All Europeans have one common African ancestor?

[jo]

[Mary]

[loeee]

Actually, I believe this particular theory is based entirely on genetic evidence and has nothing at all to do with archeological discoveries. It was written up in one of the US news magazines several years ago.

[Karen]

I think is what you're referring to.

[jo]

[robsia]

[Sarah N.]

[robsia]

I know - but you make an interesting point there.

Neanderthals have been classed as Homo sapiens neanderthalensis (as opposed to us, who are H. sapiens sapiens), although as it is now clear that we are not directly genetically related, aside from having descended from a common ancestor (H. erectus/heidelbergensis/ergaster), the 'sapiens' is being dropped by some scientists.

However, as it has now been discovered that Neanderthals had a hyoid bone, making them capable of speech, and brains as big, if not bigger than our own, the biological evidence seems to indicate that, although they were physically different to us, they were humans too, just a different kind of humans.

Not so the previous hominids who were definitely less developed and probably not much more intelligent than the apes - their only advantages being bipedal locomotion and use of tools and fire.

So, do you think that God imbued the Neanderthals with a 'soul'?

[Leslie]

[jo]

[larry gilman]

[tangent]

[Leslie]

Hi, Larry--I hadn't picked up on the notion of a cosmic fall preceding the human fall in Lewis' thinking--in fact, I would have said that he thought that death and "the circle of life" were woven into the fabric of creation by its creator. There's somewhere that he talks about this, using the relationship of mother and baby as an example of "good parasitism. " But maybe I'm mis-remembering what I've not read for a long time. Apparently, I'll have to sit down with the entire Lewis canon and read it again. Is there a specific essay or passage where he speaks of the fall of nature?

[robsia]

[wingedllama]

Leslie, Lewis speculates about a Fall of nature previous to that of Man in The Problem of Pain, in the Animal Pain chapter.