Khrietuonyü Noudi
Man has always wondered when and how exactly the human race must have begun. Those scientists who do not believe in the existence of a creator say that the whole universe just exploded out into existence many thousand years ago. This theory is called the ‘Big Bang Theory’. Stephen Hawkins, the author of the acclaimed book ‘A Brief History of Times’ even went to the extent of saying that man came into existence just by accident. There are also scientists and scholars who say that man actually evolved from monkeys over a long period of time.
When we talk about the origin of the human race, there are still no concrete proofs about how exactly the human race began. Disciplines like Science and Archeology say and do everything based on proofs and evidences but even Science and Archeology are unable to say for sure when and how exactly the human race had its origin. Therefore, as far as the beginning of human race is concerned, even Science and Archeology can only assume, presume and believe.
First, there is the ‘Big Bang Theory’ which says that there was a big explosion thousands and thousands of years ago and everything including man just came into existence by chance and accident. Even Stephen Hawkins who is considered by many to be one of the most brilliant scientists of his generation believes in this theory.
Secondly, there is the Evolution Theory propagated by Charles Darwin. According to this theory, man evolved out of monkeys. At first, there were the monkeys who crawled on all its four feet. Then over a long period of time, the monkeys became able to stand erect and upright standing on two feet only and then the body hairs on their bodies also gradually disappeared. And as time passed, the monkeys came to finally assume all the present features of man.
Thirdly, there is the Creation theory which says that everything including man was created by a creator. This theory finds its most vivid expression in the creation story written in the Genesis book of the Holy Scriptures.
As far as I am concerned, the first two theories are total nonsense and absurdity. This is so because according to these two theories, everything just happened by accident without any purpose and logical explanation. And if any of these two theories are true, then the best philosophy to live our lives would be ‘eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die’. However, life itself is too unlikely to be the product or consequence of a mere accident without any purpose. Therefore, as far as I am concerned, I believe that there is a creator, a master-planner and a master-designer. But as mentioned above, since there are no proofs and evidences about the manner in which the human race began, we can only assume, presume and believe.
When it comes to assuming, presuming and believing, one thing which becomes very handy is our imagination. Indeed, one of the most amazing and prolific possessions that we, human beings, have is our imagination. After taking into consideration all the historical, political, geographical, scientific and archeological information that we have and by analyzing these information with the accounts in the Bible, I guess we can somehow imagine and conclude for ourselves how exactly the human race must have begun thousands and thousands of years ago. And in doing this, it would be imperative for us to bring out some of the basic and fundamental facets of human nature.
Man is, by nature, selfish and self-centered. He wants everything for himself. And to achieve this, he would go to any extent. In fact, he would even go to the extent of murdering not just his fellowmen but even his own creator. This core issue of human nature was clearly exhibited during the life and times of Jesus Christ. Indeed, when somebody tries or starts thinking about murdering even his own creator, then there can be nothing more unjust, unfair, horrible and treacherous than this.
Man is also greedy and ambitious by instinct. In fact, he is so greedy and ambitious that he wants to take even the things that belong to his Creator. We are also rebellious and want to live life in our own terms by testing everything. God created man for fellowship and co-existence but man started to think about pursuing his own desires and wishes and began to ignore the presence and righteousness of his Creator. This was how man wandered away from God in pursuit of his own selfish and shortsighted dreams and desires.
God created Adam and Eve and placed them in a beautiful garden but they disobeyed God because of their inherent wickedness and self-centeredness. And if they were not chased out of the beautiful garden, they would have most certainly gone to the extent of even plotting to murder their own Creator. God must have known this human nature very well and therefore he got angry and said to them ‘I created you out of dust and to dust you shall return’ (‘Siesü rünyo pie n chü zeru, n bu rünyo mevi latatuo’).
However, since God created men in his own image and since He created men to have fellowship with Him, He did not want men to perish even after Adam and Eve had rebelled against Him. This was why God again arranged for a bridge through which man could once again realize their wickedness and return to Him and live with Him for all eternity.
This was the reason why the creator of the universe was born into the world in the person of Jesus 2000 years ago. Jesus was fully man as well as fully God and he lived a sinless life and taught us many fundamental and universal truths about the true nature of God, the purpose of the creation of man and also how and why man had wandered away from his creator. Though Jesus was unblemished, he even allowed himself to be crucified on a Roman cross so that man could realize his wickedness and the righteousness of God. And thus through Jesus, we can come to have a clear understanding of the righteousness of God and the purpose of the creation of man.
Through the Bible and through the life of Jesus, what God is trying to tell us is that we did not come into existence on our own but that we were created by someone for a purpose. And since we were created and did not come into existence on our own, we need to always acknowledge and honor our creator who created us out of nothing. This message seems so simple but yet many times we miserably fail to ingrain this fundamental truth in our hearts, minds and souls.
