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Writer's pictureBible Brian

Uneducated is not the same as unintelligent



As a culture, we have been brainwashed into believing our ancestors were somehow primitive. If you want to call someone stupid, you call them a caveman. People who mock the Bible mock it as "bronze age folklore", claiming it was written by "goat herders" (a stereotype I'm sure modern goat herders will find very flattering...). In truth, the difference between modern people and our ancestors is the school system.


It is undeniable that modern humans have made leaps and bounds over our ancestors, but this is not because our brains have finally "evolved" following our caveman days. Rather, what they had to learn by trial and error, they passed on to us. This can be demonstrated by modern discrepancies between modern humans. See, not all countries provide equal opportunities. Here in the UK, education is mandatory. Children spend 12 years of their lives in full time education, and unless you want to send your kids to a private school, it's free. Compare that to elsewhere in the world, where schools are under-equipped, or very expensive, or even restricted. In some countries, it is especially hard for women to go to school.


Now, it would be the height of racism and sexism to say that, because those who have been denied access to an education are naturally less educated, therefore they are less evolved. Are British women superior to women from Afghanistan? Are Americans superior to Africans? I'll give you a hint: When given equal access to education, the discrepancy disappears.


Now, obviously, our ancestors did not have access to modern education. Adam and Eve didn't spend 12 years in tax funded schools. Noah never went to college. Abraham didn't graduate from university. These facilities just didn't exist yet, and so of course our ancestors weren't able to access them. Did that make them unintelligent? Far from it.


In fact, the evidence shows that in some ways they were more intelligent than we are. Setting aside the wonderful mysteries they left for us (such as the pyramids, Stone Henge, the Baghdad battery etc.), we need to remember the world they faced. They faced many dangerous animals, they didn't have street illumination, they did not have the luxury of preserving food, they lived centuries before medical advancements, they faced all sorts of challenges that most of us could not even comprehend. Think about it: If we dropped you in the middle of some abandoned island, how long would you survive? Yet, our ancestors conquered some of the most hostile places on earth, seemingly just for the thrill of having done so. I am often amazed by my Alaskan friend's stories, and she has access to modern technology. Shotguns to deter the bears, motor powered boats for fishing, the very clothes she wears would have been unavailable to Alaska's ancient population.


So, clearly, our ancestors were anything but primitive. They may not have had access to our education or resources, but without their own ingenuity, neither would we. What we receive, we receive from them. What we take for granted, they granted us. It is sheer arrogance, and frankly very insulting, to look back on those who gave us the very advantages we hold over them and say "you're a few steps closer to the apes than we are".


But there is a greater mind even than ours. Man has created many things, but what created man? Or, more accurately, who created man? That would be the Lord Jesus Christ. Without Him, nothing was made that has been made. The air you breathe, the water you drink, the ground you walk on (from which He made us), all of this comes from God. Unfortunately, we have all rebelled against Him. And what do you get when you rebel against the Author of life? Death, of course. God declares that the wages of sin is death. But God's preference, rather than giving us our wages, is to offer us a gift: Eternal life. This He did at the expense of His Son, who was born of a virgin, and lived a perfect life. Nevertheless, He was arrested, He was put through a bogus trial, He was beaten mercilessly, nailed to a cross, and He died, after which a spear was thrust through His side to verify His death. They lay His body in a tomb, and on the third day, He got back up.


In His death, Jesus suffered the full penalty for your sin. In His resurrection, He bought you eternal life. All that's left for you to do is receive that. Confess Jesus as Lord, and believe He rose from the dead. Believe, be baptised, be united with the Church. You will then receive the full benefit of Christ's death. That is something no school can give you.

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