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Evolution At The Bar by Philip Mauro
Chapter V
The Origin Of Man
Of all the questions of origin that of Man is supremely important, and if, as we doubt not is the case, the doctrine of Evolution was inspired by the great "Spirit of Error," as a special effort in these last days to "blind the minds of them that believe not," then we may well conclude that his main object would be to discredit statements of Scripture which relate to the creation of Man. The words, "Let Us make man, in Our image, after Our likeness" (#Ge 1:26), reveal a truth of fundamental importance. Against this foundation truth of Scripture (which is closely linked to that of Redemption by Him Who came in the likeness of Man) Evolution raises the monstrous and impious fiction that Man was made in the image and likeness of the ape, by means of an unbroken continuity of changes imperceptibly small.
If the explanation of the origin of Instincts presented difficulties which Evolution finds insurmountable, what shall we say of those powers and endowments of mind and spirit which distinguish human beings, and which mark the existence of a mighty chasm, deep and wide, between the highest of the brutes and the lowest of the human race! For it is not in his physical being, his body, that the special characteristics of man are to be found. Physically he is far inferior in strength and activity to many brutes. His bodily resemblance to the largest of the apes is seen at a glance; but that resemblance is superficial, and is easily accounted for, consistently with the truth of Creation. For, since Man has a physical being, and requires organs for locomotion, sight, hearing, manipulation, etc., in common with other animals, his physical makeup would, of course, resemble theirs in respect to those organs, with only such modifications as would be required by the differences in his physical manner of life.
The Characteristics Of Man
The differences?immeasurably great?between the brute and the man lie beneath the surface, and have their existence in the regions of the soul and spirit, regions which, though so manifestly real, are yet so mysterious that even Man himself has no means to explore them, nor words to describe the simplest of their mysteries. In Man we find a creature who is self-conscious, who can reflect, reason, contemplate; who has the power of abstraction; who can comprehend general ideas; who can arrange his thoughts; who can communicate them to others by oral and written language; who has a sense of beauty; ability to enjoy harmonies of sound or color; a perception of right and wrong; a conscience; and above all, who has a capacity to know God. How vast are these differences! Who can declare their breadth and depth? Who would, unless infatuated by some mysterious delusion, or possessed by the spirit of mischievous error, compare with the chattering ape a being of whom even Charles Darwin says that he can "follow out a train of metaphysical reasoning, or solve a mathematical problem, or reflect on God, or admire a grand natural scene"?
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