Creationist Group 'Answers in Genesis' Disputes 'Lucy' Ancestry Claim

PJ Media ^ | 11/27/2015 | BY MICHAEL T. HAMILTON

[SeekAndFind]

Earlier this week Google's logo mutated (if you will) from its usual form into a Google Doodle adorned with a series of images depicting an ape evolving into a human. Clicking the Doodle led to information about "AL 288-1," less esoterically known as "Lucy the Australopithecus," or simply "Lucy." Many scientists regard the fossil as an intermediary link between apes and humans.

The same day, Googling "lucy australopithecus controversy" turned up a different interpretation of the fossil, including several from Answers in Genesis. The apologetics ministry, which focuses primarily on whether evolution or biblical creation provides the most accurate interpretation of the universe's origins, featured several articles Answers in Genesis staff has written about Lucy. The abstract of a 2012 article titled "A Look at Lucy's Legacy," by Dr. David Menton and Dr. Elizabeth Mitchell, read:

Perhaps more than any other fossil, Lucy is presented as "exhibit A" for evolutionists in their attempt to show that humans evolved from an ape-like ancestor. With the recent opening of the Lucy exhibit in the Creation Museum, Answers in Genesis felt it was appropriate to present the "Lucy story" to our web visitors as well. This article will explore the origins of the fossils and interpretations by evolutionists that have led to overtly human-like representations of Lucy, such as at the Field Museum in Chicago, that differ so greatly from the equally valid representation at the Creation museum.

The authors went on to dispute claims as to Lucy's bipedality based on pelvic structure, the famous Laetoli footprints, and other points.

The site also featured a recent blog post by Ken Ham, the Answers in Genesis founder who debated Bill Nye ("The Science Guy") at the Creation Museum in Kentucky in 2014. Ham's article opened:

According to evolutionists, Lucy walked on two legs, and the group she represents is a distant ancestor of humanity (though how closely related is disputed even in their camp). US President Barack Obama even recently "met" Lucy and commented, almost reverently, on how she shows how all mankind is related to one another.

Ham's post included photographs of a Creation Museum exhibit demonstrating how covering Lucy's bones with different combinations of hair and skin drastically influences whether she resembles a human or an ape.

[ThePatriotsFlag]

Oh I love scientific fundamentalism. Almost an oxymoron. You are limiting God, I’m giving him no bounds. If He can do anything and all things are His, then why cannot He create evolution as His process? :-)

[Bob434]

[[So where are the millions of transitional fossils?]]

the world wide flood washed them out to sea and into a secret hole that no one can find

[ThePatriotsFlag]

So where are they transitional fossils?

---

Beats me...probably haven't found them yet.

[Bob434]

[[Did death preceed sin?]]

Soul death did not- only soul-less death occurred (IE: Grass withered and died when trampled, bugs died when stepped upon etc)

This is a very important distinction. Can’t remember the word now, but the death was speaking to soul death, not non soul death

[Bob434]

[[I can understand the idea that “day” does not mean exact 24 hour periods or even that it was used to convey billions of years,]]

Can’t- the bible talks about no ‘soul death’ before adam and eve- The only way billions of years could go by is IF God supernaturally kept Adam and Eve alive, and there is no evidence in His word that this was the case

[Former Fetus]

He can... but He didn’t. Not according to His word in Genesis. You are telling God how to run His business, instead of accepting His report.

[Popman]

How would you explain an iPad to one with no concept. You could explain it as a tablet made from God's own magic stone that could talk, listen and paint. But of course, like the philosopher said, then people would probably worship the rock

I would suggest you study ancient civilizations and the people who lived in those time periods...

You seem to think those people were primitive and without intelligence...

I certainly believe they could conceptually understand an IPad...maybe not the technology behind them, but that it was possible...

Ever hear of the Baghdad battery ? Look it up...

[Bob434]

[[Create on one day, stretch out space time, create on the next day, stretch out space time....]]

There is a theory, and perhaps even evidence to support the idea that time is not constant and was much faster in the beginning- as the universe was stretched out tiem was affected during the process-Youtube has a very interesting video on this theory- I’ll see if I can find it

[Bob434]

[[Young earth creationists - Lucy, the dinosaurs, and all other forms of life now extinct must have been alive at the time of the flood. Carbon dating must be wrong.]]

Carbon dating only goes out to about 8 years as far as accuracy I believe, so we’re not saying carbon dating is wrong- We have many other reasons scientific reasons why we say the dates are wrong

[[BOTH of these theories are based mostly on doctrinaire belief ]]

No sir, that’s not true- ID and creation science has much to back up their theories- more so than evos do infact- Even science agrees that no amount of time can facilitate mutations causing macroevolution- it’s biologically, mathematically, naturally, thermodynamically etc impossible- It is evos who ignore these impossibilities and insist nature supernaturally was able to violate it’s own laws

[Just mythoughts]

God did give His human creation freedom to believe whatever they chose to believe. However, He sent an instruction manual, so, IF these children were so inclined to search, they could discern how He counts time.

