7. I'd like a Java Man, no sugar

“Most of what I learned of the (evolutionary biology) field in graduate school (1964-1968) is either wrong or significantly changed.” W. B. Provine

Scientific claims in empirical sciences such as physics and chemistry demand solid evidence that can be observed and repeated under laboratory conditions. These sciences lead to modern day conveniences and tangible discoveries which contribute to the operational field of science which give us computers, artificial hearts, airplanes, cell phones, TVs, satellites, lasers, and a host of other modern conveniences. These operational scientific discoveries are based upon the scientific model where the scientist gets to test his theory and modify his calculations based upon repeat experimentation and observations. And that experimentation and those observations tell the scientist what is occurring. A lot of your theoretical sciences make grand scale claims about the past, the future, and the universe as a whole that have little to no data to justify it. What evidence they do have is often very loosely based because they cannot always enjoy the benefits of experimentation. Often times, in theoretical physics, you have claims that are based upon mathematics alone, but the means to actually observe or to even discover the proof on that claim is decades or centuries outside of our reach. In reality, who knows if the math equations are correct or if they are missing volumes of factors we have not even discovered. Yet, many of these theories are presented to the public and widely accepted as truth based on the fact that a scientist said that it was so. As you will begin to see, evolutionary science, anthropology, and paleontology are not empirical sciences and therefore do not carry the burden proof. There is a popularly believed construct, a popularly accepted belief system, amongst the scientific community in which they search out to find proof. Often in evolutionary science, a general story has been made up and generally accepted, and scientists go out to try to find fossils that will plug in and fit in order to enhance that story.

It should be noted that evolutionary scientists have discovered a total of 500 individuals which they believe to be ancestors of mankind. This includes all of the Neanderthals, cromagnon, Nebraska man, Lucy, and a host of others. You may ask, “Hey, how much evidence is needed to constitute an individual?” The answer: at least one bone fragment! That’s right! Many of these individuals are just teeth, half of a jaw bone, pebble sized skull fragments, and part of a thigh bone at best. It seems that teeth, skull, and jaw bones survive the decay process the best. If you took all 500 of the individuals and put them in one room, you could fit them all very comfortably on a billiard table. Some of the “individuals” do have several bones such as Lucy, but most of them are only a single fragment. One interesting observation is that the fossil record as a whole comes to us in small shattered bits and pieces as if a grand scale crushing Flood did great violence upon them.

Java Man: The Club-Wielding Wookie Warrior

We have all seen pictures of Java Man. He is the ape-man missing link often depicted carrying a club. He walks erect, has an apelike face, and is sometimes depicted with a loin cloth. His discoverer/inventor is a Dutchman named Eugene Dubois who was serving in the army in what is now Indonesia. Eugene was a very enthusiastic yet untrained evolutionist who believed very passionately that he was destined to find the missing link. Eugene also believed that in order to find the missing link, he needed to find a skull with a brain capacity somewhere in between that of an ape and a human. On the island of Java near the village of Trinil, he began to discover teeth buried in sandstone layers along the Solo River in September, 1891. The teeth were registered to be chimpanzee teeth. Ten feet away from where the teeth were found and one month later, he found a skull cap. Magically, from this small portion of a skull, Eugene was able to envision a skull that was 2/3 the size of a human skull. He would use this claim to explain the mental capacity of his missing link. The only thing left for Eugene to find was proof that this creature, whose teeth were buried ten feet away from it, could walk upright. After much excavation along the river banks, Eugene found part of a humanlike thigh bone fifty feet away from where the teeth and skullcap were found. Instead of going to colleagues to study his findings in order to officially endorse them, Eugene went to the newspapers and declared that he had found “indisputable proof” for the missing link. Artists were hired to come up with several drawings of a hairy half ape – half man creature, and one was picked to be published in the paper in order to woo the public. All of these pictures showed an ape-faced, club wielding, hairy creature that walked and ran like a regular man. His findings were awarded the name Pithecanthropus erectus which means ‘erect ape-man’. Textbooks and magazines began to herald his discoveries around the world.

