In 1912 Charles Dawson announced the discovery of Piltdown man to the world. Piltdown man was a half-human, half ape-like creature which was offered as proof that man was nothing more than a glorified ape. Today, everyone knows that Piltdown man was a fraud.

Among a number of theories, there is one that claims the hoaxer to be Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – the creator of Sherlock Holmes. Doyle was well-known for his practical jokes. He only lived seven or eight miles from the site where the bones were discovered, and he had visited the site. Doyle was also a doctor who understood human anatomy, chemistry and anthropology. In addition, he had access to bones like those which were found. What's more, in Doyle's The Lost World, his character actually talks about faking bones, and Doyle's map of the "Lost World" looks surprisingly like the Piltdown site and surrounding area.

William Fix, who is not a creationist, argues that no one has yet found one bone to support the idea of human evolution. But, he says, there has been no shortage of those who hype their findings and try to make a name for themselves. Man was made in the image of God, but when we try to contradict this, the result is confusion and even fraud.

James 3:16
"For where envying and strife [is], there [is] confusion and every evil work."

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please do not allow the darkness and confusion of empty human strivings and pride obscure Your truth in my life. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Ref: John Hathaway Winslow and Alfred Meyer, “The Perpetrator at PILTDOWN,” Science 83, pp. 33-43. Image: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Walter Benington 1914, Walter Benington, PD, Wikimedia Commons.

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