One People

Bible-believers know it, and a popular evolutionary idea says the same thing: all humans alive today can be traced back to the same small group of people.

Of course, those who accept the Bible’s account know that this group was the eight who survived the Flood in the Ark. Scientists who accept the “Out of Africa” theory, on the other hand, believe the group was much broader—humans who spread out from Africa some 50,000 to 70,000 years ago. This is in contrast to the “multiregional” view, which asserts that modern humans evolved separately in different locations around the globe.

This genetic confirmation of mankind’s relatedness is a strong confirmation of the Bible’s account of Noah and his family as the only survivors of the Flood.

Giving support to the former view is a study published in this week’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that argues that the “common descent” model of human history is correct. The study’s authors took blood samples from Aborigines and Asians and compared the DNA, tracing paternal and maternal lineage through Y-chromosome DNA and mitochondrial DNA respectively. The study determined, through the assumption of an average DNA mutation rate, that the branches diverged some 50,000 to 70,000 years ago.

This genetic confirmation of mankind’s relatedness is a strong confirmation of the Bible’s account of Noah and his family as the only survivors of the Flood, although we disagree with the dating of this divergence (which is based on uniformitarian assumptions). Perhaps most important is that these findings confirm (and bring attention to) the fact that we are all of one blood, as the Bible teaches, and that we share not only our ancestry, but our need for a Savior.

Remember, if you see a news story that might merit some attention, let us know about it! (Note: if the story originates from the Associated Press, Fox News, MSNBC, the New York Times, or another major national media outlet, we will most likely have already heard about it.) And thanks to all of our readers who have submitted great news tips to us.

(Please note that links will take you directly to the source. Answers in Genesis is not responsible for content on the websites to which we refer. For more information, please see our Privacy Policy.)