Fearfully and Wonderfully, Part One

“Life is life – whether in a cat, or dog or man. There is no difference there between a cat or a man. The idea of difference is a human conception for man’s own advantage.’ ~ Sri Aurobindo, Indian philosopher and creator of yoga.

We are always being told, directly or subtly, that we are really no different from animals. Animals are heralded as our ancestors, and vets will give you a stink-eye if you don’t fork up thousands of dollars to pay for your pet’s surgery.

But we are different from animals. Something inside of us just knows it. And with a little further thought, we can prove it.

Human beings are distinct from animals in three ways that contradict evolutionary, atheistic, and materialist concepts: in our use of language, in our creation of music, and in our making of art. Over the next month or so, I’m going to be discussing each of these points. This is a topic I feel highly passionate about, being a writer and musician, and enjoying art. To begin with, we will discuss language.

Now, the Christian doesn’t believe that language evolved because evolution has been scientifically and Biblically disproven. More specifically, the Bible affirms that Adam and Eve were perfectly whole and intelligent human beings, created on the sixth day, and that they could speak to one another, as evidenced by Genesis 2:23.

But, to the non-Christian, that isn’t a valid argument, as the Bible is not considered a valid source.

From a standpoint of pure reason alone, with no revelation, can something as complex as language just spontaneously come out of nothing? Or even gradually form over a great period of time and evolution?

Not without some basis. We know that new languages do come into existence — in fact the language I am writing in right now is a prime example. But English is a derivative of Latin, Greek, French, Anglo-Saxon, and more. And all those languages can trace their roots back and back until we get to some common ancestor, whatever it was people originally spoke. So where did that first language come from?

The notion that language evolved into being does not logically line up. Something of such complexity does not morph out of meaningless gibberish. Imagine this – a bunch of cavemen are sitting around the fire, grunting and making noises that have meaning only to them, and suddenly one of the others just happens to understand his fellow? And out of a misshapen string of garbled vowels and consonants one caveman managed to fashion verb conjugations and speak about things in the past tense? It’s not a reasonable idea. You could even try it yourself by sitting down with a friend and grunting a certain sound over and over again, having fixed in your mind what it means. Maybe you could make it clear to your friend eventually by pointing and gesturing to the object in mind. But what about saying anything of meaning? You could establish that “uuh” means “that table right there,” but you couldn’t make your friend understand that the table is blue or that it’s made of wood, or that the table is on top of the rug. For that you need verbs, prepositions, and adjectives. And it adds a further layer of complexity to try and make your friend understand that the table used to be blue but has recently been painted red.

Can you see where the logic starts to break down, where the sheer probability fails due to the intricacy of language?

As Aristotle says in the Nichomachean Ethics, “For as we assert, nature does nothing in vain; and man alone among the animals has speech.” The word for speech is logos, the same word used in John 1:1, ‘in the beginning was the logos.’ Even Aristotle, who didn’t believe in the Biblical account of Creation, could clearly see a striking difference between humans and animals. While animals have forms of communication, say through barking at each other or using pheromones, but it is nothing like what humans are capable of doing. Animals do not have philosophic debates, deliver rallying speeches, orrecord their words so that they last for centuries. In this, human beings are entirely unique.

God created us for fellowship with each other and with Him, and has made it possible through language. Speech and words have the power to touch souls and transform lives. It’s a special gift, and one to be used with caution and wisdom. Yes, it is a bit convicting to think about how carelessly I use my tongue, and how with it I mistreat the immortals around me, to reference the Lewis quote about never meeting a mere mortal. It’s powerful stuff, and something to take to heart.

Whether you write or not, this is your call to remember that language is a special tool given to us from God, and that we should do our utmost to honor Him with it. In a world full of lies, insults, poor communication, and careless words, we should strive for excellence and beauty in our speech. When we do, the world will notice.

Keep shining, friends. Have a good week. We’ll discuss music next time.

Cheers.

P.S. A quick bulletin — given that this year might turn out to be a busy one and I now have the addition of a newsletter to write, from now on posts will be scheduled every other week. Thanks for reading!