For the Sake of Science

The problem I have with theistic evolutionists who believe humans are special is that they seem to be ignoring or unaware of the fact that evolution is a continuum. At no point does one species simply become another species. It is simply the presence of time and absence of generation-by-generation fossils that allow us to declare one group such-and-such species and another group this-and-that species.

So think about this. It’s generally estimated that humans, as we anatomically know them today, came about around 250,000 years ago. (It’s 100,000 by other estimates, but let’s just pick a number, so in this case we’ll say 250K.) That doesn’t mean that in 250,000 B.C. we went from one Homo primate to Homo sapiens. It was gradual. Now, if we stretch things out, it becomes easier to make distinctions. So 500,000 years ago, let’s say, it’s pretty clear there are no humans walking the Earth. How about 400,000? Nope, still none. 300,000? We’re closer, but humans aren’t there yet. Then we get to 250,000 and it looks like we’ve got humans, more or less. But what if we had more exact fossils? Could we say 260,000? How about 255,437? Would that even make sense?

The answer is an emphatic “No”. The viable offspring of two sexually reproducing organisms isn’t a different species. Sure, we have things like mules and ligers, but those only go to the point being made here – they aren’t viable. And if they were viable, it wouldn’t be worth declaring them different species. It’s all a continuum.

So the question to put to theistic evolutionists who believe humans are special is, At what point did we become special? If it was in 255,437 B.C., then why weren’t the parents of that human special? What made them fundamentally different from their offspring?

Filed under: Evolution, Religions | Tagged: Theistic evolution |