The Knoxville independent. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1894-current, 1918-01-12

Not an Exalted Ape.
There are some wise men who would
have us believe that man Is the off.
spring of an ape; If SO, then man is
an exalted ape because between man
and the ape, as we know them, there
| is wide difference. In arriving at
their conclusion it is barely possible
the wise men were led into it by fol-
lowing Pope's suggestion, and in so do
ing discovered in man what they
| thought to be ancestral traits, for If
there is any being on earth who can
make a monkey of himself, man is the
one.
Many have accepted the Darwinian
theory of the evolution Of man as a
substantial fact. when the truth Is
there is not single proof in support
of it. 1t is simply hypothesis--a sup
position assumed. The late DR.. James
Orr, the Scotch theologian, who was
competent to speak upon this subject,
says: "It Is vain to speak of science
demonstrating the slow development
| VI Hull lIUll llAt dullll opoAu upC, Iva ~
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 hypothesis
of men, we note that the Bible teaches
that man is a 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 Cen
esis account for 1t. Our Lord him
self adds his confrmatory words when
he says: "Have We 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 sanctity of marriage. 1t is
surely subtle reasoning that admits
the truth of Christ's teaching and at
the same time charges him with bas-
ing it upon what he knew, as some
say, was only a fable. Surely, such
q one should not be what he claimed
he was, "the way, the truth, and the
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 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, ana not of a
monkey. It exalts him, Instead Of
debasing him. He begins his being
as man. and not as something Of
the lower creation which gradually
through long periods Of time changes
into what he now is, which if the hy-
pothesis be true, would make him an
exalted ape. If 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 ad infin'
itum?
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 q spirit" and "a spirit hath
not flesh and bones" John 4:24 /;
Luke "a 1907.
The Image MARRIED.
But alas man fell through sin and
the image was married. 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
WIVES Tie WuOic Auiuhn ioSe, oV 'naI
"all have sinned and come short Of
the glory of God;' that the catnstro-
phe of sin is so complete that man Is
helpless and hopeless because of 1t to
save himself from it. The Bible, how
ever, does not leave man, in whom the
Image of God is married without hope,
for 1t tells hin, 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
he provided on Calvary's cross by
which the image Of God marred by
sin shall be restored in those who &C
cept his Son as their Savior.