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that li fe varies only a cer tain
amount witbin each life kind. Much
of the present controversy between
the Bible and the theory of evolu–
tion. could have been avoided if
reality had been faced by both sides.
Avoi ding Two Extremes
A too strict defi nition of a Gene–
sis kind (a Genesis kind was often
fa lsely limited to a
species
by many
theologians in the 19th century) led
to the intellectual rejection of whole
sections of the Bible by many scien–
tists. The problem was not in the
Bible, but in a wrong interpretation
of the word "kind" by sorne theolo–
gians.
In like manner, growing numbers
of scientists. instead of merely re–
porting the
limited
changes they
could observe in the world a round
them. began to
insist
philosophically
that a ll life ultima tely must have
come from a common ancestor!
Jf a ll the present world of plants
and animals could be viewed a t one
time. one would not see a host of
utterly unrelated species as theolo–
gians commo nly p roposed. nor
would one see an unbroken series of
intergrades between all the various
types of li fe .
lns tead. a multitude of separate,
unrelated kinds. often composed of
various species, would be seen. One
literally does not find a fish tha t is in
the process of evolving into an am–
phibian. or a reptile into a bird. or a
primate into a man. Such changes
are only suspected by the evolution–
a ry community.
It
is for this precise reason tha t
scientists themselves acknowledge
that the living world atfords only
ci rcumstantial evidence for the the–
ory of evolution. This is why the
foss il record of the earth's crust is
asked to bear the burden of proof.
Fossi l Record Proof of
Evolution?
What does one find in the pages
of the earth's stra tigraphic record?
Will an unbroken sequence of life
be clearly demonstrated in the hard–
ened layers beneath our feet?
20
lf the theory of evolution
is
true,
then the rocks should have pre–
served a sufficient record of li fe's
advances throughout geologic time.
The fossil record should give us a
sa tisfying continuous record of life
evolving from the one-celled forros
to man himself.
Charles Darwin, over 100 years
ago, squarely faced the enigma
presented by the fossil record. He
wrote:
F r om t be se severa l consid- •
erations, it cannot be doubted
tbat tbe geological record, viewed
as a whole, is extremely imper–
fect; but if we confine our atten–
tion to any one formation, it
becomes much more di fficult to
understand why we do not tberein
find closely graduated varieties
between the aJiied species which
lived at its commeocement and at
its close (chapter 10 of
On
tite
Origin of Species,
1872 edition).
1t
was thought tha t further inves–
tigation of the stra ta would solve the
problem . In t he century since Dar–
win's above sta tement, we find that
paleontology still cannot find the
needed transit ional links. Le t the
paleontologists s peak fo r t hem–
selves:
lt
remains true, as every paleonto·
logist knows, that most new spe–
cies, genera, and families and that
nearly all new categories above
the level of families appear in the
record suddenly and are not led up
to by known, gradual, completely
continuous transitional sequences
(George G. Simpson,
The Major
Features of Evolution,
1969, p.
360).
" 'Links' are missing j ust where
we most fervent ly desire them, and
it is all too probable that many
' links' will continue to be missing"
(Genelics, Pa/eontology and Evolu–
tion,
chapter by A. S. Romer, 1963,
p. 114). We a lso read:
There is no need to apologize any
longer for the poverty ofthe fossil
record. In some ways it has be·
come almost unmanageably ricb,
and discovery is out-pacing in–
tegrat ion . . . . The fossil record
nevertbeless continues to be com·
posed mainly of gaps ("Fossils in
Evolut ionary Perspective," by T.
N. George,
Science Progress,
J an.
1960,
pp.
1, 3).
The evidence for plant evolution
is especially di fficult to find :
It
has long been boped that ex–
tinct plants will ult imately reveal
some of the stages through which
existing groups have passed dur–
ing the course of tbeir devel·
opment, but
it
must be freely
admitted that this aspiration has
been fuUiJied to a very sligbt ex–
tent, even thougb paleobotanical
research has been in process for
more than one bundred years. As
yet we bave not been able to trace
tbe pbylogenetic bistory of a
single group of modem plants
from its beginning to tbe preseot
(C.
A. Amold,
An l ntroduction
to
Pakobotany,
1947,
p.
7).
It must be considered significant
that the fossil record lacks the links
between the various kinds.• So the
fun damental fact of the fossil record
remains: The biblical kind with its
interna! varia tions is visible, but a
continuous unbroken sequence of
life is not shown in the geological
record. No valid transitional forros
have ever been observed in real life
or in the fossil record. Theories may
abound. Conjectures are abundant.
But proof is wanting.
Nevertheless the theory of evolu–
tion has gained a strong foothold
throughout the modero world, in a l–
most every facet of our lives. To
rej ect it is to slay a sacred cow of the
educational communi ty.
Denying t he Creator's
Pow er
Ma n y th eo logia n s h ave fe lt
obliged to accept it as a fact. and
thereby compromise the plain state–
men ts of the book they profess to
believe. But theistic evolution makes
God out to be a liar.
It
makes him
out to be a weak God. Why make
him capable of creating the first
spark of life, but incapable of pro–
ducing more complex life forms?
Al/
liJe is complex.
•c enain rossil rorms a re. ofcourse. mentioned as
possible links betwccn basic types or crea tures. For
example. thc ga p between amphibians and reptiles
has often bec n explaincd by a rossil dubbed St:r ·
mor~ria.
However. as G. A. Ke rkut of the Univers ity
or Southampton. himself an evolutionist. says:
··se,-mouria
is some times thought o ras
a
link be·
tween the amphibia and reptiles. Unfonuna te ly
Sevmouria
is
fo und in the Permian whilst the fi rst
reptiles a rose in the Pennsylvanian. some twcnty o r
more mi Ilion ycars ea rlier..
(lmplications of E•·olu·
rion.
p.
136).
PLAIN TRUTH
June . July 1974