A Christian View of Primitivism and Primitive Cultures

by Pastor Paul Wolff

Darwinists, or those who see macro-evolution as a viable theory, have always had a strange fascination with primitive cultures. Since they believe that people have evolved over time, and advanced from lower, inferior beings and creatures, they think that all civilized people advanced from a primitive state to a sophisticated, evolved, civilized state. This makes a somewhat (though not completely) plausible and compelling story. People want to believe this story because it makes us look better than the primitives (both ancient and contemporary). “We are the more advanced people. We have evolved. We are better, and are only getting better.” One major problem with this is that it views the primitive peoples as inferior, and lesser, and even less human, which quickly leads to racism and hatred. If some person is inferior, then they can be treated as of less worth than those who are seen as superior, and “less worth” is quickly seen as “worthless” and those people are soon viewed as less than human. And if some people are less human, then they can be exploited and enslaved, and sometimes killed at will. This has all happened in the past two centuries, as I will show below, but this is not the only problem with the evolutionary view.

The Darwinist view is completely backward.

Civilization began on the Sixth Day of Creation with the creation of Adam and Eve

There is another way to look at primitive cultures which is, perhaps, not quite as compelling to people who want to see themselves as “evolved” and “advanced” and better than other people, but it has the advantages of having better historical evidence, and better fitting the facts we see in people who live in primitive cultures. The Christian view tells us that we all descend from the first two people God made, Adam and Eve. When God made Adam and Eve He made them in His image. They were fully formed adults (husband and wife) from their first breath, and perfect in body and soul. They not only were given language skills and understanding on the day they were made (Day Six of creation), but their intellectual capabilities were untainted by sin and guilt until they rebelled against God by disobeying His simple, clear command. Adam and Eve were also created to be immortal. As long as they did not disobey God they would not have diminished in their health and strength nor “grown old” as we understand it, nor would they have died from illness or injury. This also suggests the reason why the first generations of people in the antediluvian (“pre-flood”) period lived such long lives. Many are described as having lived hundreds of years, as the effects of sin only began to accumulate as the generations went by and took hold in people to limit their maximum life spans.  

Adam and Eve were civilized people from the beginning. They were husband and wife, and formed a family unit from their creation. Adam was the head, and Eve was the helper, and together they were a family. This is the basis for civilization. They were curious about the world around them and wanted to learn all they could about God’s wonderful creation. Even after the fall into sin, the Scriptures show that although the murderer, Cain, was destined to be “a restless wanderer on the earth” (Genesis 4:12), yet, he built a city for his son. Cain’s descendants also raised livestock, developed musical instruments, and learned to forge tools of bronze and iron, all within about six generations (see Genesis 4:17-22). After that, the descendants of Cain seemed to descend into violence and murder. (See Genesis 4:23 and 6:1-13) So already here we see civilized people becoming uncivilized. The Canites also seduced the descendants of Seth (Genesis 6:2) into their sinful depravity, and the whole world became so violent and evil that God was determined to destroy them all, except that He spared Noah and his family to keep the promise He had made to Adam and Eve to send a savior.

Brilliant thinkers like Martin Luther Come from a well educated civilized society.

The history that the Bible gives shows that civilization comes first, and then, as the people fall into idolatry and rebel against God, they become more violent and less civilized. We can also see this in the study of modern primitive peoples, if we view the evidence with an open mind. Primitivism is a dead end. You don’t get great civilizations rising out of primitive cultures. You get primitive cultures out of great civilizations that have been destroyed by war or disease or famine and infected with idolatry and violence. Remember that the European “Dark Ages” followed the fall of the Roman empire. You don’t get great thinkers like Plato, Euclid, or Aristotle, and those like them, from primitive cultures, even though the people themselves are genetically just as capable of producing intellectual and artistic brilliance as any other people. The problem isn’t that the people are inferior, but the social structures that have been put in place discourage the development of great thinkers and the development of greater societal structures. This discouragement is primarily in the form of false teaching, or if that doesn’t work, then there are stronger societal pressures to conform or be punished, and if those don’t work, then there is always violence and murder. Thus, primitive cultures persist for centuries without advancing to become greater civilizations.  

