Lucy, Cavemen & Mannequins

We are moving right along with our "Alpha & Omega" series at The Mix and this week we looked at the idea of "pre-human" humans. How do we make sense of the idea of "cavemen" and all the things we read and hear about "missing links" and the evolution of humans from ape-like creatures? Maybe they drove cars like this one? Obviously there is way more concerning this topic than what we could discuss in 1 night, but here's the scoop on the discussion last Tuesday night...

First of all we looked at some of the common high school Biology text books that are out there. Basically, we have to be very cautious what we read even in text books! For example...

"But all researchers agree on certain basic facts. We know, for example, that humans evolved from ancestors we share with other living primates such as chimpanzees and apes."

-Miller & Levine, BIOLOGY, 2000, p. 757

All researchers agree? Really? Obviously this is not a true statement, but the idea here is that there are certain beliefs that are going to be forced on us and our children (regardless of the truthfulness of the claims) and those that force this belief will do anything they can to "prove" it correct...even lie, or at least refuse to recognize the falsehoods that exist. For example...

• Nebraska Man discovered in 1922 and was used to support evolution in the 1925 Scopes Trial...later found to be the tooth of a pig.



• Java Man found in 1891. A small piece of the top of the skull, fragments of the left thigh bone and 3 molar teeth all found in a 70 foot radius area, mixed in with numerous other bones from other creatures and the bones were not petrified led researchers to believe they had found a new "pre-human"...later found to be the bones of an extinct elephant



• The Piltdown Man Hoax-Supposed 1 million year old fossil of "pre-human" that was later revealed to be a manipulated jaw bone of an ape, treated with acid and made to look "old" so the discoverer could gain some glory and fame.



• Or take for instance Neanderthal man. Originally thought to be very primitive and "un-human", now we know that Neanderthals used jewelry, played musical instruments, painted, talked and even buried their dead...sounds very human to me! In addition, researchers have gone to great lengths to prove that DNA testing reveals that the very small sample of neanderthal skeletons we have found have different DNA than humans. In reality, those few skeletons that were found had different DNA than 92% of humans. That means that 8% of you reading this blog have similar DNA to a Neanderthal! When we look at the diversity of the way humans look on earth today, is it that hard to believe that a few people in Germany a few thousand years ago might have looked a little different than most of us do? What if we had found these bones in Australia where the Aboriginal people live (who share some different physical characteristics than we might be accustomed to)? Or in the arctic north, where some of the Inuit people have some different physical characteristics than most? The diversity of human appearance is amazing...and a nod to the awesome creativity of our God. Neanderthals aren't that "un-human" after all.



• And lastly, we have the "Lucy" debacle. Lucy is, of course, the common name given to a skeleton found in the 1970's in Africa. The creature has been given the name Australopithecus afarensis and has been dated at 3.5 million years old...a "pre-human" link to humans through the evolutionary line of the apes. The only problem is that the skeleton of Lucy actually shows her to be a knuckle walking, tree dwelling creature with ape-like hands and feet as well as other parts of her anatomy. She would have acted and lived like an ape... But many in the science world do not want her to viewed as such because it destroys the idea of humans evolving from apes so she is always depicted (falsely) very human-like. Notice the picture here of a model of Lucy from the St Louis Zoo. The zoo has admitted that the model is wrong but has said that if they depict her as she really would have been, then it wouldn't give off the message that they want to send...that we evolved from apes.
  
  

Time and time again, supposed "evidence" that we evolved from apes has been called into question and dis-proven. The Bible gives us the account in Genesis of how we...humans...were made in the image of God on the 6th day of creation. We have encouraged the students at The Mix to study and research for themselves concerning evolution. In the end, we will find out something very amazing. YOU were created, intentionally, on purpose, by an awesome God who has a purpose for your life.

Next week...Many Races From One Family. How did every race on earth descend from the family of Noah?

See you then...Bob