What makes a retired marine structural designer qualified to write a book about ancient biblical history? Oh well, a ship is a complicated thing. It involves not only structure but also piping, electrical, ac, electronics and so on. I do not pretend to know much about these things, so I always asked people who do know. That is what I did in my studies. Besides, you must do your homework. When I looked into biblical history. I found a version of ancient history that nowhere resembles that is scripture. Over the years I realized that things are not true just because everyone says it is. Something definitely is all wrong. Then I accidentally came across the books of Immanuel Velikovsky, a Russian-born author. Some of his ideas struck me as far-fetched, but he did mention definite errors in Egyptian history. So following his lead, I was able to revise the official version of the past, with surprising results: the scriptural version is correct. However, his explanation for the Exodus and other dramatic events was unusual, to say the least: the planets Venus and Mars came close to the earth and were the causes of catastrophic events. Well now, that sounds hard to believe. But checking the scriptures and ancient records, I found that something of the kind may have very well happened, although not exactly as Velikovsky thought. But how could both planets go so far out of their orbits? Here I came up with an original theory. Between Mars and Jupiter at the exact spot where there should be a sizable planet, there is an asteroid belt instead. But the total mass of this string of rocks is less than one-quarter that of the moon. How come? according to ancient records, there actually was a planet that the Chaldeans called Tiamat. I theorized that Tiamat came too close to Jupiter. It was enveloped by plasma discharges that tore off the surface of the doomed planet. Hence the asteroid belt. Tiamat emerged as a burning hell: the planet Venus. How all that affected Mars - read the book. But why would a Presbyterian Elder be so interested in controversial theories? It is important to me to realize that Christianity is a historical religion. No mysticism, no mythology. The events really happened. That is why the last chapter is all about the truth of Christian teachings or doctrines. It explains the Reformed or Calvinistic worldview. Just so you know. In other words, it is a controversial book. I am sure a lot of people will disagree with it. But there will also be those with an open mind who will heed it. Read more about this authorRead less about this author