Creation Moment 4/26/2026 - The Spine

I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: Psalm 139:14

"Problems with bad backs have often been blamed on a design flaw in our spines. We now stand erect, but supposedly we evolved imperfectly from four-legged creatures with a more horizontal spine. In particular, erect posture is alleged to be hard on the spine where the lumbar (lower) region curves forward. The forward curvature is called lordosis.

Evolutionists thought that lordosis was part of the problem. So when patients complained about back pain, the evolutionary remedy was reducing lordosis.
However, experts on the spine now disagree with such treatment because it made the problem worse.
For example, Prof. Richard Porter (1935–2005) was Director of Education and Training for the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh 1995–1997. He published over 60 papers in peer-reviewed journals on spinal disorders alone. He was awarded the first Volvo Award in 1979 for his work on spinal stenosis. Porter’s obituary in the British Medical Journal noted his scientific achievements, as well as his strong Christian faith and generosity to overseas doctors and refugees.
Porter explained the reason for the faulty diagnosis: the faulty view of origins. He found that the design perspective was much more helpful to his research than evolutionary assumptions:

"I start from quite a different position. From my understanding of human anatomy and physiology and my understanding of God, I say that the form of God’s creation always matches its function. So you can be sure that the form of the spine is perfectly designed for its function. God has made a wonderful spine. If you start with that premise, it gives you a head start when trying to understand the mechanism of the spine."

In particular, Porter explained that lordosis is a good engineering design for an upright posture. Our spine is stronger, weight for weight, than a gorilla’s spine which allegedly has the ‘right’ spine curvature:

"When you start to examine the biomechanics of the curved spine, asking why it’s that shape and what’s good about it, you find that the arch of the spine has a beautiful purpose; it’s like the arch of a bridge, it adds strength. Because of that arch in the lumbar spine, a man with a lumbar lordosis can lift proportionally more weight than a gorilla with its kyphotic (outwardly curving) spine!"

CMI