by Bill Nugent
Article #50
Defenders of evolution have pointed to vestigial organs as evidence to support their theory. A vestige is a body part that has no useful function to an organism. The organism has supposedly evolved new organs or organ systems and the obsolete body part remains as a useless appendage.
Evolutionists of an earlier day listed over 200 structures in the human body that they regarded as vestiges, including the thyroid and pituitary glands! (The Collapse of Evolution by Scott M. Huse p. 107)
Over the years the list has shrunk to almost zero as functions for “vestiges” are discovered by science. Tonsils were once considered vestiges and removal of tonsils was common until medical science observed the detrimental effects of tonsil removal. This, however, was not the only time that doctors outsmarted themselves by relying on evolutionary theory.
Scientists, microbiologists and surgeons have often used evolution to buttress their own ideas about how the body functions or how patients are to be treated. I heard on the radio that surgeons often removed a certain extraneous piece of cartilage from the knee during surgery. They regarded this piece of cartilage as a vestige perhaps from the time our ancestors supposedly walked on all fours. The results of this surgical procedure were disastrous for the patients who over time suffered from knee instability. That cartilage was not a vestige after all!
But what about those few body parts –whether on human or animal– that really do seem to be vestigial? The existence of apparent vestiges can be said to be evidence that merely supports but does not prove evolution. Vestiges don’t prove evolution with any high degree of certainty because vestiges can also be explained from a creationist viewpoint.
A Christian creationist such as myself will explain that vestiges and any other design flaws in organisms are a result of the curse that came upon creation as a result of the fall of man into sin (Gen. 3:17-18; Romans 8:20-22). The curse on creation which consists of suffering, decay, death, genetic degradation and design defects in organisms came upon all creation as the result of sin and rebellion against God. Vestiges are part of the curse. The phenomena of vestiges therefore fit into the Christian worldview.
Isaiah 11:6-9 reveals the changes in organisms that will occur in the future when all creation experiences full redemption after the second coming of Christ. The curse will be lifted.
The evidence against evolution is much more certain in its logical impact. Evolutionists are fond of saying “From pond scum to you by way of the zoo.” A century ago that remark may have been persuasive but now science knows that pond scum (algae) is incredibly complex. Just the DNA of single-celled algae is so incredibly complex that it could not possibly have formed by chance. The complexity of algae is measurable and the probability (improbability) of chance formation is calculable.
Morowitz, Crick and others have done probability analyses and found that the probability of chance formation of single-celled organisms is so remote as to be regarded as impossible. Biomolecular complexity alone is enough to conclusively refute evolution.
If that were not enough to refute evolution, the science of genetics has shown that genetic mutation (the supposed mechanism of evolution in the “zoo”) virtually never adds information to the DNA but only deletes information or scrambles pre-existing base pairs. Evolution therefore has no mechanism for uphill change in organisms. This is further persuasive evidence that the theory of evolution is untenable.
The fossil record is evidence that also argues that evolution did not occur. The fossil record with its lack of transitional forms renders the theory of evolution probably false. It doesn’t render it certainly false because an evolutionist can claim that the transitional fossils haven’t been found yet. However, the fossil record remains on balance a strong source of evidence against evolution.
Many people, even prominent scientists, are coming to the conclusion that an intelligent designer created life and this designer is none other than God Himself!