Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1906-11-24
MAN AND CIVILIZATION.


MAN AND CIVILIZATION.
The question OF the sye Of man on
this earth Is sometimes argued from
the fact that implements have been
found In the older strata OF the earths
surface, and the conclusion has been
sugeerted that human beings mat
have inhabited this globe for almost
countless ages. Those who found ar
guments upon such discoveries, would
do well to remember however. that gee
ology IL a comparatively new science
and has, by no means, spoken its last
word. one Of it's clearest testimonies Is
of the recentness of what has been
called the great geological change,
which may perhaps not date very much
further back than six thousand years.
Another line Of thought is suggested
by theory that regards the growth
of man from the alleged status OF an
animal to his present exalted position
as "A civilized being, as an exceedingly
slow evolution. Those who argue from
this point Of view also seem TO need
countless ages for the vindication OF
their theory,
when the facts, as they appear to-
day and as they are presented to us
by authentic history. are considered,
no ground Is discovered for the accept
ance Of this suppositlon. History does
not favor the gradual development cf
monkey into man. Instead OF low
er grade Of intellectual beings IN the
seventeenth century for instance, we
find a. Gallileo. or Sir Isaac Newton.
A century further back, history pre-.
sents to us such men as, for instance,
Luther and shakespeare, whose intel
lectual power Is still felt throughout
the world, and will, for aught we know,
be felt throughout all generations. And
so Il Is. AZ we 90 backward and fol-
low the road by which mankind has
progressed throughout history. we find
such men as the Apostle Paul, more
than eighteen hundred years ago. and
still further back a Socrates and u
Plato whose philosophy 10 some ex-
tent still dominates the intellectual
world. Still farther back we see men
like Scion, the great philosopher of
Athens, and solomon, the king Of Is
rael, whose wisdom has perhaps never
been surpassed. How can these facts
be accounted for on theory that
regards every generation OF man
kind a little lower in the
intellectual scale than the succeeding
generation, until finally far back in the
dim past, there is nothing but mon
keys?
The present is proud OF It's laws, but
is apt TO forget that the basis upon
which the best of them are built was
that great system of laws which was
given by divine instruction through
Moses. And when those laws were
given. not only Israel but many other
nations possessed a marvellous civilIzs-
ton. The Greeks. with their lawgivers
and poets, the Chinese. with their phil
osophers, the Egyptians all were high
ly civilized. AT least four thousand
years ago Egyptian architects con-
structcd building which could not
have been duplicated a century ago,
and still further back, We have civil
izatl0ns on the American continent. the
monuments OF which still inspire the
explorer and scientist with admiration.
How can all these facts be explained?
The Scriptures represent God as COM
municating with man from the very
first. instructng him and teaching him
as a father would a child. That was
the beginning OF civilization. Arch
bishop Whately took the ground that
the very existence OF civilization upon
this earth is proof positive that, at
some time. during the history OF man.
there had been communication with
the Almighty. lie pointed out that Il
had been proved that man Is incapable
Of ciyllizing himself. without some ex-
traneous help. No nation has been
civilized only By efforts from within.
AN civilization has come from some
outside sources. on the other hand.
ne maintained, It has b-n proved that
peoplos who have been left 80 them,
selves gradually forget such arts and
accomplishments as they may posseSs,
thus sinking lower and lower, Instead
Of rising. This being an established
fact. he asks. II II lie impossible for
man hy his own power TO rise from an
uuclyuized status to that Of civilized
man, how much more impossible for
him TO cross tie gulf between monkey
ana human being?
The Scriptures also tell US the rea-
son why some OF the human family
have sunkcn from the high level on
which man was originally placed
through direct revelations from God.
The Apostle Paul explains that the
wrath OF God is revealed In the de-
graded status OF nations. on account
OF wrongdoing BECAUSE that. when
they knew God. they slorined Him not
az God. neither we're thankful. but