Creation Answer:
God created man on day 6 and man was originally very intelligent and even walked with God. Man did not evolve from lower forms of human and was not a dumb caveman. At the time of creation, God originally made man and apes as two different kinds.
“There are many differences between humans and apes that can be seen in fossil remains. These include the fact that humans walk erect and so have appropriate/distinctive knee and hip joints, backbone, toes, etc. Humans also have an opposable thumb, make and use sophisticated tools as well as fire, and engage in diverse creativity. They have a larger brain capacity than apes, smaller teeth set in parabolic or V-shaped, rather than U-shaped, jaws, and they sometimes write, paint or make and play musical instruments. Communication by language is another crucial difference, as is the ability to do mathematics. Other differences include the exercise of reason and free-will, rather than just instinct.”[i] Obviously, many of these characteristics cannot be observed from fossils.
Imagine the fame, the prestige, and the money that follows the discovery of a new hominid species. That is part of the problem. Many evolutionists will find human and/or ape bones and claim they are human ancestors in order to get more funding for their research. There are hardly any links found for modern apes, because many of the confusing bones that are found are automatically claimed as a human ancestor…because they can get more funding for that research than for ape ancestors. “Evolutionists looking for evidence of apemen search for fossils that show anatomical features that look ‘intermediate’ between those of apes and humans, or that show some but not all of the above bodily characteristics. This has provided a fertile field for hoaxers.”[ii]
There have been many human ancestor hoaxes that deceived even the scientific community and have been taught incorrectly for decades. Piltdown Man was “’discovered’ in England from 1908 to 1912…and was probably the most quoted ‘evidence for evolution’ for around 40 years.” The evidence for Piltdown Man turned out to be a human skullcap matched with the lower jaw of an orangutan that were stained and filed to fit.[iii] “The Illustrated London News for June 24, 1922, printed” Nebraska Man “as an upright-standing apeman, showing the shape of his body, head, nose, ears, hair, etc., together with his wife, domestic animals, and tools.” The evidence was one tooth, which later turned out to be a tooth from an extinct pig.[iv] Ramepithecus was “once widely regarded as the ancestor of humans, it has now been realised that it is merely an extinct type of orangutan (an ape).”[v]
Beyond the hoaxes, an evolutionist article admits that “over decades excavating sites in Africa, researchers have named half a dozen different species of early human ancestor, but most, if not all, are now on shaky ground.”[vi] One of the problems is that the quality of the fossils are typically very poor and paleontologists base new species on minor details with fragments of skulls or other bones. Assumptions can play a huge factor as scientists glue the bone fragments back together.
In fact, this challenge is evident with one of the most famous human ancestors theorized in a partial skeleton: Australopithecus afarensis, affectionately named “Lucy”. Some have claimed that Lucy is nearly 40% complete, but with only 47 pieces of bones and 206 in the modern human body, that percentage is closer to 20%.[vii] Donald Johanson first found a few bones in 1973 of what he thought was the same species to the bones he found in 1974 even though the first bones were found 1½ miles away and 230 feet deeper. Then in 1976, Mary Leakey discovered the Laetoli footprints roughly 1,000 miles away that Johanson attributed to Lucy’s species, evidencing that Lucy walked upright. There is evidence of Lucy’s species in the area, but these are still big assumptions and Leakey actually didn’t agree, even claiming that “Johanson’s work was ‘not very scientific.’”[viii]
Lucy’s hip structure has also caused controversy since her hips appeared to “flair out like a chimps” hip, but the researchers automatically assumed that it had been crushed and then “fused together” in that position. They ended up restructuring the pelvis to better fit their expectations and assumptions that she was more human-like.[ix]
During 2009, the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birthday and the 150th anniversary of the writing of “On the Origin of Species,” Ardipithecus (ARDI) was hyped as one of the best evidences of an upright walking human ancestor. “The claims that Ardipithecus walked upright are now under increased scrutiny. Scientific American stated that in contrast to promoters of Ardi’s upright walking ability, “many others in the field propose that some of these statements may be overblown. In fact, [William] Jungers [of Stony Brook University Medical Center] says, ‘I think some of the things they said might have been for effect.’” “Given the poor condition of her meager hip bone fragments, as well as the amount of interpretation that the original authors admitted they used in the hip reconstruction (along with any interpretive license that they did not admit to), there is plenty of room for doubt that her hips were reconstructed accurately in their depiction of an upright-walking configuration. Confirming this, Jungers told Scientific American that this effort “requires a lot of guesswork.”[x]
Even the oldest supposed hominid bones (Orrorin tugenensis) only consist of 13 fossils that make up a partial femur, bits of a lower jaw and a few teeth. It is fascinating to read through evolutionary teaching and see the evidence that has been collected, which is such fragmented bones and skulls. Assumptions, questions, and guesswork is evident and abundant in this field of science.[xi]
