THE LOST CITY OF ATLANTIS- Introduction
The mythical lost civilization of Atlantis has been the subject of speculation for a long time. In recent years New Agers have been claiming that the people of Atlantis were an advanced race of beings who are now communicating to us through channelers and the like. Is Atlantis for real?
THE LOST CITY OF ATLANTIS- Plato’s Tale
The myth of Atlantis was created by Plato (he, of course, was the fourth-century B.C. philosopher of Athens). Now the way Plato tells the story, Atlantis was a mighty civilization that invaded the nations around Greece, and that was defeated by Athens, — and, eventually, the whole island sank into the sea. Plato probably did not intend the story to be taken as historical fact, and certainly did not set forth any evidence for it. Besides, unlike the New Age claim, there is nothing in Plato’s story to suggest that the people of Atlantis were a super-race, and that they actually had contact with extraterrestrials.
THE LOST CITY OF ATLANTIS- The Mythologizing of Atlantis
In the late nineteenth century an American writer named Ignatius Donnelly actually published a book claiming that Atlantis was real and it really existed. According to Donnelly, Atlantis was the very first civilization, and it was the reality behind the so-called myth of the Garden of Eden — in fact he said it was the basis for the myths and legends of other ancient cultures. Donnelly claimed that the Atlanteans were actually responsible for both the Egyptian and Mayan cultures. By the way, theories which tie the ancient Americans to the Egyptians and other Middle East civilizations were popular in the nineteenth century (of course you can see this in the Book of Mormon), but all of them have actually been proven to be without any historical or archaeological support.
THE LOST CITY OF ATLANTIS- Conclusion
Atlantis is a nice myth, but it’s hardly history. Building one’s beliefs on the shifting sands of this kind of speculation is nothing short of foolish. What’s really beyond me is that people would trade the historical events of the Bible, which after all took place in cities and lands which still exist today, for the irrational myths of the New Age religion. Of course, I guess people don’t really reject Christianity because some kind of a lack of evidence, but rather because if Christianity is true, God is in control and they’re not in control themselves.On Atlantis, that’s the CRI Perspective. I’m Hank Hanegraaff.
