The Punctuation Mechanism
In its present state, the punctuated theory of evolution explains living populations that exhibit no change over very long periods of time as having remained in a kind of "equilibrium." According to this claim, evolutionary changes take place in very narrow populations and at very short intervals that interrupt-or in other words, "punctuate" the equilibrium. Since the population is such a narrow one, natural selection quickly favors large mutations, and the emergence of a new species is thus made possible.

According to this theory, a reptile species, for example, can remain unchanged for millions of years. However, one small group of reptiles that split away from this species in some way is subjected to a series of intense mutations, for some reason that is not explained. These mutations endow those individuals with some advantage (and there is no instance of a beneficial mutation). They are quickly selected within this narrow group. The group of reptiles evolves quickly, and may even turn into mammals. Since this entire process is so very rapid and takes place with a relatively small number of creatures within a narrow time frame, few if any fossil traces are left behind.

As close inspection reveals, this theory was proposed as an answer to the question of "How can an evolutionary process happen so fast as to leave no fossil traces behind?"

In reply, the theory makes two fundamental assumptions:

1. The assumption that macro-mutations-in other words, wide-ranging mutations that cause major changes in living things' genetic information-bestow an advantage and also produce new genetic information.

2. The assumption that small animal populations have a genetic advantage.

However, both are at odds with the scientific facts.

Some Evolutionists even Believe that a Bird Can Hatch from a Reptile's Egg

The fossil record has definitively shown that evolution never took place. But this hasn't interrupted the zeal of evolutionists, some of whom continue to imagine the existence of transitional forms as a way out. Others try to defend evolution with highly improbable explanations.

One of the evolutionists' strangest claims was their theory of the "hopeful monster." Because no transitional forms have been discovered, evolutionists have been under increasing pressure and some claimed that there is no need for transitional forms, because the changes happened not in gradual stages, but all at once.

In the 1930's, an evolutionist scientist by the name of Otto Schindewolf claimed that the first bird hatched from a reptile egg. This, he thought, explained the transition of reptiles into birds. According to his irrational claim, this kind of sudden change would leave no fossil traces, so the problem of having to come up with any proof was overcome. One would expect that such an embarrassing claim had to be covered up, but in later years, some evolutionists accepted it and even elaborated on it. In 1940, the Berkeley University geneticist Richard Goldschmidt announced his new theory:a megaevolution in which one life form suddenly emerged completely out of a different one. He called these suddenly emerging new creatures "hopeful monsters." With this theory, he showed his acceptance of Schindewolf's extreme example of the first bird hatching from a reptile egg. 1

According to the "hopeful monster" theory, a feathered creature hatched from an egg laid by a reptile, and thus became the first bird. But the proponents of this theory give no proof or logical explanation whatsoever for this story; they simply accept it.

Let's assume that the first chapter of this impossible story actually took place. Let us accept the proposition that, one day and for no reason, a bird hatched out of a reptile's egg. Could it survive under such conditions? There would be no other birds around to feed it and look after its needs. But even supposing this did occur, could a bird that hatched by chance from a reptile egg become the ancestor of all subsequent generations of birds? For this to happen, for our story to continue, yet another such chance event has to take place: This first bird must find a mate also hatched suddenly by chance from another reptile egg. Otherwise, the "bird" characteristics would become recessive, and eventually, be bred out of existence by constant cross-breeding with pure reptiles. Only then they can mate and produce new birds. There is no difference between what we have described above and the fantastic events in a children's cartoon. And to believe such fantasy shows a serious breakdown in one's reasoning ability.

Actually, such faulty reasoning is the inheritance Charles Darwin left to modern evolutionists. Darwin claimed that in the course of time, bears that swam a great deal turned into whales-thus solving in a practical way, as far as he was concerned, the problem of how sea mammals first came into being. In his article entitled "Roadblocks to Whale Evolution," biologist Frank Sherwin writes:

Indeed, one encounters many bizarre explanations for the origin of the species when such strange fiction grips biology. A popular contemporary "just so" story tells how land mammals ventured back into the ancient seas and became whales. The idea was first presented by Darwin in the first edition of his book, Origin of Species. The naturalist [i.e., Darwin] stated: "I can see no difficulty in a race of bears being rendered, by natural selection, more and more aquatic in their habits, with larger and larger mouths, till a creature was produced as monstrous as a whale." Interestingly, Darwin retracted this example in all later editions of his book.

This has not stopped later evolutionists. For example, the ancient ancestors of whales, writes the late Sir Gavin de Beer, ". . . had dentitions enabling them to feed on large animals, but some took to preying on fish and rapidly evolved teeth like sharks. . . . Next, some whales preyed on small cuttlefish and evolved a reduced dentition. Finally the whalebone whales, having taken to feeding on enormous numbers of small shrimps, also evolved rapidly." 2

The only difference between Schindewolf and Goldschmidt on the one hand and Darwin on the other is that the first two say that a different species hatched suddenly from an egg, while the latter claimed that a bear who goes in and out of the water gradually turns into a whale. Although 150 years separates them, there's been no development or progress in their information or the logic with which they shape those facts.

Do you believe this theory has anything to do with science? Or if not, are these stories derived from Greek mythology or fairy tales? What is worrisome is that some scientists sincerely believe these evolutionist tales and think that they solve all objections to "evolution." These examples only show how deeply they are under Darwinism's spell.

1- Steven M. Stanley, Macroevolution: Pattern and Process, (New York: W H Freeman & Co, 1980), p. 159.

2- Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species: A Facsimile of the First Edition (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1964), p. 184, and Sir Gavin de Beer, Atlas of Evolution (London: Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd., 1964), cited by Frank Sherwin, "Scientific Roadblocks to Whale Evolution" Institute for Creation Research, "Vital Articles on Science/Creation" October 1998, Impact No: 304.