Wrong Starting Point, Wrong Answer

2 Timothy 3:16-17

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”

The gastornis – a large, extinct, flightless bird – was prowling the forest. Some little creatures called propalaeotheria were behaving like little horses and eating grapes in the afternoon sun. The juice made them somewhat tipsy. Suddenly, the gastornis sprang, running, catching a little propalaeotherium in its beak, shaking it dead, then eating it. That was how one evolution documentary began. Yet, no propalaeuotheria were hurt in the making of the film. That is because the film was an animation. It was all made up by the producers of the BBC series Walking with Prehistoric Beasts.

But was there any real science involved? Surprisingly, the answer is yes. In the Messel Pit in Germany – a well-known fossil graveyard – there was found a fossil gastornis, six fossil propalaeotheria and one fossil bunch of grapes. Using this actual discovery, the filmmakers wove a fiction, lasting about 20 minutes.

A great deal of evolutionary science is like this. Scientists become storytellers, with a clear idea of what their conclusions will be. The evidence is lined up in such a way that it leads to that conclusion, whether it wants to or not.

The issue is not one of evidence. As creationists, we have frequently pointed out that genuine scientific evidence is more consistent with a starting point of biblical truth than of an evolutionary starting point.  But evidence makes no sense by itself until it is interpreted against a worldview. It is presupposition of the truth of Scripture that leads to genuine understanding.

Author: Paul F. Taylor

Father, we know that all of creation points to You and is understood because of who You are. Amen.

Ref: Taylor, P.F. (2015), Where Birds Eat Horses (Castle Rock, WA: J6D Publications), pp. 1-6. Image: Tim Bertelink, CC BY-SA 4.0.