If you read writings from ancient civilized peoples you will see that, though they have different cultures and different ways of looking at things, they are in many ways just like modern people. The ancients had very similar wants and desires as modern people. They viewed the world in similar ways as modern people, and are very relatable to modern people. We all can learn much by studying ancient writings. Conversely, there is not a lot that we can learn from primitive cultures that survived into the 20^th century and beyond. Whatever wisdom those people once had, was lost. Wisdom and learning are discouraged and driven out of such societies, so that most of what is left is bare subsistence for survival.  

I recall hearing a missionary to New Guinea tell of the effects of bringing the Christian Gospel to the cannibal savages of that island. Not all the people and tribes accepted the Gospel, but those who did were set free from the tyranny of their false gods and the fear that their “ancestors” would haunt them and punish them if they didn’t do what the spiritual leaders (shamans, or witch doctor figures) told them to do. The Christians lived better, built better homes and better communities. They ate better and cooperated better so that they trusted each other, and could band together for mutual support and protection against enemies, and also for building their communities and providing food and education for their neighbors. Those who did not embrace the Christian teaching, but held on to the idol worship and ancestor worship continued to live a primitive existence, closer to animals than civilized people. The idol worshipers weren’t animals, and they had some basic rules for civilization, but their cultural structures prevented them from developing a more complex and functional society as their Christian neighbors did. The missionaries did not come to teach the people “civilization” or “Democracy” or 19^th and 20^th century technology. That would not have worked. The people were first set free from the tyranny of their false gods, and only then were they able to leave behind their primitive lifestyle.

The Past is Prologue.

Progress or Regress?

The irony of the Darwinist fascination with primitive cultures is that although they imagine that such a culture is where they came from, it is actually where they are going! Look at the tactics that progressive Darwinists use: false teaching, societal pressures to conform or be punished, violence and murder. The result of evolutionary thinking is not progress, but regress to primitive animalistic barbarism. Progressivism is not progressive, but is actually regressive. George Santayana wrote in the early 20^th Century: “Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement: and when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” {The Life of Reason (1905-1906) Vol.1, Reason in Common Sense} Santayana was no Christian, but he could see that a healthy society builds on the successes of the past, and learns from the mistakes and the accomplishments of history. If you forget the past, or if your society forbids you from remembering the truth of history, then you have to start over from scratch with every generation, and are likely to make the same mistakes that were also done in the past. However if you learn from history, then you can avoid or overcome the mistakes, and move forward. 

We saw something like this in a developed country in the early 21^st century. When U.S. President, George W. Bush, conquered Iraq, he set up a democratic government, but without imposing Christianity or even establishing freedom of religion, so that those who wanted to become Christian could openly do so. The result was that the people were quickly re-conquered and dominated by the most violent and radical Islamic groups, and the benefits of democracy in a free (and Christian) country were destroyed. President Bush and his advisers were extremely naïve in this, and it was tragic for many in Iraq.

 

I recall seeing a documentary on the sinking of the cruise ship, Titanic, around the time of the 100^th anniversary of its sinking (2012). The producers documented the excessive pride of the builders who wanted to believe that their ship was unsinkable, despite some serious design and manufacturing flaws built into the ship. The summary statement at the end was unintentionally full of irony when they proclaimed, “One thing is certain, this will never happen again.” This is ironic, because not only did they fail to show that the prideful attitudes that led to the design and operational errors were removed from human thinking, but their final statement was exactly the same prideful error that produced the mistakes which led to the sinking of the Titanic. It is not certain that such a thing would never happen again. Actually, such things happen all the time when people think too much of themselves, and their capabilities, and get careless. It happens even more often in eras where the manufacturers and overseers are greedy and corrupt, and take shortcuts to increase short-term profits at the expense of safety. Such corruption was once rare in the United States, but now in the early 21^st century it seems to be the standard way of doing business for many large companies.

