<<What fascinated me was that the first possible evidence for art, body
painting, may have occurred with Homo habilis. If this was the case (I admit
this is not proof) then Hugh Ross' view that art is evidence of man's
spiritual awareness is wrong.>>
I'm not sure that is what Ross argues, Glenn. In "Creation and Time" he says:
"As humanity's story unfolds through subsequent chapters, we discover that
what makes humans different is a quality called 'spirit.' None of the rest of
Earth's creatures possesses it. By 'spirit' the Bible means *awareness of God
and capacity to form a relationship with Him.* Worship is the key evidence of
the spiritual quality of the human race, and the universality of worship is
evidenced in altars, temples, and religious relics of all kinds. *Burial of
the dead, use of tools, OR EVEN PAINTING do not qualify as evidence of the
spirit, for non-spirit beings such as bower birds, elephants, and chimpanzees
engage in such activities." [Id. at 140-41].
So, by "art" Ross means more than "painting," body or otherwise. By religious
relics, he means that which is found in shrine-like dwellings, as cited in
Simon, C. "Stone-Age Sanctuary, Oldest Known Shrine, Discovered in Spain,"
Science News 120 (1981) pg. 357.
"Religous relics and altars date back only 8,000 to 24,000 years. Thus, the
secular archaeological date for the first spirit creatures is in complete
agreement with the biblical date." [Id. at 141].
In addition, there are many other sudden appearances vis-a-vis modern man
which are unexplained (as yet) by any Natrualistic scenario:
1. Quantum re-organization: Of the skull--high forehead along with expanded
frontal section of the brain-- first chin in primate history, planing of lower
jaw, front teeth and forehead. As S. Stanley says, "These particular features
are utterly unpredictable on the basis of what preceded them."
2. Redesigned vocal tract making articulate language possible at the same time
intellectual capacity explodes in art, notations and tool types. [The area of
the brain that governs the fine actions of the hands required for advanced
toolmaking and art lies very close to the area of the brain that controls
muscular movements required for speech.]
3. Tools are unlike their predecessors in many ways: utility, variety,
complexity. "Cro-Magnon man developed more effective flaking techniques such
as punch and pressure flaking, and learned to make tools from small blades
instead of flakes. The discovery of grinding gave Cro-Magnon man the use of
such objects as mortars and stone oil lamps....In addition to spears, the
Cro-Magnon arsenal included spear throwers (atalatls) and eventually bows and
arrows." [Goodman at 187-88]
4. Weaving. The discovery of weaving techniques enabled ropes and nets and
snares to be made.
5. Variety of shelters. "Caves, the old standby, now had windbreaks: Wood
scaffolds were erected at some cave mouths so hides could be stretched across
the opening. The contours of the cave floors were leveled, and stone walls and
post holes denotre internal architecture. In some caves such as France's
Grotte de Renne, Homo sapiens sapiens moved in right after the Neanderthals
left; it is this sudden change (marked by new tool types and the use of more
sophisticated hearths) that gives rise to talk of a Cro-Magnon invasion" [And
eliminates Neanderthals as ancestors.] [Id. at 188]
6. Bone awls, bone needles, and cave sketches show that Cro-Magnon man wore
tailored clothing of hides and furs.
7. Art: "Cro-Magnon art was startlingly beautiful and highly sophisticated in
both style and technique." [Id.]
8. Art and other indicators: Tattersall states: "The Aurignacians, the first
modern culture group in Europe, left IMMEDIATE evidence of art, notation,
symbolism, music, sophisticated manipulation of materials, a restless spirit
of innovation, and all of those basic behavioral elements that we associate
with ourselves.["The Fossil Trail," p. 245., emphasis added]
9. Articulate speech: "For the first time, we can be sure that people
possessed articulate speech, whereas THERE IS NO WAY IN WHICH WE CAN BE
CERTAIN OF THIS IN THE CASE OF ANY EARLIER GROUP." [Id., emphasis added].
10. Religion: "Even more enigmatic than his art is Cro-Magnon man's religious
system. The content and nature of a good portion of Cro-Magnon art, his
embellished implements, and the objects he placed in his burials imply the
existence of esoteric thought and of well-established rituals of various
kinds." [Goodman, p. 193]
11. Cro-Magnon burial practices "clearly demonstrate a belief in an afterlife,
a very advanced religious concept. Instead of merely disposing of corpses for
sanitary purposes, or out of simple affectio for the departed, as appears to
be the case in Neanderthal burials, Upper Paleolithic man buried his dead
ceremoniously with a great many objects." [Id. at 194]
12. Music: At Cro-Magnon sites we get the first musical instruments ever
found. There is an mazing variety--whistles, flutes, end-blown pipes,
"roarers" (like those used by Australian aborigones), shoulder blade drum,
xylophone, etc. Nothing like this could have been predicted.
All of this poses, as Tattersall puts it, an "enigma" ["The Fossil Trail," pg.
246]
An enigma is "anything inexplicable" [Websters New Collegiate].
Inexplicable.
That is what the sudden apperance of modern man is, from a Naturalistic
perspective. From a Biblical perspective it is not.
Jim