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Apologetics Press, Inc. 230 Landmark Drive Montgomery, Alabama 36117-2752 © Copyright 2003 ISBN: 0-932859-58-5 Printed in China All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles or critical re- views. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Brad Harrub (1970 - ) and Bert Thompson (1949 - ) The Truth About Human Origins Includes bibliographic references, and subject and name indices. ISBN 0-932859-58-5 1. Creation. 2. Science and religion. 3. Apologetics and Polemics I. Title 213—dc21 2003111100 DEDICATION On occasion, there are certain individuals who quietly step into our lives—and who leave such an indelible imprint that we find our existence changed forever. This book is dedicated to four such individuals, whom we never will be able to repay for their unwavering moral and fi- nancial support of our work, and who expect nothing in re- turn for their incredible generosity—except our continued pledge to teach and defend the Truth. This book (and numerous others like it) never could have come to fruition without the ongoing support of these two Christian couples who, although separated by many miles, walk side by side in their combined efforts to ensure the suc- cess of Apologetics Press. This side of heaven, few will know the full impact of their sacrifices. Fortunately, God does. TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication Foreword . vii Introduction . 1 Chapter 1 — The “Record of the Rocks” [Part I] . 3 Biological Taxonomyand Human Evolution . 4 Did Man Evolve from the Apes? . 10 An Examination of the “Record of the Rocks”. 12 Aegyptopithecus zeuxis . 18 Dryopithecus africanus . 18 Ramapithecus brevirostris . 20 Orrorin tugenensis . 26 Australopithecus (Ardipithecus) ramidus . 27 Australopithecus anamensis. 28 Ardipithecus ramidus kadabba . 29 Kenyanthropus platyops . 33 Chapter2—The“Record of the Rocks” [Part II] . 41 Australopithecus afarensis . 41 Lucy’s Rib Cage . 46 Lucy’s Pelvis and Gender. 47 Lucy’s Appendages—Made for Bi- pedalism, or Swinging from Trees?. 50 Australopithecine Teeth: More Evidence that Lucy was Arboreal. 53 Australopithecine Ears: Human-like or Ape-like? . 54 Lucy: Hominid or Chimp? . 55 Australopithecus africanus/ Australopithecus boisei . 57 The Laetoli Footprints . 65 Homo habilis/Homo rudolfensis . 68 Homo erectus/Homo ergaster . 75 Homo sapiens idaltu . 80 -i- What Does the “Record of the Rocks” Really Show?. 83 The Parade of Fossil Errors . 85 NeanderthalMan. 86 Nebraska Man . 88 Piltdown Man . 89 Java Man . 90 Rhodesian Man . 91 Conclusion . 92 Chapter3—Molecular Evidence of Human Origins. 99 Chromosomal Counts . 103 Real Genomic differences . 105 “Mitochondrial Eve” . 111 The Demise of Mitochondrial Eve . 116 The Molecular Clock —Dating Mitochondrial Ancestors . 121 Serious Errors in Mitochondrial DNAData in the Scientific Literature. 126 Neanderthal vs. Human DNA— Is It a Match? . 128 Chapter 4 — The Problem of Gender and Sexual Reproduction. 135 “Intellectual Mischief and Confusion”— Or Intelligent Design? . 138 From Asexual to Sexual Reproduction— The Origin of Sex. 142 The Lottery Principle . 143 The Tangled Bank Hypothesis . 145 The Red Queen Hypothesis . 147 The DNA Repair Hypothesis . 148 Why Sex? . 151 The 50% Disadvantage . 159 Mars and Venus,or X and Y? . 163 Differences Among VariousSpecies . 164 -ii- Differences in Animal and Human Sexuality . 167 The Complexity of the Human Reproductive System. 170 Anatomical Differences Between Human Males and Females . 173 Cellular Differences Between Human Males and Females . 175 The Future of Human Reproduction . 178 Chapter5—TheProblem of Language . 183 Evolutionary Theories on the Origin of Speech . 184 Adam—The First Human to Talkand Communicate . 186 Tower of Babel—and The Universal Language . 188 The Brain’s Language Centers—Created by God . 189 Anatomy of Speech . 192 Birds of a Feather—Or Naked Ape? . 194 Complexity of Language—Uniquely Human . 202 Conclusion . 205 Chapter6—TheProblem of the Brain . 209 Introduction . 209 History of the Brain . 212 The Evolution of the Brain . 215 Growing Neurons . 237 The Brain Versusa Computer . 241 TwelveCranialNerves. 242 Conclusion . 244 Chapter 7 — The Evolution of Consciousness [Part I] . 247 The Origin of Life . 