“Scientific” Fear Mongers

We also see moves toward primitivism in the scientific community in the global warming/climate change/environmental movement fear mongering that has been going on at least since I was a child in the 1970’s. This climate fear mongering is really anti-science in the name of science. It is anti-science because true science welcomes and encourages challenges to theories in order to show their weaknesses so that better, more accurate evaluations can be made and the theories can better describe all the evidence seen in the physical world. However, the environmental activists are actively opposing scientific inquiry that challenges the political desires of the radical fear mongers. They say that their premature conclusions are “settled” and that true scientific challenges to their untested proclamations are heretical. But there ought to be no concept of heresy in science. All theories ought to welcome challenges based on new evidence either to prove them correct, or to show their weaknesses so that they can be improved. Orthodoxy and heterodoxy are concepts of religion, but now that science has become a religion, true scientific inquiry has become heterodox, and that will lead to tragedies like the Titanic, and a regression as scientists are less able to conduct free studies, but must only do “approved” work which does not challenge the prevailing religious views of the scientific community. If you can’t see how this leads to primitivism, then you haven’t understood what I have written above to this point.

Science tells us that, because of entropy, things tend to move toward a state of chaos and disorder. Civilization works against chaos by ordering society into a functional place in which people work together for a common good. This is always a struggle because there are always forces which are working to move things toward chaos. Primitive cultures are chaotic cultures with only minimal organizational structures. Christians know that God is an orderly God. 1 Corinthians 14:33 says, “God is not a god of disorder, but of peace.” A large part of God’s creative work in the seven days of creation was ordering the chaos so that He could make a paradise for His beloved people to live. God accomplished this and after creating man on the sixth day evaluated all He had done and proclaimed creation “very good.” However, man’s disobedience and rebellion corrupted God’s creation and reintroduced chaos into our lives.

Karl Marx and Primitivism

Karl Marx was strongly influenced by the atheistic worldview of Charles Darwin. The concepts of progressive evolution and “the survival of the fittest” lead to a favorable view toward a totalitarian ruling class which enslaves those deemed less fit. Marxist fascists must eliminate free speech because in a free society people would never choose to be enslaved, nor submit to those who want to enslave them. Free speech also includes knowledge and application of history as a guide to what is the best course of action to deal with problems in society. Those who seek to dominate or enslave others cannot permit such inquiry, so they feel compelled to destroy books and ideas. Santayana shows that this leads directly to primitivism. If good, constructive ideas are banned, then there can be no good progress, and the society either remains stagnant, or it deteriorates.  

War, disease and famine can move societies toward a primitive existence.

Venezuela and Cuba were both once thriving societies, but Marxist regimes came in and murdered the freedom-loving leaders. Many fled the country if they were able. The revolutionaries took control of businesses and all physical representations of wealth which was in the country, and the people were impoverished and unable to provide income for themselves because the businesses were controlled by the government. Totalitarian Marxist governments cannot provide for the needs of the people because they don’t care for the people. They only care about acquiring power and control for themselves. The people are seen only as “workers” or (more honestly) “slaves.” The “workers” are only valued for what they can do to provide comfort and wealth for the tyrant class. The tyrants don’t care if the people starve and live in poverty.  

I have taken up photography as a hobby, and I like to look at photographs by other photographers for inspiration and education. Every now and then I will see pictures from Cuba, and they almost all look the same. Shabbily dressed people are hanging around dilapidated buildings, but not seeming to have anything constructive to do. There are hints of former glory, like American cars from before the Castro revolution period sitting around. These recall the days when Cuba was wealthy and thriving, and was a favored tourist spot for Americans. I saw one documentary where it was shown that some of these 1950’s era American cars were using boat engines which were adapted and installed after their original engines wore out, and replacement parts were unavailable. There is still some ingenuity among the Cubans left in Cuba, but they are generally impoverished, idle, and only a shadow of what they could have been in a free country.

“Race” and Racism

Noah

I mentioned above that evolutionary thinking necessarily leads to racism. The Christian view of race is that everyone has descended from the same two people, Adam and Eve. All the different “racial” characteristics are just superficial variations of the same genetic code. This view also corresponds very well with the scientific data on the issue. There is only one human race. Any further distinctions are only false and serve only to divide one people into many groups and turn them against each other. The evolutionist sees things in terms of progress, and advance, and it evaluates everything (including people) in terms of progress or regress. However, this thinking puts blinders on the evolutionist because while they are busy looking for signs of progress, they don’t stop to consider where they are progressing to. I could be happily progressing down a path that leads to my destruction, and if I am so focused on my “forward” progress that I don’t look where I am or where I’m going, then I won’t see that I am on the wrong road. I could be making great “progress”, but if I am progressing in the wrong direction then the result could very well be tragic. 

