Man on Earth - Theosophy and the Fossil Record, by George McNamara

If you visit the Natural History Museum in London, you will find a Time Rail, which runs from the birth of the earth to the present - each step you take represents 25 million years. There are geological samples from each epoch, and then, as life begins, there are fossil remains of the plants and animals which have emerged and evolved through the millennia.

In other parts of the museum there are displays about evolution, showing the relationships between current and previous species. Obviously, the Museum follows the standard scientific interpretation of the past - life began with an amoeba, and everything else has evolved from that. Scientists generally think that man evolved from the great apes.

Theosophy denies that this is possible, and propounds its own ideas, in particular of how the animals and then man came into being, and how the great apes are in fact derived from man.

The following 3 sections set out the main outlines of the Theosophical picture

  1. The Key Theosophical Statement, and questions arising
  2. The Differences between Men and Apes and why the apes came from man
  3. Other Aspects of Evolution the evolution of speech, reproduction, foetal stages, etc.

Appendices. There are more passages which add detail and colour to the theosophical picture which is ouotlined in the above 3 pages, and these are included so that the reader has a 'complete set' of the relevant passages

  1. The Ages of Earth - the scientific view - this is included to establish the names of eras and their dates
  2. More Theosophical background - further passages on evolution
  3. More Evidence and discussion about man and the Apes and why they are as they are
  4. The Theosophical System - more about how creation and evolution work

All of the material is drawn directly from the Secret Doctrine, the main sourcebook for Theosophy.
This article is also available as a Word document HERE.

Most authors on Theosophy try to explain - I have taken an alternative approach - to extract what appear to be the most important passages from the SD, and then to try and piece them together like a jigsaw, with a minimum of my own interpretation. The resulting picture has its positive elements, and there are also gaps and faults. I apologise if the fault is with me - my selection and arrangement of the passages may be faulty, and my interpretations may be misleading - I would be grateful for any references to passages I may have missed, and any other corrections.