Nathaniel T Jeanson PhD

The premise is enticing, if you are a young earth creationist and Bible-believer: that the mutation rate in the Y-DNA chromosome (passed down from fathers) is much faster than previously thought and that humankind's various Y-DNA haplogroups all diverged about four thousand years ago, i.e., right around 2400 B.C. and Noah's Flood. Jeanson, with a Ph.D. in biological science from Harvard, cites some papers and studies, trumpets his own studies and papers, and gives you some of the biological theory behind his suppositions. Then he sets out to try to explain human history (warfare, migrations, colonialism, etc.) in light of his new theory. Having just read about the Bantu migrations in Africa, his theory about African haplogroups (chapters 5 and 6, color plates 33-57) seemed intriguing.

But, there are some serious problems with his thesis. Looking at his color plate 22, some Y-DNA haplogroups seem to have longer lines than others, and have a faster or different mutation rate. In fact, he has to admit that their "Y chromosome clock ticks faster than the rest – or once ticked faster than the rest" (p. 70). Well, if Y-DNA can mutate faster or slower depending on things he doesn't even contemplate, all of Jeanson's mathematics for determining his appealing dates are suspect. Who is to say that in the past the mutations were quite slower than the studies he cites (by the way, other studies dispute the ones he cites), and, thus, human populations could extend back the tens of thousands of years that mainstream science contends. Again, in chapter 13, to fit his haplogroup mutation theory into his framework, he posits that sometimes the Y-DNA mutated faster (pp. 176-181) right after the Flood. Again, this disrupts his theory.

Furthermore, Jeanson's thesis is sometimes quite at odds with history. For instance, his theory on the spread of haplogroup R1b (chapter 7, color plates 63-75) has great migrations of R1b individuals pushing into Western Europe as late as the 1450s-1510 (plate 69), into Spain and France in the 1490s-1550 (plate 70), and even into Ireland from the 1470s-1520s (plates 72-73). It is hard to find historical causes in these time periods for such a widespread push of peoples and their DNA into these areas. Same with other R1 Y-DNA haplogroups (plates 81-85). Yet, though Jeanson says that haplogroup R1b first branched of and came into existence between 300 B.C. and A.D. 200 (plate 79), Tutankhamen of Egypt carries R1b DNA. Uh-oh. How did this occur, as Tut dates to the 1300s B.C. (or 1000s B.C. if you follow a chronology like David Rohl's)? Uh-oh! Ramesses III's Y-DNA haplogroup? E1b1a. Ramesses III ruled in the 1100s B.C. (800s B.C. in Rohl's chronology). But Jeanson shows E1b1a only branching off from the 700s B.C. at the earliest (plate 51). Uh-oh. Such problems abound. Jeanson also has migrations of peoples into the Americas between A.D. 300 and 600 (plate 194). The historical mechanism for this needs to be found. Jeanson uses a dubious book printed in the 1800s, the so-called Wallum Olum or "Red Record" of the Lenni-Lenape people (the Delaware tribe) as proof that Indian peoples came way later (perhaps A.D. 200 to A.D. 900) than mainstream scholars believe (p. 146). The "Red Record," however, is likely a hoax and forgery. In sum, dig into Jeanson's historical hypotheses and there are big problems. Again, this disrupts his theory.

An enticing premise, but much work needs to be done if this is to ever be convincing scientific and historical proof of the record of the Old Testament. The book is a beautifully produced hardcover, with more than two hundred color plates, footnotes, a bibliography, and technical appendices. Jeanson's theories are summed up in journal articles, laymen's articles, and videos on the internet, so start there to determine if you want to read this sometimes hard slog of a book. It is dense and hard, though written for laymen.… (mais)