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T H E L A T E G R E A T A P E D E B A T E

B A Y A R D T A Y L O R

[ D i s c u s s i O n G u i D E ]

LGAD_Discussion INT5.indd 1 6/9/08 1:48:48 PM

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c O n T E n T s

L E T T H E D E B A T E B E G i n

T H E i m A G E i s E v E R Y T H i n G

A D A m , E v E , A n D T . R E x

T H E W H O L E , B i G s H E B A n G

E v E R Y W H i c H W A Y B u T L O O s E

s W i n G i n ’ i n T H E R A i n

R E v E R s E T H E s P i n

A L P H A A P E s : s O m E T H O u G H T s f O R G R O u P L E A D E R s

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L E T T H E D E B A T E B E G i n > 5

L E T T H E D E B A T E B E G i n

mOnkEY in THE miDDLE

Let’s go back to our days as kids for just a moment: Did you ever play the keep-away game “Monkey in the Middle”? Remember how exhausting it was chasing around, trying to get the ball? Trying to run down “the ball,” in the creation/evolution debate, is something like that.

Welcome to The Late Great Ape Debate Discussion Guide! In these pages you’ll find lots of ways to run to this topic, not away from it: these include self-reflection, journaling, and options for group discussions.

This guide won’t strap you into a high chair, catch the dribbles of regurgitated formula in a little spoon, and put them back into your mouth. It won’t make you parrot back answers, though it will gauge, in places, how well you’re tracking with The Late Great Ape Debate book. It won’t just be trying to keep you busy, in other words, to keep you out of trouble. Rather, the goal will be to truly engage with the material.


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mOnkEY mAniA : THE APPROAcH Of THis D iscussiOn GuiDE

This guide will be a companion to The Late Great Ape Debate. How you use these together is up to you. You might be a do-it-yourselfer or going through this on your own out of necessity. You might be going through these books in a youth or college group, small or large. You might be somebody who likes gathering friends and working through stuff together. In whatever way you’re using them, for the greatest impact, I suggest that you try to read the first several chapters of the book before you start using this guide.

The reason for reading ahead is that, for most people, processing a lot of big, new ideas can take time. Crashing through things at breakneck speed, we tend to miss things that can be important. It might be better to let things settle a bit, to sleep on them a little. Big ideas are worthy to consider in different ways, at different times, and in different moods.

While the book has fifteen chapters, this discussion guide has six sessions. Here’s how we’ll divide things up:

“The image is Everything”: We’ll hit the high points of the first section of the book (“Planet of

the Apes,” chapters 1–8), exploring why this subject arouses such passion and what is the main

purpose of the Bible. We’ll close with a look at what it means to be made “in the image of God.”

“Adam, Eve, and T. Rex”: Review of the four Christian positions on the creation/evolution

debate and how they contrast with the viewpoint of Naturalistic Evolution. Then we’ll focus on

Young Earth Creationism (chapters 3 and 9 in the book), giving special attention to the pros and

cons of this position and how it compares and contrasts with the others.

“The Whole, Big shebang”: A brief review of what we’ve covered, then we’ll dive into the idea

of Old Earth Creationism (chapters 3 and 10 in the book), paying attention to the pros and cons

of this position and how it compares and contrasts with the others.

“Every Which Way But Loose”: Again, a brief review, and then a look, in more depth, at the

pros and cons of Intelligent Design (chapters 3 and 11 in the book) and how it compares and

contrasts with the others.

“swingin’ in the Rain”: After a short review, we’ll spend some time digging into the pros and cons

of Theistic Evolution (chapters 3 and 12 in the book) and how it compares and contrasts with the

others.


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“Reverse the spin”: The last session will incorporate chapters 13–15 in the book and seek to

counter the spin of anti-God propaganda.

Together, all six sessions will hit at glorifying God no matter what.At the back of this book is a leader’s guide, for those alpha apes who seek to lead

groups in these discussions, and a list of additional resources.

APE WHisPERERs

Maybe you saw the movie The Horse Whisperer, with Robert Redford. Horse whisperers have an uncanny ability to win the confidence of wild horses so that the horses willingly accept the bit, bridle, and training that will make them rideable. Horse whisperers shun force and brutality; they embrace gentleness and patience.

Recently I read about a guy who’s a lion whisperer. He’s tamed big cats from leopards to lions. He even goes into the lions’ pen and sleeps with them!

I’m not asking you to be a horse whisperer or lion whisperer, but I would like to ask you to consider being an ape whisperer. My hope is that any of us could enter a room where people are talking about creation and evolution and, no matter how much wild chest-beating is going on, gently and patiently get people to calm down and focus on the most important things.

With that in mind, scattered throughout this study guide will be plenty of references to Christian and popular culture and to scholarly opinions and resources about the creation/evolution debate. Some are serious, some are parodies, some might be inflammatory, some might be hard to figure. As an ape whisperer, your job is to take none of these as “gospel,” but as opportunities to listen, learn, ask questions, think, analyze, and discuss.