Reality and the Tell-Tale Skulls

Now you are wanting to ask, “Wait a minute, you mean to tell me that he found some teeth ten feet away from where he found a skull cap, and fifty feet from that he found a thigh bone, and he is saying it is all the same individual?” Yes, and there is more! Eugene also found two human skulls in the exact same area and strata which he kept hidden for thirty years underneath his floor boards. The modern human skulls are believed to be from the local Wadjak tribe. Truth about two human skulls would have destroyed his claim on the human thigh bone to show erect walking. While Eugene’s fame grew and the public generally accepted his findings, the leading authorities in the scientific community identified that one of the teeth were human and the other two teeth belonged to an orangutan. The skull cap was also identified as being part of a chimpanzee while the leg bone is truly a human femur. Once exposed, Eugene began to hide away his Java Man bones. This strange, elusive behavior is recorded in many of his personal writings and in other pro-evolutionary writings of yesterday and today. So, congratulations to Eugene Dubois, he found his ape-man truly made from authentic ape and human parts! Here, Eugene Dubois established himself as a pioneer in the art of Evolutionary Excavation and Biology, “If you have trouble finding it, build it out of what you have on hand.” What about all of those drawings in the newspapers, in published journals, and in scientific magazines? In fact, National Geographic even did a “Behind the Scenes” article showing how they and others just hire a group of artists to come up with some ape-human drawings and the scientist picks the one that illustrates the scientist’s imagination. Ape-man drawings and statues that are commonly displayed in the museum have everything to do with imagination and nothing to do with forensics or reconstructive anatomy. Let’s face it, bones do not tell the story on body hair or a host of features. Also, how do they know that Java Man had an apelike face when no facial bones are found. Bottom line: Who cares? Sensationalism sales!

In Conclusion

Even though Eugene Dubois’ Java Man is commonly dismissed as a hoax today, he is often cited in many textbooks today as a pioneer. Many writings on the evolutionary and creationism side state that he recanted his Java Man, but the passage they quote reads like this:

“Pithecanthropus was not a man, but a gigantic genus allied to the gibbons … I still believe, now more firmly than ever, that the Pithecanthropus of Trinil is the real ‘missing link’”

This is not recanting. This is “I got busted, so in response, I will believe it more than ever!” It is the classic ‘Charisma can outweigh the Truth’ syndrome. Unfortunately when someone is trying to persuade the masses, the masses will believe in a man who takes a hard stand in a declaration. This is the first article in a series that will show you the patterns of evolutionary science. The scientist will have this passionate sense of destiny, set forth looking for something in particular, will find some bones from all over the place, construct his evidence to fit his story, go straight to the media, and then get ridiculed by the scientific community. The problem is that once the scientific community has its opportunity, it is too late. The media has already impacted the populace which impacts the scientific institutions/foundations which impacts the grant money which impacts the scientists in a huge way. You have a cycle of perception, salesmanship, and greed as the key driving forces.

Science is not necessarily evil. Like all things, when it is abused, molded, and used for fame and greed, that is when science is denied the opportunity to connect mankind with his Creator. The true purpose of science is to allow mankind to marvel over the wonders of Creation in order to draw him to worship his Creator.

“First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires . . . But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water.”

2 Peter 3: 4,5

Basically, the evil one persuades men that they are on a quest for the truth. But, they end up constructing a truth that opposes the Truth and opposes God’s Word. God’s Word and His Truth is Jesus Christ! Often when confronted, evolutionists do not reply with civil counter-arguments or logic, but with mud slugging and personal verbal attacks.

“All men will hate you because of Me.” Jesus, Matthew 10:22

To those who hate us though, we are to return love, prayer, and a good honest answer! So, speak the Truth in love. Truth is like a lion, once you turn it loose, it will do all the fighting for you. What you say will stick with them and continue to challenge their conscience to a path of repentance or down a path that will sear the conscience to a point of no return.