living fossils are perfect examples of Stasis - the basically unchanging nature of created kinds
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Both the fossil record and our everyday observations show an amazing stasis, or constancy of biological organisms for thousands of years.
The equally amazing diversity we see is contained within the boundaries of this stasis.
Stasis is completely compatible with the first law of genetics – that like produces like.
The entire system of classification of plants and animals is dependent on stasis.
If biological diversity had no limits, life would be a continuous blending of one kind into another, and we would have no way to distinguish or classify one type from another.
Stasis is the opposite of evolution.
I don’t mean evolution in the generic sense of the word, which simply means ‘change’. No one denies change.
I mean evolution in the most commonly used sense – the idea that one kind of life can change into another kind by ‘evolving’ through many small changes over long periods of time, and the accompanying idea that the most ‘simple’ forms of life evolved into more complex forms, from the first living cell to more complex multi-celled forms, clear up to mankind.
The continuous changes proposed by the hypothesis of evolution would logically blend into one another.
Even Darwin recognized this:
answersingenesis wrote in “God of the Gaps” “One problem really bothered Darwin when he wrote On the Origin of Species. In fact, he devoted two chapters to it. If minor variations in species have really produced all the vast differences we see today, where’s the evidence in the fossil record? Today, evolutionists are still looking.”
For example, for dinosaurs to evolve into birds, we should be able to find hundreds of intermediate forms – not just the gradual change of heavy, dense, scales into much lighter feathers, but arms into wings, heavy legs that could support tons of weight to tiny, skinny legs, snouts and toothy jaws into beaks, powerful, heavy tails into no tails except for the feathers, and so on and on.
Where are these intermediate forms in the fossil record?
Instead, what we find is distinct forms with NO undisputed intermediates – that’s why scientists are able to identify and classify fossils by genera and families.
Not only can they be identified, the ones that haven’t gone extinct are perfectly represented by living plants and animals that we see today. They haven’t changed at all. That’s why we call them “living fossils”.
That’s stasis.
Not surprisingly, we can see stasis and the limits of diversity all around us in living systems.
Even if the process of change is speeded up by artificial selection and man’s intervention in centuries of breeding experiments, the limits of diversity cannot be exceeded.
For example, look at the very large diversity of dog varieties that have been bred by selection for desired traits. Stasis is clear – they are still immediately identified as dogs.
Hundreds of varieties of apples are still apples. You get the point.
Even attempts at breaking the mold by hybridization still run up against limits to diversity. It’s another law of genetics – not just that like begets like, but that different kinds cannot interbreed. So there are also limits to hybridization. Stasis again – the opposite of evolution.
We can even see stasis at the molecular level. We now know, and are continually learning more, that the DNA and RNA in living cells are miraculously ‘programmed’ to maintain the status quo that had already been observed in the first law – that like begets like. Our DNA replication process can even repair damage to the code caused by toxins or radiation or other interferences. If the damage is so bad that it can’t be repaired, the individual will die – the ultimate extreme way to prevent one form from changing into another form. The entire reproductive process is designed to preserve each life form from changing into some other form.
If evolution is a failed hypothesis, what is the alternative?
We were created by God.
In his infinite wisdom, power, and love, God created all life. He created it with the vast potential for diversity, but within limits – one basic kind cannot change into another basic kind. I’m not using the term genus or species because those are man-made terms and distinctions. I’m just saying that God has drawn the lines for stasis – the preservation of basic life forms that cannot change into other forms.
I believe God deliberately set these limits to biological diversity so that anyone who really wants to see the Truth can easily see it. You don’t get oranges from pear trees. Evolution is a lie. How sad that the world has fallen for it.
“18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, being understood by what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their reasonings, and their senseless hearts were darkened.” Romans 1:18-21 NASB, emphasis mine
I love your article. Do I have your permission to translate it into French and post it on my blog?
I liked your reading of this piece. It would take me many times to read it out loud and listen for my mistakes. Then, for the final reading, I know I would goof up somewhere, and what would I do then? I don't think I remember studying this in my college biology classes, but most of them were evolution-based. Good reading, and I think it took less time for me to listen to it than to read it. (I read it first and should have timed myself to see how long it took me to read compared to your audio