Genesis Apologetics K8 Student Zone Was Lucy Our Ancestor (6-8 Grade)

Well, hello and welcome to The Zone. I'm your host, Big Wave Dave. So, in public schools in California and elsewhere, they often teach us that we evolve from ape-like creatures like Lucy here. But is that true?

Lucy, Australopithecus afarensis, and the Claim of Human Evolution

That's what we're going to talk about today. Okay, so let's get started. The scientific name for Lucy is Australopithecus afarensis. Let's look at some facts. First of all, her name means southern ape.

Now, Lucy was first discovered by Donald Johansson in 1974. And originally, this is all they found, about 40 of a complete skeleton. It was missing parts of the skull and the hands and feet. Now, since then, they have found more fossils, including some hands and feet, so they have a better idea of what Lucy's kind looked like.

So, this is what we're taught.

Scientists agree that Lucy is our ancestor, that she lived about 4 to 5 billion years ago, and that she walked like we do. They also tell us that scientists have proof that Lucy was our ancestor. But hang on.

Here's what they're not telling you. All scientists do not agree that Lucy was our ancestor. Even evolutionists don't agree about that. Also, when you look at the fossil evidence, which we're going to do in just a minute, it shows that she was most likely just an extinct ape.

And finally, sculptures like this one here and some videos can be very misleading. So, I wanted to show you an example of that. This video was put together by Donald Johansson. And as you watch it, I want you to listen very carefully to what the narrator says.

Are you ready? Okay, here it goes.

We now have 400 specimens of Lucy's species Australopithecus afarensis, named after the Afar region. And we know that there are very large individuals, which were males, and the smaller ones are certainly female.

So, if you were listening, the narrator said that they have found 400 specimens. And they show these 400 Lucys just marching down the street. Wa-ha! Just having a good time, right? Like a parade or something.

But do they really have 400 skeletons? No, they don't. Here's what they have. Now, they found some fingers and toe bones and some more skull fragments. But most of what they have are just fragments and teeth.

They certainly don't have those skeletons. That's why, in my opinion, that video is very misleading. Okay, let's look at some evidence. We're going to look at the skull, the hands, the fingers, the wrist bones, the toes and feet, and finally, the pelvis.

The Skull Evidence: Human vs. Ape-Like

The skull on the left is human. The skull on the right is Lucy's skull. Do you see any differences? Well, let's take a closer look, okay? This is a replica of a human skull.

Hello there.

And a couple of things I noticed.

Right off the bat, you can notice how flat the face is here. And you can look at the teeth and the eye sockets. But what really catches my eye is the size of this brain cavity. It's got a really big brain cavity.

Why?

Because humans have big brains.

We're really smart. Well, most of us anyway.

All right.

So, let's look at Lucy's skull. Wow, this is so different. So, right away, I notice the brow ridge is really pronounced.

And look at that face.

Look how sloped it is. But what really seems to be different is the skull cavity here. Look how small the brain cavity is. Clearly, we are much different than Lucy. So, I have a question for you. Does Lucy's skull look more like the human skull or this, a bonobo skull, which is like a chimpanzee?

All right.

Which one do you think? Well, that's pretty easy. It looks a lot more like the bonobo skull. So, to help you remember this, Lucy's skull was sloped and ape-like.

Let's move on.

Lucy's Hands, Fingers, and Wrist Bones

So, have you ever watched an ape at the zoo? They are so funny. And I love it when they swing from ropes like this. Now, look how good he can do that. Now, the reason he's so good at that is God gave apes curved fingers and hands.

It helps them swing from trees. So, if we look at the statue of Lucy that was at the museum, they show her hand being very human-like. Yeah, it's dirty and it needs a manicure, but it does look like a human hand.

Is that what Lucy's hand really looked like? Ah, fact. Lucy's fingers were long and curved and designed for hanging from trees. The scientists say it even looked like a chimpanzee's hand. So, Lucy's hands were curved and ape-like.

Oh, I love this.

Have you ever seen an ape knuckle walk? It's amazing how fast they can go. You see, God designed them to go on all fours like this. Now, the reason apes can do that so easily is they have special wrist bones that lock into place for knuckle walking.

Now, you and I, we don't have that.

So, if you try that, it's going to hurt.

Okay, now what about Lucy? What did her wrist bones look like?

You guessed it.

Lucy's wrist bones could lock into place for knuckle walking. So, okay, I've got a question. If Lucy walked upright, like we do, then why does she have hands that are curved and ape-like and wrist bones that could lock into place for knuckle walking?

