Mark Tabata’s Weekday Devotionals:
Tuesday May 26 2026
More Bible Studies Available @ www.marktabata.com. To Receive
Free Bible Studies And Updates Via Email, Contact Mark Tabata @ 606-216-1757 (SMS Only) or markatabata@gmail.com (Email). Follow me on Substack: substack.com/@marktabata. Also please visit my author page: amazon.com/author/marktabata
Psalm 104:24-O LORD, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all.…
I still remember when I had to have my wisdom teeth removed. My surgeon didn’t stitch me up right and I bled for several days. Boy, I was sick! Thankfully, a loving family and plenty of Frosty ice-creams from Wendys pulled me through. 🙃
However, the subject of wisdom teeth has generated a lot of conversation over the years. Many teach that wisdom teeth are a sort of unnecessary holdover from our alleged apelike ancestors.
The theory goes like this.
Supposedly, our ancestors were much more apelike and they needed extra teeth. As they evolved, the need for those teeth disappeared, but the teeth themselves (along with other things) have stayed with us. These organs and appendages are called “vestigial,” meaning something which remains and is not really necessary (although it once was).
Vestigial organs used to be a major argument for the theory of evolution. However, the more mankind has learned, the more we have realized that everything in the human body has an important function.
Evolutionists have used the presence of “vestigial organs” in humans as a support. They argue that, since the human body has organs for which there is no known use, they are left over from an earlier animal stage in which they were useful. The fact that vestigials can be removed with no apparent harm to the body indicates that they are useless. The appendix, ear muscles, and the third eyelid are placed into this category. However, just because functions for these organs are not known does not mean that none exist. Since scientific knowledge is finite and progressive, there may be functions of which science is not yet aware. That they can be removed without apparent harm to the body is meaningless. Other organs may compensate for their loss. Also, a loss may exist that is not readily detectable. Some organs, such as tonsils, may be more important at an earlier stage in the person’s development as, for example, during early childhood to help fight off diseases. And organs such as a kidney or a lung can be removed without serious loss, yet they have a function. It is significant that the list of vestigial organs has shrunk from around 100 when the idea was first proposed to about a half dozen today. There are hints about purposes for some of those. The appendix may aid in digestion and may be helpful in fighting off disease. Rabbits have a large appendix, and complete vegetarians may get more benefit from theirs. The muscle of the outer ear helps protect against freezing in colder climates. The “third eyelid” or nictitating membranae is used in humans to collect foreign material that gets in the eye. The “tail” or coccyx is necessary for sitting with comfort. The endocrine glands, once thought to be vestigial, are now known to be of great importance in the production of hormones. The thymus has been found to be involved in protecting the body against disease. Even if some organs are truly leftovers from an earlier period in human development, this would not prove evolution. They may be left over from an earlier stage of the human race, rather than from prehuman species. One might even say that an organ has lost its function would not demonstrate that we are evolving, but devolving—losing some organs and abilities. This is the opposite of evolution. (Norman L. Geisler, Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics (Baker Reference Library), 227 (Kindle Edition); Grand Rapids, Michigan; Baker Books)
So why do we have wisdom teeth?
In reality, many people have no problem at all with their wisdom teeth. They function as an aid in chewing and processing food, with no indication of trouble.
So, why do some people need to have their wisdom teeth removed?
Likely it is because of malnutrition in and unhealthy dietary habits.
Dr. Allford, however, concluded that wisdom teeth are often smaller than other molars, and that “diet and the amount of breast-nursing a child has during infancy have a lot to do with the development of the jaw and teeth. Only some people have impacted wisdom teeth. There are many of us who have good functioning wisdom teeth.”….Rather than looking at evolution as a means of understanding this problem, it is far more fruitful to evaluate lifestyle changes. Diet has been closely linked with jaw development in children. Typically, a diet that requires more chewing causes the jaw to become larger, and wisdom teeth to be less problematic…..“The fact that impacted teeth are rarely seen in many animals and non-technological human societies indicates that some change in humans that occurred in the recent past is partly responsible for the problem. 50 Many researchers have concluded that the dietary shift to soft, processed foods has caused a decrease in masticatory demands (the disuse theory) producing changes in the teeth-mandible relationship that could lead to malocclusion and wisdom teeth problems. 51 The early human diet in many areas tended to be highly abrasive “which caused attrition of teeth,” resulting in a shortening of the total arch length, the widths of all the teeth added together. 52 Consumption of modern highly-processed foods has caused a reduction in masticatory functional demand, resulting in a higher rate of wisdom teeth impaction. 53 In other words, as is true of most body organs, lack of use causes malfunction or deterioration of wisdom teeth that is not inherited in a discredited Lamarckian theory manner. (Jerry Bergman, Useless Organs: The Rise and Fall of a Central Claim of Evolution, 3101-3146 (Kindle Edition); Tulsa, Oklahoma; BP Books)
The more I learn from science about the marvelous world and intricately fashioned human body, the more I stand in awe of the God Who made it all.
Thanks Lord for Your love and wisdom in all that You do. Amen.