evolution Archives

Answers in Genesis is Threatened by Human Fossil Discoveries

February 7, 2021October 20, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

Happy Sunday and welcome to the latest installment in my series Creationists Don’t Understand Human Evolution! This week I will be responding to the three Answers in Genesis articles under their category “Hominids” in which the AiG authors contend with “the news” each time it “eagerly reports the discovery of another link in the supposed chain of hominid evolution.” In my opinion, this whole category seems pretty incomplete, as it only covers two fossil discoveries as well as an ongoing debate between paleoanthropologists. I don’t normally respond to each article separately, but the first of these three has virtually nothing in common with the other two, so I’ll have to tackle that one on its own. The articles are:

Book Review: The Jesuit and the Skull by Amir D. Aczel

November 15, 2020August 13, 2022Rebekah Kohlhepp

After reading The Demon-Haunted World, I was hoping to find a book that was a bit more fast-paced before moving onto something else academic. I started reading a book that I had had on my shelves for a few months: The Peking Man is Missing by Claire Taschdjian. The Peking Man is a group of fossils that has gone through several names but is now classified as Homo erectus.

Answers in Genesis Doesn’t Understand “Ape-Men”

September 13, 2020October 31, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

This week I are returning to my series where I examine the claims of everyone’s favorite creationists, Answers in Genesis, about human evolution. The purpose of this series is twofold: I want to learn more about paleoanthropology myself and how to better write about the subject, and I want to act as a resource for anyone who is questioning AiG’s claims but doesn’t know enough about human evolution to refute them.

37 Best Cosmos Quotes

August 23, 2020October 31, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

If you read my review of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos two weeks ago, then you’ll know that it became one of my all-time favorite books the moment I read it. I felt as though Sagan took topics that we think of everyday, not taking the time to really ponder, and made them spectacular. This is the power of his writing. Thus, this week I am passing him the metaphorical mic. I hope you enjoy these 37 great quotes from Cosmos as much as I did!

3 Ways That Answers in Genesis Doesn’t Understand Australopithecus sediba

August 16, 2020October 4, 2022Rebekah Kohlhepp

It’s August 15th, 2008. You’re nine-year-old Matthew Berger, and you’re in Gladysvale, South Africa, looking for ancient human fossils with your paleoanthropologist dad, Lee Berger. “Okay, go find fossils!” says your dad. Only moments later, you find a hominid collarbone sticking out of a rock. Your dad curses in shock after seeing all the other hominid bones lying around it: a tooth and part of a jaw, among others. He goes on to spend years studying these fossils among his colleagues, and he names it Australopithecus sediba.

Fast forward: It’s August 15th, 2020, and you’re a 24-year-old woman with an interest in paleoanthropology. You’re writing a blog post about Australopithecus sediba for a series defending finds like the Bergers’ from the heinous claims of anti-scientists. Hours into your research, you see an article telling you that Matthew’s find was in fact made on this very day, twelve years ago. You don’t believe in coincidences or fate, but it makes you smile nonetheless.

Answers in Genesis Doesn’t Understand Human Evolution

August 2, 2020October 31, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

Since I first read the story of the groundbreaking 1974 discovery of possible human ancestor Lucy, I have been captivated by the study of human origins. I felt as if during my atheistic indignation at the fantastical creation stories in the bible, paleoanthropology took my hand and showed me that there is an entire field of study that strives to learn where humans really came from. I’ve been baffled that more people weren’t devouring the findings of fossil hunters. I’m afraid that that might be partly because creationist teachings have been normalized, at least in the United States. I want to help break down, clearly and understandably, why creationism holds no answers about human origins whatsoever.

Why Paleoanthropology Leads to Atheism

May 31, 2020December 23, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

Interest in human origins should be more widespread regardless of which worldview it entails, because it is the study of where we came from. Especially for anyone who was once religious and entranced by the story of God creating Adam and Eve, your curiosity about our origins should increase, not decrease, significantly, when you leave the religion and discover that only science can answer your questions.

Book Review: The Strange Case of the Rickety Cossack by Ian Tattersall

May 24, 2020September 4, 2023Rebekah Kohlhepp

Three weeks ago, I reviewed my first ever Ian Tattersall book, Masters of the Planet. As I said then, Ian Tattersall is the curator of the American Museum of Natural History’s Spitzer Hall of Human Origins. He’s been involved in paleoanthropology since the 60’s, and his books combine his undeniable expertise with just enough of his own evidence-based opinions and a dash of wit.

Why Fish Don’t Have Fur: Reading My Favorite Creationist Children’s Book

May 17, 2020November 4, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

Have you ever been going along throughout your day, minding your own business, when suddenly you were bombarded with an absolute fossil of a buried memory? Or rather, you get bits and pieces of a memory of an old book, movie, or TV show? When this happens, it can be next to impossible to think about anything else until you remember exactly what it is that your brain is reminding you of.

Book Review: Masters of the Planet by Ian Tattersall

May 3, 2020November 4, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

If you have been following my blog for a while, then you might know that I’m becoming a bit of a fanatic for paleoanthropology. The study of human origins has taken over my bookshelf, and I’ve found myself daydreaming about going back to human origins exhibits in museums. This is easy to do each time I get really lost in another book on the topic. This time, that book was Ian Tattersall’s Masters of the Planet: The Search for Our Human Origins.