Have you ever looked at a monkey?

In equally disconcerting news in the news, it was bound to happen, and now it has: a classical musician has been used To Dispute Evolution. Inon Barnatan, friend, pianist, keen Mad Men observer, is on tour with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields this fall. Last week, he performed in Edmond, Oklahoma. His concert was reviewed by a publication called The Trumpet, published by the Philadelphia Church of God and billed to help readers “understand your world.” After many paragraphs detailing the “giant gulf that exists between the animal kingdom and human beings,” we get to the review of Inon’s concert:

On Wednesday night, I watched the world-renowned chamber orchestra Academy of St. Martin in the Fields as it joined forces with an extraordinarily talented Israeli pianist named Inon Barnatan. They performed an all-Mozart concert inside the stunningly beautiful Armstrong Auditorium here in Edmond, Oklahoma.

It was one of the best classical performances our foundation has ever sponsored. What a testimony it was to the awesome power and superior intellect there is in the human mind, when compared to the brain of a monkey.

If you were to observe a family of monkeys at the zoo Wednesday afternoon and then attend the same concert I did later that night, how could you honestly conclude that what you observed was pretty much equal in mind power?

One reason we sponsor such fine events at Armstrong Auditorium is to showcase the remarkable achievements of the human spirit! Among other things, our concert series highlights the fact that man is a uniquely created being with awe-inspiring potential.

Consider again 1 Corinthians 2:11: “For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.” Notice–there are actually two spirits mentioned in this verse–the spirit of man, which is in him, and the Spirit of God, which is not in man, but can be, if we surrender to God in repentance and faith!

There is, after all, a “missing link”! But it doesn’t connect man to mindless monkeys in the jungle. It joins human beings to their heavenly Father. That link, as plainly revealed in the inspired Word of God, is Jesus Christ! “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

This is the profound, irrefutable truth of the gospel message proclaimed throughout the Bible. The living Jesus Christ is our link to eternal life in the Family of God!

The only logical thing to do here is to feature Nora the Piano Playing Cat, who Jonathan Biss, the Curtis Institute of Music’s newest piano faculty member, has said is “very good.” Nora, feel free to use that on your quote sheet/Curtis application materials. Inon, feel free to use Corinthians.