A TWENTIETH CENTURY 'WHODUNIT' by: Carl Garner-SWSBS
    We all have embarrassing moments at one time or another. The world of science had such a "moment," but it lasted over forty years, and it was publicized in every major newspaper in every major city. The proof of their embarrassment was on public display in the British Museum of Natural Science during all that time, and touted as fact in the prestigious Encyclopedia Britannica.
    What was the source of this major humiliation? In technical journals it was called Eoanthropus Dawsoni, but it was Piltdown Man in the language of the local newspaper. From 1912-1953 it was acclaimed the find of the century, the "missing link" between man and monkey. It was the proof they had sought for years, proof that evolution was true. The embarrassment stemmed from the fact that it was a hoax, a fraud, a trick; and a clumsy one at that. Later comments marveled that it lasted so long, and that it fooled so many intelligent people. But it did.
    At this point I want to interrupt the thought and tell you why I want to discuss this scientific fraud. No, it is not so that I might have fun at the expense of the scientific community, for much good has come from the endeavors of science. Nor am I primarily interested in exposing the folly of the theory of evolution, although that deserves our attention. The admitted fear of scientists was that the world now realized that the hallowed institution of test tubes and microscopes was not as objective as they had thought. In nearly every investigation of this fraud, it was mentioned that the reason this hoax was so successful was that men were looking for the "missing link," and without the controls and restraints of objective research, they "found what they were looking for." More on that later.
Who was responsible for this hoax? There is no doubt that it was deliberately perpetrated to deceive those who discovered it. But it was too amateurish for it to have lasted so long. The bones had been "doctored," stained artificially to appear ancient. The jaw bone was of a modern ape! The teeth had been filed and varnished to give the appearance of antiquity that would be in harmony with the creature's "near human qualities." But it was so amateurish that it should have been recognized almost immediately. Why would anyone do such a thing? What could they hope to gain? It is a modern "whodunit."
Suspects ranged from a vengeful colleague of Sir Arthur Smith-Woodward to Arthur Conan Doyle, of Sherlock Holmes fame. Smith-Woodward was also a suspect. A Jesuit priest and noted ethicist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was the culprit according to a quote in a 1968 publication. Even Sir Arthur Keith, an eminent British scholar was considered the guilty party. Charles Dawson, an amateur archaeologist who discovered the bones was accused also, but with all of these there were serious doubts. Those who had opportunity and the needed skill had no apparent motive. Those with the apparent motive had neither the opportunity nor the skill to pull off the fraud.
    "WHODUNIT?"
    Dawson was the original suspect, being perceived as a man hungry for attention and fame. Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, was considered because of his views on "spiritism" that desired the demise of evolution. William Sollas, formerly a colleague of Smith-Woodward, was suspected after a tape was found in which Sollas was accused of seeking revenge upon his former boss. Apparently, he believed that he had been cheated out of a sum of money, and sought to discredit Smith-Woodward by "helping" him to "discover" the missing link, only to be exposed as a fool when the hoax was discovered. To many, de Chardin was the most unlikely suspect, since he was a priest. Being an amateur archaeologist, however, he may have had the skill to initiate the hoax. And he was present at the time of the discovery. It has been charged that he was willing to do anything, even to the fabrication of evidence, to promote his own theory of evolution.
    "WHODUNIT?"
    This story has held a fascination to so many that over 500 publications have appeared on the subject. To the credit of science, when the belated examination revealed the hoax, they admitted their mistake. That is an admirable posture on their part. We still do not know who the guilty party was in this fraud, but it had to be someone with a motive, the skill to fool the scientific community for 40 years, and the opportunity to plant the evidence at the right time.
    IT IS TRULY A 20TH-CENTURY MYSTERY
    I promised before that this was not an exercise in "science-bashing." It is a warning for any academic or spiritual discipline to be aware of the danger of "finding" only the evidence they are seeking. Scientists admit that a more objective, diligent examination of the Piltdown remains should have been made. But such an examination was not made. Religious people have also fallen victim to this attitude. Often they search the Bible only to find proof for what they already believe. If they want to find a verse that proves man is saved by faith alone, they will find one, or at least think they have found one. If one wants to find a passage allowing loose ethical and moral behavior, they will "find" one that sustains their belief. That's just another way they "wrest" the scripture, "to their own destruction," 2 Peter 3:16. How careful we must be that we are not victimized by our unwillingness to accept God's truth.

AUGUST BIRTHDAYS

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