Introduction

The Monkey Bible is the story of Emmanuel, a young college bound Christian man who suddenly has reason to suspect that his genetic make-up, and indeed the story of his creation, is not what he had thought it had been. Dismayed and seemingly alienated from his Church, Emmanuel journeys around the world in search of his genetic and spiritual origins, identity, and community.The science behind the story is accurate, up-to-date, and accessible, and the reader comes to understand the biological creation story as the adventure unfolds. While The Monkey Bible can be seen as the latest chapter in the larger-than-life debate between Darwinists and creationists, the novel is respectful of both sides, and strives to provide a gentle supportive bridge across which people who disagree can communicate. Ultimately, The Monkey Bible is a timely and necessary plea to alter the stories by which we define ourselves as a way to protect the countless creatures on the great tree of life, upon which all human life depends.The Monkey Bible is a compelling read and the potential audience extends well beyond those interested in biology, anthropology, wildlife conservation, mythology, and religion. Adults will enjoy this book and so will college students, whose fresh questions about their own origins will resonate with this novel.Using The Monkey Bible as inspiration, songwriter Eric Maring has written a companion music CD which uses the varied notion of lines to echo the novel's themes. The Line-at turns serious, light, joyous, exuberant, and brooding-praises our ability and need to explore our world and to ask questions, especially regarding our relationship to our planet, our religions, and ourselves.

Editorial Review

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Excerpt

PROLOGUE

“Do you think it’s fiction?” asked Lucy, hair flapping wildly in the wind.

Emmanuel shifted uneasily in the passenger seat. “What do you mean?”

“The story about your genes—do you think it’s fiction?”

“It is in Father’s handwriting; Father does not lie.”

“So,” said Lucy, “what’s it like to see the world through the eyes of an . . .”

“I am noticing your breasts,” he said. “Breasts hardly hidden, breasts pressed and shaped by your black spandex top. Your lower region appears in my mind like a spider in a moist, perfect garden.”

“Really?”

She pressed the accelerator hard.

“The story of my creation,” he added, “explains the rise of my animal instincts.”

“You beast,” she breathed, “take me now . . .”

Part 1: 100%

— 1 —

The eighteen-year-old Emmanuel loved Bible stories. He felt comforted by the one in which God creates humans in His own image and grants them dominion over all the animals. The story of Genesis made Emmanuel feel taller than he actually was.

One day his Bible was gone.

Emmanuel looked for it in church, at home, in school, and on the sidewalks of Washington DC. After days of searching, praying, and gnawing at his fingernails, he decided to find a replacement. He approached his father for advice.

Ernesto stood poised, five feet tall, with a solid build and near-perfect posture. Both he and Emmanuel had light yellow-brown skin, with black hair brushed over dark brown eyes.

“My Bible is gone, Bapak,” Emmanuel confessed, using the Indonesian word for father.

Ernesto looked up. His son’s body proportions—the arms seemed too long and the legs seemed too short for the torso—explained why Emmanuel found it uncomfortable and unnatural to stand straight or still, but today the fidgeting seemed worse than normal. The fidgeting made sense to Ernesto, who understood Emmanuel’s deep ties to the Bible and to this Bible in particular. Ernesto had read this Bible aloud to Emmanuel over a dozen years ago. He had taught Emmanuel to read from it and, years later, he saw Emmanuel rescue it one moonless night when men with machetes set fire to their village. Flames had engulfed their home and neighbors had died from burns and gashes. Emmanuel had been fourteen.

Ernesto recalled how, after the massacre, the family had left East Timor for Australia and then America, where Emmanuel arrived clutching the Bible. Its edges were charred and smelled of smoke.

“Why not look in the attic? There may be a family Bible in with the textbooks.”

Emmanuel thanked him, extended his lips in a tightly closed O, and climbed to the attic where the patter of rain on the roof accentuated

the feeling of dampness. The ceiling here was low, and he leaned forward, bent his legs slightly, and knuckle-walked toward the dim attic light.

He found a box with “Buku-Buku” written in red. Books.

He opened the box and pulled out a textbook with a twisted, colorful

ladder of DNA on the cover. Molecules of DNA, he had learned in school, help to build and differentiate every living cell on earth.

He pulled out another textbook, the cover of which showed an artist’s rendition of an early hominid, a primate with both human and ape-like features. He flipped through the pages and stopped at a picture of a naked female covered in hair. The caption read: “Lucy Lived In Ethiopia 3.6 Million Years Ago.” He imagined getting behind her, cupping her Australopithecine breasts, thrusting his bone-shaped tool into folds of ancient flesh. He imagined her pushing back and quickly jerking forward, swiftly moving in rhythm, grunting with pleasure. His crotch responded and his face went red. Shame, he thought, and he resumed his search.

