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" There is a grandeur in this
view of lite, with its severa!
powers, having been originally
breathed by the Creator into a
few forms or into one; and that,
whilst this planet has gone
cycling on according to the
fixed law of gravity, from so
simple a beginning endless forms
most beautiful and most won–
derful have been, and are being
evolved."
On the Origin of Species
is unsaid here exactly how much a
Genesis
"kind '~
of plant or animal
can vary in relationship to the bio–
logical classification scheme of spe–
cies, genera, etc. The scriptures
nowhere, for example, limit all life
forms to varia tion within the species
leve!.
Species
is not necessa rily
equivalent to the biblical kind.• The
fact that sorne species have varied
does not nullify the repeated Gen–
esis statement of "after their kind,"
or "after its kind."
A misunderstanding of this point
has caused endless confusion in cor–
relating a correct understanding of
the Bible with the demonstrable. ob–
servational findings of science. Ob–
servational science has shown the
amazing variability of life forms.
But such variation has never crossed
the biblical kind threshold.
And yet it is basic to fundamental
evolutionary theory that it can do
so. The geologist Carl O. Dunbar
commented on th.is fact:
lt
is known, for example, that a ll
modero breeds of dog can be
traced back to a single species of
wild dog, that aJJ our domestic
•Genesis 1
uses 1he
lerm
kind
ten difl'erentlimes.
Sec verses 11. 12. 21. 24. and 25.
PLAIN TRUTH June-July 1974
DARWIN
borses have come from one or two
species of wild pony, and that the
many breeds of cattle have sprung
from one, or at most a few, wild
ancestors. lf it has been possible.
witbio a few thousand years, to
change a wild dog into forros as
diverse as tbe whippet, the bull–
dog, and the poodle, and if, by
careful selection and breedi ng, it
has been possible to transform the
scrawny wild pony of central Asia
into the sleek Arabian race horse,
the toylike Shetland pony, and the
ponderous Perchcron, then we
can only wonder if in s imilar fasb–
ion eacb kind of wild life has de–
veloped from sorne ot he r , by
gradua l c han ge and specia l–
ization. This line of thougbt led to
the doctrine of Organic Evolu–
tion, which is the belief that from
sorne geologically remole, primi–
t ive form of life all the diverse
kinds of animals and plants have
developed, each evolving from
sorne previous form by gradual
aod orderly change. According to
this conception, all creatures are
genetically related, like the mem–
bers of a great human family, and
tbe degree of relat ionship of dif–
fereot groups of anima ls and
plaots may be represented by the
brancbes of a family tree (pp. 69-
70, Second EdHion of
Historica/
Geology,
1960).
When Dunbar's line of thought
" And God said, Let the waters
bring forth abundantly the moving
creature that hath life, and fowl
that may fly above the earth in the
open firmament of heaven."
" And God said, Let the earth bring
forth the living creature after his
kind . . .. And God made the beast
of the earth after his kind .. .. "
" And the Lord God formed man of
the dust of the ground, and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life. "
Genesis 1:20, 24, 25; 2:7
GENESIS
takes him beyond
observed
changes
in life forms. then he is going
beyond both science and scri pture
and is entering the realm of un–
proved specula tion.
No provable living chain of life
forms exists from amoeba to man.
as the theory of evolution post–
ulates. Such a proposed chain of life
forms is an assumption or a philo–
sophic conclusion. but nei ther a sci–
entific nor a biblical fact. lnstead of
one gigantic tree of life which is in–
terrelated. one more properly ob–
se rves a ll con temporary life to
consist of a whole forest of indepen–
dent kinds which can greatly vary
within their kind. but no further.
The vital links between the kinds
are missing - both in the living
world around us aod in the fossil
record beneath our feet.
The December 1966 issue of
Sci-
entific
A
m'erican
carefully notes:
Living things are enormously di–
verse in form, but forro is remark–
ably constant witbin any given
line of descent ; pigs remain pigs
and oak trees remain oak trees
generation after generaHon (p.
32).
This is a principie basic to life
itself. The world around us teaches
19