| Published 2009 |
Remember Ida, the much ballyhooed fossil that was alleged to be a link in the transition to monkeys and
then to humans? Named Darwinius masillae, the lemur-like fossil was the subject of a recent book and a
television special on the History Channel.
Right from the start some scientists were skeptical. Nature magazine has now reported on an
independent investigation of Ida which has found the fossil to definitely not be our ancestor. Ida is a
member of the lemur family of animals, nothing more, nothing less.
Science news has always been full of stories that haven’t been able to stand up to scrutiny. Remember
Piltdown man? Remember Ernst Haeckel’s faked drawings purported to show similarities between human
and animal embryos?
Currently a claim that a meteor landed in Latvia and left a crater is being discounted because the hole is
too tidy and looks artificially made. Moreover, there were no reports of fireballs in the area. The owner of
the property is now selling tickets to people wanting to see the “crater”, in order to pay for repairing the
road, he says.
Creationist scientists are not immune making honest errors. For instance, the famous Paluxy River site
which is supposed to show dinosaur and human tracks overlapping has lost support from some
creationists. The “human” tracks appear to be dinosaur tracks that have eroded. Also, the venerable
water vapor canopy theory for various reasons has also now been put on the back burner.
The conclusion we can come to is that if the Bible doesn’t specifically support a scientific argument, we
would do well to treat the claim with caution. While God’s Word certainly is not a science book, the
science that is in it is as true as anything can be. The Creator and the Author of Scripture are one and
the same.
We can learn much from nature about God—his wisdom, his eye for beauty, his power. But it takes the
Holy Bible to tell us Who God is, where we came from, and why we need a Savior?
—Warren Krug, editor
then to humans? Named Darwinius masillae, the lemur-like fossil was the subject of a recent book and a
television special on the History Channel.
Right from the start some scientists were skeptical. Nature magazine has now reported on an
independent investigation of Ida which has found the fossil to definitely not be our ancestor. Ida is a
member of the lemur family of animals, nothing more, nothing less.
Science news has always been full of stories that haven’t been able to stand up to scrutiny. Remember
Piltdown man? Remember Ernst Haeckel’s faked drawings purported to show similarities between human
and animal embryos?
Currently a claim that a meteor landed in Latvia and left a crater is being discounted because the hole is
too tidy and looks artificially made. Moreover, there were no reports of fireballs in the area. The owner of
the property is now selling tickets to people wanting to see the “crater”, in order to pay for repairing the
road, he says.
Creationist scientists are not immune making honest errors. For instance, the famous Paluxy River site
which is supposed to show dinosaur and human tracks overlapping has lost support from some
creationists. The “human” tracks appear to be dinosaur tracks that have eroded. Also, the venerable
water vapor canopy theory for various reasons has also now been put on the back burner.
The conclusion we can come to is that if the Bible doesn’t specifically support a scientific argument, we
would do well to treat the claim with caution. While God’s Word certainly is not a science book, the
science that is in it is as true as anything can be. The Creator and the Author of Scripture are one and
the same.
We can learn much from nature about God—his wisdom, his eye for beauty, his power. But it takes the
Holy Bible to tell us Who God is, where we came from, and why we need a Savior?
—Warren Krug, editor
Pray for Wisdom in Evaluating Scientific Claims by Warren Krug |
