Before Genesis: The Unauthorized History of Tohu, Bohu, and the Chaos Dragon in the Land Before Time

by Donna Howell, Thomas Horn

By far, the leading interpretation of today’s Church regarding the age of this planet, Earth, takes us back to approximately 4004 the year believed to be Adam’s creation. However, just as Galileo challenged the Church to accept that Earth circles the sun (not the other way around), it is far beyond time for traditional interpretations regarding our planet’s earliest ages―and what occurred between God and Lucifer during those eras―to be updated in light of what we know today. Once this is done, the evidence overwhelmingly stacks in favor of a harmony between science and theology. Dr. Thomas Horn and his research assistant, Donna Howell, have waded through thousands of scholarly journals, books, articles, videos, and other media to present an astounding work like none other in this field of study that brings a fresh, modern perspective to contemporary sciences, the age-old question of what God’s first enemy did to Earth in the days it was “without form, and void” (Genesis 1:2), and what may have really happened in the days of Adam.

360 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 2023

Reviews

[Robert Rosenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this

It is interesting How this book actually confirmed some of my conclusions i made years ago about what could have actually happened before the time of Adam. I never was one to believe in the gap theory but I also thought there was something more that could have went on in our planets distant past. The author pulls the creation story the rebellion of Satan the amount of time that appears to have taken earth to get to where we are now and several other things in to an interesting theory. You do not have to agree with this book to enjoy it.

[David Wise · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book challenges Christians to look at the possibility that the earth is old and humans are young based on biblical passages and study of the original scriptural languages. Even if you think it sounds far fetched, the author is sincere in her attempts to be faithful to scripture and offers a compelling account of earth's history for Genesis 1:1-2, and then Genesis 1:3. This book is worth a read.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

SOME PROVOCATIVE IDEAS FROM A RESEARCHER AT DEFENDER PUBLISHING

Author Donna Howell wrote in the introduction to this 2023 book, “[T]he theologian said, ‘If you write this book you’re planning, you WILL start a war… your approach to cosmology… is not one the world is ready to hear… you are literally begging for an unfathomably deep pool of argumentative agitators to … argue with you. Are you prepared to respond to ALL of them?’ … me and several other researchers from our Defender Publishing … were out to dinner with one of the most respected theologians of all time… Dr. Thomas Horn [‘Tom’] replied… ‘This book will make some folks mad, but… SkyWatch Television and Defender Publishing have always been about addressing that one neglected subject. You know, the topics the Church won’t touch… A lot of people out there could potentially come to faith in God if they were equipped with the information this book would present.’ …Years passed, and Tom continued to propose this book to others… These learned men of God … agreed the ideas presented herein were not only POSSIBLE, they were likely… Yet, when they were given the opportunity to be the chief author… they felt the subject would ‘be too edgy for their ministry.’ … Perhaps it was my passion for the deep research and dramatic conclusions we’ve drawn about the true origins of the Earth that led Tom to eventually choose ME to write this…” (Pg. 1-3)

She continues, “The running narrative surrounding most ‘Old Earth’ books… is that the authors are ‘trying to make the Bible agree with science [or evolution].’ … To put this another way: 1) The Bible is God’s revelation… 2) Earth is God’s creation… then both the Word and the world MUST BE pointing to one Truth, and are therefore irrefutably free of contradiction. Why, then, do we see so many apparent contradictions?... In today’s Body of Christ, Young Earth Creationism is… the leading school of thought… those whose views… do not align with the Young Earth group are branded as liberal interpreters… An author such as myself who sets out to present the case for an old planet Earth is… ‘looking to start a war.’ … that is not my intention.” (Pg. 5-7)

She clarifies in the first chapter, “this book will not be a study on the sciences of evolution and how they interact with theology… nothing about this book should be considered anything close to a science manual… I do believe Earth is very, VERY old, but I also believe it has always been under the guiding hand of God; nothing random about it.” (Pg. 19) She asks, “Is there, perhaps, an explanation about the origins of our planet that can also identify and unite BOTH Young and Old Earth interpretations of Genesis, while also allowing scientists a voice?” (Pg. 23)

