Creation Science Rebuttals
Creation Magazine (Ex Nihilo)
Hopeful Monsters
Ex Nihilo, Volume 1, Issue 1, June 1978
Review by Greg Neyman
© Old Earth Ministries
Like the article just before this one in the first issue of Ex Nihilo, the article argues against transitional forms.1
At the time of its writing, an evolutionist, Stephen Jay Gould, was predicting that the "hopeful monster" theory would come back. This basically says a reptile lays and egg, and out pops a bird. It advocates instantaneous change. Naturally, such a theory is not correct...but there are important lessons that can be learned from it. And, typical of young earth creationists, the author of this article, Carl Wieland, is guilty of a process known as quote mining (you can read Gould's original article here, and the Talk Origins quote mine claim here).
Gould was examining if Darwinian evolution was still valid if there were these abrupt changes, and he was examining the true meaning of the hopeful monster term. He did not agree with everything that the hopeful monster inventor claimed.
Yes, Gould did admit the fossil record is not complete. It never will be, as all transitional forms will never be discovered. Thus this argument will remain with us forever.
For more reading
1 Published on the web at answersingenesis.org/creation/v1/i1/hopeful.asp
If you are not a Christian, and you have been holding out on making a decision for Christ because the Church always preached a message that was contrary to what you saw in the scientific world, then rest assured that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, and you can believe in Christ and receive salvation, while still believing in an old earth. Click here for more.
Are you a Christian who believes in young earth creationism? Now that we have shown the many difficulties of the young earth creation science model in this and many other articles, how does this impact your Christian life? If you are a young earth creationism believer, click here.
Related Articles
To learn more
about old earth creationism, see
Old Earth Belief,
or check out the article
Can You Be A
Christian and Believe in an Old Earth?
Feel free to check out more of this website. Our goal is to
provide rebuttals to the bad science behind young earth creationism,
and honor God by properly presenting His creation.