Bayard Tay lorVentura, California


T H E i m A G E i s E v E R Y T H i n G > 9

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T A k E A W A Y : T H E B i G i D E A s f R O m T H i s s E s s i O n

> What are my deepest thoughts and feelings about creation and evolution?

> With so many questions swirling underneath the creation/evolution debate, how can we identify

which issues are primary and which are secondary?

> What is the significance of the Bible’s assertion that all humans, male and female, are created

“in the image of God” (Genesis 1:27)? What does that phrase mean to me?

cARDs On THE TABLE

What is your personal experience with the creation/evolution debate? What creation/evolution Web sites have you visited, or what books have you read on the subject? Have you heard any talks or lectures? Journal just below, or discuss with others.

Take a brief look again at the first eight chapters of The Late Great Ape Debate. Go back over any notes you made as you read through them; glance again at the charts and diagrams. Be ready to share your journey!


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J O u R n A L i n G

Here are the key questions or issues I’d like to explore as I read The Late Great Ape Debate and this discussion guide:

In the past, what’s been my typical response to the creation/evolution controversy? Have I ever had anybody “go off” on me about my opinion? How did I answer?

What aspects of this debate trouble me? Which ones do I struggle to understand?

If you’re in a group, plan for each person to take a 3x5 card, or just a blank piece of paper, and write “For Me” across the top of one side and “From Others” at the top of the other. On the “For Me” side, write your answer to this question: What are the toughest one or two questions about the Christian faith for me personally? On the “From Others” side, write your answer to: What are the toughest one or two questions about Christianity that I’ve heard from others?



If you’re working through this book by yourself, use this space to answer the same questions:

for me:

from Others :

If you’re in a group, have someone collect the answers for use later. The goal is to try to find out what questions people have before we try to explore or give answers. Try to keep these questions in mind and link back to them as you move through the material in your group.

fROm knuckLE-DRAGGERs TO cAvEmEn TO us

In counseling it’s often said that “the issue is not the issue.” People bring up all kinds of things to the counselor that aren’t the core problem. The job of the therapist or counselor is to get people to be honest with themselves about the deeper things that have been going on in their relationships for a long time.

The creation/evolution controversy is something like that. We might say, “The debate is not the debate.” Even more important than the conclusions people have drawn are the perspectives and agendas behind and underneath the debate. In that vein, take a few moments to focus on this mental image: We’ve all seen the familiar drawings of the stages of so-called human evolution. They begin—as you look to the left of any of these types of drawings—with a smallish, hunched-over, knuckle-dragging, chimpanzee-like creature.



f O R s E L f - R E f L E c T i O n

> What rises up inside of me as I reflect on either the drawings or the movie clip?

f O R D i s c u s s i O n

Whether in a group or going through this guide alone, spend a few minutes working through

these questions:

> What’s at stake here?

> Have you ever had people tell you what you were supposed to believe about creation

and/or evolution, and that you were dumb if you didn’t believe as they did?

> Have you ever decided not to get involved in a discussion about these things because

you didn’t want to get into a verbal fight?

As you move to the right, the first figure is followed by successive figures that progressively get taller, stand straighter, become lighter-boned, increase cranial capacity, and lose hair.

The question is this: What do those pictures do for you? What do they make you feel?

Adaptation : The Evo lution montage in the mov ie

Another option is to check out the first few minutes of the movie Adaptation. Start the clip where actor Nicolas Cage leaves the studio talking to himself and end with the “up-from-the-ooze” evolution montage.




> What rises up inside of me as I reflect on either the drawings or the movie clip?


Whether in a group or going through this guide alone, spend a few minutes working through

these questions:

> What’s at stake here?

> Have you ever had people tell you what you were supposed to believe about creation

and/or evolution, and that you were dumb if you didn’t believe as they did?

> Have you ever decided not to get involved in a discussion about these things because

you didn’t want to get into a verbal fight?

PRimATE- AnD sEcOnD-ORDER issuEs

Some Christians simply want to avoid the question of creation and evolution, as if it doesn’t matter at all or as if it’s a nonissue. In one sense, this is good. Paul tells us, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Romans 12:18).

In the Episcopal denomination, the bishops are sometimes called primates. I always thought that was kind of fun because my mind associated primates with bipedal (two-footed) hominids. But the real reason the bishops are known as primates is that they are the primary leaders of their church.

Similarly, a major motivation for this discussion guide is to help us think about the difference between those things that are primary for salvation and discipleship and those that are secondary—more speculative, more opinion-based, and therefore less important. In honor of biology’s categorization of life forms, we’ll call these primate-order and second-order issues.