Sure seems like Lucy spent a lot of time in trees. All right, so we have looked at the skull, the hands and the fingers, the wrist bones. Let's talk about toes and feet. So, the feet on this statue look like people feet.

That looks like a human foot. Yeah, it's nasty and probably stinks, but that looks like a human foot. But is that what Lucy's feet really look like?

What do the fossils say?

Fact.

Lucy's toe bones were long and curved, even compared to apes. And we know what long, curved feet and hands are good for, climbing in trees, right? The bottom line is, Lucy did not have human feet. So, if you wanted to know what Lucy looked like as she went around town, I imagine this is it.

There she is, out cruising, looking for bananas or whatever she's up to, having a good time. Look at those hands and feet. Let's finish up with this, the pelvic bones. Have you ever seen an ape walk on two legs?

It's actually kind of funny.

They look like a baby with a full diaper walking back and forth, right?

Why do they walk like that?

Why don't they walk like we do?

It's because they have very different hip and pelvic bones. So, what did Lucy have?

You guessed it.

Lucy's pelvic bones were very similar to chimpanzees. Now, evolutionists know that that's a problem. She could not have walked like we do if she doesn't have the right kind of hips. So, they've come up with a fix.

The Pelvis Reconstruction and the Limits of Evolutionary Interpretation

Now, this video I'm about to show you was on PBS Nova. And I want you to pay close attention to what the narrator says.

Are you ready?

Here we go.

The ape that stood up, it was a revolutionary idea. We needed Owen Lovejoy's expertise again because the evidence wasn't quite adding up. The knee looked human, but the shape of her hip didn't. Superficially, her hip resembled a chimpanzee's, which meant that Lucy couldn't possibly have walked like a modern human.

But Lovejoy noticed something odd about the way the bones had been fossilized.

When I put the two parts of the pelvis together that we had, this part of the pelvis has pressed so hard and so completely into this one that it caused it to be broken into a series of individual pieces which were then fused together in later fossilization.

This has caused the two bones, in fact, to fit together so well that they're in an anatomically impossible position.

The perfect fit was an illusion that made Lucy's hip bones seem to flare out like a chimp's. But all was not lost. Lovejoy decided he could restore the pelvis to its natural shape. He didn't want to tamper with the original, so he made a copy and plaster.

He cut the damaged pieces out and put them back together the way they were before Lucy died. It was a tricky job, but after taking the kink out of the pelvis, it all fit together perfectly, like a three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle.

As a result, the angle of the hip looks nothing like a chimp's, but a lot like ours.

Okay, welcome back. So if you listened carefully, we heard the narrator say that Dr. Lovejoy restored her pelvis to what it looked like before Lucy died. I have a question. How does Dr. Lovejoy know what Lucy looked like before she died?

Was he there? Did he meet her? Obviously not. In fact, other evolutionists have a problem. They said that he overestimated his reconstruction. Okay, final round, final wrap-up. Here we go. What was Lucy?

Based upon the evidence, here's what we know. Lucy's skull was sloped and ape-like. Lucy's hands were curved and ape-like. Lucy's wrist bones could lock into place for knuckle-walking. Lucy did not have human feet.

And the pelvis was so badly smashed that we're really not quite sure what it looked like. And finally, this is Lucy's family. Forget all about those skeletons that you saw. Fossil evidence show that Lucy was an extinct ape.

Was she our ancestor? Nah, not a chance. The Bible got it right. We were created in God's image. Aren't you glad you didn't evolve from ape-like creatures?

I know I am.

Why the Debate Over Human Origins Matters

So why does this even matter? I mean, why is it such a big deal? Well, what we believe affects our decisions. Let me show you an example. If we evolve from ape-like creatures, who determines right from wrong?

We do. Now, if God created us and the Bible is right, then God determines right from wrong. But the problem is, a lot of people in this country and elsewhere have decided that science has disproven the Bible and we can do whatever we want.

You know what? That's not going so well. If you look around, we have a lot of problems in this world. But the one that bothers me the most is this. We have a lot of people turning away from God because they don't believe the Bible.

The Bible tells us that one day Jesus Christ is coming back and He's going to take all the people that love Him to a very special place called Heaven. The problem is that people that don't believe the Bible usually don't believe in Jesus and they won't get to go.

And that really bothers me. So our goal here at The Zone is to help strengthen your faith so much that you are confident in sharing Jesus. So here's a suggestion. There are a lot of really good resources out.

I would highly encourage you to pause this video so that you can get the names of these things and buy them and check them out.

You'll be glad you did.

Well, I'm Big Wave Dave and that's all the time we have together. Remember, you didn't evolve from ape-like creatures.

God loves you.

God bless you, my friends.