Previous hominid species are classified by head shape, hip structure and other cues. At Dmanisi, Georgia, parts of five skulls were found, each of “these human skulls all had very different shapes, [and] they were buried together within a short time…Instead of showing different transitional human forms living at different times and leading up to modern humans, the fossilized remains at this site showed variation occurring at the same time. Assuming the remains were all human…these results end up ‘drastically simplifying the story of human evolution,’”[xii]
Notice the assumptions of evolutionary archaeologists as admitted by David Lordkipanidze, the lead excavator. “If you found the Dmanisi skulls at isolated sites in Africa, some people would give them different species names. But one population can have all this variation. We are using five or six names, but they could all be from one lineage.”[xiii]
Tim White, an expert in human evolution admits that “some paleontologists see minor differences in fossils and give them labels, and that has resulted in the family tree accumulating a lot of branches…The Dmanisi fossils give us a new yardstick, and when you apply that yardstick to the African fossils, a lot of that extra wood in the tree is dead wood. It’s arm-waving.”[xiv]
“That means, among other things, Homo erectus can no longer be considered an ancestor who lived long before and gave rise to ‘early Homo’ peoples, since the new evidence showed H. erectus, H. rudolfensis, and H. habilis clumped together. ‘Analysis of the skull and other remains at Dmanisi suggests that scientists have been too ready to name separate species of human ancestors in Africa. Many of those species may now have to be wiped from the textbooks.’”[xv]
“Among those species would be Neandertal and Cro-Magnon, which deserve no recognition as separate forms that supposedly evolved into Homo sapiens—modern humans.” Neandertals are typically found in Europe, but were found in China and “the jawbone shared both Neandertal and modern human features.”[xvi] “European burial sites clearly show that Neandertals and modern-looking humans intermarried. They both had elaborate burials―in a few cases, they were buried together…Recently, researchers found DNA sequence similarity between Europeans and Neandertals.”[xvii] “Some specimens [of Neandertals] suffered from bony diseases such as rickets, which is caused by vitamin D deficiency from childhood and can result in bowing of the skeleton. One cause of this is a lack of exposure to sunlight, consistent with their having lived in the post-Flood Ice Age.”[xviii]
Neandertals are “characterized by prominent eyebrow ridges (like modern Australian aborigines), low forehead, long narrow skull, a protruding upper jaw, and a strong lower jaw with a short chin. They were deep-chested, large-boned individuals with a powerful build. It should be emphasized, however, that none of these features fall outside the range of normal human anatomy.” “If he (Neandertal man) could be reincarnated and placed in a New York subway provided he were bathed, shaved and dressed in modern clothing it is doubtful whether he would attract any more attention that some of its other denizens.”[xix] “They were uniquely formed people living at the same time as modern-looking people.”[xx]
Regarding Homo habilis, “there is a growing consensus amongst most paleoanthropologists that this category actually includes bits and pieces of various other types-such as Australopithecus and Homo erectus. It is therefore an “invalid taxon”. That is, it never existed.”[xxi]
Regarding Homo erectus, “many remains of this type have been found around the world. They are smaller than the average human today, with an appropriately smaller head (and brain size). However, the brain size is within the range of people today and studies of the middle ear have shown that Homo erectus was just like us. Remains have been found in the same strata and in close proximity to ordinary Homo sapiens, suggesting that they lived together.”[xxii]
“Australopithecus is also out of the evolutionary line up…when they concluded that it was just an extinct ape and had clearly never evolved into humans. Without these key players, the popular pageant of human evolution truly should all be wiped from the textbooks.”[xxiii]
“If the Dmanisi fossils represent ancient humans, then they show that generations of experts in human evolution have spent effort, time, and research dollars arranging fossil fragments of human skulls into an evolutionary line of descent that never really existed.”[xxiv] “The theory of human evolution requires one or more missing links, so in the post-Darwin era many candidates have been put forward. Not one has stood the test of honest, rigorous investigation, as all have turned out to be from either an extinct ape or an extinct human.”[xxv]
Most likely all human-like remains are post-flood remains. It is also quite possible that humans had a greater amount of genetics that allowed for different body features. Mutations, genetic isolation, and extinction could have caused the loss in genetics as has been evidenced in history.[xxvi] “Remaining conflicts also vanish when one considers that these ‘archaic’ humans (Neandertals) and anatomically modern humans were all people―descendants of the first man, Adam. Being diverse populations of people who were spreading out across the post-Flood earth, it makes sense that they would migrate, interact with one another, and live in varying places around the world, all within the last 4,500 or so years—just as the Bible indicates.”[xxvii] “The fact that their [Neandertal] remains are mostly found in caves fits with the hypothesis that they were a distinct migrating group, willing to shelter in caves along the way after the dispersion at the Tower of Babel.”[xxviii] Creationists predict that there may be more discoveries of the “wrong varieties of people groups” found in the “wrong places” at the “wrong times.”