248 The Origin of the Genetic Code. 251 The Origin of Sex. 252 - iii - The Origin of Language and Speech . 253 The Origin of Consciousness— “The Greatest of Miracles” . 253 Importance of Human Consciousness. 253 “Mystery” of Human Consciousness . 256 Consciousness in General . 257 Consciousness and the Brain . 259 Consciousness and the Mind . 260 Consciousness Defined . 262 Why—and How—Did Consciousness Arise? . 271 Why Did Consciousness Arise? . 272 Why Do We Need Consciousness? . 276 How Did Consciousness Arise? . 286 Evolutionary Bias and the Origin of Human Consciousness . 296 What Does All of This have to do with the Origin of Human Consciousness? . 301 Radical Materialism—A “Fishy” Theory . 306 Do Animals Possess Consciousness? . 313 The Brain, the Mind, and Human Consciousness . 328 Materialism, Supernaturalism, and the Brain/Mind Connection . 330 The Concept of Mind. 333 Chapter8—TheEvolution of Consciousness [Part II] . 347 Theories of the Origin of Human Consciousness . 347 The “Hard Problem” of Human Consciousness . 350 “Failure is not an Option” . 352 Theories of Human Consciousness. 353 Dualism. 354 Monism . 361 Psychical Monism. 363 -iv- Radical Materialism (Functionalism) . 364 Panpsychism . 373 Epiphenomenalism . 375 Identity Theory. 382 Nonreductive Materialism/ Emergent Materialism . 387 Dualist-Interactionism . 393 Conclusion. 419 Chapter 9 — The Problem of Skin Color and Blood Types . 429 What is a “Race”?. 435 Why So Many Racial Characteristics? . 439 The Origin of Man’s “Colors” . 443 Other Factors. 448 Differences Between Human and Animal Blood Types. 453 Components of Human Blood . 454 Different Blood Types . 457 The Adam and Eve Issue . 458 Humans, Animals, and Blood . 459 What about Blood Typesof Other Animals?. 459 What about Hibernation? . 460 What about Birds? . 461 What about Fish? . 461 Conclusion. 461 Chapter 10 — Conclusion . 463 References . 467 Subject Index . 507 Name Index . 513 -v- Ever since Copernicus decided to put the Sun at the center of the solar system, various scientists and philosophers have worked overtime in their efforts to diminish the role of human- kind in the Universe. As a result, we have gone from being the crowning glory of God’s creation, to a hairless ape stuck on a small planet circling a mediocre sun in the distant reaches of one arm of a single galaxy that is one among billions of others. Some of the most widely read authors in the evolutionary camp (such as Carl Sagan, Stephen Jay Gould, Steven Weinberg,and Richard Dawkins) have repeatedly emphasized the lack of our uniqueness, and the “luck” supposedly related to our very ex- istence (mundane as it may be). Thus, man is viewed as occupying neither the center of the Universe, nor any sort of preeminent place in the living world; rather, we are nothing more, nor less, than the product of the same natural, evolutionary processes that created all of the “other animals” around us. In short, we are at best a “cosmo- logical accident.” Or, to express the idea in the words of the late, eminent evolutionist of Harvard, George Gaylord Simp- son: “Man is the result of a purposeless and natural process that did not have him in mind. He was not planned. He is a state of matter, a form of life, a sort of animal, and a species of the Or- der Primates, akin nearly or remotely to all of life and indeed to all that is material” (1967, p. 345). According to the most extreme version of this view, it is the utmost arrogance on man’s part to identify any characteristic that distinguishes him from members of the animal kingdom. Any differences we might think we perceive are merely a mat- ter of degree, and for all the things we may do better, there are other things we certainly do worse. Other primates, in partic- ular, are worthy of coequality because they are supposed to - vii - be our nearest living relatives. Some even have gone so far as to suggest that this kinship puts a burden on us to make laws granting special rights to apes (Cavalieri and Singer, 1993; cf. Maddox, 1993). The problem with such extreme positions is that they pro- vide no reasonable stopping point. If we include other primates in a “global community of equals,” then why not include all mammals, all animals, all living things? If apes’ rights advo- cates can devise criteria that divide humans and apes from the other animals, then is it not.