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Evangelist Jim Bakker's television program is at it again, this time hosting a creationist who believes that "Satan's giants" are responsible for building the iconic megalithic site Stonehenge. Last week on the program, theologian Dr. Dennis Lindsay explained that in ancient times Satan created a race of giants to destroy Israel, and that this same race of giants is responsible for building Stonehenge and other megalithic sites.
Let's unpack that a little from the standpoint of Biblical scholarship. The references to "giants" in the Bible refer to the Nephilim, the offspring of angels who disobeyed God, took human wives, and fathered children with them. But whether the word really literally means "giant" has not been settled, and there is considerable debate regarding its etymology. So whether or not Nephilim were huge enough to pick up and carry enormous stones is anyone's guess.
Lindsay also ignores the fact that at this point we have managed to test a number of Neolithic techniques and have found them fully capable of moving and erecting gigantic stones. Maybe the building of Stonehenge was mysterious back in the 1970's when In Search Of was on the air, but most archaeologists consider those mysteries basically solved. The debate continues over the function of the site, but these days nobody really thinks aliens or giants or whatever built the place.
That is, except for creationists like Dennis Lindsay. But that's probably why he's showing up on Jim Bakker's cable show rather than on a more reputable, widely known program.
Let's unpack that a little from the standpoint of Biblical scholarship. The references to "giants" in the Bible refer to the Nephilim, the offspring of angels who disobeyed God, took human wives, and fathered children with them. But whether the word really literally means "giant" has not been settled, and there is considerable debate regarding its etymology. So whether or not Nephilim were huge enough to pick up and carry enormous stones is anyone's guess.
Lindsay seems to have anticipated resistance to the notion of giants in world history, given the complete lack of historical records or fossil evidence. So he offered this explanation as proof:
“Why and what is the evidence for giant beings on this Earth? We all know about Stonehenge, right? And that’s just one out of hundreds and hundreds of gigantic places around the world that testify that some sort of supernatural power or giants were involved in its construction.”
The full discussion on “The Jim Bakker Show,” which includes Bakker’s promotional spots for $150 water filtration pitchers, can be seen here.
Lindsay also ignores the fact that at this point we have managed to test a number of Neolithic techniques and have found them fully capable of moving and erecting gigantic stones. Maybe the building of Stonehenge was mysterious back in the 1970's when In Search Of was on the air, but most archaeologists consider those mysteries basically solved. The debate continues over the function of the site, but these days nobody really thinks aliens or giants or whatever built the place.
That is, except for creationists like Dennis Lindsay. But that's probably why he's showing up on Jim Bakker's cable show rather than on a more reputable, widely known program.
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