The Evolutionists’ search for the “missing link” between men and apes has been pursued since Charles Darwin’s time, with not a few disappointments and deceptions on their part. In 2010 a South African palaeo-anthropologist Lee Berger announced the discovery of Australopithecus sediba which was hailed as the missing link by the press, but was soon brushed aside by the scientific community. Now the same man, with his team of fellow researchers, has found thousands of bones in a nearby cave, discovered in 2013, to the west of Johannesburg. He has named the creature whose bones these are, Homo naledi, and is making similar claims to those in 2010.
There is a mathematician, Louis de Branges, who had a reputation for claiming proofs of famous conjectures which subsequently collapsed. In 1984 he claimed to have proved the Bieberbach conjecture, and to the surprise of many he had; so could it be that Lee Berger’s claims will be vindicated on this occasion? The answer is No, because the Bible gives us a different account of the origin of man, in conflict with Lee Berger’s theory. The Bible is the inspired Word of God, and Berger’s theory will therefore turn out to be erroneous.
What the bones are is obviously a matter of interest, but as the Creationist organization Creation Ministries International notes, many of the bones were lying on the surface or were half-buried in the mud (like a WWI battlefield), and the obvious thing to do was to carbon-date them. Berger omitted this, ostensibly because the bones were too precious for even a fragment to be destroyed, but in reality because if any radioactive carbon had been found
in the bones, then on evolutionary principles they could not be old enough to be “the missing link”. He did not dare risk this. Thus the evolutionary hypothesis distorts and obstructs scientific progress yet again, and will continue to do so until it is finally abandoned as conflicting with just about every biological and historical fact that there is.
DWBS
Trivialising Death
Texts, e-mails and flyers are increasingly being sent to us, urging us to apply for life insurance and funeral plans. These remind us of the certainty of death, but they invariably contain pictures of smiling, contented people – suggesting that, if we get the financial aspects of death resolved, we can then live peaceful lives and, by implication, die peacefully. All will be well. All is taken care of.
While it is prudent to prepare practically, the solemn matter of being spiritually prepared for death, and especially for what lies after death, is rarely considered. Additionally there has been a paradigm shift in our society in recent years – moving from mourning for our dead to celebrating their lives.
An article in the Aberdeen Press and Journal in September highlighted the extent of this new attitude. Apparently, alternatives to hearses are commonly asked for at funerals. These include buses, motor cycles, limousines, tandem bicycles and horse-drawn carriages. Coffins made of cardboard displaying photographs can now be ordered. Some may say it does not matter how a dead body is carried to the grave; that is true, but the tone of a funeral matters greatly, and that is the heart of the issue. The newspaper relates how one follower of a TV soap opera so wanted to be identified with his “fantasy hero” that he arranged for a Reliant Robin to transport his dead body to the cemetery.
The article goes on to say that the trend is to have “services” in gardens, sport venues or beauty spots. Humanist funerals are increasing and more and more people are using the unscriptural practice of cremation, with some having their ashes scattered over a favourite beauty spot or over the sea. The idea is to get away from mourning to rejoicing, which is reflected in requests for colourful clothing to be worn by those attending funerals rather than traditional dark attire. One person requested a mobile phone in his coffin. It was to be rung at his burial, possibly to symbolise some form of communication after death.
Even where the service is held in a church, many now ask for secular songs to be played and, during the eulogy, jokes are often interspersed with an account of the person’s life. One funeral director said, “It’s becoming ever more common to hear people refer to funerals as a celebration of life”.
This is trivialising death. One actor who has made an “end of life” documentary states, “Death is the most certain thing in life but as a nation we struggle so terribly to talk about it and to come to terms with our own and others’ mortality. Life is short and so I understand why people don’t want to dwell on the inevitable.” He then goes on to say, “Whilst I haven’t planned my own funeral, I know that I would want people to have a good time, a party perhaps”. What a dangerous and solemn statement to make!
How different to the Biblical view! “The wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23). Death did not exist until Adam fell and the curse came upon man. When godly King Hezekiah was told: “Thou shalt die and not live” (Is 38:1), he mourned and cried in anguish to God. Death to him was not trivial. It was the “last enemy”. When a believer dies, the sting of death is taken away and the soul goes to heaven; yet there should be mourning for the loss of that loved one on earth – although not without hope, of course. When Jacob died, “Joseph fell upon his father’s face, and wept upon him and kissed him” (Gen 50:1). Even the Egyptians mourned for him for 70 days. The sisters in Bethany wept for their beloved brother Lazarus. Jesus wept over Lazarus’ death too, even although he was to rise again. To them death was not trivial. Have we become so brutish that we cease to weep and lament, wanting rather to rejoice and celebrate, when loved ones depart? Those animals that cry over their dead teach us a better way.
How solemn, however, for those who are not spiritually prepared for death and eternity! The Psalmist prayed, “Teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” (Ps 90:12) – and we should pray in this way also. The Apostle Paul warned: “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement” (Heb 9:27). No amount of trivialising death can change that reality.
KHM
A Bizarre Purpose
We recently read a strange account, which appeared in The Press and Journal, of a man living in Skye. We understand that his forebears had a Free Presbyterian background in the Isle of Raasay, but he has obviously turned his back on the heritage of the gospel. He is currently contributing to a special insurance policy which is expected to pay out around £50 000 when he dies. Why? In order to have his head severed from his body, sent to Arizona and preserved in liquid nitrogen by the process of vitrification so that, when the technology to “revive” his life may eventually appear, his “self” will be reconstructed from the remnants of his brain.
This bizarre and tragic folly is an example of how far deluded people will go when they reject the truths of the Word of God and in this particular case
the doctrine of the general resurrection at the last day. The man has admitted to being terrified of death as a child but is ignoring the only way to overcome the fear of death and all the effects of death in time and eternity.
Christ died in order that “through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Heb 2:14-15); “I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die” (Jn 11: 25-26). Consequently, the Lord’s people, like Job of old, know where to look: “I know that my Redeemer liveth . . . and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God” (Job 19:25-6). AWM