As discussed in Parts 1 and 2 of this series, I will be reviewing the most popular biology textbook in America, Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2006, Biology, written by Kenneth R. Miller and Joseph S. Levine. I am doing so to offer a “counterpoint” to their interpretation of origins, which has been cleverly designed by the authors to mislead students through psychological manipulations, tortured interpretations of the facts, and downright lies. It is my hope that this work will serve as an instrument for parents and church leaders in defending the biblical account of origins that is being assaulted in academia and used as a tool to tear down the students’ trust in the Word of God – and subsequently to challenge their faith in the existence of God Himself.

How to define a theory

Before beginning my counterpoint argument against Punctuated Equilibrium, as presented on page 439 of the textbook, it is necessary to establish the importance of qualifying something as a “theory.”

Page 14 – correctly defines how a theory is developed. It states:

In science, the word theory applies to a well-tested explanation that unifies a broad range of observations. A theory enables scientists to make accurate predictions about new situations. (Emphasis as it appears in the textbook.)

Counterpoint – The book mentions but cleverly does not stress the importance of making accurate predictions that testing is supposed to verify. And it also does not address the many predictions Darwin made about his “theory” that the evidence has disqualified. Most noteworthy, Darwin made several predictions that can be found in his Origin of Species, 6th edition, chapters 6, 10, 15. He correctly predicted:

If my theory be true, numberless varieties, linking closely together all the species of the same group, must assuredly have existed…

The number of intermediate and transitional links between all living and extinct species, must have been inconceivably great…

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An interminable number of intermediate forms must have existed…

Darwin’s predictions were legitimate and logical. If his theory was true, certainly there would have been an enormous amount of transitional fossils for all categories of life. At the time Darwin made these predictions, the fields of paleontology (the study of the history of living organisms) and geology were young and burgeoning sciences. Over a century and a half later, that is no longer the case.

So what about the “well-tested” explanation of the theory mentioned on page 14 of the textbook? Has science documented in the quantities Darwin predicted the gradual transition from one living species to another referred to as Descent with Modification? The answer is a loud and resounding NO!!!!!!!!!!!!

Despite the facts, evolutionists will tell you that there are numerous transitional fossils that have been found as evidence of evolution. I will devote another segment of this series to examine the so-called “evidences of evolution”, and argue that they should more properly be called “evidences of deception.”

What does the real evidence show?

In 1999, Prof. Steve Jones of University College of London published his own version of Darwin’s Origin of Species. On page 252 of this publication, “Almost Like a Whale,” he stated:

The fossil record – in defiance of Darwin’s whole idea of gradual change – often makes great leaps from one form to the next. Far from the display of intermediates to be expected from slow advance through natural selection many species appear without warning, persist in fixed form and disappear, leaving no descendants. Geology assuredly does not reveal any finely graduated organic chain, and this is the most obvious and gravest objection which can be urged against the theory of evolution.

Contrary to the predictions made by Darwin, gradualism from a common ancestor in the fossil record is nowhere to be found. After over a century and a half of paleontological and geological research, the fossil record shows that there was a sudden explosion of life forms at what evolutionists call the Cambrian period and these life forms continue the same as we observe them today. In light of strong evidence to the contrary, the theory of evolution has not abandoned its suppositions; instead it has attempted to explain the evidence in a way to make it conform to their theory.

How have evolutionists tortured the evidence to fit their theory?

They have proposed that life continues in a static way until there is a sudden and rapid genetic change in a small period of time. The idea was first proposed by German geneticist Richard Goldschmidt in the 1940s and 50s. It was called the Hopeful Monster Hypothesis. Aside from the laughable suggestion that lacks logic as well as a mechanism, the idea that all of a sudden one species rapidly changes enough to give birth to another species in a small period of time is beyond ridiculous – aside from which there is no supporting evidence. And if it were true, these “hopeful monsters” would have to mate with other hopeful monsters to survive as a species – the odds of which are exponential at best. Additionally, if true, all pregnant women would have cause for concern.

Evolutionists realized they had to explain the sudden appearance of life forms in the Cambrian geologic level in a more scientific-sounding manner. So, rather than abort their theology in light of contrary evidence, they re-invented the Hopeful Monster Hypothesis and now call it Punctuated Equilibrium.

Page 439 –

…Some species, such as horseshoe crabs, have changed very little from the time they first appeared in the fossil record. In other words, much of the time these species are in a state of equilibrium. At several points in the fossil record, changes in animals and plants occurred over relatively short periods of time. Some biologists suggest that most new species are produced by periods of rapid change.

Counterpoint – Saying “some” species have changed very little in the fossil record is disingenuous at best, as is the claim that the fossil record bears evidence of rapid change. It does not. Every species that survived did so as it first appeared in the fossil record. The book goes on to try to explain how this rapid development may have occurred after mass extinctions. Again, this suggestion is made as a way of proposing a logical way for this evolutionary problem to be solved, and it is totally based on faith and not evidence.

Page 439 (continued) –

Scientists use the term punctuated equilibrium to describe this pattern of long, stable periods interrupted by brief periods of more rapid change. (Emphasis as it appears in the textbook.)

Counterpoint – Again: there is no evidence to support these “brief periods of more rapid change.” Additionally, the obvious problems with this theory are many:

• There is a sudden explosion of life forms in the fossil record in the Cambrian period, and they continue to exist today as they did back then.
• One species giving birth to another is genetically and observably unsupportable – even if the change happened rapidly.
• If the impossible happened and a “hopeful monster” did exist, another hopeful monster would have to exist at the same time and in the same geographical location in order for the species to reproduce.
• An explanation for the mechanism that produces this type of rapid genetic change has evaded even the most creative evolutionist’s mind.
• Intermediate or transitional forms from a common ancestor in the fossil record have not been found in over 150 years of research – even evidence of rapid change should have been discovered in this length of time. And the ones they claim to be “evidence” have all been discounted or just plain stretches of the imagination.

Concluding counterpoint

In conclusion, the explosion of life at the Cambrian period not only contradicts any plausible explanation for evolution but supports the biblical account wherein we are told that every life form was created in the first week of the creation. A prediction to support the biblical narrative would state that we can expect to find a sudden explosion of life at one point in time, which is just what the evidence reveals. So while unbelievers scramble to create a theory to explain the facts that somehow seems believable to unbelievers, they must rely on faith NOT evidence.

In the words of the late Dr. Duane Gish: “It is unbelievable what unbelievers have to believe to be unbelievers.” And to that, I say AMEN!