In last month's review of LIFE magazine's article, "Man Inherits the Earth," we left two points untouched which we feel require a few words. One was the composite array of pictures, and the other was its reference to man's language.
The bold, imaginative drawings of the artists which purport to depict various scenes in the upward steps of man's evolution, but which are pure invention to help support an unproved hypothesis, are placed side by side with actual photographs of the Aborigines of Australia. Whether it was intentional or not, this tends to confuse the issue and to make it appear that the line of evolutionary development has been traced on through to the Aborigine of today. Such a deduction, however, is wholly unwarranted. The Aborigines are not proof of evolution; they are human beings in every respect like the rest of the human race, and they are capable of adopting the ways of modern civilization. That they have lived in a primitive fashion is undeniable, but to assume that it is a carry-over of a previous bestial condition is gratuitous indeed.
The reviewed article, without any thought of commending Scripture, says that all mankind alive today sprang from one single species. This is very truth, for the Word of God shows that Adam and Eve were the parents of all mankind, and it also affirms that God "made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth." Acts 17:2626And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; (Acts 17:26). How simple and understandable it all is to one who has faith in God! But God has said that the carnal, or natural, mind of man is at enmity with Him (Rom. 8:77Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. (Romans 8:7)), and the most brilliant mind apart from the submission of faith will ever reason against God and His revelation. But man also has a conscience, and that tells him he is a sinner and will have to meet his Creator and stand trial; much of the effort put forth to discredit the Bible is an attempt to stifle the conscience.
The reference to man's language was this "As man's brain expanded, so did his power of speech, evolving gradually into the complex system of language by which he communicates today." Now this is in direct opposition to the Word of God. Adam was created fully equipped with the power of speech and with a vocabulary to express and receive thoughts. He did not evolve a system of language. It was a part of his endowment.
Adam's creation was altogether unique. He was not created after the manner of the various beasts, fowls, or fishes. When it came to creating the man to rule the earth, God, as it were, took counsel with Himself: "And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness." He was to be God's image, or representative, on earth, and have His moral likeness. What a high dignity! Was this crowning work of creation to be left to grovel his way up to the plane on which man stands today? No, indeed. He was a perfect creature and doubtless far superior to what man is today after thousands of years of sin and depravity have taken their toll.
To Adam, as head of the creation, God brought "every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air," to have him name them, and whatsoever he named them was their official designation. Fresh from the hand of his Creator he was endowed not only with language, but with perception of the character of each being, so that he could intelligently name it. How few today could even list the names of all the beasts and birds.
The second article in the series of "The Epic of Man" was entitled, "The Dawn of Religion." It likewise is dramatically illustrated with pictures conjured up and joined with real pictures of the aborigines of Australia.
The gist of the article is that man had to grope his way for some suitable form of religion to satisfy his religious instincts, and that here again we find the evolutionary process of development at work from crude and base forms to more refined and highly developed religion. This is at complete variance with the Word of God.
Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden had a perfect religion, if we may be permitted to speak of it as religion. There was no need for any spiritual development with them; they recognized their relationship to their Creator and were in happy converse with Him. There was no sin to mar this relationship.
But that man might know his creature place of subjection to his Creator, God placed one, and only one, restriction upon him. This left the entrance of sin a distinct possibility, though by no means a necessity; but without this freedom of choice he would have been a mere automaton, incapable of rendering due intelligent obedience. Alas, sin soon entered, and man fell, spirit, soul, and body. He became estranged from God in his spirit, and in principle became His enemy; his soul, or his moral and natural appetite, was corrupted; his body became subject to death and disease.
Man driven out of the Garden of Eden was left to himself, and became utterly lawless. The divine record is that the earth became filled with corruption and violence; in fact, it became so bad that God cleansed it by the flood which destroyed man and his works. This is not the story of progress and development, but of retrogression and the increasing fruit of sin.
Rom. 1 unlocks the secrets of those past ages when man sank further and further in moral and spiritual depravity. Fallen man was not left without a due witness from his Creator, "Because that which may be known of God is manifest in [or, to] them; for God bath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse." vv. 19, 20.
God judges man according to the measure of his light and privilege, and there was always the testimony of God's creatorial power to be seen in His works—"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge." This is found in the 19th Psalm where the palmist goes on to add that these created orbs had neither speech nor language, but without these their voice was heard by men. This left them "without excuse," for they ignored the testimony of God in creation., which 20th century scientists are also wont to do.
Rom. 1:2121Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. (Romans 1:21) adds, "Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful." After the flood every man on earth had a definite knowledge of God; all that came out of the ark knew in a most remarkable fashion the power and judgment of God. This knowledge became traditional and was handed down from father to son; but, alas, they were not thankful to God. Has this no counterpart in the present day? How few there are that ever thank God for His creature mercies, or even lift their voices to Him in thanksgiving for the very food they eat. This is indeed a step downward.
Next, they "became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened." v. 21. Were they the only ones who let their imaginations run rampant? Is it not being done today, often under the guise of science? And "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools." v. 22. The vain conceit of man has always led sooner or later to the exposing of his folly.