The anthropological evolutionist evaluates people only in terms of their function and utility: advanced or primitive, useful or not, profitable or unprofitable, good or bad, friend or enemy. This view dehumanizes people because it evaluates worth based on what someone can do for me, not how valuable people are in themselves (or for others who are not me). I have shown elsewhere that racism doesn’t begin with hatred, but it begins with just wanting what is best for a group which I identify with. But in creating this artificial distinction between people it introduces value judgments as to the worth of what is seen as “different” groups. One group (usually “Mine”) must be better than others, and if one is better, then the other is worse, and it is not long before “better and worse” become seen as “good and evil”. This is the point where racism becomes hatred. If the other group is evil (as racists imagine it must be) then those belonging to that “evil” group must be subdued and destroyed. Don’t be fooled by people who only say, “I only want what is best for (my group).” That is racist and will soon lead to hatred and violence. Since I first wrote my article on racism (January 2010) I have seen this in action many times.

The Downfall of the United States of America

During the summer of 2020 in what was once the United States of America we saw several moves toward chaos and primitivism. Tyrannical governors imposed draconian lock-downs by unlawful mandates, and closed free businesses over fears of catching a bad cold. Lawlessness ran rampant by governors, judges, election officials, news media, large corporations, and other rioters. In several cities across the country rioters ran unchecked by police, with the blessing of tyrant mayors and governors, and destroyed significant sections of once prosperous cities. Anarchist Marxists tore down statues of historical figures with complete contempt for the history, in a clear attempt to reshape the historical understanding to fit their revolutionary goals, and thus condemning us all to have to repeat the mistakes of forgotten history.  

It is clear that this puts us on a path toward civil war. Such a thing is not certain, as there are many ways to avert it before it comes to that, but the question is, “Will we be able to to turn from a well-funded path manned by people hell-bent on destruction?” With war comes hardships which force people to live a primitive existence to survive. Venezuela was a prosperous wealthy country, but was reduced to poverty in just a few short years by a Marxist takeover of the government. Such prospects are somewhat frightening, but Christians have hope for the future. History shows us that countries can survive the devastation of civil wars, though much is lost in lives and material prosperity. Even more, we know that Christ is in control of all of history, and will work even the greatest evil out for His good (in spite of the evil desires of the revolutionaries). This is a matter of faith to have this confidence, because for a time it will not seem as if there is much hope for reconstruction as the devastation mounts. Mechanized and computerized persecution as seen in China is quite frightening especially when wielded by uneducated and mal-educated people who don’t realize and don’t care that what they are doing is evil.

The Solution to The Descent into Primitivism

Humility and repentance before God to receive Christ's forgiveness is the best way for true healing.

There is a fascinating story in the Bible in Daniel 4. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon wanted to take credit for the victories that God had given him, so he is cursed by God to lose his mind and live a primitive existence like an animal for a certain period of time. He was “driven from among men and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles’ feathers and his nails were like birds’ claws.” Then God allowed Nebuchadnezzar to regain not only his sanity, but also his rule as King. When this experience was over the King issued this statement, “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.” God has the power to humble the proud according to His will. This is why the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Those who seek to destroy God-given rights and freedoms for transient worldly domination and power are fools, and will be humbled sooner or later.  

God’s humbling of King Nebuchadnezzar shows us how to avoid regressing to primitivism – at least on a personal level. Nebuchadnezzar was humbled and then repented of his hubris and arrogance. He acknowledged God as the Lord and his sanity and his kingdom was restored to him. God has his ways of humbling those who need to be humbled. Unfortunately not all repent of their sins. Some foolish people would rather hold on to their sins and try to save themselves rather than trust in God to save them through the life and death of Jesus Christ. However, it is impossible for sinful people to save themselves and these unrepentant people are driven mad by their sinful pride and regress toward primitivism in ways not unlike Nebuchadnezzar. Yet, for all who repent of their sins there is forgiveness and healing in Christ Jesus. Because Jesus has paid the price of death for our sins we are set free from the threat of punishment, and the guilt of our sins need not torment us longer. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)

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Psalm 119:136 “My eyes shed streams of tears, because people do not keep your law.”
 

Psalm 119:158 “I look at the faithless with disgust, because they do not keep your commands.”
 

2 Peter 2:4-10 “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.”