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Creation 29(1):56, December 2006

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Too close for comfort

by

The old saying, ‘two heads are better than one,’ doesn’t apply in the case of ‘We’, the two-headed snake. Having two heads on the same body causes major problems in everything from eating to mating.1 In fact, ‘most two-headed snakes don’t live more than a few months.’2 ‘We has survived because, unlike some two-headed animals, both mouths are connected to the same stomach.’2

Photo Zach Tirrell www.flickr.com/people/60863155@N00 snake

So, why does We have two heads? It was originally supposed to be twins, but something went terribly wrong. ‘Two-headed snakes typically occur in the same way that Siamese twins do. A developing embryo begins to split into identical twins but then stops part way, leaving the twins joined.’1

But, do We’s two heads have any evolutionary significance? Not in the slightest. Even the pro-evolution National Geographic, in a story about another two-headed snake, calls two-headedness, ‘Anomaly, not evolution,’ and goes on to say, ‘It’s not an evolved trait.’1 CMI’s Dr Don Batten agrees that such errors ‘most likely came about because of a defect during development, rather than inheriting a defective gene from a parent.’3 As he points out, animals, and even humans, can be born with extra toes, fingers, ears and the like. However, whether this is the result of a developmental defect, or is due to a defective gene (a mutation), ‘no new genetic information is involved in making these extras.’3 No new genetic information means these cases offer no support at all to the idea of evolution.

We’s two heads can also serve as a reminder that we are dealing with two ways of interpreting the world around us. Evolutionary theory would have us believe that abnormalities such as two-headedness are normal and natural. In fact, if evolution were true it would necessarily follow that suffering, disease, and even death are just the normal and natural way this world works—and has always worked.

On the other hand, the Bible teaches us that sickness, suffering, and death came into a once-perfect world as a result of man’s rebellion against his Creator. Death is said to be an enemy (1 Corinthians 15:25) and it is rational for Christians to treat it as such. Whenever unbelievers treat death, suffering, and sickness as abnormalities they are giving evidence that in their heart of hearts they know the biblical view is true (Romans 1:18–22) , and the evolutionary view is false.

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References

  1. Mayell, H., Life is confusing for two-headed snakes, National Geographic News, 31 May 2006. Return to text.
  2. The Age, For sale: two-headed snake, 31 May 2006. Return to text.
  3. Batten, D., A cat with four ears (not nine lives). Return to text.

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