Human Evolution Teaching in Public School

What happens inside the mind of a Christian student when they are taught human evolution in public school? Starting in sixth grade, public school students are taught that humans evolved from ape-like creatures beginning millions of years ago.

Human Evolution Instruction in Public School

How do Christian students reconcile this teaching with the Bible? Does human evolution teaching erode the faith of some Christian students? To find out, let's start by taking a tour of the human evolution teaching that starts in every sixth grade classroom in California and most other states as well.

Textbooks typically start the journey with astral epithecines about four to five million years ago. Lucy is the most famous of these creatures, a three and a half foot tall ape-like creature which is surprisingly similar to a modern day bonobo.

Remarkably, Lucy is featured with white eyeballs in textbooks, a feature that is not found in any living apes today. Perhaps this makes her appear more human-like. Homo habilis is the next icon in the lineup, supposedly taking the scene about 2 .4 million years ago.

The Fossil Sequence Used to Teach Human Evolution

Homo erectus is next, beginning about two million years ago. Homo sapiens supposedly showed up about 200 ,000 years ago, leading to modern humans on Earth today. Students typically spend several class hours over a two-week period covering human evolution.

This instruction includes homework exercises and watching high-budget films to solidify the concepts in their minds. Human evolution teaching continues in seventh grade life science and 10th grade biology, where students receive another 230 pages of evolution teaching.

Does any of this square with the Bible? The truth is, many students are familiar with the biblical creation account, which states that God created humans in his own image out of the dust of the ground on the sixth day of creation, filled them with his breath of life and gave them charge over all of creation, including apes.

Adam also named all the animals, including apes, the same day they were created. The first chapter of Genesis states seven times that animals were created uniquely to reproduce after their own kind, and this is exactly what we see today.

The Biblical Creation Account and Human Origins

Apes produce apes and humans produce humans. Students see the obvious differences between these two accounts of human origins. One has humans evolving from millions of years of death and survival of the fittest, and the other has them spontaneously created out of the dust in the image of a loving, intentional God who put us here to govern the earth.

However, many students attempt to integrate these two beliefs and become theistic evolutionists, believing that God used evolution to create life on earth and denying the creation account and authority of scripture, leading some to a lifetime of picking and choosing the truth they want from the Bible.

For some, the seeds of doubt that are planted during this teaching will later result with the student leaving the faith, contributing to the exodus we are seeing of many of our youth.

I know the Bible says that God created humans in his own image, out of the dust, and to rule over the animals, but it sure seems that my textbook has a lot of evidence that humans slowly evolved from apes over millions of years.

Where did all those fossils come from if humans didn't evolve from them? They sure look like a lineup of apes becoming human, and they sure make it seem like every scientist believes in evolution. I don't want people to think I'm stupid for believing in the Bible.

But here are some examples of what students are not taught in school. Since Lucy's discovery in the 1970s, a firestorm of disagreement has emerged about exactly what type of creature she is, whether she lived in trees or walked, or even her gender.

And all they can find of Lucy's kind is fewer than 500 bone fragments, representing only a few dozen creatures at most. Lucy is just an extinct ape. Homo habilis has problems too, with leading scientists still not even sure of which bones fit into this category.

Problems with Lucy, Homo Habilis, and Homo Erectus

Homo erectus fossils are just human, and differ in shape and size just like humans do today. Do students know these facts? Sadly, most do not. And most students don't know that 46 of Americans believe that God spontaneously created humans less than 10 ,000 years ago, and that thousands of scientists don't believe in evolution.

To help students affirm their faith in the Bible, Genesis Apologetics has produced the debunking human evolution books in both high school, college, and junior high versions. These books affirm the biblical truth about human origins and show students the massive gaps in the evidence supporting the idea that humans evolved.

We also have free online video programs, which include a six-lesson program that debunks the 11 pillars of evolution that are taught in public school, including human evolution. Stand strong in your faith.

Visit debunkevolution .com.