She observes, “It is no secret that James Ussher’s biblical chronology was based entirely on assumptions and basic calculations of the generations and biblical characters' life spans… Just to show a couple of examples… ‘Archbishop Ussher ASSUMED… an interregnum of 11 years between the death of Jeroboam II and Zechariah’s accession… [but it] seems more likely that there is an effort in certain of the synchronisms. The year of Zechariah’s accession was probably 759 BC… and the 6 months of his reign, with that given to Shallum, may be included in the 10 years of Menachem, who followed them.’ … [Ussher] seamed the end of one man’s service to the beginning of the next, allowing little wiggle room for overlaps or gaps in the tenures on the timeline… the Bible is often silent on what specific years rulers or prophets governed.” (Pg. 79) Later, she adds, “The omissions in the genealogy of our Lord as given in Matthew 1 are familiar to all. Thus in verse 8 three names are dropped between Joram and Ozias…” (Pg. 83)

She notes, “The question for our purposes… becomes whether the writer of Genesis intended for ‘day’ to convey a period of twenty-four hours… or a longer span of time. The answer lies in whether there is biblical, cultural, historical, and linguistic support for ‘day’ meaning something other than twenty-four hours… Yes, it is possible.” (Pg. 89) She continues, “The English word ‘day’ in Genesis is derived from the Hebrew ‘yom’. … We see many examples … of ‘yom’ in context of an indefinite period of time, such as ‘the day of the Lord’ from many prophets (especially Joel and Isaiah), who were obviously not talking about … a great time of judgment that will occur in twenty-four hours… Look at Genesis 2:4… This one verse collapses ALL of Creation … into a single day (yom).” (Pg. 91-92) She also points out that “the sun wasn’t even created until the fourth day! Without the sun… the entire case for this sunlight measurement context is a fallacy…” (Pg. 94)

She argues that “The difference between ‘In the beginning, God created’ and ‘When God began to create’ boils down to… a vowel mark that DID NOT EXIST at the time Genesis was written… since the vowels didn’t exist, it could mean either one, so … Donna can have her ‘beh’ supporting two Creation events---a ‘void’ world re-created or transformed into a ‘good’ world later on.” (Pg. 104) She summarizes, “there is no logical room for … beings of the same make, manner, image, dominion, and intent behind God’s creation of them. (If there had been any humanlike beings prior to Adam and Eve… they would have been gone by the time Adam and Eve were in the Garden. This relates to … considering the possibility of a pre-Adamic race… Intelligent or semi-intelligent beings inhabiting Earth BEFORE Adam… is a possibility… [but] cohabiting … at the same time and alongside Adam… cannot be true.” (Pg. 110-111)

She asserts, “the Bible is clear that angels existed at the time the ‘foundations of the earth’ were formed… who ‘shouted for joy’… Some of the angels also fell with Lucifer---whose kingdom was, in fact, Earth---well before Adam… So the idea that there was a race … of wicked life on Earth before Adam was formed … is nonetheless a possibility.” (Pg. 115) Perhaps surprisingly, she defends the Shroud of Turin, and contends that “the dating methods applied to this linen were faulty.” (Pg. 121-129)

She explains, “Science shows that Earth’s magnetic polarity … flips between normal and reversed every three hundred thousand years on average… According to NASA.. ‘Earth’s magnetic poles have reversed 183 times in the last 83 million years… Crunching … the 183 recorded geomagnetic shifts … into a six-thousand-year time frame….we would expect to experience a shift every 32.8 years… and we know that’s not the case.” (Pg. 137) She also points out, “If Earth and the universe were only six thousand years old, we would only be able to see the light from space objects six thousand light years away… If light reaches our planet from a star a billion light years away, that light has been traveling to Earth for at least a billion years in order for it to be seen from here.” (Pg. 141) She adds, “Yes, God is powerful enough to have … blinked a planet into existence, and given it an appearance of a mature age… it always comes back to the sound question: Why did God allow so much evidence of advanced age if it simply isn’t true?” (Pg. 144-145)

About the geological column and the Flood, she argues, “it’s simply not believable … 1) how the layers are known to form over time… 2) what fossils exist between the layers… 3) the various ages they consistently appear to be… 4) the fact that the layers … all over the world overlap in bizarre patterns, some of which … involve a ‘sea, land, sea, land’ [erosional] pattern… 5)… Noah’s Flood still wouldn’t account for the gradual growth of underwater ocean reefs dated millions of years old…” (Pg. 146-147) But she adds, “Scripture isn’t the only ancient document that includes an account of the Flood. We see accounts of the global deluge coming from people from other regions… by no means do I disbelieve the Flood occurred just because it doesn’t ALSO prove Earth is young… I DO think some of the evidence in favor of a Young Earth is accurate!” (Pg. 148-149)

