I have always wondered whether we were all a little more closely related than we realize and how what we see now can give us so much more insight into the past (both confirming what we know and how much, we must humbly admit, we still do not know). Part of this was due to the reality that in just a few generations, my own family has changed so much due to a few different choices that only a few of my ancestors made. I am born of Cuban immigrants from my Father’s side and Puerto Rican born grandparents on my Mother’s side. Due to the transatlantic slave trade, communism and various economic factors, my own lineage rapidly changed in just a few short years, with respect to the thousands of years we have been in existence. Cuba and Puerto Rico both share some historical narratives that involve what I always understood to be part African, part Indigenous (maybe Taino?) and part European (Spaniard or Italian?). I also had a rumored Chinese ancestor somewhere in there from Cuba! But where did the indigenous people come from? Did the African ancestral blood that courses through my veins come from slaves? Or perhaps it comes from the rumored African explorers who came to the Americas supposedly before Columbus. The bottom line is, modern science is not philosophy or religion, but it makes truth claims in both of these areas, using data to support meta-narratives that fit what people already want to believe – that we evolved over a process of million years. Why? Because it is insanely convenient. If we are just particles colliding, there really is no need for moral accountability.
The problem is that, as this book so thoroughly discusses, the world’s inhabitants just don’t seem to have been here that long. I find it fascinating that when I teach my children history from the dominant narrative perspective, the Smithsonian book of History for example takes a large guess and says “Origins 4.5 MYA – 3,000 BCE” with about three pages of information on this supposed enormous time frame and then can’t resist moving onto early Egyptian civilization because it is so obvious that there is such a lack of evidence from a time period that just did not happen. Mostly there is just a lot of guess work in the account of history from the Smithsonian History: From the Dawn of Civilization to the Present Day; “Although homo sapiens are the only hominins left alive today, controversial recent finds suggest that Neanderthals may not have been the only species they encountered as they spread across the globe. At Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains of Russia, DNA from a few small fragments of bone suggest another group of hominins, the Denisovans, may have lived in the region just 41,000 years ago” (Page 24). So why I am bringing in this other quote for a book review on a completely different book? Because even the historical accounts that try to do away with God and the history presented in the Bible still start their accounts of history with ancient Egypt and the Sumerians etc. Traced gives us a compelling, robust and clear argument with rich data to support the very recent history that gave us the 8 billion people on the planet. With lots of scientific and mathematical analysis, Traced is not putting out pure guesswork or speculation. There is solid, intriguing evidence put forth that supports the Biblical narrative.
One reviewer on Amazon claimed that this book is just religious propaganda. I could say the same thing about any of the other books on Amazon that propagate a godless worldview. The difference is that Christians have a revelational epistemology and do not claim authority for themselves but give it rightly to God. So when someone like Nathaniel Jeanson make groundbreaking discoveries, like those he has summarized in traced, his evidence just corroborates what we already know to be true from Scripture. Sure, the author has a Biblical worldview, but the Bible claims for itself an authority that humans cannot claim. This book spends most of the time detailing the implications from studying genetics as to how old (or how young) the human population really is, but there were a few references to how mainstream science has already decided God is a concept they just want to disprove; therefore they go out of their way to hide evidence that support the claims the Bible makes.
Logistically speaking, someone interested in purchasing this book should be prepared ahead of time by knowing exactly which format would be most easy to navigate for them personally. Pages 134-308 (roughly) are all color graphics including maps, pictures and family trees. The author frequently references this section and you really do want to flip back and forth to enhance your experience of reading the text with the supporting documents. I received a free PDF version of this book to review it and it was very cumbersome to flip from the text to the color plates sections as they were referenced. I had to literally open up my laptop to view the color plates in the book PDF while also reading the PDF on my kindle. It is kind of confusing, but honestly a paper back book might be better for this book. Honestly, the whole reading experience would be better if the images were embedded into the text itself.
The book is very readable to a lay person, though sometimes I would’ve liked more technical jargon and citations. I understand though why the author chose not to make it much more technical. It is an important book for many people to read and had he chosen to make it too technical, I am sure I would not have been able to read it or likely to recommended it.
Overall, this book is a definite page turner to anyone remotely interested in history, science, genetics, politics of the world, or their own ancestry. I highly recommend this book and would encourage especially scientists who stumble upon this book to take it seriously and not just throw it out because their worldview is intolerant and allergic to any religion.
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Very interesting and informative scientific study!
Reviewed in Canada on April 22, 2024
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Wow! We are more connected than we think
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