The Man called Man

Who is man? Where is he from? What is his purpose? Is he a higher animal as many say? Did he evolve from the ape?

All these questions and many more have bombarded the minds of thinkers great and small. Their answers, presumed or absolute, has bamboozled many and triggered the multiplication of truths and fallacies in the arena of knowledge.

Your answers to these questions will determine to a great extent, how you live. And if you cannot answer these questions convincingly, I dare say that you are a vagabond, worse still, you are a bastard. Not just a bastard, a bastard of a thousand fathers, having no identity, no purpose and no hope.

Be rest assured, this piece is not intended to spite but to direct or point towards the answer that only you can interpret.

The Man of Evolution

 Evolution is based on a theory made popular by Charles Darwin in 1859, in his publication , ‘Origin Of the Species’, he inferred that all life forms evolved or transmuted from their earlier form into their present state. He based his argument on three major factors : SURVIVAL , ADAPTATION and NATURAL selection.

    As much as I am fascinated by this work of research, which is still bamboozling many today, I’m more interested in a later publication titled , ‘The Descent of Man’. In this work published in 1871, Darwin linked man’s descent from earlier apes. His chief evidence for human evolution was to argue by analogy. Baboons, dogs, and "savages".

However, as with all works of research and in agreement with the theory that , “There is no hope of doing perfect research”(Griffiths,1998,p97). Further, research and study as well as discoveries of fossils were made over the years by scientists which lead to the classification of man based on this fossils into three general species namely: Homo habilies, Homo erectus and Homo sapients .

Although there are many other homo species in between these three, these three are used as the major reference points in the evolution of man from the ape stage to the  homo sapient stage.

How true is evolution

One important scientific principle in searching for answers to questions that appears ambiguous is to postulate theories. These theories provides the foundation for “the quest” for the truth. But as we know, there are so many limitations that hinder this search and so there are many theories that have not yet been proven. Even theories that were proven and have been accepted as law, have yet been disproved by the same science.

          As I said earlier, evolution is a theory. And still a theory, it has not been proven. Okay, let’s assume evolution is true and law. Question : why have we and other species, not evolved or are still evolving into something else? Perhaps maybe mutants, like the “ x-men” . At least with the level of technology we have today , we should be able to detect such evolutionary process and predict the next generation of humans. Even one of Darwin’s close associates and  co-discoverer of evolution by natural selection, Alfred Russel Wallace believed that the human mind was too complex to have evolved gradually. The gap between humans and even the smartest ape seemed too large, even for those who were sympathetic to Darwin's basic theory.

          If you talk about adaptation. that is a normal phenomenon. The body adjusts its self to ‘fit- in’ to certain changes, environmental , biological, etc but how can an ape that is taken from its natural habitat and put in a city with electricity, pollution and a totally different climate adapt? It will die off! How did the Baluchitherium dinosaur adapt to the point that it became extinct and its cells evolved into a rhinoceros? How did the mammoth adapt and lost all its fur then evolved into an elephant? Because  they have similar physical characteristics doesn’t mean one evolved from the other. You cannot say a crocodile evolved from an alligator nor will you even say they are brothers. You can classify them on the basis of physical characteristics , but not to say one is from the other. If they are from the same family( I don’t mean  genus) , then it will be logical to call them both by the same name. But they are different. Crocodile is crocodile, alligator is alligator.

Because the Denisova hominin ,Homo.antecessor ,Homo.cepranensis,Homo. erectus ,Homo. Ergaster, Homo. floresiensis ,Homo. Gautengensis, Homo. Habilis, Homo. Heidelbergensis, Homo. Neanderthalensis, Homo. rhodesiensis ,Homo.rudolfensis, Homo. Sapiens idaltu,  Homo. sapiens sapiens and the ape have similar physical characteristics doesn’t make “the man called man” ,to be from either of their ancestry.

The Man called Man is not a civilized ape and did not descend or evolve from the any of the homos.

Evidence

So who were these species that were discovered that looked like apes, that had bent backs, and that has been a subject of so many speculations all these years?They were the “MAN BEFORE MAN” , not the “MAN CALLED MAN”. I chose to use the word “man” with them because scientists have used that word to describe them throughout the years. But in actual fact, they are not really “man” , but distinct species of “animalia”. They were distinct animals that looked like apes. And they did not evolve from homo habilis to homo sapiens. They were distinct and unique species like the crocodile and the alligator.

