the linguistic equivalent of a persona non grata (Latin for a person who is not welcome) since the late 1800s or early 1900s. That's because the word itself combines the Latin prefix for "before" (ante-, also found in "anteroom" and "antebellum") with the word for a flood or deluge (diluvia, the root of which is also found in the modern words "dilute" and "deluge").

As we have discussed, there is a tremendous bias against any theory positing a global flood ever since the Darwinian theory of evolution gained ascendancy in academia and popular culture towards the end of the 1800s and early 1900s, and this bias carries over to a prejudice against the related term "antediluvian," meaning pre-flood.

This bias even carries over into the field of alternative history and the search for lost civilizations, such that the most prominent voices in the field rarely look to a global catastrophic flood as a helpful theory in explaining the mounds of anomalous evidence about mankind's ancient past. The crustal displacement theory, close-encounter with Venus theory, and even the theory of ancient alien visitors are far more popular. However, the real answer might have been under our noses all along in the Biblical account of a worldwide flood. The bias against this notion has kept many from giving it due consideration.

In order to counteract this unfortunate bias, listen to Donovan's Atlantis as often as possible, and use the wonderful term "antediluvian" in your daily language. If you have young children, you can play it for them over and over at night as they fall asleep. If you prefer it without attached video, you can listen on your computer at this link (turn up the speakers), and we also recommend you go purchase the CD so you can blast it in your car while waiting at red lights on your way to work (guaranteed to turn heads).

Of course, we also recommend that you check out the Mathisen Corollary, which delves into the connections between a global catastrophic flood and the evidence for an advanced ancient lost civilization.