Are We Too Human to Survive?

“SIMPLE intellectual honesty compelled us to face up to the strange possibility that we humans are just about at the end of our days, that our problems of survival will not be solved because we are simply too human.” So wrote one of America’s leading authors and editors, R. H. Rovere, at the end of the sixth decade of the twentieth century.

In May 1971 some 800 Australian scientists expressed similar fears and, in January 1972, so did the “Club of Rome,” a group of scientists and industrialists. About the same time British scientists warned in the magazine Ecology that “we may muddle our way to extinction.” And according to Professor Marmor, “never before in its history has man’s very existence hung so precariously in the balance.”

What is the cause of man’s dilemma that seems to threaten his very survival? There are those who claim that man’s biological nature is at fault, that the make-up of man’s mind and body is such as to doom his existence. Others insist that such is not the case but that the trouble lies with the “sacred cows” of free enterprise, nationalism and war. No doubt these “sacred cows” do have a bearing on the matter, even as do overpopulation in certain areas, pollution and depletion of natural resources​—the factors blamed by the Australian scientists.

Human reasoning of itself cannot come up with the solution, because the problem is too big for man to solve. Men may conclude, as some have, that man is heading for extinction, even as hundreds of others of earth’s creatures have become or are becoming extinct; and true it is, there seems to be little hope of men changing their ways. But let us not forget how man came to be upon this planet. He did not create himself, nor is there one iota of proof that he evolved from a lower form of life or creature. He was put here by the Creator of the whole universe. Left to themselves it could well be that men would become extinct. But the Creator is not going to allow such to happen.

God created the earth and man and is concerned with their destiny. His Word tells us that He did not create this earth “simply for nothing” but “formed it even to be inhabited.” And God in his Word not only tells us what his purpose regarding this earth is but further assures us: “My word that goes forth from my mouth . . . will not return to me without results, but it will certainly do that in which I have delighted, and it will have certain success in that for which I have sent it.”​—Isa. 45:18; 55:11.

Well, is man “too human” to survive? How could that be when man was created ‘in the image of God and according to God’s likeness’? The first man had the potential of living forever, and that under paradisaic conditions, for only if he disobeyed his God was he to die. So man had the potential​—mentally, physically, emotionally and morally to live forever.​—Gen. 1:26, 27; 2:16, 17.

Then why is the world in such a mess? Why does it seem that extinction threatens humankind? There are two basic reasons, and they are closely related. One is that man disobeyed God and chose to direct his own way. Yet he had neither the right nor the ability to so direct. (Jer. 10:23) It was even as we read: “The true God made mankind upright, but they themselves have sought out many plans.” (Eccl. 7:29) Going against the expressed will of his Creator and Designer, man was bound to get into trouble, even as would anyone who tried to use a complicated machine contrary to the instructions furnished by the manufacturer.​—Hos. 8:7.

The second basic reason for the future appearing so ominous to man is due to the invisible “ruler of this world” who has deceived almost all of mankind. On the one hand, he frustrates the noble efforts of honest men and, on the other hand, he abets selfish men in their designs. He is none other than the “god of this system of things,” “the ruler of the authority of the air, the spirit that now operates in the sons of disobedience.” He is termed “the great dragon . . . the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan.” Without God, men are pawns in his hands.​—John 12:31; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:2; Rev. 12:9.

Even though selfish men blindly threaten their own survival, mankind’s survival is assured because the Creator is more interested in man’s survival than is man himself. Just as a wise and loving father is often more interested in the welfare of his offspring than they themselves are, so the great Creator is more concerned about mankind’s survival than are men themselves. But there the analogy ends; for while earthly fathers often seem helpless in such situations, the Creator, Jehovah God, can and will do something about it, and that in the very near future.

What? His Word tells us in a prophecy that applies to this generation: The time has come “to bring to ruin those ruining the earth.” Those now ruining the earth will themselves be ruined at the “war of the great day of God the Almighty,” Har–Magedon.​—Rev. 11:18; 16:14, 16.

Further, God promises to make this earth a fit place in which to live: ‘The whole earth will be filled with the knowing of God as the waters cover the sea’; ‘men will learn war no more but every man will sit under his own vine and fig tree,’ and even ‘death, sorrow, crying and pain will be done away with.’ The Creator is determined to make this earth a place that will bring glory, not discredit, to Him.​—Isa. 11:9; Mic. 4:1-4; 1 Cor. 15:25, 26; Rev. 21:4.

No, humankind is not “too human” to survive and man’s biological nature is not entirely to blame for the mess in which the world finds itself. This truth is being demonstrated by the million and a half Christian witnesses of Jehovah who live at peace and unity with one another, even under present conditions. With them fellowship has replaced strife, and brotherly love has replaced greed. It is with these that the Creator will begin his ‘new earth in which righteousness is to dwell.’​—2 Pet. 3:13.