Creation Science Rebuttals -

Creative Procreation

2 May 2006

     The 2 May 06 daily feature for the young earth creation science ministry Creation Moments claims that the development of reproduction via sex is against evolutionary theory.

     The Creation Moments author claims that evolutionists believe that sexual reproduction should not have evolved.  If it did, then evolution would have eliminated it immediately.  From there, the CM author goes on to say that immobile plants use sexual reproduction.  He claims that this creates a problem for plants, because insects which carry the pollen did not evolve for many millions of years after plants show up in the fossil record.  To justify his claim, he lists the Arum lily, a flower which uses insects to spread its pollen.

     Such simplification of the subject does appear to support the words of the author, but as usual, this is not the complete story.  Angiosperms (flowering plants) do indeed rely on insects to reproduce.  However, the earliest angiosperm is Jurassic in age.  Prior to that, there were no flowering plants.  Insects show up in the fossil record in small numbers in the Devonian Period, but in great numbers in the Late Carboniferous Period, about 350 million years ago.  This is 150 million years before the flowers showed up in the fossil record.  Thus, it is true that plants pre-date insects, but the real issue is...what kind of plants.  The author uses the lily, an angiosperm, to prove his point, but by the time the lily shows up in the fossil record, insects have been around for many millions of years.

     When dealing with young earth arguments, you have to ask, "What's the rest of the story."    I agree with the author that the plant reproduction is a wonderful example of God's creativity.  However, evolution has no problems explaining it.

For More Reading

Talkorigins

Wikipedia - Plant Sexuality

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