Giant Spider Killed

Recently I was considering a blog by a scientist who captured and killed a giant, puppy-sized spider for a museum, which was also featured in the news. The goliath bird eater is considered the largest spider in the world, weighing up to six ounces. The pictures and story went viral, and the scientist, Piotr Naskrecki, began receiving comments on his Facebook page by enraged citizens who couldn’t believe that he would kill this spider. Naskrecki even received a death threat via email, according to Fox News!

People are furious with Naskrecki for killing this spider as a specimen, but are these same people outraged that each year millions of babies are murdered within the safety of their own mother’s womb? No, they aren’t. For many of them, it’s all right—even encouraged—to murder an unborn human baby, but as soon as someone kills an animal, many make enraged comments claiming it is wrong! This is incredibly inconsistent.

Also, according to evolution, we are related to everything—including plants. So why don’t these furious people stop eating plants to protect them? Or why not start a Save the Tapeworm Society or Protect the Polio Virus Foundation? For that matter, why are these people not up in arms about doctors and researchers working hard to destroy the Ebola virus? After all, if evolution is true, these creatures are related to that spider and to you! Of course, no one would contribute to a cause trying to stop people from eating plants or trying to save ebola. People would (hopefully!) all agree that those would be ridiculous ideas. I bring them up to highlight the inconsistency of those who are angry because a spider was killed but who apply this ethic only to certain creatures. Christians understand that sin and the Curse have affected the world, and so some organisms are now detrimental to humans and need to be dealt with accordingly. Also the Bible makes it clear humans can eat plants and animals (Genesis 9:3).

As Christians, our thinking needs to start with the Word of God. According to the Bible, mankind was made in God’s image, separate and special from the animals. We are not related to that spider, or plants, or the polio virus, or any other creature, but are uniquely created in the very image of God. Human life therefore has special and unique value, whether that life is a scientist working in Guyana or an unborn baby growing in his or her mother’s womb. According to Genesis, mankind has been given dominion over creation—including the animals—but this does not mean that we have permission to wantonly destroy Earth. Part of having dominion implies good stewardship of what God has entrusted to us. This is a biblical ethic, and many evolutionists would agree that we should take good care of Earth (though they wouldn’t agree that the reason is because we’ve been placed by God as stewards of it). But does their worldview really support the idea that we should care for Earth? No, it doesn’t. According to evolution, it’s survival of the fittest. If nature can’t compete with man-made structures, then too bad for nature. After all, a lion doesn’t care if it’s killing the last of an endangered species of gazelle and, if we’re just animals, why should we care either? Now most evolutionists don’t live this way, but in order for them to argue that we should care for Earth, they have to borrow the ethics of a Christian worldview.

Sadly, we now live in a society that cares more for the lives of animals than it does for the lives of human beings. This is a direct result of America’s once-Christian foundation being eroded and replaced with an evolutionary foundation that says people are just animals and everyone “does what is right in their own eyes” (Judges 21:25). I encourage you to read my article about stewardship and the biblical mandate to rule over the earth and subdue it.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

 

This blog was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.