[[In his assessment of the significance of Ardipithecus ramidus, bipedality expert C. Owen Lovejoy wrote, “We can no longer rely on homologies with African apes for accounts of our origins and must turn instead to general evolutionary theory.”2 Thus, setting aside evolution-inspired ideology, there is no scientific reason—or observed evidence—to believe that Ardi was an ancestor of mankind. In fact, there is every reason to believe it is solely an extinct primate, as uniquely created as any monkey still alive today.]]
This is a gross fallacy. Lovejoy says in this case to go from specific to general evolutionary theory. The author interprets this to mean to abandon evolutionary theory and completely discount it as unscientific.
[[Based on the Bible’s description of origins, one would predict that all “hominids” should actually be either wholly man or wholly ape. Based on the scientific evidence, Ardipithecus was clearly an ape, and as such fits the Genesis account that each creature group was created as its own kind.]]
A combination of two gross fallacies.
1) Appeal to authority. It’s impossible to obtain legitimate scientific results by using the Bible to interpret scientific theories. The Bible is not a legitimate source of science, any more than a science textbook is a legitimate source of religion.
2) Circular reasoning. Based on the scientific evidence, all hominids are apes. To say that humans are not apes because only apes are apes is fallacious.
If you want to use the authority of the Bible to say that evolution is not a legitimate theory, go right ahead. But attempting to use science to refute it is not going to work, especially if those attempting it don’t understand basic science, as is clearly being demonstrated by this website.
Good post ... Thank you ... Meanwhile, let me quote — on topic — from Steve Jones’ book “Darwin’s Ghost,” published ten years ago. From page 322 we have ...
“About fifteen million years after the emergence of the first primate, the predecessors of apes appear. A molecular clock based on inserted viruses suggests that the lines to chimp, to gorilla and to humans split some five million years ago. A dozen or so hominines — as the branch upon which we belong is called — have lived since then (although how many are real entities is hard to assess). Over that period, there appeared Ardipithecus (four and a half million years old and of intermediate form); several kinds of Australopithecus (an African primate from around a million years later which was, roughly speaking, a human below the neck but an ape above): and Homo habilis (an animal defined as having crossed the central rubicon of brain size needed to qualify for our own family).” .
And etc. Then more ...
“The first members of our own species, Homo sapiens, arose about a hundred and fifty thousand years ago. By the time the miseries of the ice ages were over we were, more or less, ourselves, with smaller brains in a thin skull on a slim and elegant body.”
For what it’s worth ... Go with knowledge.