For decades, evolutionists had argued that a child developing within the womb of his mother passed through stages of development that summarized the evolution of mankind, from fish-like creatures to the mature development of the human being. Evolutionists argued that, in the earliest stages of development within the womb, a child possessed physical features that were completely unnecessary to human development and only reflected stages through which the human race had passed in its evolutionary development. Such arguments were used for many decades by evolutionists when called upon to provide expert witness in courts of law. For them, what was in the womb was not truly human until very late in a woman's pregnancy. Like all of the fallacies related to evolution, their theory of human origin within the womb has proven deadly for millions of unborn children. Unwilling to be guided by true science, evolutionists denied the importance of critical features of human embryo development and have labeled them as "vestiges" of evolutionary development.
Evolutionists, like many physicians, have been misled concerning the importance of seemingly insignificant elements of the human anatomy. Not so many years ago, doctors believed that tonsils were vestiges or leftovers from evolution and were completely useless. More informed science and medical practices now clearly demonstrate their importance.[1] Being mislead by inferior science that supported opinions rather than facts, evolutionists have been messengers of misinformation. The facts demonstrate that the so-called evolutionary vestiges of the human embryo are not useless vestiges at all, but vital components for the survival of the child in the womb in its development.
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Pharyngeal Pouches (Gill Slits)
At one month, wrinkles in the skin of the human embryo may be observed at the front of neck where the "throat pouches" grow out as the embryo matures. Evolutionists historically referred to these wrinkles in the skin as "gills" or "gill slits" and were regarded as proof of human evolution. Evolutionists believed and taught that the embryo passed through phases of development that reflected human evolution that transpired over millions of years. Historically, they argued that development in the womb was an abbreviated form of evolution with some of the features that were believed to characterize those long periods of human evolution. The folds or wrinkles in the area of the throat of the human embryo were believed, by evolutionists, to reflect the era when human development had only progressed to the form of a fish.[2] What evolutionists saw as symbols of the past, they regarded as useless vestiges.
What evolutionists have termed "gills" or "gill slits" in the human embryo are known as pharyngeal pouches[3] and are highly important to the development of the embryo. From these pouches, essential parts of the human anatomy develop. From the first pouch, the palatine tonsils form as important components in fighting disease. From the second pouch, the middle ear canals develop, and from the third and fourth pouches develop the parathyroid and thymus glands. Dispelling the error and misinformation of evolution with truth, one can hardly say that the throat pouches of the human embryo are "useless vestiges."[4]
In the lower extremities of the human embryo resides a tiny, yet important, sac. In chickens, the yoke contains the food that a fertilized egg needs to support the life of the growing chick. But human embryos grow from a food source supplied directly from the mother. If this is the case, it would appear that the "yolk sac" in the human embryo is unnecessary, in which case, the evolutionists may be right. Perish the thought! No, in this matter, the historic position of evolutionist is once again incorrect!
In adult human beings, blood cells are formed inside the bone marrow. In this way, the bone offers protection to blood cells that are very sensitive to radiation damage. But in the human embryo, a blood supply is needed when bones develop to form the bone marrow. In turn, the bone marrow will form the blood cells necessary for the developing child. The blood necessary to start this vital process is contained in the blood-forming sac . After it has served this temporary—but vital—function, the sac is easily discarded. Far from being a useless vestige, the blood-forming sac is necessary to the life and development of the human embryo.
The third and last organ of the human embryo dubbed to be a useless vestige by evolutionists is the coccyx, which they call a "tail." Given the fact that the theory of evolution suggests that in the distant past, ancestors of the human race did have tails, the advocates of this theory have regarded another lower appendage of the embryo to be evidence of their theory. But rather than being a useless organ, suggestive of haphazard mindless development, the coccyx or "tail" demonstrates the greatest of forethought and design. Indeed, it demonstrates the reality of a Creator.
The coccyx is one of the most important bones in the entire body. Anyone who had fallen to the ground and struck the tailbone realizes how important the tail of the spine is. At the very end of the spine are the sacrum and coccyx. The latter of these two bones is exposed in the human embryo, but throughout the development of the child in the womb, provides for one of the most distinguishing features of humanity—walking upright. In the embryo, the coccyx forms a point of muscle attachment necessary to walk upright and also to expel waste from the body. As early as one month, the coccyx may be seen in a human embryo. It is exposed because muscles and limbs have not yet been developed—something that will not occur until stimulated by the spine. As the spine grows, it is enveloped by the legs, resulting in the coccyx being encased within the body. Far from a "useless vestige"!
In the womb, the human embryo does not pass through an abbreviated evolutionary development. Rather, every aspect of this growing child suggests that he is not a matter of random chance, but a well-designed creation whose Creator was meticulous in his formation and the formation of the universe. There is nothing in the development of the human embryo that suggests chance, but rather miraculous design.
America and the world have been deceived by the charlatan claims of evolution and its advocates. At least Charles Darwin was honest enough in his Origin of Species (1859) to acknowledge that he did not have the evidence to support the theory, but he hoped succeeding generations would be successful where he had failed. Evolution has never had the evidence to support its wild and imaginative claims. In 1972, evolutionists Niles Eldredge and Stephen J. Gould publish their thought on evolution, insisting that Darwin's gradual evolutionary theory never did have the evidence to support it claims.[5] Rather than chance, the human embryo and all of creation demonstrates the extreme involvement of a loving Creator.
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[1] Gary Parker, Creation: Facts of Life (Green Forest, AK: Master Books, 2004), 47f.
[2] Evolutionist believed the human embryo passed through a summarized form of evolution in the womb. In an attempt to describe this form of recapitulation, evolutionists summarized their thought with the pithy statement: "Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny." Parker, Creation, 53-54.
[3] These are sometimes referred to as "throat pouches."
[4] Parker, Creation, 50-51.
[5] "Punctuated equilibria: An Alternative to Phyletic Gradualism," in T.J.M. Schopf, ed., Models in Paleobiology (San Francisco: Freeman, Cooper and Company), 82-115. Strangely enough, Eldredge and Gould argued evolution had to come by huge leaps and bounds. As for evidence, never mind; evolutionists do not need any.
