[GodGunsGuts]

==The creationist position is that there is no common descent. Please tell me you understand that the fossil record is irrelevant to this point? If the process is guided you could have sudden changes that do not overthrough common descent.

The problem is there have been no sudden changes except extinction events from the Cambrian “explosion” until now. Those plants and animals that did not go extinct are pretty much the same today as their counterparts in the fossil record. This presents a huge challenge for evolutionists (even for the notion of guided evolution IMHO).

[Rippin]

The problem is there have been no sudden changes except extinction events from the Cambrian “explosion” until now.

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The point here is that creationists have taken the position that each ‘kind’ of animal was distinctly created while evolutionists have insisted that there is common descent. If there is only random mutation available to create new genetic material the process is unimaginably slow - while if there can be some guiding, the time required for a change could be dramatically reduced.

The sudden changes in the fossil record are a bigger problem for random mutation than for guided mutation. If a natural capacity can ultimately explain rapid dramatic changes then the creationist will no longer be able to say that sudden jumps in the fossil record support special creation of kinds.