Sometimes it’s easy to tell primate- from second-order issues; sometimes it’s not. Here’s a little phrase to help us discern between the two: “The main things are the plain things and the plain things are the main things.”


> What do I consider to be one really main idea regarding the Christian faith and/or what the

Bible teaches?

> What’s a secondary idea, one based more on opinion, that’s not so crucial for me?

> What do I think about the idea of reinforcing the main and plain things but striving for

civil differences of opinion on things that are less main and less plain?



Pr imate- and second-Order Activ ity : “monkey L ine Dance”

This activity can be done in a group or stepped through on your own.The inspiration comes from the movie Freedom Writers with Hilary Swank. Teacher

Erin Gruwell lays a line of tape across the middle of the room. She asks her students to step toward the tape if they’ve experienced various things—including losing one or more friends to gang violence. (The movie is adapted from a true story, by the way.)

Here our game will be a bit different. If you’re in a group, have everybody line up single file, or in multiple lines if you’ve got a big group. A leader will read various statements, and everyone will decide whether what they hear “matters a whole lot” or “matters less.” With each statement that is read, people will take one big step to their right if they think the statement “matters a whole lot,” or one to their left if they think the statement “matters less.” (If you have multiple lines, here’s fair warning: you might be doing some bumping in the middle of all those lines!)

If you’re going through this on your own, decide which of these statements “matters a whole lot” and which “matters less.” Write your decision after each one:

The Bible is God’s written Word and his revelation of himself and his intentions for us.

God is responsible for creating the universe.

People of every ethnic or social background are made “in the image of God” (Genesis 1:27) and

therefore have great value and worth.

Roughly 6,000 to 10,000 years ago, God created everything in six 24-hour days.

Jesus is the clearest expression of God and God’s will who has ever lived.

Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead.

The “days” of Genesis may be thought of as epochs, or eras.



We can know God and Christ today, and we can experience God’s power through the ministry of

the Holy Spirit.

Roughly 12 billion to 15 billion years ago the universe as we know it began with the Big Bang.

The Bible supports the idea of the Big Bang that astronomers and physicists talk about.

God might have used either microevolution or macroevolution to bring about the current diversity

of life.

(Here’s a quick review of terms if needed: Microevolution is evolution within species, while

macroevolution is evolution from one type of organism into another, occurring at the level of

the species.)

In miracles, God can act and intervene in his world through the power of his Word and the activity

of the Holy Spirit.

God is not contained within the creation, but he has authority over his creation.


> Does the difference between primate-order and second-order issues make sense? What

does it mean for me?

> What emotions did I have as I read these statements?

> Which of these statements am I strongest on, am I convinced “matter a whole lot”? Which

ones am I unsure about, whether they matter a lot or a little?


> Did you feel any pressure to conform to what others were doing?

> If you experienced it, was that pressure from within or from the group?

> How do you account for the differences of opinion?



vERY APE AnD vERY nicE

Let’s go back to the cards or blank pieces of paper you filled out at the beginning of this session. Were any of the questions you wrote down on the “For Me” side related, directly or indirectly, to the creation/evolution debate? How about the ones “From Others”?

Kurt Cobain, who was lead singer of the ’90s alternative rock band Nirvana, once wrote a song called “Very Ape.” In the song, I think Cobain was asking the biggest question each of us asks: What does it mean to be human? Are we just animals? Cruel? Impulsive? Instinctual only? Or are we noble? Compassionate? Spiritual?

Not to be forgotten is the end of Cobain’s search. In April 1994, at the pinnacle of his musical career, this rock star killed himself. He died alone in an attic room above his garage, a shotgun wound to his head. Three days later his body was found.

So what is the Bible’s answer to the question Cobain was surely asking? Right there in the first chapter of Genesis (v. 27) we have it. No matter how you may eventually answer the creation/evolution debate question, we humans, all of us, are made “in the image of God.” Coming into a relationship with God is another thing entirely, a choice we either make or don’t make, but it should never be lost on us that when God created humans, he stamped his image on all of our beings.

This truth has really profound implications for us personally and for human society. Without this as our starting point, as Cobain sang in “Very Ape,” we’re just “out of the ground” and back “into the dirt.”

J O u R n A L i n G

What implications are there to the idea that I am made in God’s image, that all of us are made to reflect God?



What if I wasn’t made in God’s image? What if humans are nothing more than the blind combination of time, chance, and matter?

Is a personal relationship with the God of the universe, who created me, possible? What do I believe about that today?

P R A Y E R

Talk with God. Reflect on the fact that God—expressed through the Trinity as the Father, Son, and

Holy Spirit—is love, is good, that you are made in God’s image, and that each of us has an ache

for a relationship with our creator. Spend some time on the fact that sin blocks our fellowship

with God, but that a relationship was made possible again through the cross and resurrection of

Jesus Christ. Pray with thanksgiving to God.


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