Monkey Medicine

Creation Moments

Monkey Medicine

November 14, 2024 • Ian Taylor

More than a quarter of our drugs come from wild plants. Traditionally, researchers in search of new drugs would ask local folk healers about plants that might be helpful. However, that isn’t always the best approach. In some societies, plants are thought to have healing powers simply because they look like a disease.

Researchers are now learning to follow animals around. Monkeys have led medical researchers to several potentially new medicines. Chimps in Tanzania were seen swallowing the unchewed leaves of a tree. Studies of the leaves and the droppings showed that the leaves were not digested. However, the chimps’ digestive system had removed chemicals from the surface of the leaves that kill intestinal parasites.

The female of a rare species of woolly spider monkey in Brazil does not ovulate for about six months after she gives birth. This gives her time to raise her offspring. About six months after giving birth, the female will travel outside its usual area to gorge on the fruit of a specific tree. Researchers found that its fruit is rich in a chemical that causes the female to produce a hormone that re-starts ovulation.

As in other cases of this type, we have to ask the question: Do these animals really have innate medical knowledge or is it that God cares for them when they are sick and leads them to the right medicinal plant?

Matthew 6:28-29

“And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”

Prayer: Father, I thank You that there is no limit to Your goodness and generosity to all Your creatures. Help me to remember Your love and Your generosity when I am tempted to worry about the future. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Notes: Photo: Bonobo chimpanzee, Envato.

Magic Mirror

November 21, 2024 • Ian Taylor

It’s a widely accepted modern myth in our computer-driven, technological age that people today are in some way more advanced than people of thousands of years ago. The biblical picture is that man has always been man. He has the same emotions, cares and needs today that he has always had. He has always been as curious about his world as he is today. The biblical measure of man is not technological, but moral. Most of these points are difficult to prove. However, occasionally modern man discovers ancient evidence that reveals amazing technology and inventiveness. The makyo, or magic mirror, was invented in China centuries ago. It’s a mirror made of polished bronze that has a design cast into the back. When the mirror is used to reflect light onto a screen, the image on the back of the mirror appears on the screen. Why does the makyo do that? The first scientific paper on the subject was published in 1877. Modern scientists have studied the mirrors using the most sophisticated metal analysis methods known. Yet, they have not been able to figure out the mirror’s secret. That nameless Chinese inventor who designed the makyo centuries ago was a genius, indeed. Man is ever curious and inventive. However, the true measure for each of us centers on the forgiveness of sins that has been won for us by Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. 1 Corinthians 13:12 “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” Prayer: Father in heaven, forgive me for those times when I have forgotten that we are measured in terms of our sin and the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ, not in terms of our cleverness. In Jesus’ Name. Amen. Notes: Dietrick E. Thompson. “Inscrutable.” Science News, vol. 125, Jan. 14, pp. 30-31. Photo: Makyo mirror, Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Purpose? To Glorify God!

November 20, 2024 • Ian Taylor

God has created us with a strong desire to know the purpose of things. Evolutionists generally believe that if a feature doesn’t serve a purpose, it should not have evolved. On the other hand, the Bible tells us that purpose is given by God. He gives the woodpecker its incredible tongue because it helps the woodpecker to make its living. In addition, this wondrous design glorifies its Creator. At other times it seems that the Creator has produced some living thing for which there is no apparent purpose other than to glorify Himself. These are the features that give evolutionists the most difficulty. Male antelopes show a vast array in the designs of their horns. Males may have spears, spirals, curves, twists or simply short daggers. These differences in design suggest that differences in purpose caused the horns to evolve, but that doesn’t make sense. Even stranger is the fact that female antelopes generally have smaller horns that are much more like daggers. Evolutionists are stumped about why female antelopes would evolve short horns while males evolved such a variety. As Bible-believing Christians, we have no difficulty accepting that the variety of designs in male horns, and the similarity in design of female horns, all serve to glorify the Creator and show that evolutionary explanations don’t really explain anything. Psalm 115:1 “Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, [and] for thy truth's sake.” Prayer: I thank You, dear Father, for the variety and beauty You have created in the living world. I also thank You that these features glorify You in so many ways. Help my life and words glorify You and bear clear witness to the salvation You have provided for us in the forgiveness of sins through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen. Photo: Impala antelope, Envato.

Unscientific Source?

November 19, 2024 • Ian Taylor

Most Christians have been told, “Creation isn’t scientific because it comes from the Bible!” Does the source of an idea make the idea unworthy of science? Many believe that the only truly scientific ideas come to people dressed in white smocks working in laboratories. Experience shows, however, that scientific discoveries can come in the most unusual ways. Friedrich Kekule discovered the theory of atomic valency in a vision while traveling on the top deck of a London bus. A new, natural insecticide was also discovered in what might be considered an unscientific fashion. Mechanics working at a University of Georgia field research station used a soap called Dirt Squad. Dirt Squad is a grease cutter made from orange peels. The mechanics had dumped some of the cleaner on a fire ant hill. Listeners who are familiar with fire ants know that these nasty members of the insect kingdom are hard to kill. However, the cleaner killed all the ants. Hearing this, one of the scientists used the cleaner on his cat, who had fleas. The soap killed all the fleas. This led scientists at the research station to investigate the oils in citrus peels. They discovered a natural chemical in citric oil that is harmless to vertebrates but deadly to insects. Any idea, from any source, including the Bible, needs to be considered before it can be accepted or rejected as scientific. Psalm 119:140 “Thy word [is] very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.” Prayer: I thank You, Lord, that Your Word is worthy and true. I also thank You that the Bible tells us about much more than can be tested by our experience and science. And I thank You for those who are showing that where the Bible talks about things that can be studied by science, Your Word stands true! Amen. Photo: Citrus fruit display, Envato.