Jay Hall
Biological essentialism says that Essential Types of Life (ETL’s) vary within limits. Sounds like the Genesis kinds (baramin) doesn’t it? We read in Genesis 1:24 the following,
And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so.
According to Wikipedia, “Essentialism is the view that for any specific entity there is a set of attributes which are necessary to its identity and function. In Western thought the concept is found in the work of Plato and Aristotle.”
Birds, fish, gators, bats, lizards, leeches, turtles and buffalo clearly belong to different ETL’s. We have a whole chapter on biological essentialism in our book YES – Young Earth Science.
Baraminologist Todd Elder provides an important caution on kinds, “One area of major confusion for believers is understanding the difference between species and kinds. Each Kind of plant or animal can contain many (sometimes dozens) of species.”
David B. Kitts, author of The Structure of Geology, has been quoted often in the origins controversy, especially in regard to the many gaps in the fossil record (lack of transitional forms). Kitts was a professor of Geology and later a professor of History of Science at the University of Oklahoma. Kitts was a student of the famous paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson (d. 1984). In an interview in 1981, Kitts said,
Aristotle, to a greater extent than almost anyone we know about, relied upon his observations. He observed that individual members of a species do not persist, but kinds do persist. That is a pretty obvious fact about the world. If there is abundant empirical support for the view that species persist, why do evolutionists suppose they do not persist? Evolutionists have a very elaborate abstract theory that compels us to suppose that species do not persist.
When Adam named the animals of Eden preserve, these created kinds (or baramin) would reproduce similar organisms. All creatures born from these starting animals form essential types and natural kinds of biological entities. This is a relational property and involves the history of life. To learn more, just google “baraminology.”
We should all notice the special features of Yahweh’s creation. A woodpecker has a unique tongue that splits in two and curves all the way around its skull (to reach deep into trees). It also has a protective shock-absorbing tissue in its skull to deal with its jackhammer attacks on trees. Find these essential features and you’ve found a woodpecker.
Next, envision a giraffe which has special one-way valves in its blood vessels to keep the blood from rushing to its head when is leans over. There is also a spongy matrix below the brain to take up excess blood. Look for these ostensive properties and you’ve found a giraffe.
Excellent