Man, having given up the knowledge of the true God, invented gods of his own—gods of lust and passion. The unearthed evidences of crude and vulgar forms of religion only confirm the divine record, instead of proving an evolution in religion. A servant of the Lord once said, "Man gave up the knowledge that God was holy, and made gods of his lusts; he gave up the knowledge that God was good, and attempted to appease an angry God."
The degenerative process continued, for in a descending scale man went from the worship of images of fallen men to the worship of reptiles; he "changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and to four-footed beasts, and creeping things." v. 23. The finger of Satan is here apparent, for he it was who took the form of a serpent when he seduced Eve. He was leading men down from the worship of God to actual, though often disguised, worship of himself. Men worshiped idols, but behind them were wicked spirits—"The things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils [demons], and not to God." 1 Cor. 10:2020But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. (1 Corinthians 10:20).
In this corruption of religion lies the secret to the grossest immorality, and the general debasement of mankind. They willfully gave up the knowledge of the true God when they had it, and gave themselves over to become the tools of wicked spirits. Even as the LIFE article recognizes, men were seeking to communicate with the spirit world, and to gain the favor of certain evil spirits; but, alas, they were taken captive by satanic powers. Debased spiritually and morally, they sank ever lower in their manner of life.
After men had given up the knowledge of God and, insofar as they could, degraded the glory of the incorruptible God, He in His righteous government gave them up to uncleanness. Three times in Rom. 1 we read that God gave them up: "Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves: who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections....And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient." vv. 24-28.
Need we wonder that man lost the sense of propriety of wearing clothes and living in a civilized fashion? Take a man of this great 20th century and give him over to demonolatry, drug addiction, and associated vices, and see what he becomes in a single generation.
Consider the great, favored nation of Israel whom God brought out of Egypt with great demonstrations of His goodness and might; what happened to them when they turned from the only true God to Egyptian idolatry by worshiping
the golden calf? They "corrupted themselves." When Moses came down from the mount with the tables of stone, he "saw that the people were naked, (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies)." Exod. 32:2525And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:) (Exodus 32:25). They evidently adopted some of the heathen orgies at once. Think what a thousand or so such years would do to any people.
God had to warn His earthly people over and over against following the ways of the heathen, and when they departed from Him they indulged in such hideous and forbidden practices as offering their own children in sacrifices to idols, behind which were demons.
The smug reassuring way that some of the quoted anthropologists speak would be amusing if it were not so tragic; such as, "That their [the Aborigines'] religion has its roots in the depths of prehistory cannot be questioned.
And that a similar, if less complex, form of belief prevailed among Paleolithic men 100,000 years ago is also an indubitable fact." Now compare these comments with the following: the town clerk said, "Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter? Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly." Acts 19:35, 3635And when the townclerk had appeased the people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter? 36Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly. (Acts 19:35‑36). Ger at words, confidently spoken, do not always indicate either that the things spoken are facts, or that they are unquestionable. Yea, "Let God be true, but every man a liar."
That the world has advanced, and that much of it has given up the grosser forms connected with religion, is true, but it is in no small part due to the light of God that shone from His truth as revealed in Israel and later in Christianity, although obscured through their respective failures. Men dare not do in the light what they would avidly do in the dark. But the light of God is being again extinguished in much of the world through the advances of atheistic communism, and through plain and outright rejection of divine revelation, as was so brazenly done in the LIFE magazine. Let the world be assured that "God is not mocked" (Gal. 6:77Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. (Galatians 6:7)), and that this enlightened Western civilization is going to be given up by God to receive the devil's lie in a day not far distant. "Because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth." 2 Thess. 2:10, 1110And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: (2 Thessalonians 2:10‑11). God gave up the heathen world, He gave up Israel after they rejected their Messiah (Mic. 5:33Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. (Micah 5:3)), and will just as surely give up the people of this land to gross darkness and all the results of it.
Dear young Christian, remember that if any "speak not according to this word [the Word of God], it is because there is no light in them." Isa. 8:2020To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. (Isaiah 8:20). It is not that they have a little light, but none at all. Remember too that "Every word of God is pure." Pro. 30:55Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. (Proverbs 30:5). It is living and operative, and it pierces the inmost recesses of the heart, laying bare all its counsels (Heb. 4:12, 1312For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. (Hebrews 4:12‑13)). Its entrance gives light and understanding to those who in simple faith accept it as it is in truth—THE WORD OF GOD (Psalm 119:130130The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple. (Psalm 119:130)). It is that by which we may cleanse our ways (Psalm 119:99BETH. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. (Psalm 119:9)). All of it is inspired by God, "and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect [or, complete], thoroughly furnished unto all good works." 2 Tim. 3:16, 1716All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3:16‑17). Take your stand unflinchingly on it, heedless of the scoffs and jeers of the ungodly, and you will never be put to shame now or in the time to come. That Word will abide for eternity—"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My word shall not pass away." Mark 13:3131Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. (Mark 13:31).