After Darwin published The Origin of Species in 1859, many people began thinking that all forms of life had a common ancestor. Scientists came to believe that over long periods of time molecules had turned into man. Although they admitted that there were gaps in the “evolutionary tree,” they believed that these gaps would be filled as scientific knowledge increased.
Instead, just the opposite has happened. As scientific knowlege has progressed, the obvious “missing links” (in-between steps as one type of plant or animal becomes another) in this hypothetical tree have multiplied enormously. Furthermore, the difficulties in “bridging” these gaps have become even more apparent. For example, in Darwin's day, all life was classified into two categories (or kingdoms): animals and plants. Today it has been necessary to divide life into at least five radically different kingdoms, only two of which are animals and plants. This does not even include viruses, which are complex and unique in their own way. In the 1800s the animal kingdom was divided into 4 animal phyla (basic body designs); today there are about 40. Yet all of these different kingdoms and phyla appear suddenly in the fossil record with no intermediate forms, exactly what one would expect to find according to the Genesis account.
From A Closer Look at the Evidence by Kleiss, August 18.
