The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1917-12-27

Not an Exalted Ape.
There are some wise men who would
have us believe that man Is the OF
spring Of an ape II so, then man Is
an exalted ape because between man
and the ape, as we know them, there
is wide difference. In arriving nt
their conclusion 1t " barely possible
the wise men were led into II by fol-
lowing Pope's suggestion, and In so do
Ing discovered In man what they
thought to be ancestral traits, for IL
there is any being on earth who can
make monkey of himself, man Is the
one.
Many have accepted the Darwinlan
theory of the evolution Of man MS a
substantial fact, when the truth Is
there is not single proof In support
of 1t. 1t is simply u hypothesis-a sup
position assumed. The late DIR. James
Orr, the Scotch theologlan, who Whs
competent to speak upon this subject,
says: "It is vain to speak Of science
demonstrating the slow development
of man from the anthropoid ape, for 1t
does no such thing. There Is no proof
of this In science up to this present
hour. There Is no evidence of any
such gradual process"
A Created Being.
Turning now from the hypotheses
of men, we note that the Bible teaches
that man is created being. This
fact which is stated in the first and
second chapters Of Genesis Is confirm
ed by other Scriptures, so that we are
by no means dependent upon the Gem
esls account for 1t. Our Lord HIM
self adds his conflrmatory words when
he says: "Have se not read that he
which made them at the beginning
made them male and female, and said
for this cause shall man leave father
and mother, and shall cleave to his
wife; and they twain shall be one
flesh?" Matt 19:4-5).
Upon this account of the creation Of
man in Genesis and the quotation from
that book, Christ bases his teaching
upon the sanctlty of marriage. 1t Is
surely subtle reasoning that admits
the truth of Chrlst's teaching and at
the same time charges him with bas-
ing Il upon what he knew, as some
say, was only fable. Surely, such
n one should not be what he claimed
he was, "the way, the truth, and tho
life." No matter what men may say
about the origin of man, the fact re-
mains that the Scriptures, substan-
tiated by Christ, uniformly teach that
he Is q created being.
In the Image Of God.
Further the Scriptures teach that
man was made in the image Of God.
This Is quite different from being
evolved from an ape. This makes man
the offsuring Of God, and not Of a
monkey. II exalts him, instead OF
debaslng him. He begins his being
MS q man, and not as something OF
the lower creation which gradually
through long periods Of time changes
into what he now is, which II the hy-
pothesls be true. would make him an
exalted ape. II the theory be true,
what Is to hinder the process of evolu-
ton going on and man developing into
something specifically different from
what he now Is, and so on I'D infln-
ltum?
We have mentioned the wide differ
ence between man and the ape. Now
the essential difference between them
does not consist In the brain capacity
Of the skulls, In hairy or smooth skin.
but In the fact that man was made In
the image Of God. By this is not
meant bodily likeness, for we know
"God Is spirit" and "a spirit hath
not flesh and bones." (John 4:24;
Luke "a :30).
The Image Marred.
But alas! man fell through sin and
the image was marred. Such is the
teaching Of the Bible, which is quite
contrary to the hypothesis of men who
boast of the ascent of man, while sin
has gone away from God and not to-
ward God; that this apostasy In
wolves the whole human race, so that
"all have sinned and come short or
the glory of God;" that the catastro-
phe of sin is SO complete that man Is
helpless and hopeless because of 1t to
save himself from 1t. The Bible, how
ever, does not leave man, in whom the
Image of God - marred without hope,
for It tells him that "where sin abound
ed grace did much more abound and
that God has made provision for the res
titution of man In the redemption which