In 1925 a very famous event took place that became known as ‘The Scopes Monkey Trial.’ This ‘trial’ pitted the state of Tennessee against high school teacher John T. Scopes who had been accused of violating the State’s recently passed ‘Butler Act’. This law made it illegal to teach human evolution in any state-funded school. I call it an event because, according to Wikipedia, it was put on by those in Dayton, Tennessee to bring publicity to the town where the trial was held.
Though it is questionable whether Mr. Scopes actually ever taught evolution in the classroom, if I understand history correctly, groups like the ACLU needed someone to be accused of this so they could bring legal action against the constitutionality of this law. In fact, it is said that this organization financed this test case after convincing Scopes to be put on trial for having violating it.
The trial, as was hoped for by those who put it on, drew an enormous amount of interest across the county as hundreds of reporters descended on the little town. In time, two of the most prominent lawyers in the country became involved. One, representing the prosecution for the state of Tennessee, was a three-time presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan. The other was Clarence Darrow who argued for the defense. Among the many journalists covering the trial was H. L. Mencken, who wrote widely syndicated columns for the Baltimore Sun. It was from one of his articles that the title ‘Scopes Monkey Trial’ originated. It was his scathing articles, ridiculing the champion of the south, William Jennings Bryan, and his portrayal of Fundamentalist Christians that played such a huge role in turning public opinion against those that believed in the account of Creation as found in the Bible. In his articles, according to Wikipedia, he “mocked the town’s inhabitants as ‘yokels’ and ‘morons’, and labeled Bryan a ‘buffoon’ and his speeches ‘theologic bilge’. In contrast, he painted the defense as ‘eloquent’ and ‘magnificent’.” You can certainly make the argument that it is from his articles on the proceedings that the teaching of evolution in the schools received its greatest impetus to become the norm for what is taught in public education today, to the exclusion of Biblical creation.
Today, evolution is taught as established science and I’ve actually had conversations with people who I grew up with that have adamantly argued with me that science has proven evolution to be the truth concerning man’s origins. But this simply is not true. In fact, more and more ‘scientific’ and ‘geological’ discoveries have come out over the last century that are beginning to show that, if they are honest, the ‘origins of the species’ that Darwin taught cannot be sustained. With the discoveries of things like our ‘genetic code’ it is becoming more and more apparent that only an intelligent designer could have created man. Even the denials of a world-wide flood, as spoken of in Genesis, are now being seriously challenged by experts studying the geologic evidence.
Yes, the more we discover, the more support man is finding that the Bible is a true and reliable record of all things, including man’s origins. As Christians, we need to educate ourselves on this evidence. If we are ever going to slow this trend of losing the young people that were raised in the church who, after college, any longer see the relevance of faith, we’re going to have to be able to show why they should not take everything they’re taught in school as the gospel, so that we can truly, “be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in ‘us’ with meekness and fear.” (I Peter 3:15).
For God’s glory and His alone,
Pastor Terry.