What the Bible Says: Ps 139:14, 1 Thess 5: 21, Matt 19:4, Gen 1: 26-27, Gen 2:7
By Brian Mariani and others
Before commenting, please read the following disclosures.
Any offensive language will automatically disqualify your comment for publication, even if the arguments contained are good. Please comment on the ideas that are presented and not the presenter. If your comment becomes an ad hominem argument and does not substantially address the issue, your comment will be disqualified as well. We are looking for real arguments, not fallacious ones, so that we can present and challenge opposing ideas and arguments as they are truly believed by evolutionists. We do not want to tear down straw men as well as you do not want to be misrepresented. Also, please keep your comments as brief as possible, and if the majority of the comment does not address the current issue, but becomes a red-herring, it will not be posted as well. If your comment does not fall into one of the above restrictions, then your comment will be posted unedited (you may want to check your spelling, grammar, etc.) We thank you for your time and comments.
One thing to keep in mind, each blog is one piece of evidence. Evidence has to then be interpreted, which is not a fact…but evidence strengthening or weakening a specific hypothesis or theory. So there can be multiple ways of interpreting the same evidence. I am not being unscientific, but asking more questions and being skeptical is being more scientific. I am still working on these, so please help with your comments.
If you would like to see if an AOI seminar is right for you, or you would like to help the work of Alpha Omega Institute, please visit our website events page or our donate page. Keep up to date with what AOI is doing. Thanks for your partnership.
[i] Russell Grigg, Are there apemen in your ancestry?, December 2002, Creation 25(1):16-19, Creation Ministries International, http://creation.com/are-there-apemen-in-your-ancestry#lucys-bones, accessed August 28, 2014.
[ii] Russell Grigg, Are there apemen in your ancestry?, December 2002, Creation 25(1):16-19, Creation Ministries International, http://creation.com/are-there-apemen-in-your-ancestry#lucys-bones, accessed August 28, 2014.
[iii] Russell Grigg, Are there apemen in your ancestry?, December 2002, Creation 25(1):16-19, Creation Ministries International, http://creation.com/are-there-apemen-in-your-ancestry#lucys-bones, accessed August 28, 2014.
[iv] Russell Grigg, Are there apemen in your ancestry?, December 2002, Creation 25(1):16-19, Creation Ministries International, http://creation.com/are-there-apemen-in-your-ancestry#lucys-bones, accessed August 28, 2014.
[v] Is There Really Evidence that Man Descended from the Apes?, January 21, 1998, Answers in Genesis, https://answersingenesis.org/human-evolution/ape-man/is-there-really-evidence-that-man-descended-from-the-apes/, accessed August 28, 2014.
[vi] Ian Sample, Skull of Homo erectus throws story of human evolution into disarray, October 17, 2013, The Guardian, http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/oct/17/skull-homo-erectus-human-evolution, accessed August 27, 2014.
[vii] Russell Grigg, How many bones does Lucy have?, January 11, 2012, Creation Ministries International, http://creation.com/are-there-apemen-in-your-ancestry#lucys-bones, accessed August 28, 2014.
[viii] David Menton and Elizabeth Mitchell, A Look at Lucy’s Legacy, June 6, 2012, Answers in Genesis, https://answersingenesis.org/human-evolution/lucy/a-look-at-lucys-legacy/, accessed August 28, 2014.
[ix] NOVA, “In Search of Human Origins Part One”, airdate: June 3, 1997, PBS, Transcripts, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2106hum1.html, accessed August 28, 2014.
[x] Brian Thomas, Scientists Back Off of Ardi Claims, December 4, 2009, Institute for Creation Research, http://www.icr.org/article/scientists-back-off-ardi-claims/, accessed August 28, 2014.
