Incredible Creatures That Defy
Evolution

By Andy Butcher

Bugged by a beetle, a
scientist changes his beliefs on how the world began.

CBN.com
-

Creationists used to bug Jobe Martin, until a bug helped make
Jobe Martin a creationist. Only half an inch long, the Bombardier Beetle
may not be very big, but it helped chew great big holes in his long-held
views on evolution. Or, more accurately, burn them.

For on closer inspection the modest beetle is a
marvel of nature, a sort of six-legged tiny tank. It defends itself by
mixing chemicals that explode; firing through twin tail tubes that can
swivel like gun turrets. The bubbling liquid that shoots out at 212
degrees Fahrenheit is enough to deter most predators.

The force of the "round" fired should be enough
to blast the little beetle into orbit,if not pieces, and it would be if it
was discharged at one time. But slow
motion photography has revealed that the crafty beetle actually lets go
with a stream of up to 1,000 little explosions. Together they are enough
to put off would-be attackers while leaving the small defender with its
feet still on the ground.

As Martin marveled at the intricate design, he
realized that there was simply no way the Bombardier Beetle could have
evolved its sophisticated defense system over time, adding swiveling "gun
barrels" or its "repeater" firing mechanism at different stages. It needed
them all in one package, at the same time. A beetle that blew itself up
would not be around to develop a more refined firing system. A beetle that
could not keep the enemy in firing range would not survive to work on more
maneuverable firepower. "There's simply no way a slow, gradual process
will produce this beetle," says the former science major who, over a
five-year, period made a complete about-face in his beliefs about the
origins of the earth. Now in an entertaining and enlightening new video he
shows how the Bombardier Beetle and a host of other remarkable members of
the animal kingdom undermine Darwin's widely accepted theory.

The Bombardier Beetle is one of the unlikely
stars of "Incredible Creatures that Defy Evolution," a
50-minute Discovery Channel-style documentary that encapsulates Martin's
years of research for church, school and family viewing. Host David Hames,
who experienced firsthand the firepower of the Bombardier Beetle and said,
"It felt like someone put a cigarette out on my leg!" guides the film crew
as they capture animals on film and as Martin explains their various
intricacies.

There is
the giraffe, whose long neck necessitates a powerful heart to pump blood
all the way to the brain. By rights the blood flow should blow its brains
out when it bends to drink water, but the lofty animal has a delicate
series of spigots and a sponge that dissipate and absorb the rush of
blood. "How could that evolve?" muses Martin. "He needs all these parts
there all the time, or he is dead..."

Then there's the woodpecker, whose rat-a-tat
hunt for tree grubs should send it home each night with a mighty migraine. Instead it is studied by surgeons who want to learn
more about head trauma in humans. The bird has a piece of cartilage that
acts as a shock absorber and an extra-long tongue that can reach into the
tree to pluck out its meal. It also has a glue factory that makes the bug
stick until it is in the woodpecker's throat and produces another
secretion to dissolve the glue on swallowing.

A college professor, Martin had been a
Christian for several years when two students challenged him to examine
the validity of evolutionary theory. His gradual complete switch of views
eventually led him out of dentistry and into ministry. For more than a
decade he has shared some of his discoveries at churches and conferences
through his Rockwall, Texas-based Biblical Discipleship
Ministries.

Through his studies he has developed cogent
biblical answers to the typical questions thrown out against
creation-about the age of the earth, the flood, fossils, dinosaurs and the
missing link. But he points to the world around him to challenge the
central claim of evolution.

The Australian incubator bird, the beaver and
the gecko lizard are among the other subjects of Martin's video,
produced by Monument, Colorado-based Reel Productions, who
specialize in on-location documentaries. Although it is well filmed and
paced, Martin maintains "Incredible Creatures That Defy Evolution" is far
more than just an entertaining diversion. It actually providing clear
examples of what creationists call the "irreducible complexity" of life
that challenges the idea of slow development.

He believes it is part of a crucial battle not
just for Christians' minds, but their hearts, too. "It comes down to a
matter of how you decide you are going to interpret the Scriptures," he
says. "Will you take it in its literal, historical form or are you going
to say these early chapters are probably poetry, probably written from the
perspective of some guys who lived between the Tigris and the Euphrates
rivers? How will you take Scripture? If you can't take these early
chapters literally, for just what they mean, well then, how do you know
what to do with the rest? When it comes right down to it, it interferes
with our view of doctrine. The foundational doctrines are all there in the
early chapters of Genesis: man, sin, the family, and all that." Martin
says that the academic world knows the big and difficult questions the
likes of the Bombardier Beetle ask of evolution, but conveniently ignores
them. In the rarefied scientific circles most lay people don't follow or
understand, he says, more and more people are admitting that, like an
attractive jar with a hole in the bottom, Darwin's theory just doesn't
hold water.

"There
are changes going on in the evolutionary community because of the growing
evidence for design and it is beginning to realize there's no way mindless
chance processes could create an ordered, artistic, complex universe like
we have; explosions don't create order. The problem is, once people start
to talk about a designer, are they willing to name him?" And it is the
name Jesus and Martin’s love for his Savior, not some dry scientific
debate, that motivates him. Martin presents his evidence not with the
pinched determination of a fussy academic, but with the delight and wonder
of someone who sees the marvelous hand of a brilliant creator in the world
around him. His appreciation makes his video defense of the
trustworthiness of creation not just a considered explanation, but a
considerable celebration.

To order: Incredible Creatures That Defy
Evolution, go to: http://www.pagecafe.com/cgi-bin/checkitout/checkitout.cgi?reelSTORE:Adventure%20Videos++++CATEGORY