An interesting article from http://www.ucg.org/ about the historic Scopes Trial. This follows this post about facebook.  For a free magazine subscription or to get the books recommended for free click HERE! or call 1-888-886- 8632. You can follow me at blogspot here and at twitter here https://twitter.com/brianleesblog. Please consider following both in case one goes down!

Turning Point: The Scopes Trial

by Dan Dowd

Source: freeimages.com/creationc

History rarely turns on the impact of one lone event. It is more common that a major historical shift is built on the smaller events that precede it. The current anti-religious environment in the United States did not arrive without prior notice. Those seeds were planted a long time ago. However, a major public relations blow was dealt against having God at the center of society and education back in late July, 1925. It was known as the Scopes Monkey Trial.

Planting doubt

Charles Darwin had proposed his Theory of Evolution in the 1850’s, and that theory had been gaining in popularity in the subsequent decades. So much so, that many states passed laws making illegal the teaching of evolution in schools. One such state was Tennessee, and a young high-school teacher named John Scopes decided to deliberately violate the law in order to get arrested and be able to challenge the law in court. The trial quickly took on an entertainment atmosphere as thousands of spectators gathered in Dayton, Tennessee at the courthouse. The defense sought to have the judge declare the law unconstitutional and then tried to bring in experts in evolution to challenge the law. The judge ruled that the law was not on trial, but rather John Scopes violation of the law.
Clarence Darrow, the famous lawyer, quickly made the prosecution look inept and embarrassed them with their unclear answers and contradictory statements. His points discredited the prosecution before the gathered crowds. Much to the surprise of many, Darrow in his closing remarks asked the jury to find his client guilty so that their case might be appealed. Under Tennessee law, William Jennings Bryan (a renowned politician, and lawyer for the prosecution) was denied the opportunity to give his closing speech. While the prosecution won the case, the flames of doubting the Bible were fanned, and its role at the center of education in the U.S. was further damaged.

History will turn again

Even as we have seen America (and much of the world) decline in moral behavior and obedience to God in the subsequent decades, we also know that God has been shaping the future through current events. Down through time He has worked with those who are faithful to Him to be examples of His way of life. God has preserved His Word through the Bible. He is shaping His Body of disciples so that we will be able to stand in the truly difficult times to come—troubles coming as a direct result of society rejecting God as the source of true education. He will direct end-time events and not allow mankind to erase all life from this planet. God will then usher in the Millennial reign of His Son, Jesus Christ to show the world how to live life as He designed it to be lived.
We could choose to suffer along with this world as it moves away from God, but you and I have access to something (through repentance, baptism and laying on of hands) the world doesn’t currently have – God’s Holy Spirit. We can understand why history is playing out the way it is. You and I have a hope for the future. We know the end of the story and so do not need to fear the consequences of the choices mankind is making. We also have God’s Sabbath day to be reminded of His plan of Salvation and to be recharged spiritually as we face the challenges of daily life.
John Scopes and those who believe the Theory of Evolution have it wrong. We are not descended from monkeys. We can see through the falsehood of the Theory of Evolution and know that we truly are made in the image of God (Genesis:1:26And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.). We know that one day we can be in the very family of God, the most epic turning point in all of human history!