December 1990

Dear Editor,

I have been borrowing copies of Creation magazine from a friend and have become very enlightened by what I have read. I wonder if you could answer a question I have.

In Genesis 1:21 we read that the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on the first man, after which God extracted a rib from the man’s side to fashion into woman. I have heard it said that this incident is proved by the fact that men today have one rib fewer than women. How about running an article in Creation magazine on the truth or error of this subject?

Linda Holliday, San Francisco, California, USA.

[Men and women both have 24 ribs. The theory that a boy will have one fewer rib if his father loses a rib comes from the now discredited idea of eighteenth century French zoologist Lamarck. If Lamarck’s theory were true, children of a man who loses an arm should also have only one arm. If someone down the line loses the other arm we would theoretically soon have a population of people with no arms. Then maybe legs would disappear. Fortunately, heredity does not work that way. The loss of a parent’s rib does not affect the genetic instructions for 24 ribs which are passed on to all offspring.—Ed.]

Only Nine Planets?

Dear Editor,

In the June-August edition of Creation magazine, there is an article entitled ‘Are There More Than Nine Planets?’. It is in the ‘Our World’ section.

I was amazed to read there are only nine planets in the whole universe, always thinking and being told that other planets exist in other galaxies. Is this statement fact? If so could you recommend reading material to support this?

At present I am involved with a person who supports life elsewhere in space who constantly assumes there are millions of planets in other galaxies.

Gary Keen, Glenden, Queensland, Australia.

[Yes, it is true that there are only nine known planets in the universe, all of which are in our solar system. Dr. Don DeYoung’s book, Astronomy and the Bible, is a valuable easy-to-read reference source on such subjects. On page 44 Dr. DeYoung says, ‘Most of the other stars are simply too far away to detect any evidence for planets. Whether or not planets exist, one thing is certain: we have found no evidence that life exists elsewhere in space!’—Ed.]