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Lab Donald S. Robertson, Ph.D. Chairman, Dept, of Science, Biola Bible College
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Evolution L ast month we saw that the evolu tionist has been unable to estab lish a source for the type of changes needed in the formation of a new form. Now let us turn to a consideration of the role the environ ment is thought to play in the evolu tionary mechanism. The Role of the Environment In the beginning of our discussion of the proposed mechanism of evolu tion, it was pointed out that the evo lutionist not only has to demonstrate a mechanism for producing satisfac tory variations, but he must also be able to demonstrate that these vari ations can actually interact with the environment in such a way as to in sure their incorporation in the in cipient species. According to the evo lutionist changes that enable an organism to be better suited for its environment are accumulated until finally there are sufficient differ ences to produce a new species. Facts from the Fossils Before we leave the evidence from similarity and variation there should be considered one fact which has come to the fore as the result of studying these two factors. This is the fact of gaps! The evolutionist early pictured evolution as a grad ual process and therefore it was ex pected that new forms would be connected to the parent species by a whole series of gradual steps. How ever, it was soon recognized that among present day plants and ani mals these intermediate ( or transi tory) forms were missing. This they said was expected because they had long since died out. Therefore, they turned to the fossil record to find the “missing links.” But as more and more remains were discovered it became apparent that the gaps were not being filled. So that today we can read statements like this: “ The facts are that many species and genera, indeed the ma jority, do appear suddenly in the record, differing sharply and in many
(Part Six)
ways- from any earlier group and that this appearance of discontin uity [gaps] becomes more common the higher the level until it is vir tually universal as regards orders and all higher steps in the taxonomic hierarchy.” * . . . “ This regular ab sence of transitional forms is not con fined to mammals, but is an almost universal phenomenon as has long been noted by paleontologists. It is true of almost all orders, of all .classes of animals both vertebrates and in vertebrate. A fortiori, it is also true of the classes, themselves, and of all major animal phyla, and is appar ently also true of analogous cate gories of plants.” * Thus we see that in many cases there is not a grada tion between one group and the next most similiar one, as the evolutionist early expected. Expected Gaps From the Christian point of view these gaps are expected. We have seen that God created forms with the ability to vary but we have also seen that there is expected to be a limit to this variation for it was necessary for God to create new forms. These gaps to the Christians could then rep resent points where acts of creation took place. (A note of caution: The scientist is still seeking out fossil re mains and it is very likely that he will turn up a few that will fill some gaps existing today. It seems that the vast majority of these will be between lower categories of classi fication such as the species and gen era. This will in no way alter the Christian position. All this will mean is that in this particular instance the Christian will have to enlarge his concept of the amount of variation God permits within the created unit. The scientist thus helps the Christian in obtaining a true picture of what was involved in creation.) END. * George Gaylord Simpson, Tempo and Mode in Evolution, Columbia University Press, New York, 1944, pp. 99, 107.
Ebony in Iv o ry — Ivory Coast of French West Africa . . . fetishism rages unchecked . . . pioneer work at its worst—and best. (30 min.) Tom a, Child of the K iv o —Just a boy when he sees his first white man and hears the gospel; suffers fiery trials by the witch doctor; emerges an evangelist among his people. (30 min.) Faces o f In d ia —India has many faces . . . the missionary sees the one of despair . . . hopelessness . . . but a face that can be transformed with the gospel. (30 min.) All films availab le on Free-W ill Offering basis. For fu ll details write Dept. 25 K n4ervativej$apti4t F O R E I G N M I S S I O N A R Y S O C I E T Y
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