Posted on 03/04/2009 7:16:11 PM PST by GodGunsGuts
“Creationists claim there are no transitional fossils, aka missing links. Biologists and paleontologists, among others, know this claim is false,” according to a recent LiveScience article that then describes what it claims are 12 specific transitional form fossils.1 But do these examples really confirm Darwinism?
Charles Darwin raised a lack of transitional fossils as a possible objection to his own theory: “Why, if species have descended from other species by fine gradations, do we not everywhere see innumerable transitional forms?”2 Later in this chapter of his landmark book, he expressed hope that future discoveries would be made of transitional forms, or of creatures that showed some transitional structure—perhaps a half-scale/half-feather.
Although some creationists do say that “there are no transitional fossils,” it would be more accurate to state that there are no undisputed transitional forms. Although the article asserts that the fossil record “is full of them,” the reality is that it does not contain a single universally accepted transitional form. Every transitional fossil candidate has both proponents and doubters even among evolutionary “biologists and paleontologists.”
The first supposed transitional form offered in the report is Sahelanthropus. This 2001 discovery was first hailed as a transitional form in the ape-to-human line, but controversy over its transitional status immediately ensued. Brigitte Senut of the Natural History Museum in Paris was skeptical, saying that its skull features, “especially the [canine teeth],”3 were characteristic of female gorillas, not human-like gorillas. Senut and her colleagues also disputed that Sahelanthropus was even in the ancestry of humans at all: “To represent a valid clade, hominids must share unique defining features, and Sahelanthropus does not appear to have been an obligate biped [creature that walked on two feet].”4 In other words, Sahelanthropus is at best a highly disputed fossil of an extinct ape, having no clear transitional features.
LiveScience also listed a medium-neck-length fossil giraffe named Bohlinia and the “walking manatee” as transitional forms. However, Bohlinia is just variation within what is still clearly the giraffe kind and doesn’t answer the question, “Where did the giraffe kind come from?” Such variations within kinds do not refute the creation concept, but rather are predicted by it.5 And the “walking manatee” walked because it had fully formed, ready-to-walk legs, hips, nerves, and musculature. The article does not mention that this particular fossil is shown elsewhere to be a dead-end species, “transitioning” to nothing, according to evolutionists.6
The LiveScience article, borrowing from geologist Donald Prothero, also claimed that Moeritherium is “the ultimate transitional fossil,” the ancestor of elephants. This was an amphibious mammal, shaped like a hippo, with a mobile, muscular lip fused with its nostril. But it had none of the real characteristics of an elephant—not the trunk, size, tusks, nor the specialized weight-bearing knee joint structure.7
The “classic fossil of Archaeopteryx” is not a transitional form either, but was fully bird. Its “reptile-like” teeth and wing claws are found in some birds today.8 Many reptiles have no teeth, but nobody claims that they evolved from birds. And the discovery of a “frog-amander” has yet to be agreed upon as transitional by evolutionists. John Bolt, a curator at the Field Museum in Chicago, told National Geographic that “it is difficult to say for sure whether this creature was itself a common ancestor of the two modern groups, given that there is only one known specimen of Gerobatrachus, and an incomplete one at that.”9
Other extinct creatures had “shared features,” physical structures that are found in different kinds of living organisms. However, “shared features” are not transitional features, which is what Darwin needed. There is no scientific evidence to refute the idea that shared features were designed into creatures by a Creator who wisely formed them with the equipment to live in various shared habitats.
Fossils do reveal some truth about Darwin’s theory—they reveal that the same inconsistencies he noted between his theory and the fossil data persist, even after 150 years of frantic searches for elusive transitions.10 Not only is there no single, undisputed transition, but real fossils reveal that animals were fully formed from the beginning.
References
Allegory. God is capable of breathing allegory, you know.
“Good point. So what the would he say to 1 Timothy 3:16—”ALL Scripture is God-breathed”? In my limited wisdom, all means ALL.”
Probably the same thing he would say to John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
That was such a “fascist” thing for Jesus to say wasn’t it?
See 61.
Fine, keep calling me names. Fortunately, I am sufficiently Christian to forgive you.
No, He isn’t. God breathes TRUTH.
The problem with taking allegory to the extent that you do is that the Bible has no relevant meaning. You seem to be well educated... honestly that doesn’t always work in your favor.
Truth. Hard to find in the halls of Academia.
Reason. Even tougher.
Moral absolutes. Never darken the door.
If the Bible is not true in the least of its statements then none of it can be trusted. This leaves us to be free moral agents and the Word of God becomes nothing more than “An opiate to the masses.”
You can scream the word “Allegory” from the rooftops, but it means nothing if you neither wrote the Words nor walked with those who did.
You’re not suggesting that there is something that God is not capable of, are you?
Yes, how horrible! Gee, He deserved that cross, didn’t He?
“Fine, keep calling me names. Fortunately, I am sufficiently Christian to forgive you.”
Dearest Buck,
Chachi was a character on Happy Days. I live in the South and there are a lot of folks named Bubba in my neck of the woods.
You act like I called you a liberal or a democrat or something. Now if I’d done that, you would have something to forgive.
I do apologize if I offended your area of sensitivity.
Sincerely,
Sufficiently Forgiven
Take it up with God...oh, I forgot. You have all the answers.
“Do you not agree that Catholics ..., who are fine with the allegory concept, are Christians?”
Did Rome finally renounce the Trent anathemas and Mary worship, and embrace Sola Fide? I must have missed it.
All I can say is, there is a hell of a lot of things in this world that people don’t know. We are only a few hundred years removed from the Dark Ages, do you realise?
Some would argue we’re headed back in that direction. Except this time we’ll have ipods with us.
You cannot take chaos, shake it up and get order without His hand on it. There is no other way. If you read the 1st chapter of the book of Genesis, it explains everything.
Wrong answer. . .
Keep throwin’ them out there and we’ll have to declare the whole Bible allegory. You might need to save some of it so we have something left to believe.
Buck is an Evangelical Allegorist (or is that “Al-Goreist”). He claims those who take the Bible literal are fascist while he pronounces all that we believe to be misguided fairy-tales. If you don’t agree, you’re the one who is wrong.
Who’s the fascist?
And did you notice in one of the earlier posts, he pointed out we are in the minority as Christians? I hope so. I do want to be among the few that walk the narrow path.
“It’s not a smug pronunciation at all. Do you not agree that Catholics and Episcopalians, who are fine with the allegory concept, are Christians?”
Sorry, missed this one. I’m neither so I’d have a hard time responding on their behalf...
Catholics, Episcopalians... Could you answer this for Buck please?
I do know that in the Baptist, Church of God, Assembly of God and most Methodist churches, the Word of God is taken literally except for the obvious parables.
Amen, brother!
I reckon Buckie bugged...
Guess I will too. Keep up the encouragement. The way the world is going we will definitely be a minority before long.
God bless.
GG
place marker
Thanks for the ping!
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