She suggests, “The Bible doesn’t appear to allow for any interpretation of CO-Adamites (partly evolved ape men cohabiting Earth alongside Adam), though, from the Gap theory perspective of two Creation events, there may have been a pre-Adamic race of semi-intelligent beings science would easily see as a common ancestor of man… a race or species who may… have appeared quite humanlike in their bipedal anatomy who occupied this planet before humanity existed and before Earth became void.” (Pg. 151) She continues, “Pre-Adamites… [are] a hypothetical race… alive on Earth’s surface BEFORE the formation of the first human, Adam… [It is not] an earlier race of humans who were made in the image of God as Adam was… I currently find zero support for the idea that a fully ‘human’ race existed prior to Adam…” (Pg. 157)
Turning to ‘Ancient Aliens’ theories, she states, “I believe the Luciferian ‘void’ era may have had perverted, demonic beings present on Earth… my theory will address the possibility that SOME phenomena traditionally linked to alien visitation… may play a small part in… a Luciferian scheme to thwart God’s plans for humanity… I don’t believe that … aliens in silver suits… are the answer to all these mysteries… [My ideas] should not be associated with … intergalactic trespassers… [nor] speculations about aliens having been the true creators of Earth and Adam… But could God have created angels that would later rebel and BECOME the bizarre space beings described in abduction testimonies, and … by Ancient Astronaut theories? Yes, it is possible… would this all be a grand deception perpetuated by the same beings … whose TRUE identity and purposes are far more nefarious …[?] Absolutely.” (Pg. 159)

She summarizes, “When ‘pre-Adamites’ appears in this book from this point on, it will mean a nonhuman race of entities… there appears to be no other explanation than the possibility that intelligence was present in some form before 4004 B.C. … or any other time frame near that of Adam’s formation.” (Pg. 160) She attributes ‘contemporary stories of stargate travel’ to “demonic activity… and [that] deception is alive and well beyond the biblically-forbidden gateways into the unseen realm…” (Pg. 173) Of civilizations such as the one at Gobekli Tepe, she says, “I theorize that whatever person, ‘god,’ or traveling being who taught the earliest builders had left them to their own devices at some early. point. Their descendants could never quite recapture the technology of these ancestors.” (Pg. 205)

She sums up her proposals, “Lucifer falls, takes many angels with him, and destroys the Earth that God created in the VERY beginning (millions/billions of years ago). He doesn’t have the same creative power as God, so Earth becomes ‘without form, and void’…Lucifer does his best … to create HIS OWN race of beings that will follow him… His presence in Eden proves that even after God’s re-creation of Earth, there was evil and temptation on the planet’s surface in some form. However, some time PRIOR TO the Flood, Lucifer led wicked beings (perhaps bipedal, humanlike entities) to worship Lucifer… through pagan, pantheonic religions. This they did at such sites as Gobekli Tepe… want[ing] to save their sacred site to be unearthed at a later time for a pagan revival, end-times worship, or something else.” (Pg.. 232-233)

She concludes about the 'war' this book might start, “if the ‘war’ is between Christian soldiers and the forces of darkness that would keep these young, precious, scientifically minded souls… captive forever under the weight of the enemy’s grandest deception that God and science are unrelated… then… I hope so.” (Pg. 330)

This book will probably appeal mostly to more ‘open-minded’ Evangelicals.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Needless to say, this is probably one of those books that will spark a lot of debate in the Christian Church today; if not, as one theologian said, “It will start a war.” I don’t know about a war, but this book seeks to weave the Young Earthers with Old Earthers view of Creation into a view that most haven’t truly considered.

The authors give the key points of the Young Earthers and the Old Earthers views. They point out the scientific evidence behind those views. Taken as a whole, this weaving does present a lot of facts from science and historical Church father’s views. It’s a well penned piece that will cause one to really consider their view point of Creation.

[Eric Michel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't finish. Usually give 50 pages before I decide if I'll finish. Gave this garbage 120. Shouldn't have.

This lady's rejection of the explicit wording of the Bible is ridiculous. Her handling of the word "day" and the plain chronologies are pathetic. She gives atheists and Catholics a run for their money.

I believe in the Gap Fact. But her heresies that she uses to get there are sad.

Believe the Bible. Reject this lady.

[Mark D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book

The author’s folksy conversation style can be off-putting occasionally, but she provides a great & thorough recap of the various creationist positions and extends the “Nephilim” story back into a time before Adam. Provocative, & something I myself have speculated on: i.e., “what about those dinosaurs?” I recommend this book at least to advance the debate & I’m going to check out some of her other books.

[Adam M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Faith for the science minded

I’ve never been one to think that science and faith in God aren’t compatible. But voicing that relation can be difficult. Donna Howell has done yeoman’s work here in bridging the gap…not with pseudo-science but with a fine explanation of how the world really works and looks like from the perspective of the Great and Perfect Scientist. Well done.