He pulled out a book, the cover of which showed a sword stuck in stone from the legend of King Arthur. Emmanuel remembered from the legend that Merlin transformed Arthur into a fish, badger, goose, hawk, as well as an ant. The wizard, Emmanuel recalled, thought it prudent for Arthur to swim, fly, and march among animals as an animal before wielding power as a human king.

He pulled out a textbook, the cover of which showed a cross, two overlapping triangles, and a crescent opened toward a star. The images made him think of his home, East Timor, an island of Christians in a sea of Muslims, and it occurred to him that while most Muslims treated neighbors with respect, some made it difficult for the conquered Christian colony. He reflected on family history: his uncle, wary of being treated by machete-bearing militias like an animal, had left East Timor and moved to Washington DC, but his parents, frightened to trust the road that twisted past their village like a serpent, remained and endured the abuse. Uncle Mateus later sent the textbooks, including the one in his hand, from America, to help the family pursue an education, but when tensions in East Timor exploded, Father returned the books for safekeeping.

Emmanuel pulled out a textbook on English literature, a book on creative writing, and a novel by Mark Twain. He pulled out a Holy Bible. It was fragile and old and smelled of must. He took a deep breath and opened it—a handful of pages flipped back, as if on their own accord, to a document inserted in Genesis.

He glanced at the document’s title and recognized his father’s handwriting: “The Story of My Son’s Creation.”

Emmanuel quickly inhaled, tensed his stomach, and read: “My son Emmanuel is not who he thinks he is. He—”

“EMMAAAAAAAANUEL!” his mother called from two stories below. “MAKANLAH—let’s eat!”

He looked up. “But how could that be?” he cried.

His heart pounded. He wanted to read more.

“Why must it be forbidden?” he whispered hoarsely, glancing at the page.

His mother called again, louder.

Emmanuel, drenched in sweat, stood up and banged his head on a low wooden beam. Returning the document to the Bible, and the Bible to the box, he knuckle-walked to the stairs, touched the bump on his head, and began the descent. view abbreviated excerpt only...

Discussion Questions

From the author:

1. “..she came to wonder if the attempt by the author to understand God’s creation was a form of cerebral worship.” p.12

What is cerebral worship and how is it different from other kinds of worship?

2. “Taxonomists, for example, might use brain size and posture as a criteria for classifying humans—thus creating a taxonomical branch on which humans alone reside—but the taxonomists might use criteria other than brain size and posture for classifying nonhumans.” p.11

Describe taxonomical classification methods which might be more consistent and accurate than the method that uses brain size and posture as the main criteria.

3. “They can’t worship God. They’re apes. They’re animals.” p.9

Is it possible that animals do worship in their own way? Explain.

4. What do you think of Lucy’s approach toward rude cell phone users? Is it effective? If you were a CPA—a cell phone activist—what approaches would you use? ch.27

5. EXERCISE: download Monkey Bible iRude (iPhone app) and test its effectiveness.

6. “Lucy—recalling from Adam’s encounter that the teeth of the martyrs can be first to drop in the morning coffee—assumed that self-preservation explains much about passive behavior.” p.17

Do you enter passive and dominant roles in your life consciously? What factors into this behavior?

7. “The age of kings is dead, she (Lucy) thought. She was grateful to Adam but would not go back. She would renounce the world of dominance and hierarchy
p.29

Is it possible for a human to renounce the world of dominance and hierarchy? What are the consequences?


8. What is spiritual capacity, is it measurable, and can it evolve? What will spirituality feel like in 1,000 years?

9. “The enclosures are closer to what animals experience in nature. But I should let you know I’m no bio person. Actually, I have a confession to make: I love spending time in zoos largely because they're such great places to go people-watching...you can learn a lot about people by watching them watch animals.” p.49

Imagine what would happen if you walked around a zoo dressed up as a hybrid human-ape. How do you think the humans (the general public? the zoo police?) would react? How do you think the other animals would react?

10. EXERCISE: View videos on www.monkeybible.com and on The Monkey Bible facebook page and youtube channel and see how the humans reacted to hybrid human-apes.

11. EXERCISE: Go to your local zoo and observe the humans watching the other animals, apes in particular. Journal about your experience.

12. “The child’s world is lit up by the dove. You see, children aren’t born knowing which animals are pretty and which ones are not. They are taught that. They are naturally attracted to life.” p.50

Recall your early experiences with animals. Your favorite pet. Trips to the zoo. Experiences in nature. Journal or share your stories with the group.

