MAN AS AN EVOLVED BEING ON EARTH (2)

By Dr. Jonathan Isibor

Last week, we published the first part of this article. Below is the last part:

If man has not found answers in the various evidences brought to support evolution is it not also fair to reason with those who believe that there is a supreme intelligence, an architect that is behind the whole of creation-man and his universe?

Even Darwin the exponent of the law of evolution did write in his book “ The Origin of Species”, of the view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one.

When one observes this awesome universe, from the tiniest ant to the gigantic planets and galaxies, one cannot but marvel at and acknowledge the handiwork of a perfect design of a Supreme Being.

Let us pause a while and read the illuminating words of Pharaoh Akhnaton as he expressed adoration to the Creator of the universe.

“O living Aton, Beginning of life. Thy dawning is beautiful in the horizon of heaven. When thou risest in eastern horizon of heaven, Thou fillest every land with Thy beauty; for Thou art beautiful, great, glittering, high over the earth; Thy rays, they encompass the lands; even all Thou hast made. Thou art Ra, and Thou hast carried them all away captive; Thou blindest them by Thy love. Though Thou art afar, Thy rays are upon the earth; though Thou act on high, Thy footprints are the day.

How manifold are all Thy works! They are hidden from before us, O Thou sole God, whose powers no other possesseth. Thou didst create the earth according to thy desire. While Thou wast alone; Men, all cattle large and small; All that are upon the earth, That go about upon their feet; All that are on high that fly with their wings. The countries of Syria and Nubia, the land of Egypt; Thou supplieth their necessities…….

Pharaoh Akhnaton reigned during the period of 1367 – 1350 B.C. Rosicrucians, i.e., adherents of The Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis, regard him as the traditional Grand Master of their Order.

Today, those of the scientific and literary world regard him as “The first individual in history”. His conduct and his conceptions were centuries beyond the level of human thought of his time. Biologists refer to him as an example of “Saltation”, a leaping ahead in the progressive order of the evolution of mentality.
Pharaoh Akhnaton lived more than 1000 years before Christ. Is it not further interesting to know that verses 24 to 28 of Psalm 104 of the Holy Bible are excerpts from the illuminating words of Akhnaton?

Putting all arguments together, the current thinking on the part of majority of humans is to the effect that rather than being caused by evolution as explained by biologists the origin of man on earth to this day is the handiwork of the Almighty Creator, who, for the purpose of this discourse we shall call God.

In Genesis, Chapter 1.v.27, it is said; that God created man in his own image and likeness. The animals were not created in God’s image. Man is unique from all other animals in so many respects.

What sets man apart from all other creation on earth is his brain. The information stored in some 100 billion neurons of the human brain would fill about 20 million volumes!

Man originates abstract thinking, consciously sets goals, makes plans to reach them, initiates work to carry them out and finds satisfaction in their accomplishment.

Man has a flair for music, beauty and art and finds joy and fulfillment in exercising his creative abilities, man possesses a moral sense to determine right and wrong and a conscience to prick him when he strays. He finds happiness in giving, and joy in loving and being loved.

A human can contemplate the plants and animals, the grandeur of the mountains and oceans around him, the vastness of the starry heavens above him, and feel his smallness.

He is aware of time and eternity, wonders how he got here and where he is going, and gropes to understand what is behind it all. No animal entertains such thoughts. But a human seeks the whys and wherefores of things and events.

Another feature that makes the gulf between man and animal the greatest one of all is man’s moral and spiritual values, which stem from such qualities as love, justice, wisdom, power, mercy etc.

Most of these foregoing qualities of man where initially lacking in the life of the primitive man.

For purposes of our discussion, the primitive man can be regarded as that man who together with other members of his family began life during the historical era known as the PALAEOLITHIC Age or the Old Stone Age.
People of this age, we are told, lived in a very dangerous and exciting world. The men of the old age used pieces of stone or flint as their weapons and tools. Early man knew nothing of what we now call science.

He did not know that Nature obeys certain laws, and he had very simple and often mistaken views as to cause and effect.

He was very superstitious. Much of this attitude was due to his belief in many gods. One of the greatest, if not the greatest, of his gods was the sun.

At the present moment, most of humanity has since left this primitive stage of human history, due to enlightenment, education, experimentation, accumulated experiences, environmental changes, scientific advancement and a host of other reasons.

Above all, man has come to acknowledge that he is created in the image and likeness of God.

He now appreciates that his existence comprises of two selves – the material physical body and the inner psychic self or body which is also the spiritual body. Conscience is an attribute of this higher self which moderates the activities of man in his incarnation here on earth.

Man evolves in consciousness as he understands more and more about himself his relationship with Nature and God.

Having thus arrived at his present level of evolution of mind man is now in possession of the powers to talk to nature so that nature can obey his desires.

As the most unique creature on earth he can use the forces of Air, Fire, Water and Earth to great advantage.

It is hoped that man would use his privileged status as Homosapiens (Modern man) to also evolve his environment to a more peaceful one rather than degenerate to a situation of “dog eat dog”.

Through the Grace of God, man has been entrusted with the powers to re-order the environment in which he finds himself, at least to leave it a better place than he met it.

It has been the avowed responsibility of a few refined minds to use their spiritual insights and inner promptings to do just this.
A few, however, are laboring to retard the pace of progress through destructive tendencies. Be that as it may, it is the responsibility of everyone to be his brother’s keeper! Whatever anyone sows, so shall he also reap!

Society can only progress and evolve to a much greater state if this responsibility which we owe to ourselves and society constantly challenges our individual and collective consciences.

Great inventors, great minds and charismatic leaders and thinkers like Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Socrates, the Wright Brothers, Thomas Edison, Carver Washington, Kwame Nkrumah, Mahatma Gandhi, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr Harvey Spencer Lewis, Martin Luther King Jr, Louis Claude de St. Martin, Abraham Lincoln, Nelson Mandela, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe and a host of others have left their footprints on the sand of time.

You, the reader of this article; what are you contributing to Society to further uplift the consciousness of Man towards greater heights? That’s the question!

Dr. Jonathan Isibor is an Associate Professor of Microbiology at Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State of Nigeria. He can be reached at: isibor@yahoo.com