The Secular Neanderthal Story Changes Again

For years I’ve been challenging Christians to start their thinking on God’s unchanging Word and not on man’s changing, fallible interpretation of the past. The evolutionary story is changing daily with each new discovery and previously known “facts” are being discarded constantly. But God’s Word endures forever (1 Peter 1:25) and provides a sure foundation for us to base our thinking on. And it’s God’s Word, not man’s ideas, that is consistently being confirmed by observational science!

Well, a great example of the changing nature of man’s ideas is Neanderthal man. Years ago Neanderthals were considered to be primitive, unintelligent brutes. But, eventually, scientists realized that Neanderthals were indeed humans and that modern Europeans actually share some DNA in common with Neanderthals. Now, according to Time magazine, scientists are admitting that Neanderthals were likely more intelligent than they previously gave them credit for. A bone tool, likely fashioned from a reindeer femur, “proves that Neanderthals were able to understand the mechanical properties of bone and knew how to use it to make tools, abilities usually attributed to our species.” This tool can be added to the growing list of things that show that Neanderthals weren’t unintelligent brutes. They made music, buried their dead, and hunted and trapped prey. Of course, a biblical model predicted this all along! When we start from the Bible, we understand that all humans are descended from Adam and Eve and that mankind was created with intelligence. Therefore, we can conclude that Neanderthals were fully human (our relatives), and that they were intelligent, just like us. With each new discovery, scientists keep confirming a biblical, not an evolutionary, model of human origins. Observational science confirms God’s Word!

Many Christians choose to trust man’s fallible, changing opinions over God’s infallible, unchanging Word, particularly in regard to origins. But do you really want to trust man’s ideas that are constantly changing? You see, we weren’t there at creation and we have limited knowledge, but God was there and He has infinite knowledge. When God tells us how He created or how human history unfolded, we can trust it! And, eventually, science always catches up with God’s Word.

I encourage you to boldly stand on the truth of God’s Word and to equip others to do the same. We need to “let God be true but every man a liar” (Romans 3:4).

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

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