Creation Science Book Review
The Battle for the Beginning
Chapter 7: Beasts and Creeping Things
Review by Greg Neyman
© Old Earth Ministries
First Published 5 August 2005
MacArthur divides the sixth day of creation into two chapters. This chapter deals with the creation of the animal kingdom, and the next with mankind.
There is not much of interest in the introduction that we have not already dealt with.
Cattle (Page 143)
Again, there is much God of the Gaps arguments in this section. At the bottom of page 143, he describes rumination. The website dctech.com has a small discussion about this passage. On page 145, MacArthur says "The cow seems to have been especially designed to serve the needs of humanity." I agree...but then again, so can theistic evolutionists. While the cow discussion is interesting, it presents no arguments against evolution or old ages.
In his discussion of sheep, he says they have a lack of instinct and self defense, and are best protected by a shepherd. All animals are best protected by a human protector...when they are in a zoo! He mentions nothing of wild sheep, goats, or others that survive just fine without man. He is referring to domesticated sheep. Yes, there are wild sheep, and then there are domesticated sheep. Sheep have instinct...however, when you domesticate an animal, it loses its fear of humans, and becomes dependent on them.
He closes out this section with a discussion on camels, another "God of the Gaps" discussion.
Creeping Things (Page 147)
He anchors this section with a discussion of the bombardier beetle. This beetle has long been the most used "God of the Gaps" type argument by young earth creationists. Here are the evolutionists' answers to the claims.
The Bombardier Beetle is too complex to have evolved
The Bombardier Beetle would explode if the ingredients mixed in the Beetle
General Bombardier Beetle Article
While I agree with MacArthur that the beetle is the product of intelligent design, an emotional God of the Gaps appeal will not suffice to convince people.
The next two and a half pages are devoted to the wonders of the ant. While informing, it does nothing to argue for young earth creation science. He then jumps to reptiles, and continues his emotional appeal for the beauty and complexity of God's creation. I agree that it is wonderful, but an argument from "gaps" is useless when you are trying to convince an evolutionist.
Beasts of the Earth (Page 151)
Now we come to the creation of the beasts of the earth. Included here are the dinosaurs. He specifically mentions Job 40, the description of Leviathan. For more on this, see Job 40-41. For more on dinosaurs and proof of their existence long before mankind came along, see our dinosaur section.
He then returns to his standard God of the Gaps arguments, with a discussion of the elephant. At the end of the chapter, he goes into the Death before Sin issue. He claims that "Scripture teaches that there was no such thing as death prior to Adam's fall." For a complete discussion of this fallacy, see Death Before the Fall.
In reality, it is true that Adam's sin brought death to humanity, but it is clear from the fossil record that animals did die prior to Adam. Death to animals and death to humanity are two separate issues.
He finishes up the chapter with a discussion claiming there were no carnivores before the fall. See the It's All About Teeth article for a refutation of this non-biblical teaching.
If you are not a Christian, and you have been holding out on making a decision for Christ because the Church always preached a message that was contrary to what you saw in the scientific world, then rest assured that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, and you can believe in Christ and receive salvation, while still believing in an old earth. Click here for more.
Are you a Christian who believes in young earth creationism? Now that we have shown the many difficulties of the young earth creation science model in this and many other articles, how does this impact your Christian life? If you are a young earth creationism believer, click here.
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