13. “The website describes several experiments...a sentence from the Bible was translated into morse code, then into DNA base pairs. The artificial ‘Bible’ gene was inserted into bacteria as if it were a real gene...the Bible gene is subject to mutation.” p.54

If mutations affected the phrase “Let man have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth” what new phrase might arise? What benefits would a different phrase provide to humans and to other living things? At what cost?

14. “What determines sexual compatibility and relatedness is quantitative and qualitative. In other words, it’s not so much how many genes are shared but which ones.” p.56

If you shared 99.8% of the same genes as person A, 99.9% with person B, and 100% with person C, whom do you think you would be attracted to? Where (what percentage difference) would you draw your line?

15. Lucy resents Paul Theroux’s warning from The Mosquito Coast: “Don’t go too far in pursuit of your dreams...don’t be too creative, too independent, too much a non-conformist, lest you lose it and go insane.” p.59

How does Evelyn’s approach compare with Lucy’s? Do you consider conformity to be based on nature, nurture, or both?

Ana Mayd says, “Stories evolve and if you take the story on a journey, on an adventure, then the light and the dust of cultures and continents might change your 16. perspective and it might change you.” p.71

If you were to heed Ana Mayd’s advice, what story would you take with you? What kind of journey would you embark on?

17. EXERCISE: Take a story on a journey and share it.

18. Emmanuel reflects that “The story of my creation...explains the rise of my animal instincts.” p.79

Emmanuel seems to discover his sexuality once he begins to accept his primal roots. What are your reactions to Emmanuel’s explorations into sexuality? Why? How do you think sexuality has evolved over time? How are people’s views of sexuality affected by their connection with nature?

19. “‘It doesn’t mean humans are superior,’ she (Lucy) said placing a hand on his shoulder. ‘Creatures evolve in ways which help them survive within given environments.’” p.82

Think about what you need to survive in your current environment. Imagine changing that environment and imagine what changes would need to come about regarding how you eat, drink, work, communicate, sleep.

20. What, for Emmanuel, are possible downsides of being fully human? How about for yourself.

21. Emmanuel dares to speak to an English professor about his thoughts on the power of language. Does the use of sophisticated language give humans an advantage over, say, bird and whale song? Why or why not? ch.28

22.What does the Tree of Life mean to you? Does considering that humans share ancestors with other species warrant controversy?

23.What would you do to celebrate Bacteria Appreciation Day? p.222

24. How would you respond to Evelyn’s question: “Could traces of spirituality, however small, be found in animals?”

25. If you were to “sign the forest” in the way Emmanuel imagines, what mark would you make? ch.41

26. What are some pros and cons of traditional ecotourism?

27. EXERCISE: sign up for and experience a live vEcotour at www.vecotourism.org28

28. Throughout The Monkey Bible there are many dream sequences. Can you recall a dream in which you were searching for answers? What do such dreams tell us?

29. ‘The power of belief is incredible,” remarks Gadget. “Once you overcome doubts and enter the flow of belief, you would be amazed what you can accomplish.” p.179

How might the religious leaders of the world encourage people of faith to help protect the diversity of life on the planet?

30. The character Gadget, who wears a green egg on his head ostensibly to help his memory, seeks dating advice from Lucy and Emmanuel. What are some unique traits that you have displayed or that you have hidden? Was your display a conscious one?

31. Toward the end of The Monkey Bible, during a discussion on Intelligent Design and the teaching of evolution, it is suggested that “Bridging universes can be tricky.” p.216

What are your thoughts on such a bridge? What would your bridge look like?

32. EXERCISE: Start a Travelers Circle, tell your story!

33. “Lessen the line, and the fear lessens too. Lessen the line and the pain and burden of self-awareness shall be healed and kissed by the mists of ten thousand gentle rains. Lessen the line and life shall rise like blue-black butterflies above green mountain cathedrals. Lessen the line and life shall live on.” p.221

How thick, porous, and flexible is the line? Is your view of the line changing?

34. What parallels do you see between The Monkey Bible and The Line? Do you recognize characters or ideas from the book in the music? Why do you think the music in this project is called “The Line”?

35. The character in “Wide as a Wave” feels an experience of total connectedness to everything around. Think of or discuss a situation where you had a similar sensation.

36. In the song “Sad, Tired, Beautiful World”, what do the words “I’m making a deal with you” and “Tell me the truth” mean for you?

37. What do the spoken voices in “Reprise” represent?

38. What does “Are we all here as a matter of design or a scattering of minds shattering the smattering of flattering reminders?” (from the song “A Matter of Design”) mean about people and our relationship to the planet?

Weblinks

»	Official web site for The Monkey Bible
»	Publisher's Book Info

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