[Patrick Nielsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Revelation of Genesis

For some reason the Holy Spirit is pointing me to beginnings in order to appreciate the now. We are in the midst of confusion and chaos, but truth and knowledge fortify my quest for wisdom. This surmise has given me new energy and challenge to keep digging and learning from those who have created a path.

[Drew Kendall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reminds me of Heiser's work

Very interesting theory with Heiser-like research. Excellent, though I'm not convinced on the dinosaur part. Probably because I'm still not convinced that dinosaurs did not exist in the anti-deluvial period. Guess we'll all know one day...

[C.A. Gray]

I've read a lot about apologetics over the years, and recently finished a book by a Christian who argued for God-guided evolution, though I'm a young earth creationist myself. I'd heard about the gap theory between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2, but I never thought there was much evidence for it. So I picked up this book, hoping to hear the arguments for that position.

I gave up perhaps 1/3 through, though I'm trying to put into words why. I was listening to the audio version, which may have been part of the reason why I didn't hear very much of the evidence I sought--maybe it was there, but I missed it? I'm not much of an auditory learner, but so much of the subject matter was review. The one segment that I thought might have been most relevant was the one on various dating methods, beyond carbon dating. My understanding is most of the arguments that earth is very old come from radioactive element concentrations in rock, and are based upon their decay rates. She addressed this, and also acknowledged that certain conditions can vastly alter the rates, and that there are recent examples of alterations of the decay rates, rendering something very young to appear very old. But if she argued for why the rest of the dating methods are nevertheless reliable, I missed it. Maybe that was the audio thing--I tend to multitask as I listen.

Then she reviewed the evidence (a la Graham Hancock) of very ancient civilizations, but I was not clear at all on why she thought these were from a pre-Adamic race, rather than the Nephilim of Genesis 6. A lot of that was review to me too, though, since I've read a lot of Graham Hancock.

I heard only the biblical evidence I was already aware of to argue for the gap theory: the scenes referring to Lucifer in the garden that didn't sound like the Garden of Eden, in Isaiah and Ezekiel, and the juxtaposition of the fact that Genesis 1:2 says the earth was made without form and void, compared to other verses that says God makes nothing void. I was hoping for more to back up the position than just this though. Maybe I'd have gotten it if I'd kept reading.

Eventually I realized that a) there was too much in this book that was a repeat for it to hold my interest, b) the bits that weren't a repeat probably would have required more careful attention than what I was giving it, and c) I wasn't likely to read it rather than listening bc so much of it was review, and that takes more time, not less.

[Michael Millar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding!

Donna you have helped me as a Christian to expand my mindset and understanding to the nth degree. I am no longer a 'prisoner' of the Young Earth way of thinking. I was a scientist by training and education and I simply was distraught that I had to choose between them. Now for the first time my eyes have been opened to a whole world of possibilities that were at first scoffed at and denied to me. Not any more...
I pray that this book may start a revolution in Christian thinking and evangelizing. God bless you Donna and dear departed Tom.

[Nikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was really excited to read this book & I wasn't disappointed. It's a lot of information to digest, but very interesting information indeed. I've always heard of the "gap theory" but this is the first time I decided to investigate what it was actually about. She writes really well & makes it pretty easy to understand & there are tons of notes in the back to refer to later. I would totally recommend to anyone wanting to learn more about the possibilities between Genesis 1:1 & 1:2.

[Rick Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

To say the least, this is a very interesting book and certainly thought provoking. The publisher told Howell that she would start a war and I can see why, because so many people have closed minds and accept what they are told without doing the research themselves.

There is a lot to chew on in this book and it has caused me to think more deeply about the old earth and new earth approaches.

[Holly Larsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book that really makes you think about the possibility of an old earth. I tensed to believe in a new earth because that's what I've heard most Christians talk about. Now I definitely have so much to consider. This is a book (audiobook) that I will listen to again, as I'm sure i will grasp even more insight.

[Matthew Chua · Rating 5 out of 5]

This masterful work is straight up one of the top three best books I have ever read. Multiple reads are necessary to draw out the authors' powerful insights and research. Thank you, defender publishing. Your work is holy unto the Lord.

[Aaron Brymer · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book. informative and leaves a desire for more research

[jeremiah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow,what an amazing book! you will learn a lot. I listened to the audiobook.

[John Mccleskey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very important piece of research and honest thoughts to digest and give background humility and understanding around the age of the earth and the impossibility of vertical evolution. Great references to other works that create a compelling argument!