Testing the occurance of an event or events in the distant past can sometimes be like the three point load testing of a composite panel with relatively certain results.

For instance, a forest fire can leave indisputable evidence of it's passing, through the scared remains of trees, scorched dirt, and the burned remains of a baidarka.

But determining what caused the forest fire 5,000 years ago is only speculation if all evidence of what started it is burned in the fire. Was it lightning, some guy with a hot coal from yesterdays campfire , some ancient who just discovered how hot a compost heap can get, a large quartz crystal sitting on the ground and concentrating sunlight on the nearby grasses, an accident while trying to steam bend a piece for the coaming, or any of endless other possibilities?

I would have great difficulty proving, beyond any doubt, that I went kayaking over the weekend. Pictures? They could have been taken a month before! The witness of others? They could be lying. What absolute proof could I have for a sceptic of things I did yesterday, much less something that happened in the distant past?

The truth in past events can rarely be tested like a composite panel.

We all have a fish story or two!

All the evidence available must be taken into consideration. Does it all fit the story?

Mathematicaly, what is the probability for the extremly complex, synergisticly interdependant, in such large numbers of occurance?

I have never been to an event which the mass medias documented with accuracy! It makes me question the accuracy of all history as recorded for our greater education.

Faith is like building a kayak, it is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Happy paddling!

Doug K.

: Yes indeed the truth will prevail but can be tested personally like three
: point bending test of a wood panel with two layers of 4oz cloth. Faith on
: the other hand is essential to the beginning of the construction. Beliefs
: of whose design is superior/correct is getting into belly button territory
: "everyone's got one". The OTs are a lot less distracting if
: there's some humor tossed in.