Lucy, Australopithecus Afarensis, Seen Through A Biblical Worldview

While at the Creation Museum I had the opportunity to see a representation of the crowning jewel of human evolutionary thought, Lucy. Yet accompanying these bones were not the usual interpretations by modern science. At the Creation Museum, scientists and artists took the biblical worldview as a guide to understanding these bones. From personal experience, it was stunning. It was an amazing visual backed up by solid facts. This is one exhibit everyone should go out of their way to see, creationists and evolutionists alike. Below is a section of an article describing this monumental exhibit.

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Using the latest in holographic technology, the Creation Museum, as a part of its fifth anniversary celebration, has opened a new high-tech exhibit on human origins last Saturday [May 26, 2012]. With striking holograms, this state-of-the-art exhibit is designed to expose the scientific bankruptcy of the evolutionary interpretation of the famous so-called ape-woman “Lucy.”

Perhaps more than any other fossil, Lucy is presented as “exhibit A” for evolutionists in their attempt to show that humans evolved from an ape-like ancestor. Through the scientific research of the Creation Museum’s Dr. David Menton (PhD, biology, Brown University) and the artistic talents of Doug Henderson and his crew, the museum has created a stunning holographic refutation of Lucy. (The technical name for this Lucy creature found in Africa is Australopithecus afarensis.)

“I expect that scientists, both evolutionists and creationists, will make a trip to the Creation Museum to see this exceptional exhibit, not only because it refutes Lucy as an ancestor of ours, but also due to its use of remarkable holographic technology,” declared Ken Ham, president of Answers in Genesis and the museum.

In a highly visual way, the exhibit conclusively shows that the fossil bones of Lucy belong to a knuckle-walking, ape-like creature. Menton points out that many evolutionists such as the well-known researcher Donald Johanson, the discoverer of “Lucy,” admit that Lucy’s V-shaped mandible was very ape-like, nothing like that of a human. In addition, Israeli scientists reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science that it may not be our ancestor, for its lower jaw bone resembles a gorilla’s.

In the new museum exhibit, a number of Lucy heads have been created, cast from the same mold. Each head, however, is given different skin and eye coloration, as well as variations in the amount and color of hair. This was done to demonstrate how significant artistic license can be employed by researchers in interpreting what Lucy resembled as they “put flesh to the bones” of the creature. There simply isn’t enough information found in the fossil bones for anyone to determine what Lucy looked like.

“An imagination-rich artist can have a very powerful influence over what the viewer concludes about the evidence presented,” Menton observed. “That is one reason why our Lucy exhibit is placed in an area of the museum that demonstrates to visitors that a person’s starting point, or bias, influences their views.”

“Ultimately, with this excellent display, we want to show museum guests, once and for all, that this knuckle-walking creature needs to be discarded as a ‘missing link’ in human evolution,” Menton concluded.

Designer Henderson described the technology used in the exhibit, “We have used holograms of the actual bone models of Lucy, as opposed to simply exhibiting a 3D physical model. Holographers tell us this is the first time they have seen holography used to take a virtual ‘look inside’ a creature for the public to view. I call it a 3D X-ray.”

Every few months, the Creation Museum (located west of the Cincinnati Airport) adds new exhibits to present the case for the Bible’s authority and accuracy, including creation. Last year, Menton’s striking exhibit on homology—comparing humans to apes (and to other creatures)—used the technology of lasers to point out the differences between humans and animals. Menton’s latest exhibit may create even more of a stir in the origins debate, for Lucy is treated with near reverence by some scientists.

Saturdays with C.S. Lewis – Why you were brought to Narnia

 “Please Aslan, before we go, will you tell us when we can come back to Narnia again? Please. And oh, do, do, do, make it soon.”
“Dearest,” said Aslan very gently, “you and your brother will never come back to Narnia.”
“Oh, Aslan!!” said Edmund and Lucy both together in despairing voices.
“You are too old, children,” said Aslan, “and you must begin to come close to your own world now.”
“It isn’t Narnia, you know,” sobbed Lucy. “It’s you. We shan’t meet you there. And how can we live, never meeting you?”
“But you shall meet me, dear one,” said Aslan.
“Are — are you there too, Sir?” said Edmund.
“I am,” said Aslan. “But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.”

C.S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952; this edition: HarperCollins, 1994) 247.

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What a beautiful picture of God who wants us to know Him. Though Aslan is a fairy tale, the God of the bible is not. He has shown Himself most fully through the person of Jesus Christ and He desires to know you! Do you know Him?

1 Timothy 2:  This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

Your fellow worker in the field, Adam

Saturdays with C.S. Lewis – Aslan, You’re Bigger!

Lucy and Aslan

“And then—oh joy! For he was there: the huge Lion, shining white in the moonlight, with his huge black shadow underneath him. But for the movement of his tail he might have been a stone lion, but Lucy never thought of that. She never stopped to think whether he was a friendly lion or not. She rushed to him. She felt her heart would burst if she lost a moment. And the next thing she knew was that she was kissing him and putting her arms as far round his neck as she could and burying her face in the beautiful rich silkiness of his mane.
“Aslan, Aslan. Dear Aslan,” sobbed Lucy. “At last.”

The great beast rolled over on his side so that Lucy fell, half sitting and half lying between his front paws. He bent forward and just touched her nose with his tongue. His warm breath came all round her. She gazed up into the large wise face. “Welcome, child,” he said.
“Aslan,” said Lucy, “you’re bigger.” 
“That is because you are older, little one,” answered he. 
“Not because you are?” 
“I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger.”

C.S. Lewis, Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia The Chronicles of Narnia (1951, this edition Harper Collins, 1994) 141.

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It is my prayer that everyday you would be growing deeper in your relationship to the God of the universe. But as we see and understand Him more with each step, we also understand that there is infinitely more to look forward to! He is never changing, but we are always changing. He is unmovable, and we will forever be moving closer to him! One day we will look and see with eyes like Lucy, “Oh, what a huge God we serve”, but all the while knowing the closer we get to Him, the bigger He looks to us. Thank you C.S. for this analogy of understanding an infinitely awesome God!

Your fellow worker in the field,  Adam