Forgotten History of the Western People
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Forgotten History of the Western People (ISBN 9780954392208) is a pseudohistorical Young Earth creationist (YEC) book by Mike Gascoigne. It was first published in 2002.
Contents[edit]
Gascoigne's starting point is that the Genesis narrative is literal history. He maintains that after the Tower of Babel, the descendants of Noah's son Japheth were dispersed by God into Europe where they became the ancestral stock of white Europeans or Westerners (pp. 46-90). He identifies Japheth with Iapetus, a Titan of Greek mythology (p. 47). While this particular identification has a long history,
[note 1] there is no evidence for it — the supposed equivalence is based solely on the similarity of their names.[note 2] The rest of Gascoigne's identifications of Japheth's descendants (as listed in Genesis) with Greek mythological figures all range from unsubstantiated to fraudulent (such as citing the 15th century forger Annius of Viterbo's work as evidence). When he can't use such (pseudo)philology to twist Greek mythological figures into resembling the names of Japheth's descendants, Gascoigne claims that the Greeks fabricated their own genealogies to "spice them up" because they were bored of their real Biblical roots (p. 49). The book then skips from the legendary Kings of Britain to the Anglo-Saxons, who Gascoigne claims were descendants of Japheth through a Trojan bloodline (pp. 91-132). Again, no evidence is provided.
Reception[edit]
The work is not taken seriously by historians. Gascoigne himself only showcases positive reviews from fellow YECs, with the exception of a review by Michael Tunnicliffe, of the Manchester Ancient Egypt Society, who admits "others will regard it as typically speculative 'alternative' writing."[1]
In 2006, the book was listed by the Creation Science Movement as their third most popular book.
Notes[edit]
- ↑ Though Gascoigne clams that the Sybilline Oracles made this association during the Greco-Roman period that text was probably compiled in the Christian era (sometime between the second and sixth century CE), albeit by someone steeped in the Greek literary tradition.
- ↑ And a, perhaps unconscious, euhemeristic view of history.
References[edit]
- ↑ Forgotten History of the Western People: Review by Michael Tunnicliffe." Anno Mundi Books. 2003 June.