Why would a creationist as myself mourn the death of a man like Dr. Gould? I guess I regard death as a tragedy for any person and especially for a person who most likely did not know God. I prefer not to speculate as to where the soul of Dr. Gould presently resides.

Dr. Gould was a smiley faced writer who undermined the faith of millions. I don't know if he ever repented and turned to Christ to receive forgiveness of his sins. The Bible says "'As I live!' declares the Lord God, 'I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways!......'" (Ezekiel 33:11 NAS).

Dr. Gould popularized a variation of evolution called "punctuated equilibrium." Punctuated equilibrium is the idea that evolution was not a gradual change in animals (as Darwin postulated) but that evolution proceeded in periods of radical change in animals followed by periods of stability.

Gould's theory was actually an attempt to refurbish UCal Berkeley professor Richard Goldschmidt's 1940's era "Hopeful Monster" theory. To illustrate the hopeful monster theory consider the hypothetical example of a lizard that lays an egg and out hatches a bird. In other words a lizard changes into a bird in one generation. But what will the bird mate with to produce offspring? There are no other birds on earth at the time that supposedly happened!

The science of genetics was not kind to either Goldschmidt's or Dr. Gould's theories. A radical change in an animal would require changes in tens of thousands of chemical base pairs in the DNA. Geneticists tell us that even one base pair out of place can be fatal. The probability that a radical advantageous change in DNA could take place randomly in one big step is so absurdly remote as to be incalculable.

The hopeful monster theory did rely on mega doses of hope. It is hopeful indeed to expect a random radical change in DNA to be nonfatal. How much more hopeful to believe that such a change could be advantageous! Also remember the fact that genetic mutations virtually never add genetic information to the design of all life forms but simply scrambles preexisting genetic information in the gene pool. Hopeful monster and punctuated equilibrium crumble under scientific scrutiny.

Dr. Gould himself even ridiculed his own theory in addition to his ridicule of traditional Darwinism. He originally formulated his theory because he saw the lack of transitional forms in the fossil record. Here is a quote from Dr. Gould: "The extreme rarity of transitional forms in the fossil record persists as the trade secret of paleontology. The evolutionary trees that adorn our textbooks have data only at the tips and nodes of their branches; the rest is inference, however reasonable, not the evidence of the fossils." from "Evolution's Erratic Pace", Natural History, vol. 86 (May 1977), p. 14.

Gould and his colleague Niles Eldridge shook up the Darwinian establishment for decades by relentlessly pointing out the lack of transitional forms. The lack of transitional fossils (the missing links are still missing!) effectively disproves Darwinian gradualism.

Punctuated Equilibrium and Darwinian gradualism are both unsubstantiated hypotheses. Evolution is collapsing on all fronts and science is the wrecking ball! Evolution is in danger of extinction and I will not mourn its passing.

The Bible is scientifically accurate! Find the evidence at www.icr.org.  

Steps to salvation: Jesus said "Ye must be born again." (John 3:7)

1. Believe that God created you and loves you and sent the Messiah (Messiah is Hebrew for Christ) to redeem you.
2. Believe that Jesus the Messiah came in fulfillment of over 300 Bible prophecies to die for you to take upon Himself the penalty for your sins. (Isaiah 53:5-6, John 6:29, Romans 4:5, First Peter 3:18)
3. Turn from sin and call on the name of Jesus to receive forgiveness. (Romans 10:13)
4. Receive Jesus as Savior and experience the new birth. (John 1:12, Acts 2:38)
5. Follow Him as Lord. (John 14:21)

"Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13)

To receive the salvation that Jesus purchased for us at the terrible cost of His suffering and death on our behalf I invite you to pray this simple prayer:

"Dear heavenly Father, I thank you for sending Jesus, the promised Messiah, to die for my sins. I admit that I am a sinner and I ask for your forgiveness on the basis of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I ask you to fill me with your Holy Spirit to empower me to serve you under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, Amen."

If you prayed that prayer in the humble sincerity of your heart then you have received everlasting life, which includes power to live right in this life and entrance into heaven in the afterlife!

Bill Nugent, Overcomer Ministries of West Harrison, New York, USA

(C) 2010 William P. Nugent, permission granted to email or republish if credit given

< DEFENDING THE FAITH APOLOGETIC ARTICLES Bill Nugent currently writes a series of articles called "Defending the Faith" which, as the title suggests, defend the Christian faith from the many attacks leveled against it in our postmodern world. The articles deal with such topics as evolution, UFOs, cults, modern/postmodern philosophy, liberal theology and popular culture. At the end of each article is an invitation to receive Christ as Savior and Lord. These articles are sent out over the Internet to several opt-in email lists. People who receive these articles are encouraged to resend them to their own lists and in this way reach their own unsaved relatives and friends with the Gospel. All Defending the Faith articles are © 2009 William P. Nugent, permission is granted to email or republish if credit given. To receive these articles which are sent out once per month fill in your email address below and click the SUBMIT button. *Security: Write the characters in the image above (Case sensitive)