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Pastor's Corner by Pastor Larry

September, 2005

I was attracted to a caption that read, “London Zoo exhibits a troop of humans—eight men and women cavort next to fellow primates”, a few days ago in the Mercury News. In part, this short news article reads:

LONDON – At London Zoo, you can talk to the animals – and now some of them talk back. Caged and barely clothed within a rocky enclosure, eight British men and women monkeyed around Friday for an amused, bemused crowd behind a sign reading “Warning: Humans in their natural environment.”

“Seeing people in a different environment, among other animals . . . teaches members of the public that the human is just another primate,” said Polly Wills, adding that it lets them “have a gawk at people.”

Chemist Tom Mahoney, 26, decided to participate. Anything that draws attention to apes, he said, has his support. “A lot of people think humans are above other animals,” he said, it kind of reminds us that we’re not that special.” Visitors’ reactions varied.

It is amazing how some human beings look at themselves. It is depressing to even think some people look at themselves as mere animals instead of supreme beings created in God’s image and likeness. This chemist has the wrong notion to think that humans are not that special compared to other animals. How sad it is to have a wrong view of the true image of human beings! If somehow people think that they are no better than animals (a more intelligent one at best), then no one can question anyone’s “animal” behavior. I wonder whether this is one of the reasons why we are seeing more and more cruelties in our society. People who practice cruelty are merely living their “natural animal” behavior. Isn’t that a scary thought?

Are we really just another animal species? It is impossible to look at Darwinism in this short newsletter, and it is not my intention anyway. One thing we need to realize is that not all atheistic scientists adopt Darwin’s theory. If his theory is a scientific fact, this should not be the case. One particular group of scientist that opposes Evolution is the paleontologists because the study of fossils doesn’t support the theory. There are too many missing links!

We are more than animals because we not only have a body and a soul (the two components animals have), we also have a spirit which is used to communicate in spiritual world—either with God or other spirits. No animal could posses this characteristic. You will never see an animal build altars to worship God, but archaeological findings prove to us that throughout generations of different cultures, people built altars to worship higher spiritual beings.

Before I sign off, let me just share that the Bible tells us human beings are made with God’s image and likeness. Though we are marred by sin, we still reflect some of God’s image. Therefore, we must respect our fellow men and ourselves, and as Christians, we also need to learn to restore God’s image. Our self-image must be healthy because God, the Creator of everything, cares and loves us.

Pastor Larry


數天前當我閱讀水星報﹝Mercury News﹞的時候，被這樣的一個標題所吸引，『倫敦動物園展覽一隊〝人〞─八名男女在其他同屬靈長類﹝高級哺乳類﹞的動物旁邊玩樂』。這段短短的新聞稿是這樣寫的：

倫敦─在倫敦動物園，你可以對動物說話─現在有些也會回答。星期五的時候，八個穿著得僅可蔽體的英國男女，關在一個以岩石裝飾的籠子裏面，好像猴子般玩樂著。在一個寫著〝警告：人類在他們的天然環境〞的牌子後面站著一群覺得既有趣，又迷罔的遊人。

Polly Wills這樣說：『看見人在一個不同的環境中，與其他動物在一起………使群眾認識到人類只不過是靈長類動物中的一類而已。』她再加上一點，這使大家覺得「人是儍子」。

26歲的化學家Tom Mahoney決定參與。他說，他支持任何能夠吸引人注意猿猴的事。他說：『很多人認為人類高於其他的動物，其實這提醒我們，我們並不是與別不同。』遊客對此反應各有不同。

有些人這樣看自己真是難以置信，他們竟然看自己只不過是一種動物，而不是神所創造擁有祂的形像和樣式的超然個體，真是令人感覺沮喪。如果有人覺得他們和其他動物一樣﹝極其量是較聰明一點﹞，那麼就沒有人可以質疑別人的〝獸性〞行為了。我覺得驚訝，這是否意味著我們的社會越來越殘酷的理由之一，人們的殘酷只不過是活出他們的〝自然獸性〞而已。這實在是一個可怕的意念。

我們真的只是動物中的一類嗎？在這短短的通訊中不可能研究達爾文學說，而這也不是我想要做的。有一件事我們要弄清楚，不是所有無神論的科學家都接受達爾文的理論；如果他的理論是科學的事實，就不應該這樣。特別有一群科學家是反對進化論的，就是那些古生物學者，因為化石的研究並不支持這理論，其中實在有太多的〝遺失部份〞！

我們是遠超乎動物的，因為我們不單只有身體和魂﹝動物擁有的兩個元素﹞，我們也有〝靈〞用來與靈界溝通─與神或其他的靈。沒有任何動物有此特性，你永遠不會看見動物築壇來敬拜神；但考古學的發現為我們證實了在歷代不同的文化中，人類都有築壇來敬拜那更高的靈體。

在我擱筆前，讓我與你分享，聖經告訴我們人類是照著神的形像和樣式被造的。雖然我們因罪而被毀損，但我們仍然能夠反映部份神的形像。所以，我們必須尊重我們的族類和我們自己；同時，作為一個基督徒，我們亦要學習重整神的形像，我們必須要有正確的自我形像，因為萬物的創造者『神』關心及愛我們。

唐若愚牧師

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