Apes and Super-Apes

Our Sibling Rail Gun of Compassion, Shannon, passes along a question asked by one of her fifth-graders in all seriousness: "do you think that since humans evolved from apes, that one day apes will evolve into like super apes and take over the world?"

My first reaction is this: It seems highly unlikely to me, but on the other hand God can do whatever God wants to do. After all, the development of intelligent human life was also highly unlikely. We didn't appear until billions of years after the creation of the world, and after hundreds of millions of years of its domination by dinosaurs. What allowed us to follow in the footsteps of the dinosaurs was their being wiped out by a large meteor and the ensuing long-term darkening of the sun. Because dinosaurs were large and cold-blooded, they died off where small, warm-blooded mammals were able to survive.

Based on this example, I would suspect that if a species were to follow us as a widespread dominating species, it would probably have to be very different from us, since what could kill us off would most likely kill off the apes, too. So maybe we'd have another lizard phase. Or the dolphins might take over. Or the cockroaches might have the chance to profit from their resistance to radioactivity. It's hard to predict in advance. And the bottom line is that none of this will happen in our lifetimes, or for that matter the lifetime of the Statue of Liberty.

There are interesting theological questions behind the original one, though, that I'll look at in later posts:
1. Are humans the only animals with a divine destiny?
2. What does believing in evolution say about God?
3. Can we trust the Bible?
4. If there were super-apes, would the second amendment be useful to us? Or would Charleton Heston have to find another way to fight them?

P.S. Shannon--I suspect your 5th-grader is familiar with the Planet of the Apes already, whether or not they've actually seen it.

Your question here:

Hey folks--

What burning issues do you need addressed today? I am happy to take a crack at whatever questions you have. And I'll even try to distinguish between fact, educated guess, and opinion. So how 'bout it: ever been confused about the difference between denominations? Wanted to know who wrote the New Testament? Want to know what hermeneutics are? Drop in in the comments and I'll be happy to answer.

Best,

Amy

Belated Maundy Thursday Answer

Heather asked a week ago:

"Here's a question for your Q&A blog - what the heck does "maundy"
mean? Dictionary.com isn't much help"

"Maundy" comes from the Latin word "commandment," which refers to Jesus' new commandment to the disciples, given to them at the Last Supper. This Last Supper is what we commemorate on Maundy Thursday.

Choosing the Next Pope

Shannon asks in a timely manner: how do they pick the next pope?

The death of Pope John Paul II is of course a sad event for everyone. He was often a figure of controversy, but at the heart someone who was not afraid to stand up to the evils both of totalitarian regimes and capitalist excesses. He will be missed.

The basic process for electing a pope is this: A maximum of 120 elector cardinals gather at the Vatican to deliberate and choose a new pope. This discussion can go on for a long time; now that the electors are put up in very nice living quarters, there may be less of a rush to decide on someone quickly. These electors were chosen by previous popes, and for the most part were chosen by Pope John Paul II. As a result, he will have had considerable influence over who is chosen next. However, the decision is not by any means certain.

The number of votes required for agreement is a 2/3 majority, but Pope John Paul II introduced a new rule in 1996, which says that once votes have been taken 30 times, an absolute majority (half plus 1 vote) can elect the pope. Discussions are secret, so we probably won't have the chance to read through the minutes. Of course you probably wouldn't want to, anyway--my guess is that they'll be in Latin.