Are Animals and Humans Equal?

If you compare human DNA to that of a chimpanzee, you’ll find that they share the vast majority of genetic information in common. Hence, the argument goes, we and chimps must have evolved from a common ancestor.

However, humans and chimpanzees have some remarkable and decisive differences, particularly when it comes to what shapes their brains. A human brain is roughly three times larger than that of a chimpanzee, with far more connections between neurons for processing information—and everything else our minds are capable of.

The incredible gap between human and animal minds, supposedly directly related through evolution, still challenges scientists. Compared to chimpanzees, our brains are not only proportionally larger, but also far more intricate and complex. It has been proposed that one of the key features that make us human is our capacity to consider future alternatives and make deliberate choices in response to situations. Chimps and every other animal don’t seem to have anything close to this ability.

The differences between human brains and those of chimps make a drastic difference. Instead of focusing on the acclaimed similarities (which are supposed to exist between creatures that inhabit the same planet and have similar physiology and metabolism), researchers might instead focus on the huge differences. And those differences —mysterious for the naturalists— truly point toward the fact that we were made in the image and likeness of God.

In fact, as humans, we are the only creatures in the Bible said to be made “in the image of God” (Gen. 1:27). That distinction alone explains the vast qualitative difference between humans and all other animals.