Creation Science Rebuttals
Creation Magazine (Ex Nihilo)
Camels
Ex Nihilo, Volume 3, Issue 1, February 1980
Review by Greg Neyman
© Old Earth Ministries
In a previous issue, the editors of Ex Nihilo challenged readers to explain why the camel was well-adapted for deserts, when there was no deserts at the time of creation. The first problem here is the assumption that there are no deserts. This assumption is made because it is assumed that a "very good" would not have such a harsh environment. (For example, the Sahara Desert has been present since about 2.5 million years ago.) The authors go on to mention other items, such as predators with canine teeth, and animals with defense mechanisms.
The authors say that the Bible gives no answers for the development of these features. They then say that "At the time of the Fall all nature was affected by man’s sin (Genesis 3:17-l8, etc.)"
I agree that the ground was cursed, but if you carefully read the verse, it is cursed because of Adam. In other words, what Adam (mankind) does to the ground is the curse...it is not a direct curse of God upon the ground. This is quite different from the way young earth creation science portrays the curse. The argument here is that God altered all organisms after the fall. This verse doesn't claim this at all!
The next possibility they mention is pre-adaptation. God created them adapted for their future environment. There is no logic to support this position. It is an argument from necessity (Young earth creation science MUST explain animal adaptation to non-existent habitats).
Pre-adaptation defies logic. If God created each animal perfect, then the camel, placed in a lush garden, was not perfectly created for that environment.
Finally, they use the latent genes argument. Animals had the genetic makeup for these defense features, or carnivorous features, but they were dormant, and not "dominant genes." Only after the fall, these genes became the normal, and the pre-existing ones became the latent ones. Again, this defies logic. They were not created perfect. Nor do we have any evidence to support this.
Young earth creation science is faced with many such unanswerable questions. The answers supplied by young earth creationists defy logic, and are not backed up by scientific evidence.
This article is on the web at answersingenesis.org/creation/v3/i1/feedback.asp
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