It is true that these “ape men” existed. It is true that they lived millions of years ago. They lived in an era different from ours. And they were wiped out along with other extinct “animalia”, the dinosaurs and other life forms. There is scientific proof that a sudden climatic change caused the extinction of thousands of species. To buttress this point we shall look at how it all began .

The Origin of All

The book of beginnings tells us how everything came to be. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”(Gen 1:1). This simple verse tells us how everything came into being. The earth and everything in it were created! They didn’t evolve by some force of adaptation or survival. You may ask, why then is the conflicting view of science and the bible about the existence of the earth? Well, the truth of the matter is , there is none.

  Science dates the earth to be about 4.6 billion years old. This is a very accurate dating based on the carbon dating of the oldest rocks found. The bible doesn’t deny that the earth is very old. But bible historians have dated the earth to be about 6000 years old. This I would say is also very accurate. But how can we reconcile these two. The gap between 4.6billion years and 6000 years is too wide to ignore.

The key to reconciling these two figures lies in the book of  Genesis. Gen 1:1 says , “In the beginning the Infinite Creative Intelligence(God) created the heaven and the earth.” The word translated “earth” is from the Hebrew word “erets” which is also translated “world” which means the earth including all its inhabitants and the things upon it. So in the beginning, God created the earth and everything in it, including The “ape men” (homo habilis, homo erectus, homo sapient,etc), the dinosaurs and all the other unique fossils of species that later became extinct.

The next verse(Gen 1:2)  is very striking, ,  “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep…” what happened!

Between verse 1 and verse 2, something happened, which we were not given any details of. All we have is the result, which is the formlessness and emptiness of the earth. You may ask, why was the earth formless and empty? What happened to all the life forms on the earth? What is the time lapse between verse 1 and verse 2?

The earth was destroyed( I would give more details on this in a latter article). Everything on the earth was wiped out! All the plants , all the animals, all the species , all he life forms , all the “ape men”, were completely destroyed with it. But as it is, nature preserved their remains so as to tell us about a generation that came to naught. The result of the destruction is seen in Gen 1:2( emptiness- no inhabitance , formlessness – no shape). Science tells us about a sudden climate change that occurred millions of years ago, which caused the annihilation of a whole generation of species. It was more than a climate change. It was an act of judgment (  further light will be thrown on the destruction of the earth in a latter article) .

The creation story from Gen 1:3 is not actually the creation story of the earth, but the recreation story. The earth is actually billions of years old. The actual time of the destruction and how long it remained formless and void is not known. But the recreated earth is about 6000 years old.

Now , the man called man that is the ancestor of you and I did not evolve. In Gen 2:7 we see details of how man was made. He was created in the image( looking like) and likeness(functioning like) God. The Man called Man did not evolve from an ape, the man before man even did not evolve from an ape( he only  looked like an ape). The man called man, came from the Infinite creative Intelligence(God). He was made to be like God. In conclusion, man was made a god.

The man that fails to discover his origin would forever live like a beast and will be subject to the elements of the earth. Oh man! Take your rightful place and stop this caricature of yourself. For how long will a king continue to live as a slave! Psalm 82:5-7, gives a touching description of the state of the man called man, “They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.  I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.  But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.”

Evolution is only a theory.  A theory and nothing more. Darwin only tried to give an explanation to discoveries he couldn’t explain, he was limited in knowledge and technology, even today it hasn’t been proven, but sadly it has been accepted as fact. Fact without proof.

Nevertheless Charles Darwin made a remarkable discovery, rather unknowingly in his quest for evolutionary truth. He said , “Life on Earth originated and … from a universal common ancestor …” The answer to his quest was staring at him in the face but he couldn’t see. Life on earth , in deed everything actually has a common ancestor, The Word of God. “In the beginning was the Word...  All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.”(john 1 :1-3). The word of God made all things. This very truth Darwin unknowing affirmed.

          I’m truly glad God didn’t make me a monkey.

                                      St.Prince Xavier/2012/for the INC