XII. ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD CONDITIONS

Physical Perfection of Adam and Eve

Physical Appearance of Adam and Eve

Antediluvian World Showed Few Signs of Decay

Seth Resembled Adam More Than Cain or Abel; Appearance of the Antediluvian World

Gigantic Stature of Antediluvians

Decline in Stature After the Flood

Lawlessness Among the Antediluvians

Growth of Antediluvians Slow and Firm, Their Minds of a High Order

Antediluvians Made Temples from Trees; Gold and Silver were Abundant

The Irreligious and Hedonistic Condition of Antediluvian Society

The Faithful Few

Antediluvian Vegetation Destroyed

Various Reactions of the Antediluvians to Noah's Message

Not All Antediluvians Who Rejected Noah's Message Were Idolators

Because Antediluvian Seasons Came Regularly Many Concluded the Flood Was Impossible

Powerful Animals Now Extinct Existed Before the Flood

Vegetation Before the Flood
    Before the flood there were immense forests. The trees were many times larger than any trees which we now see. They were of great durability. — 3SG 79. (1SP 81-82.)

Antediluvian Flora and Landscapes
    The hills, mountains, and very beautiful plains were adorned with plants and flowers, and tall, majestic trees of every description, which were many times larger and much more beautiful than trees now are. — 3SG 33. (1SP 24.)

Trees Now Extinct Existed Before the Flood
    The heights were crowned with trees more majestic than any that now exist. — PP 44.

The Quality of Antediluvian Wood; Antediluvian Giants
    The trees far surpassed in size, beauty, and perfect proportion, any now to be found; their wood was of fine grain and hard substance, closely resembling stone, and hardly less enduring. . . . There were many giants, men of great stature and strength, renowned for wisdom, skillful in devising the most cunning and wonderful works. — PP 90.

Fossils and Artifacts from Antediluvian Times
    Bones of men and animals are found in the earth, in mountains and in valleys, showing that much larger men and beasts once lived upon the earth. I was shown that very large, powerful animals existed before the flood which do not now exist. Instruments of warfare are sometimes found; also petrified wood. Because the bones of human beings and of animals found in the earth are much larger than those of men and animals now living, or that have existed for many generations past, some conclude that the world is older than we have any scriptural record of, and was populated long before the record of creation by a race of beings vastly superior in size to men now upon the earth. — 3SG 92-93. (1SP 87-88.)

Antediluvian Men and Animals Buried by the Flood
    God so ordered that men, beasts, and trees, many times larger than those now upon the earth, and other things, should be buried in the earth at the time of the flood, and there be preserved to evidence to man that the inhabitants of the old world perished by a flood. God designed that the discovery of these things in the earth should establish the faith of men in inspired history. — 3SG 95. (1SP 90.)

Fossils and Artifacts Buried by the Flood
    Bones of men and animals, as well as instruments of warfare, petrified trees, et cetera, much larger than any that now exist, or that have existed for thousands of years, have been discovered, and from this it is inferred that the earth was populated long before the time brought to view in the record of creation, and by a race of beings vastly superior in size to any men now living. — PP 112.

Explanation for Fossils Found in the Earth
    It is true that remains found in the earth testify to the existence of men, animals, and plants much larger than any now known. These are regarded as proving the existence of vegetable and animal life prior to the time of the Mosaic record. But concerning these things Bible history furnished ample explanation. Before the flood, the development of vegetable and animal life was immeasurably superior to that which has since been known. At the flood the surface of the earth was broken up, marked changes took place, and in the re-formation of the earth's crust were preserved many evidences of the life previously existing. — Ed 129.

Antediluvian Arts Buried by Waters of the Flood
    The worldly churches cannot read a "Thus saith the Lord," in regard to the seventh-day Sabbath; and why? — because they are wise in their own conceits; because they are following the example of men who were only one step from the Eden of God, and who, because of their mental and moral capabilities, began to work out their human inventions, and worship the things their hands had made, supposing that they were improving upon God's plans and devices. In this they worshipped and extolled themselves. [Genesis 6:5-8, 11-13, 17, 18 quoted.]
    There perished in the flood greater inventions of art and human skill than the world knows of today. The arts destroyed were more than the boasted arts of today. The great gifts with which God had endowed man were perverted. There was gold and silver in abundance, and men were constantly seeking to exceed their fellow men in devices. The result was that violence was upon the earth. The Lord was forgotten. This long-lived race were constantly devising how they might contend with the universe of heaven and gain possession of Eden.
    When men talk of the improvements that are made in higher education, they are aping the inhabitants of the Noachian world. They are yielding to the temptation of Satan to eat of the tree of knowledge, of which God has said, "Ye shall not eat of it, lest ye die." God gave men a trial, and the result was the destruction of the world by a flood. In this age of the world's history there are teachers and students who suppose that their advancement in knowledge supersedes the knowledge of God, and their cry is, "Higher education." They consider that they have greater knowledge than the greatest Teacher the world has ever known. — Letter 65, 1898.

Works of Art and Science Buried by the Flood
    In the antediluvian world there were many wonderful works of art and science. Fresh from the hand of the Creator, these descendants of Adam possessed capabilities that we do not now see. — ST Feb. 1, 1889.