Because that, when they knew God,
they glorified him not as God,
neither were thankful;
but became vain in their imaginations,
and their foolish heart was darkened.
Romans 1:21
"However, it is noteworthy that in regard to the origin of the human species many savages reject the hypothesis of creation in favor of the theory of evolution.
They believe, in fact, that men in general, or their own tribespeople in particular, have been developed out of lower forms of animal life.
The theory of evolution is particularly popular among totemic tribes who imagine that their ancestors sprang from their totemic animals or plants, but it is by no means confined to them.
For example, some of the Californian Indians, in whose mythology the coyote or prairie-wolf is a leading personage, think that they are descended from coyotes.
At first they walked on all fours ;
then they began to have some members of the human body, one finger, one toe, one eye, one ear, and so on ;
then they got two fingers, two toes, two eyes, two ears, and so forth ;
till at last, progressing from period to period, they became perfect human beings.
The loss of their tails, which they still deplore, was produced by the habit of sitting upright. Similarly Darwin thought that "the tail has disappeared in man and the anthropomorphous apes, owing to the terminal portion having been injured by friction during a long lapse of time ; the basal and embedded portion having been reduced and modified, so as to become suitable to the erect or semi-erect position."
FolkloreInTheOldTestament
they glorified him not as God,
neither were thankful;
but became vain in their imaginations,
and their foolish heart was darkened.
Romans 1:21
"However, it is noteworthy that in regard to the origin of the human species many savages reject the hypothesis of creation in favor of the theory of evolution.
They believe, in fact, that men in general, or their own tribespeople in particular, have been developed out of lower forms of animal life.
The theory of evolution is particularly popular among totemic tribes who imagine that their ancestors sprang from their totemic animals or plants, but it is by no means confined to them.
For example, some of the Californian Indians, in whose mythology the coyote or prairie-wolf is a leading personage, think that they are descended from coyotes.
At first they walked on all fours ;
then they began to have some members of the human body, one finger, one toe, one eye, one ear, and so on ;
then they got two fingers, two toes, two eyes, two ears, and so forth ;
till at last, progressing from period to period, they became perfect human beings.
The loss of their tails, which they still deplore, was produced by the habit of sitting upright. Similarly Darwin thought that "the tail has disappeared in man and the anthropomorphous apes, owing to the terminal portion having been injured by friction during a long lapse of time ; the basal and embedded portion having been reduced and modified, so as to become suitable to the erect or semi-erect position."
FolkloreInTheOldTestament
