Page 34 - AECA.org.uk ¦ Koinonia 67
P. 34

Creation and Evolution: The Problem of Evil in the
              Writings and Lectures of Alexander Men              1


                             DANIEL MULLANEY


                                  Introduction
       IN  HIS A Tale of Human Origins, Men tells the story of a caveman, Ugly, who is
       different to all the others in his tribe. He is different, a freak of nature, as he is
       not  covered  in  beautiful  fur.  As  far  as  the other  members  of  his  tribe  are
       concerned, it is not just Ugly’s appearance that is ugly,  but his desire to think,
       reflect and  enjoy the natural world  around  him.  Men  tells us ‘Normal people
       hunted, ate, drank, slept, gave birth and multiplied. They didn’t need anything
       else…They fought often. [Ugly] didn’t like fighting very much, but all his hairy
       brothers fought among themselves, fought with other family members and  of
                                     2
       course, he often got caught up in it’ . Ugly has a recurrent dream, given to him
                                          3
       by ‘the Father of all the beasts and people’ : he sees a girl or young woman who
       is just as horrible looking as him, also without hair and naked. One day, when
       the rest of  the tribe  goes out  to hunt members of  a  neighbouring  tribe,  eat
       their brains and put their heads on  sticks,  Ugly refuses on  the basis that the
       members of  the neighbouring tribe are people  just like them.  He is expelled
       from the tribe,  and  as he wanders away he meets this  girl of  his dreams. As
       Men tells us, ‘They went to the East, somewhere far away. And we were all in
       them. Then all sorts of tales came to be told about them and they came to be
       known as Adam and Eve’. 4
            Men’s retelling of  the story of  Genesis  2  tells  us how he  believes the
       story  should  be  understood.  It  is  clear  that  there  is  some  kind  of  distinct
       qualitative difference between Adam (Ugly) and Eve and the rest of the ‘people’
       who live in the cave. It is also clear that this difference is connected with divine
       revelation,  the dreams given  by the Father of  all beasts and people. However,



       1  This is the first instalment of a thesis which will be continued in future issues.
       2  Men, A Tale of Human Origins. Сказка о Происхождении Человека. [Фонд имени Александра
       Меня. Москва. - ] [Alexander Men Foundation. Moscow. Unknown year] – can be found at
       http://www.alexandermen.ru/pan.html
       3  Men: A Tale of Human Origins
       4  Men: A Tale of Human Origins


                                       32
   29   30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37   38   39