God? Or Alien? The simplest way to make us into his image would be to use his own genetic material. The existence of multiple races, skin colours and religions could indicate that there was/is more than ONE god/creator. You may want to read Gods of the New Millennium by Alan F Alford (ISBN 0 340 69613 3). His theory is also along similar to that of Zecharia Sitchin and Graham Hancock.

The animals which roam the planet may also stem from these creators. Consider that all creatures were created based upon the most basic of DNA strains. There would be blood/plasma in all mammals. Further up the chain, there would be organs: hearts, lungs, eyes.. etc. On the top, logically speaking would be intelligent/sentient thought. Thus it would seem logical that most living creatures on the planet come from the same genetic 'soup'.

The questions remain: Who? Why? And Where are the creators from. We seem to be here just to live. Or were we put here for a purpose? An experiment maybe? Races of slave labour who discover sentient thinking? Can we possibly find out without being TOLD?

I am also one of the people who believe that one can not take the Bible as literal as some would like us to do, because then we will have to believe that mankind is only about 6000 years old etc. etc. etc..

Obviously, the Bible cannot be considered to accurately date the advent of man on this planet. The interesting thing is that, if we have been here for millions of years, why is it that recorded history is only around 10,000 years? My take is that there is an unknown history of periodic rises of civilisations and their destruction by cyclic events which wipe all traces of advanced civilisation from the face of the earth. Whether this is from comets or other forces remains to be discovered.

I am really into reading the Bible and other ancient religious works as social history a la Livy. Like Livy's History of Rome, the Bible and myths have through oral and written tradition which carried some truth, but not a literal truth. For example, Noah was the remembrance of a devastating flood, not necessarily an eyewitness news, CNN account.

It is key to know the culture of the eastern Mediterranean when the Bible, etc. were written. People in 50 AD would interpret the Bible much differently -- and more than likely, not literally unless they were really uneducated and would buy the equivalent of the Brooklyn Bridge. They would inherently know the real message. Even historical texts were not literal. Literal interpretation came later.

According to Livy, when Caesar died, the weather reflected the passing of such a god and palm trees sprung up full grown through pavement. Now, an early Roman reader knew that Livy was being a bit formulaic in driving home Caesar's divinity because nature should reflect the passing of a god. (Echoes of the curtain in the temple tearing, etc. on Good Friday?)

I feel that after the destruction of Atlantis, truth (read religion or spirituality if you want) was distorted. I personally think it wasn't fully deliberate. The heirs to Atlantis were the far less advanced people left on Earth. Although surviving Atlanteans tried to pass down their knowledge, the effect of time was distortion.

I personally think that there must have been some sort of planned creation. Coincidence just don't create / start such a complex, interdependent planet with all the species and plants etc. such as ours.

The question is, who did it? And why? I also do not believe that we can be so arrogant as to say that we are the only ones in the whole universe.

Therefore, chances are that there is life out there, and possibly not necessarily more advanced or more cruel than mankind. (ala Sci-fi movies such as Independence Day, ET or what ever).

If there is life out there, were they then also planned? If so, by the same being that placed us here? - Pardon, this is heavy speculation!!!

Why are there different races and where did they come from? I thought (with the great flood) only Noah and his family survived. Can one father produce so many different people? And who taught these people such a diverse way of writing (e.g.. Chinese Vs Greek / Hebrew / Arabic etc.). When did the Egyptians change their writing (from what is found in the pyramids) to what it is now, or was that another civilisation's work? Certainly, the Egyptians make it their own and they will dispute it if one is to say the pyramids were made by somebody else.

I think that whoever or whatever placed us here, could be regarded as God by us primitive beings, because we certainly can not (at this stage) start-up a planet and populate it with the same intricacies that exist here.

Mankind is known to stuff things up and not to better things. (Maybe improve life for ourselves but not necessary for the good of the planet as a whole - pollution, destruction of forests and so on).

I think that we have unbalanced our environment to such an extent already, that mother earth is about to retaliate on us and another Atlantis may just happen, where we will be regarded as the lost civilisation by generations to come.

Then this history may in time convert to (or become) religion? Maybe religion or studies thereof is intertwined with archaeology as well? Sometimes (it seems so if one is to accept Graham Hancock's Fingerprints of the Gods - ISBN 0-517 88729-0 - as true) even the Archaeologists seem to put forward some sort of doctrine on their findings, especially when it can not be explained. We are told things about the Sphinx that seem to be untrue, but nevertheless unexplained. Is it this (the unexplained) that make mankind attribute it to God or godly things?

I support the theory that everything that exist, is governed by a great clock and that everything has a cycle: like the earth around the sun, the tides, seasons etc. Therefore, I tend to agree with Hancock's theory of a 12 000 year cycle, which is about to end now.

So another Atlantis happening may not be so far fetched.

Will the survivors (especially if from first world countries) be regarded as gods by the other, more primitive survivors? It happened here where I live (Africa) when it was colonised by the Portuguese, British, Netherlands etc. Many of the more recent legends (here) seem to portray that. Time is having its effect though, as many of the indigenous people now are (or become) westernised and they are loosing their traditions, which I think is a great pity.

Anyway, as a last thought, if the Bible is the "ultimate" book, how do we know that it contains the real/right information? Are many of the original scripts not hidden away in the Vatican in Rome, and how do we know that the translations are accurate and what is excluded?

I think that the subject above pretty much relates to the confusion regarding human origins. Put yourself in the position a newly created 'being'. What opinion would you have of your creator? That opinion would be whatever the creator(s) wants.

Certain things have high possibilities of being correct.

I believe it was Zacharia Sitchen who wrote some extremely interesting books on the subject of Sumerian Legend and parallels in The Bible and ancient legends and myths.