As it is Written by Peter, a ‘day’ with the LORD is as a thousand years. Perhaps IF the children took His word literally they would not argue over the length of the ‘days’ of creation. Most especially since, there are two recorded floods. Genesis 1:2 describes the first one and Noah had not yet been birthed.

TOE is for the spiritually weak.

[Bob434]

[[Evolution is a material “manufacturing” recipe for “life”.]]

It is biologically mathematically physically, thermodynamically, etc impossible- it takesw a tremendous amount of faith to believe that evolution violated it’s own laws hundreds of billions of times, let alone just once

[ThePatriotsFlag]

You assume I know nothing about ancient civilizations...interesting assumption. What is fascinating is that we here now will all be considered dumb as a box of rocks 2000 years from now.

[ThePatriotsFlag]

His report, or what some ancient writer thought he heard Him say?

[Bob434]

macroevolution via mutations is not just ‘sorta impossible’ or even ‘quite impossible’- it’s not possible- period- The number is so large that it blows the upper thresh-hold of probability right out of the water-

And this is just for 1 mutation to create new non species specific information via mutation- Evolution demands hundreds of billions of such new species specific information to be added at every single ‘leap forward’ stage of macroevolution

To put this in perspective- it would take a trillion monkeys, typing 10 random keys per second, a length of time one trillion times as long as evos claim the earth has been around just to type the words “to be or not to be, that is the question” (You can find the monkey shakespeare simulator online by doing a search for it)-

http://scienceray.com/mathematics/monkeys-typing-shakespeare-the-old-monkey-theory-and-the-probabilities/

This is just for one line of words with correct punctuation.

The bottom line is that even this possibility chance is dwarfed by the impossibility of macroevolution- at least monkeys stand a chance, albeit small, of typing a correct sentence IF given enough time- but the mathematical probability that a mutation could add positive new non species specific information to a specie’s genetic code makes it impossible that it ever happened, even once- let alone hundreds of billions of times

[Popman]

——You assume I know nothing about ancient civilizations...interesting assumption.——

Not really an assumption...you said they were dumb as a box of rocks, which is completely untrue based on written history...

[Bob434]

going back to the impossibilities of mutations to add new non species specific information (and absolute requirement in order to move one species to another species KIND- this can only happen by adding new non species specific information- IE: a frog (or whatever species evos think evolved into bats) would need information added that would ‘evolve’ an echo location system IF a frog is to evolve into a bat- frogs do not have such information coded into their systems)

The mathematical ‘probability’ is so far beyond the actual upper limits of possibility that it must be considered impossible- completely impossible. and again, this is just for one positive mutation adding new non species specific information

A simple organism or species which has just one part would need to survive long enough in it’s environment until a mutation happened which added new non ‘species specific’ information to add to this simple species’ information- then it would have to survive long enough for another, then another-

the following illustrates the impossible scenario of simple systems evolving into more complex systems

[[For example, consider a very simple putative organism composed of only 200 integrated and functioning parts, and the problem of deriving that organism by this type of process. The system presumably must have started with only one part and then gradually built itself up over many generations into its 200-part organization. The developing organism, at each successive stage, must itself be integrated and functioning in its environment in order to survive until the next stage. Each successive stage, of course, becomes statistically less likely than the preceding one, since it is far easier for a complex system to break down than to build itself up. A four-component integrated system can more easily “mutate” (that is, somehow suddenly change) into a three-component system (or even a four-component non-functioning system) than into a five-component integrated system. If, at any step in the chain, the system mutates “downward,” then it is either destroyed altogether or else moves backward, in an evolutionary sense.

Therefore, the successful production of a 200-component functioning organism requires, at least, 200 successive, successful such “mutations,” each of which is highly unlikely. Even evolutionists recognize that true mutations are very rare, and beneficial mutations are extremely rare—not more than one out of a thousand mutations are beneficial, at the very most.]]

http://www.icr.org/article/mathematical-impossibility-evolution/

All this must be ignored and great faith must be put into a hypothesis of macroevolution in order to believe that nature violated it’s own rules billions of times

[Bodleian_Girl]

I could never in a million years believe in the fairy tale of evolution. Certain organs needed for survival and procreation could never have evolved over millions of years.

[ThePatriotsFlag]

And I could never believe that it is anything but evolution, and an intricate part of Gods plan. So we have interesting and diverse beliefs. I’m ok with that. I think where we all get in trouble us forcing our beliefs on others. But discussion is not only interesting, it is informative. This is how we learn from each other. I have no problem with your belief. I find it interesting.

[ThePatriotsFlag]

It was a metaphor...lighten up. They did not have even the rudiments of our still slight understanding of creation. So any explanation had to be on their level of comprehension.

Metaphor... a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable

[Redmen4ever]

You forgot about archeology. The Old Kingdom of Egypt. The cave art that has pre-flood mammoths but no pre-flood dinosaurs. That too is bunk? What about alluvial plains? Fossil fuel? Remains of ancient meteor strikes? Finally, why didn’t the unicorn get on the Ark?