Summary Exposition of Some Important Points from
BONES OF CONTENTION
authored by Marvin L. Lubenow
(Baker Books, 1993)
Pp. 120 - 121 -- Homo erectus is the major category many evolutionists consider to bridge the gap between non-human and human categories in the fossil record. (Homo habilis is a flawed taxon dealt with elsewhere in the book). Homo erectus furnishes powerful evidence that falsifies the concept of human evolution. First, Homo erectus is not sufficiently distinct from Homo sapiens to warrant classification as a separate species. Second, Homo erectus fossils are found in a time frame that precludes any possibility of serving as a transitional form. They have lived side by side with other categories of true humans for the past two million years (according to evolutionist chronology). Third, non-evolutionary factors satisfactorily explain the variations in morphology between Homo erectus, Homo sapiens, and Neanderthal. (Provides one of the most complete listings of Homo erectus fossils to be found in scientific literature).
P. 127 -- The date range of all Homo erectus fossils taken together make it clear that human evolution has not taken place.
P. 127 -- The date range of Homo erectus overlaps the entire Homo habilis date range, falsifying the contention widely accepted by evolutionists that Homo habilis evolved into Homo erectus. Homo habilis, in any case, is a flawed taxon that includes a mixture of fossils that are human and non-human.
P. 137 -- The minor differences in morphology between Homo erectus and Homo sapiens can logically be explained as representing genetic variation within one species. And this explanation fits the evidence better than evolutionary speculation.
P. 169 -- Fossils exist dated by evolutionists as old as 4.5 million years that are identical to comparable modern human bones (chart listing is provided).
P. 176 -- Although these extremely old (by evolutionist dating methods) fossils are anatomically identical with modern humans, evolutionists refuse to recognize them as human, in order to protect their theory. Hence, we are not dealing with science, but "something more like quicksilver."
Pp. 178 - 179 -- The Big Picture: (1) Fossils indistinguishable from modern humans can be traced back to 4.5 m.y.a., according to the evolutionist time scale. "That suggests that true humans were on the scene before the australopithecines appear in the fossil record."
(2) Homo erectus morphology is consistent throughout its alleged two-million year history. There is no evidence that it evolved from something else or to something else.
(3) Anatomically modern human (Homo sapiens), Neanderthal, archaic Homo sapiens, and Homo erectus all lived as contemporaries. None evolved from a more robust to a more gracile condition. In some cases, in fact, the more robust fossils are the more recent.
(4) All fossils ascribed to the Homo habilis category are contemporary with Homo erectus, therefore Homo habilis could not have evolved into Homo erectus.
(5) There are no fossils of any primate stock in the proper time period to have served as evolutionary ancestors to humans. Humans appear abruptly in the fossil record as fully human. This abrupt appearance in the fossil record of our ancestors in morphologically human form is compatible with the concept of Special Creation. Even when the evolutionists' proposed dates for the fossils are accepted, the results do not support the concept of evolution. In fact, they are so contradictory to the idea of human evolution that they effectively falsify the theory.
P. 181 -- While reluctant to admit it, some evolutionists recognize that the fossil record has failed to furnish the evidence for evolution. One way they now handle the problem is to discount the importance of the fossils. For example, Mark Ridley of Oxford University states, "The gradual change of fossil species has never been part of the evidence for evolution."
P. 183 -- A popular myth is that the fossil evidence virtually proves human evolution. The reality is that the human fossil evidence falsifies the concept of human evolution, and is completely in accord with the account of creation taught in Scripture.
Rod Reynolds
Copyright © 2001 by Rod Reynolds. Permission granted to copy without alteration for personal use, provided this notice is included. Commercial use of this material without the express written permission of the author is prohibited.