Book 24 of My 2014 Goal

A Descendant of Adam or Progeny of Apes -Which Are You? by David L Cole
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A Descendant Of Adam, Or The Progeny Of Apes-Which Are You? by David L. Cole is a short read which by the description and title I figured it was about that age old question of where man came from: Did we evolve from apes or was man really created by God? The book was indeed about this subject but not quite what I thought it would be. Instead of stating the two beliefs and then backing up both, it is definitely slanted toward the creation: Adam.

There is a bit of the history of the church at the beginning which I found interesting as well as some of the comments made by the author throughout the book. I did not check any of the dates or any of the scientific subjects that were covered by the book but found the argument of the author notable.

I especially found the chapter "The Carbon Dating Problem" fascinating since I had always questioned the accuracy of carbon dating myself. I can verify that the half life of Carbon 14 is 5,730 years as the author stated but have no knowledge of how the geologic column came to be. The author does a great job of explaining it all but as I said, I did not check the accuracy of it.

Don't get me wrong, I know I made it seem like you need to have some scientific background just to read the book but you really don't. The author does a great job of simplifying things so someone who has little science/chemistry in their background can still understand it.

Although I found this book to the point and definitely not repetitive, I still feel it lacks depth. It made me feel like I was reading someone's assignment for High School. So much more could have been used to support and define the points the author brought up but wasn't. It brushed the surface without really getting well into the real controversies. Then again, maybe this is because the Bible is a matter of interpretation and it seems like no one agrees on what it is saying.

I also know the author states the Bible doesn't contradict itself (which again, is a matter of interpretation on the reader's part) but either it is doing so in his closing statements or he is contradicting the Bible by saying, "The Bible tells us that Jesus died as a ransom for the redemption of Adam's and Eve's descendants. There is no redemptive ransom provision for those who think they have an ape in their family tree." The reason I have a problem with it is because although I do agree that the Bible does tell us Jesus died for us but I don't remember ever reading any exception to this so that statement includes even those who do believe they have an ape in their family tree.

I did come across a few typos but it didn't take away from the book. Although I wouldn't give this a great rating, it is still interesting since I like to read about other people's opinions on religion. I recommend it to other that like to read the same.

* I received a free copy for my honest review.

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