What are the Biblical Kinds  


FAQs

The Bible says that God created many "kinds" of plants and animals. Various plants were created on the third creation day, sea creature and flying birds on the fifth, and land animals and humans on the sixth day. The Biblical kinds are not well defined, but there are a number of Biblical references that enable us to know in many cases whether a group with a common characteristic, such as the hoofed animals, represents many creations or just one.

From the Creation references we know the following:
Genesis 1:11-25

Many kinds of plants bearing fruit
Many kinds of trees bearing fruit
Many kinds of great sea creatures
Many kinds of sessile and mobile aquatic organisms
Many kinds of birds
Many kinds of livestock
Many kinds of insects
Many kinds of wild animals

Although the Bible refers to a virtually simultaneous creation of many different kinds of plants and animals, secular scientists are claiming that the origin of plants and animals was separated by millions of years. Based on a non-catastrophic interpretation of the fossil record, it has been theorized that land plants evolved approximately 450 million years ago, or 100 million years after the Cambrian explosion during when only algae was supposedly present.

These theories overlook the fact that life on earth exists because there is an ecosystem, which operates through the simultaneous co-existence of many types of organisms such as microbes, plants, insects, and animals. By making these at the same time, God set into motion the great cycle of life that is required for life to exist as we know it. There are producers (autotrophs), consumers, and decomposers (heterotrophs). Life on earth requires these to exist concurrently, and the system would fail entirely if any component of this cycle were not present.

Speciation and the Biblical Kinds

It is thought there are between 5 and 50 million species on earth today, with only 1.75 million characterized and named. The relative number of terrestrial species per major taxa are listed below, and this does not include insects and spiders which alone exceed 1 million. It is certain given the number of species alive today that the Biblical kinds have speciated countless times since their reintroduction following the flood of Noah. It is believed by many creationists that the mammalian Family level of classification is closely synonymous to the Biblical kinds for many animals, and the various species within have evolved since the flood.

  • Amphibia (Amphibians)
    4,184 described species
  • Mammalia (Mammals)
    4,000 described species
  • Reptilia (Reptiles)
    6,300 described species
  • Aves (Birds)
    9,040 described species

Relative species number by major taxa
http://www.wri.org/wri/biodiv/f01-key.html#number

Related populations instinctively remain reproductively separate following a period of isolation, and eventually will become genetically incompatible and unable to mate. Speciation does seem to occur on a fairly regular basis, and along with independent selective pressure has caused the Biblical kinds to become a plethora of uniquely specialized communities. A single species or more from each kind has essentially evolved into many genera of species. For example the canines now exist as many species of foxes, many species of wolves, Jackals, hyena, etc. This level of evolution is termed macroevolution.

Offsite resources to Biblical Kinds

Creation of the Biblical Kinds
Day 3 Genesis 1:11 Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning--the third day.

Day 5 - Genesis 1:20 And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky."21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." 23 And there was evening, and there was morning--the fifth day.

Day 6 - Genesis 1:24 And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Preservation of the Biblical Kinds from the Flood
Genesis 6:18 But I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. 19 And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. 20 Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you, to keep them alive.

Genesis 7:13 On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, 14 they and every beast according to its kind, and all the cattle according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth according to its kind, and every bird according to its kind, every bird of every sort. 15 They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. 16 And they that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the LORD shut him in.

Other Specific References to Kinds in the Bible
Genesis 8:6-9 At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made, and sent forth a raven; and it went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground; but the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put forth his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him.

Leviticus 19:19 - "You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind; you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed; nor shall there come upon you a garment of cloth made of two kinds of stuff."

Leviticus 19:23 - "When you come into the land and plant all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as forbidden; three years it shall be forbidden to you, it must not be eaten."

Deuteronomy 14:4-18 These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, the hart, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain-sheep. Every animal that parts the hoof and has the hoof cloven in two, and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat. Yet of those that chew the cud or have the hoof cloven you shall not eat these: the camel, the hare, and the rock badger, because they chew the cud but do not part the hoof, are unclean for you. And the swine, because it parts the hoof but does not chew the cud, is unclean for you. Their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch. "Of all that are in the waters you may eat these: whatever has fins and scales you may eat. And whatever does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you. "You may eat all clean birds. But these are the ones which you shall not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the osprey, the buzzard, the kite, after their kinds; every raven after its kind; the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk, after their kinds; the little owl and the great owl, the water hen and the pelican, the carrion vulture and the cormorant, the stork, the heron, after their kinds; the hoopoe and the bat.

2 Chronicles 32:28 - storehouses also for the yield of grain, wine, and oil; and stalls for all kinds of cattle, and sheepfolds.

Acts 10:12 - In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air.

 

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