Introduction:
Recent documentaries have made it is possible to watch the
evolution of mankind, from primitive chimp-like apes to advanced tool-making
hominids. The reenactments are realistic, the narrative seemingly factual, and
the many interviews of professionals indicate that everyone agrees; humans
share a common ancestor with apes. However, the Bible describes the creation of
mankind separate from all other creatures. The two views on human origins are
so starkly different, there seems to be little room for compromise. Either the
majority of scientists are wrong, or God is wrong.
Evidence:
Attempts to make ape-men out of
human remains runs farther back than the infamous Eoanthropus hoax of 1912. Our own genus, Homo, has included some grotesque imaginations of our ancient past.
As far back as 1864, Homo
neanderthalensis was believed to be the first missing link. As more remains
of Neanderthal came to light, however, it was discovered that many of the
features that seemed to make Neanderthal look so ape-like were actually result
of diseases like rickets and arthritis. Burial sites attributed to H. neanderthalensis also revealed a rich
culture of ingenious tool use and construction. Today, Neanderthal is often
considered synonymous with our own species, H.
sapiens.
Fortunately for evolutionary anthropologists, many more human
remains have been demoted to take its place. H. erectus in 1892, H.
heidelbergensis in 1908, H.
rhodesiensis in 1921, H. ergaster in 1975, H. antecessor in 1997, H. cepranensis in 2003, and even H. floresiensis, the “hobbit” of
Indonesia, in 2004. However, the
remains of most of these individuals require a great deal of reconstruction
before they can be visualized. As was the case for H. neanderthalensis, a heavy brow ridge hardly qualifies one as an
ape-man.
In the 1920s, scientists started to look to non-human remains
for the “missing link.” In 1922, Hesperopithecus
was described from a single tooth from Nebraska. About a half-decade later,
it was found to belong to Prosthennops
serus, a kind of peccary. Then, in an overindulgence of discoveries from
1925 to 2002, African ape fossils became the ape-man mainstay. Despite the
inclusive variation of modern, tree-dwelling apes, many features of these
australopithecines, such as the carrying angle of the legs, were heralded as
intermediate between man and ape. The amount of genera credited with ape-man
status was astounding. It began with Australopithecus
in 1925, then Paranthropus in 1938, Praeanthropus in 1950, Ardipithecus in 1995, Orrorin and Kenyanthropus in 2001, and Sahelanthropus
in 2002. However, most anthropologists now agree; these were apes, not ape-men.
Conclusion:
The earliest fossils of mankind are, unfortunately, scant and
often debatably indeterminate. Probably the most frequently cited evidence for
human evolution is the imagination of the artist. The fossils themselves are
not so self-explanatory. Fragmentary human, ape, or peccary fossils are poor
excuses to deny the Bible scientific literacy. The claims of mankind, rooted in
bits and pieces of ancient bone, hardly stands up to the eternal word of God,
as the prophet Isaiah described it. It seems humans were indeed created “in the
image of God,” as described in the Creator’s personal account of the origin of
mankind.
Reference:
Menton,
D. 2008. “Did humans really evolve from apelike creatures?”. In: Ham, K. ed. The New Answers Book 2. Green Forest,
AR: Master Books, pp. 35-45.
Lubenow,
M. 2004. Bones of Contention: A
Creationist Assessment of Human Fossils. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.
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