<<The reason that your friend is so perplexed is that he has not only shown
that he has not studied the area very well, he has done this by skipping over
several other forms which exist between Basilosaurus and the Mesonychids. >>
Hmm, I guess your list of people who have not studied the area includes
Fordyce:
"Though evolutionists suspect that basilosaurids descended from the earlier
Protocetidae, experts admit there is a "lack of clear ancestor to
descendant relationships." R. Ewan Fordyce, "Cetacean Evolution and
Eocene/Oligocene Environments" in Donald R. Prothero and William A.
Berggren, eds., _Eocene-Oligocene Climatic and Biotic Evolution_
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992), 376.
Another ignoramus is Thewissen, whom you once relied on:
"It is now clear that several derived archaeocetes, such as _Basilosaurus_,
did not give rise to modern taxa." J. G. M. Thewissen, "Phylogenetic Aspects
of Cetacean Origins: A Morphological Perspective," _Journal of Mammalian
Evolution_2(3): 173 (1995)."
Dimwits.
<<No where does the Bible say animals will reproduce after their kind. It
says God created animals after their kind. There is a big difference between
the two.>>
You bring up a good point (Yes, this is JB talking!). I haven't visited this
issue in quite awhile, as you have, so I'd like to hear what you think of the
following:
Even though the text doesn't indicate fixity explicitly, the question is
whether it is implied. Two items strike me on this point:
1. "After their kind" does at least indicate a separatism among species at the
point of creation, and from God's hand [no means are discussed, so it is an
open question at this point]. One could easily infer that from the point of
creation, a "kind" is distinct, designed...perhaps even fixed. While one is
not compelled in this direction, there is certainly nothing in the text
pointing toward the opposite view.
2. In 1:22, God says "let the fowl multiply in the earth." Fowl were created
according to a "kind" (v. 21), and now they are told to multiply AS FOWL. This
indicates a fixity as fowl fill the earth. Their example is evidence of fixity
elsewhere in creation.
So what do you think?
Jim