By Dr. John Sanford (Cornell University), and Chris Rupe (Feed My Sheep Foundation),
At the 2016 National Conference on Christian Apologetics, Dr. John Sanford will be discussing the claims of ape-to-man evolution. Join Dr. Sanford, and 60+ speakers, as we discuss many other topics relevant to the Christian faith and its truthfulness, October 13-15.
Since the time of Darwin, many people have sought evidence of ape-to-man evolution. Periodically, unusual bones have been discovered, which have been claimed to represent the remains of evolutionary ape-to-man intermediates. In the popular press these evolutionary intermediates have been called “apemen”, or “cavemen”, or “missing links”, but in the scientific realm these reputed transitional forms are referred to as “hominin”. Various hominin bones have been held up as undeniable proof of ape-to-man evolution. Artistic renditions of the various hominin types appear in every textbook, and artistic replicas are on display in every natural history museum. Consequently, most of the world considers human evolution a simple scientific fact.
We have spent four years carefully examining the scientific literature on this subject. We have discovered that within this field (paleoanthropology), virtually all the famous hominin types have either been discredited or are still being hotly contested. Within this field, not one of the hominin types have been definitively established as being in the lineage from ape to man. This includes the famous fossils that have been nicknamed Lucy, Ardi, Sediba, Habilis, Naledi, Hobbit, Erectus, and Neaderthal. Well-respected people in the field openly admit that their field is in a state of disarray. It is very clear that the general public has been deceived regarding the credibility and significance of the reputed hominin fossils.
We will show that the actual fossil evidence is actually most consistent with the following three points. 1) The hominin bones reveal only two basic types; ape bones (Ardi and Lucy), and human bones (Naledi, Hobbit, Erectus, and Neaderthal). 2) The ape bones and the human bones have been repeatedly found together in the same strata – therefore both lived at the same basic timeframe (the humans were apparently hunting and eating the apes). 3) Because the hominin bones were often found in mixed bone beds (with bones of many animal species in the same site), numerous hominin types represent chimeras (mixtures) of ape and human bones (i.e., Sediba, Habilis).
We will also present evidence that the anomalous hominin bones that are of the human (Homo) type most likely represent isolated human populations that experienced severe inbreeding and subsequent genetic degeneration. This best explains why these Homo bones display aberrant morphologies, reduced body size, and reduced brain volume.
We conclude that the hominin bones do not reveal a continuous upward progression from ape to man, but rather reveal a clear separation between the human type and the ape type. The best evidence for any type of intermediate “ape-men” derived from bones collected from mixed bone beds (containing bones of both apes and men), which led to the assembly of chimeric skeletons. Therefore, the hominin fossils do not proof human evolution at all. Those hominin bones classified as Homo actually suggest that highly inbred human populations underwent a type of reverse evolution (genetic degeneration). We suggest that the field of paleoanthropology has been seriously distorted by a very strong ideological agenda and by very ambitious personalities.
