Why do major religious universities have Human Origin Exhibits?
Application: We must protect ourselves from the anti-God message being taught at most Christian universities.
In this L.I.F.E. Lesson, Dr. Bob visits the Human Origins exhibit at the Bean Museum at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Like every top-tier Christian university, evolution is taught at the expense of belief in Biblical Creation. God is conspicuously absent from these museums, with only a nod towards "faith" and implying that faith is often in opposition to "science." Recognizing that children and youth are being targeted in these museums is an important step in countering the indoctrination.
Supplemental Information
The discussion about human origins is at the heart of every believer's faith. Visitors to exhibits like this one come to the museum to learn about who they are. The expectation of any visitor to a museum associated with a religious faith would be that the message presented would be consistent with the faiths core beliefs. Even when obvious opportunities exist to point young visitors to God as the Creator, the credit is often given to impersonal aspects of nature.
This museum's exhibit title, "Because of Plants...", is echoed in the message written below it. "Because of plants we have food to eat and air to breathe." There is no mention of God, or His beneficial creation. It is important for believers to remember that plants are another indication of God's love. He created the plants to provide the clean water, air and food for all living creatures to drink, breath and eat. In Genesis 1:29 God said, "See, I give you every seed-bearing plant that is upon all the earth, and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit; they shall be yours for food."
What does the Bible say about the origin of humanity? It is clear from reading the book of Genesis that God said He created the first man, and the first woman. So, it is confusing to see a message that is in conflict with that fundamental belief in a museum funded through member donations.
A review of creatures presented as an ancestor to man in this exhibit follows:
Australopithecus
"Lucy" (Australopithecus afarensis is the most popular representative of this group) are apes. The late British zoologist Solly Zuckerman declared, “They are just apes. Not one of its ape-shaped bones was shaped exactly like the corresponding bone in a human body. Dr. Tobias claimed: "Australopithecus was far more ape-like in many of its features than we'd ever dared imagine previously."
Neanderthal
Neanderthals possessed a larger brain size than current humans, and had a fully developed language center. They cared for their sick and elderly, buried their dead in ritual burials, created art and even made string and cloth. This group of humans lived in primitive conditions, but were nonetheless fully human.
Cro-Magnon
Cro-Magnon used spears, stone knives, slings, and pitfall traps. Some of them sewed clothes and sorted out clever ways to survive severe cold—like Inuit peoples still do. And just like the Inuit and others, these early Europeans survived in a primitive setting but were not primitive in mind or body.
Recent research has demonstrated that Cro-Magnon had a 15-20% larger brain capacity than that of modern humans. Rather than supporting evolution, this provides evidence for the de-evolution of man since the fall of Adam.
Homo ergaster
First promoted under the name Homo ergaster, it’s now widely accepted that Homo ergaster is simply the African form of Homo erectus. Homo ergaster appears abruptly, without any apparent ancestors. Homo erectus specimens from Dmanisi in the Republic of Georgia are comparable in age with the oldest Homo. erectus in Africa (also called Homo ergaster). Even non-