During his earthly ministry, Jesus taught the people through many parables. And one common feature about the parables of Jesus Christ is the word ‘LOST’ – the Lost Son, the Lost Coin, and the Lost Sheep etc. Thus through these parables of Jesus, it becomes clear that man had wandered away from his Creator and became lost in the pursuit of his own dreams, aims and desires. Therefore, it is indeed understandable that Jesus came into the world to seek and call back the lost ones who were created in the image of the almighty God himself.
One reason why the creation story of the Bible is so universally read and believed is probably because it has all the ingredients that are required to make the story complete. First there is the Creator God, and then there is a man and a woman. We all know that everybody is born through a man and a woman or in other words everybody has a father and a mother. I have not read any other so-called Holy books like the Quran, Gita etc and so I do not know what these so-called Holy Books say about creation and the origin of the human race. But it is understandable and undeniable that when we talk about the beginning of the human race, it inevitably has to deal with the issue of a man and a woman.
Through history and archeology we now learn and know many things. But in the earliest of times, there were no written records of past events because the art of writing had not been developed yet. Similarly, the methods of archeology by means of which archeologists dig up and find previously unknown information had not been practiced yet. Therefore, along with the proven facts and information that are available to us, we also need to make use of our ideas, imaginations, beliefs etc to clearly have a proper understanding of our pasts.
In the early part of the 20th century, some archeologists carried out excavations in the north western part of India and found out about the existence of a very well-developed and advanced civilization in that region in ancient times dating back to 2500 B.C. For many centuries, it was also believed that the famous St. Paul church in Rome was built over the grave of the Apostle Paul. As such, archeologists carried out excavations at this site some years ago and it was found out that the bone fragments found at this site date back to the 1st and 2nd century A.D. Similarly, archeological excavations in different parts of the world have revealed the magnificent and glory days of ancient cities like Rome, Ephesus, Meggido, Troy, Cairo etc.
In this way, as human beings continue their existence on this planet, the succeeding generations learn from the experiences and lessons of the preceding generations. Accordingly, the world has become wiser and wiser after every generation. And as such, many discoveries and inventions were made which have made our lives much easier, safer, long-lasting, comfortable and meaningful in almost every field. Here we can mention the many advances and progress we have made in the field of science and technology, in the field of medicine, in the field of philosophy and education etc.
However, in spite of all the advancement and progress made in the field of science, technology, medicine, archeology, philosophy etc, why is it that we still read, preach and believe in the Bible (A very old book written thousands and thousands of years ago)? I guess this is so because the Bible is a book which not only mentions about the existence of a righteous and Holy God but also deals with the core issues of human nature. And human nature has not changed in all these years, centuries and millenniums.
The Bible says that man was created in the image of God and if this is so, this means that the basic and fundamental nature of man will always remain the same. This is the reason why the Bible has never become outdated and obsolete despite the passage of thousands and thousands of years. This is so because the Bible deals with the core issues of human nature. When we read and understand the stories in the Bible, we come to know that it is not just the story of Jesus, Moses, Jacob, Adam and Eve, Abraham, David or Solomon…… but that all the stories in the Bible are our own stories. And this is the reason why the Bible will always be relevant and reliable. In other words, there never will be a time when we will have to say that the Bible has become irrelevant and outdated.
Therefore, we are and we will always be indebted to Science and Archeology for providing us with most of the enormous and overwhelming information and knowledge that we have today. These knowledge and information which we have received through Science and Archeology have enriched our lives in more ways than we could ever imagine. These information and knowledge have not only increased our understanding of the universe, our environment and our history but have also immensely contributed towards the enrichment of our understanding of our own lives and of our many philosophies. These knowledge and information have also made us safer and secure. For instance, the advancement and progress we have achieved in the field of medicine have made our lives much safer, secure and longer than those who lived ahead of us in the previous centuries.
However, despite these undeniable facts, there are still many things which Science and Archeology will never be able to answer. For instance, science and archeology will never be able to answer why everybody dies. These subjects will also never be able to prove that there is no God. These disciplines will also never be able to tell whether there really was a creator who created everything. Science and Archeology also will not be able to give any logical explanations to the miracles that we encounter in our day-to-day lives. Likewise, Science and Archeology have also not been able to prove how and when exactly the human race had its origin. They can only assume, presume and believe as far as these issues are concerned.
Thus, in order to find answers to the questions that cannot be answered by Science and Archeology, we need to go back to our faith, beliefs and imaginations using all the historical, theological, scientific and archeological knowledge that are available to us and by analyzing them with the message that is contained in the Bible.
And the good news is that even when science and archeology cannot find the answers, we can find all the answers through our faith in Christ Jesus……
