Neanderthal Toothpick Discovery Reminds Us God’s Word is True

Scientists studying two teeth found in a cave determined that the owner of the teeth fashioned and used a toothpick often enough to “leave a clear trace.”

It appears that the owner of the tooth used oral hygiene. Probably between the last two teeth there were food residues that had to be removed. We don't know what he made a toothpick from—a piece of a twig, a piece of bone or fish bone. It had to be fairly stiff, cylindrical object, which the individual used often enough to leave a clear trace.

Neanderthals were human, just like us. They weren’t unintelligent brutes—a popular perception that lingers in the minds of many and often in museums.

It’s yet another reminder that Neanderthals were human, just like us. They weren’t unintelligent brutes—a popular perception that lingers in the minds of many and often in museums. All the evidence points to their humanity. And the evidence just keeps coming! It’s dramatically changed the way most scientists think about Neanderthals, and yet, the past, very wrong, perceptions, steeped in evolutionary thought, still hang around.

Every time I see a new report about yet one more very humanlike feature of Neanderthals, I’m reminded that the Bible’s history is true and evolutionary ideas are wrong. You see, when the bones of Neanderthals were first discovered, they were assumed to be our evolutionary relatives, but not fully human. But those who started with God’s Word knew the truth—these were the remains of humans and therefore they were people made in the image of God, descended from Adam and Eve. And, eventually, the evidence confirmed exactly what we’d expect starting with God’s Word.

It’s a good reminder that the evidence, when properly interpreted, will always confirm God’s Word. So next time you see something that appears to contradict the history in God’s Word, remember Neanderthals and the avalanche of evidence that did not confirm evolutionary expectations but confirms the Bible’s history. Man’s fallible ideas change, but God’s Word never changes.

Get More Answers on Answers News

This item was discussed on Wednesday on Answers News with cohosts Dr. Georgia Purdom, Tim Chaffey, and Bryan Osborne. Answers News is our weekly news program filmed live before a studio audience here at the Creation Museum and broadcast on my Facebook page and the Answers in Genesis Facebook page. We also covered the following topics:

• Canadian father jailed after calling his transgender child his “daughter.”
• Can we unlock the secrets of human hibernation?
• Gender a social construct? Richard Dawkins pushes back.
• And more!

Be sure to join us each Monday and Wednesday at 2 p.m. (ET) on my Facebook page or the Answers in Genesis Facebook page for Answers News. You won’t want to miss this unique news program that gives science and culture news from a distinctly biblical and Christian perspective.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.