"Primates, Like Us"

Okay, I admit it. When I heard this post’s title stated seriously by a BBC news presenter—accompanied by a cute photo of two little monkeys—I turned the TV off.

In the last few years, we’ve gone from the theory of evolution being taught in schools as Charles Darwin’s ideas to the total acceptance that we are actually primates. (I do not include myself in this, understand.)

Primate

Animal

A primate is a mammal of the order Primates, which contains prosimians and simians. Primates arose from ancestors that lived in the trees of tropical forests; many primate characteristics represent adaptations to life in this challenging three-dimensional environment. Most primate species remain at least partly arboreal.*

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Why did the BBC come up with the phrase “primates, including us”? I didn’t write the script, of course, but I have several possible explanations:

1. Total ignorance. If the presenter can’t tell an animal from a human, it is because he doesn’t understand the difference. By the way, it has never, ever been proven that a human being is actually a primate—and it never will be. (Yes, I’m aware that quite a few dictionaries now include humanoids in their definitions of the word primate.)
2. The news script was written by someone with an agenda. “If you tell a lie often enough, people will eventually believe you.”
3. Evolutionary thought has gone mainstream.

Calling a human a primate dehumanizes the human.

It makes him no more responsible to God than an animal. It makes his actions no more than instinct and his thinking no more than a stage in evolutionary development.

If we are animals, then we go where animals go when they die. In the ground. Nothing afterwards.

If we are indeed made in the image of God, then we are more special than the animals. The animals were not made in the image of God. In fact, when Adam and Eve were created, they were put in charge of the animals, over the animals.

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth (Genesis 1:26-28). There’s no doubt, according to the Bible, that God made man superior to the animals.

The Bible says, All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds (1 Corinthians 15:39). This clearly shows that we are different. No way did fish become birds, which became mammals, and then became man. The Bible says we have different flesh. What does science—true, observing science—say? Exactly the same thing; men, animals, fish, and birds are in different categories.

Do you eat fish and other meats? Can you tell the difference? Can you tell the difference between chicken and beef? Of course you can! Why? Because their flesh is different.

I am frankly getting tired of being labeled a monkey. I’m also tired of hearing that my “closest ancestors” were gorillas, bonobos, or other primates. (I do have some interesting ancestors, but I guarantee you that not one was anything less than human, no matter how crazy!)

I did not evolve from monkeys—or from plasma, either.

My first father and mother had names. They walked upright. They held intelligent conversations with God and with each other. The very first man on earth, Adam, named and categorized all the animals. Early men worked in metals, made creative artwork, wove clothing, and wore gold and silver jewelry. (Genesis 4:22; Numbers 4:7; 1 Samuel 19:13; Genesis 24:53)

Every single person on earth descended from Noah and his family after the universal Flood. All of the genetic possibilities for all the people of the world today were present in those eight people. (Genesis 9:19)

Early people understood geometry and built structures that still can’t be reproduced—even with modern computers and methods of construction. They understood the stars and planets. They knew the sun was the center of the solar system and that the earth was round. (Examples include: the pyramids in Egypt; Stonehenge; and large, ornate earth formations only seen from space. 2 Kings 23:5; Job 9:9, 38:31; Isaiah 40:22)

My ancestors—and yours—were intelligent, creative, thinking people.

We are not animals.

God made us in His image, and He wants to have a relationship with us. When Adam and Eve sinned, God already had the plan of salvation in place, and the next half of history pointed to Jesus. Then, Jesus the Messiah came to restore our relationship with God, to pay for our sins, and to give us eternal life. (Genesis 3:15; 1 Peter 1:19-20)

Jesus didn’t die for the animals. He died for us.

We are different. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

*Wikipedia.