There's a hole in my phylogeny, dear Ida, dear Ida

While I’m not trained to write publicly on most of my opinions, (yes, I do anyway), I think the last eight years of school affords me my present platform.

About five weeks ago scientists found Ida, which they are claiming is the missing link between Homo erectus and Homo sapiens. She is said to be between 600,000 and 200,000 years old. They found her in Ethiopia, often considered the cradle of human existence.

There are dozens of things about this that make it relevant to write about. I’ll address a few. I can see already that a storm of buzz about Creation vs. Evolution is about to start, and I’m sure that this will lead to an incredible amount of miscommunication and mud-slinging between people at the highest and lowest levels. Did you know that in the first edition of Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species by Natural Selection, he concludes not with a scientific statement, but with a wonderment of the Creator that could have imagined such diversity?
What have we done with this? Well, both sides have turned it into a ridiculous argument that maybe shouldn’t exist. Let’s assume for a minute that Darwin’s theory actually contradicts the story of Creation as it’s told in Genesis (I don’t think it does). Are we God’s lawyer? Is our voice louder than His, which MADE all of this? Remember that faith is, in the best sense of the word, unreasonable. And under the same assumption, does illogical faith for the opposite really offend science, which by definition does not consider faith as evidence? Does science have anything to do with faith, or faith with science? Well, I think that is part of the problem. Otherwise the followers of either (faith or science) would not be offended. The ridiculous part of this to me, though, is that I see no place for an argument! What if somewhere along the line what we now see as humans came from a less complex being, like Ida, don’t we as Christians believe that God made man and THEN breathed life into his nostrils? All of a sudden we are offended that at one point man had not yet had God’s life breathed into him? It sounds like we are convinced of our natural physical beings being higher than the apes apart from God’s breath. Otherwise what was the purpose of His breath being breathed into us? This is dangerous ground! It certainly doesn’t make much sense.

Another reason this find is relevant is the discovery itself! This could provide incredible insight into the origin of physical man and woman! This could be more important than the first discovery of dinosaur fossils! Or the coelacanth! Is the church in the West going to let a petty argument and pride get in the way of being a part of this? Of having a critical, legitimate voice in the discussion? I’m sure that appreciating creation is something God values. And most people I know who are Christians enjoy discovering said creation. When do you draw the line and say, “that is theory and only theory, I am offended by it and so I will have nothing to do with it. God put that fossil there merely to test my faith.”? Don’t draw the line! Be a productive part of the discussion!

If you are still reading this long post, I apologize for my longwindedness. If I can leave you with one last opinion, it is this: If the limit of your discussion on the present topic is only argument, please check the extent of your outspokenness. I realize this could be seen as hypocritical, because I am quite outspoken on the topic. But I have spent a lot of time and energy on this issue, and feel like my stance is at least something more than a layperson’s opinion.
I encourage you to engage in discussion on the topic, but there are no grounds for offending the person you are talking to.
With that said, I would love to hear your opinions to both this post and the discovery of Ida. Thanks!