[xi] PBS, Origin of Humankind, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/humans/humankind/, accessed August 29, 2014.
[xii] Brian Thomas and Frank Sherwin, Human-like Fossil Menagerie Stuns Scientists, November 8, 2013, Institute for Creation Research, http://www.icr.org/article/7843/, accessed August 27, 2014.
Robert Lee Hotz, Skull Suggests Single Human Species Emerged From Africa, Not Several: Well-Preserved Find 1.8 Million Years Old Drastically Simplifies Evolutionary Picture, October 17, 2013, http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304384104579141600675336982, accessed August 27, 2014.
[xiii] Ian Sample, Skull of Homo erectus throws story of human evolution into disarray, October 17, 2013, The Guardian, http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/oct/17/skull-homo-erectus-human-evolution, accessed August 27, 2014.
[xiv] Ian Sample, Skull of Homo erectus throws story of human evolution into disarray, October 17, 2013, The Guardian, http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/oct/17/skull-homo-erectus-human-evolution, accessed August 27, 2014.
[xv] Brian Thomas and Frank Sherwin, Human-like Fossil Menagerie Stuns Scientists, November 8, 2013, Institute for Creation Research, http://www.icr.org/article/7843/, accessed August 27, 2014.
Ian Sample, Skull of Homo erectus throws story of human evolution into disarray, October 17, 2013, The Guardian, http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/oct/17/skull-homo-erectus-human-evolution, accessed August 27, 2014.
[xvi] Brian Thomas, Neandertals Mixed with Humans in China, November 3, 2010, Institute for Creation Research, http://www.icr.org/articles/view/5706/289/, accessed August 27, 2014.
[xvii] Brian Thomas, Neandertals Mixed with Humans in China, November 3, 2010, Institute for Creation Research, http://www.icr.org/articles/view/5706/289/, accessed August 27, 2014.
[xviii] Russell Grigg, Are there apemen in your ancestry?, December 2002, Creation 25(1):16-19, Creation Ministries International, http://creation.com/are-there-apemen-in-your-ancestry#lucys-bones, accessed August 28, 2014.
[xix] William Straus and A.J. Cave, Quarterly Review of Biology, vol. 32, pp. 348–63, December, 1957.
David N. Menton, Making monkeys out of man, August 28, 2000, Creation Ministries International, http://creation.com/making-monkeys-out-of-man, accessed August 29, 2014.
[xx] Brian Thomas and Frank Sherwin, Human-like Fossil Menagerie Stuns Scientists, November 8, 2013, Institute for Creation Research, http://www.icr.org/article/7843/, accessed August 27, 2014.
[xxi] Is There Really Evidence that Man Descended from the Apes?, January 21, 1998, Answers in Genesis, https://answersingenesis.org/human-evolution/ape-man/is-there-really-evidence-that-man-descended-from-the-apes/, accessed August 28, 2014.
[xxii] Is There Really Evidence that Man Descended from the Apes?, January 21, 1998, Answers in Genesis, https://answersingenesis.org/human-evolution/ape-man/is-there-really-evidence-that-man-descended-from-the-apes/, accessed August 28, 2014.
[xxiii] Brian Thomas and Frank Sherwin, Human-like Fossil Menagerie Stuns Scientists, November 8, 2013, Institute for Creation Research, http://www.icr.org/article/7843/, accessed August 27, 2014.
[xxiv] Brian Thomas and Frank Sherwin, Human-like Fossil Menagerie Stuns Scientists, November 8, 2013, Institute for Creation Research, http://www.icr.org/article/7843/, accessed August 27, 2014.
[xxv] Russell Grigg, Are there apemen in your ancestry?, December 2002, Creation 25(1):16-19, Creation Ministries International, http://creation.com/are-there-apemen-in-your-ancestry#lucys-bones, accessed August 28, 2014.
[xxvi] Andrew Snelling, Where Are All the Human Fossils?, December 1, 1991, Answers in Genesis, https://answersingenesis.org/fossils/fossil-record/where-are-all-the-human-fossils/, accessed August 27, 2014.
[xxvii] Brian Thomas, Neandertals Mixed with Humans in China, November 3, 2010, Institute for Creation Research, http://www.icr.org/articles/view/5706/289/, accessed August 27, 2014.
[xxviii] Brian Thomas, Neandertal Genome Confirms Creation Science Predictions, May 28, 2010, Institute for Creation Research, http://www.icr.org/article/neandertal-genome-confirms-creation/, accessed August 27, 2014.
