Intelligent Design:
Proof of Creation
by Michael A. Denk
Editor’s Note (Catholic Family News): The following was written by a Grade 12 Catholic home-schooled student who has nurtured a keen interest in biology from his early years.
In science, there are sometimes questions that confuse even the most learned scientists. One of the most outstanding of these queries is: “How did life come to exist on our planet?” For Catholics, this “unexplainable” question is really not a mystery at all. Every true Catholic knows that God Himself wonderfully and intelligently created the universe and life for the purpose of our salvation. Hence, the universe was designed by a Supreme Being; it did not design and create itself. Despite the accuracy and wonderful simplicity of this answer, atheists are not satisfied with it. They would prefer to say that God never existed, and that life spontaneously created itself through the process of evolution. Despite the obvious absurdity of this idea, evolution has greatly succeeded in conquering the scientific community.
One field that has particularly suffered from the infiltration of evolution is zoology, the study of animals. After all, evolution must use animals in its attempts to prove that “advanced” creatures (like mammals) evolved from “simpler” creatures (one-celled organisms)[1]. Because of this, many think of zoology as a proof for evolution. In reality, however, evolution often has a difficult time explaining what it sees in the animal world. Many animals are so perfect or unusual in their design that evolutionists are entirely stumped when they try to explain how they came about. By studying some of these animals, we can more clearly see God’s intelligent design in nature.
Insects and the Bombardier Beetle
When looking at the creatures that confound evolutionists, a good place to start would be with the insects. Interestingly, insects and their fossils in general have always been very hostile to the evolutionary theory. If evolution were true, fossil insects should be very different in anatomy from their modern day counterparts. This should be especially true for the cockroaches and silverfishes, often touted by evolutionists as being the earliest of the animals. In reality, the fossil cockroaches and silverfishes (erroneously stated to have lived 350 billion years ago) are exactly the same in their general structure as those living today[2]. Other fossil insects, like the dragonflies, tell the same story[3]. In an attempt to justify evolution in light of this information, one scientist stated: “Probably no other group of animals have so effectively covered their evolutionary tracks as the insects.” With no evidence to prove this theory, the only valid conclusion that can be reached is that there were no “evolutionary tracks” to cover in the first place![4]
One insect that is particularly baffling to evolutionists is the bombardier beetle. Despite its diminutive size, this creature has a great weapon. When threatened by a predator, it can shoot a caustic fluid consisting of benzoquinones from two nozzles at its back end. Incredibly, this fluid is expelled from the beetle’s body at a temperature of 212 degrees Fahrenheit! Since the nozzles which shoot the liquid are moveable, the beetle can voluntarily aim and hit its enemies with great precision[5]. The internal workings of this wonderful defense mechanism are incredibly intricate for an insect. The expulsion of the fluid is caused by a violent reaction of enzymes and hydrogen peroxide/hydroquinone solutions mixing together inside the beetle. To prevent accidental mixing, the enzymes and the chemical solutions are stored in two special chambers[6]. Even if the two substances should inadvertently mix, they both contain a special chemical called an inhibitor. This prevents the explosive reaction from taking place. When the beetle wants to defend itself, it mixes a chemical called an anti-inhibitor to the substances. This cancels out the inhibitor chemical, and allows the substances to react[7]. When the beetle defends itself in this manner, what seems to be one large explosion is really a series of several smaller ones. If one large explosion occurred, the immense force might propel the beetle away[8]. Evolutionists have an extremely hard time determining how such an advanced system could properly evolve. If the beetle developed it gradually, two things might happen. Firstly, if the system did not function because it had not yet evolved all of its components, the beetle would probably go extinct due to relentless preda-tion9. Secondly, something catastrophic might occur. If the system could work but still was missing something (like the inhibitor chemical), the explosive substances might unintentionally explode and utterly destroy the insect! Therefore, this beetle would need to be created in its complete form from the start in order to survive; it could never evolve gradually[10].
Fish
Fish are another group of animals that confuses evolutionists. Like the insects, many species of living fish are exactly the same as their fossil cousins. Two examples are the lungfish and the coelacanth fish. The strange fossils of the coelacanth fish, originally considered extinct, once suffered the indignity of being dubbed intermediate links by the evolutionists. When a living coelacanth was caught in 1939, however, scientists quickly concluded that it was a normal fish[11].
One of the most bizarre of all fish is the anglerfish, a deep-water fish which can live more than a mile under the surface. This strange creature has a structure growing out of its head that resembles a fishing rod. On the very tip of this “rod” is a worm-like structure that has an incredible function: it can produce light! This wonderful light-producing organ is held close to the mouth of the anglerfish. Smaller fish are attracted to the light, thinking that it is a food source. When they try to eat the “food,” they become the next meal of the hungry anglerfish![12]
The anglerfish’s light poses a problem for evolution. Evolutionists might attempt to state that it evolved gradually over long periods of time. Since the anglerfish relies so heavily on its fishing system for food, however, an underdeveloped or non-functioning light would probably lead to the fish’s starvation. The light itself is extremely complex. Involving the compound Luciferin and the enzyme Luciferase, it is remarkable in that it produces no heat[13]. Tireless research has been spent on these two substances (Luc-\iferase was found to contain more than 1000 proteins!), but still no one knows for certain how the light is made[14].
Another interesting part of the anglerfish is its body structure. It is specially built to withstand the immense pressures it encounters in the depths of the ocean. The anglerfish lives where the pressure is around 2000 pounds per square inch, but it suffers no damage; it was designed to live in this environment. This prevents a regular fish from evolving into an anglerfish; if it somehow sank into the depths to begin its evolution, it would be crushed! In short, the anglerfish could not have evolved from another animal; it was an anglerfish from the start[15].
Our Feathered Friends
Birds also demonstrate God’s design. While evolutionists often attempt to say that reptiles evolved into birds, a close look at a feather will disprove this. Interestingly, only birds have feathers; they are unique in the animal kingdom. Feathers consist of barbs (hooks) extending from a main shaft. These barbs are armed with smaller hooks called barbules, which in turn have even smaller hooks called barbacelles. This intricate array of tiny hooks enables the bird to interlock its feathers and fly. When we see how complex and wonderful this system is, we can easily recognize how foolish evolutionists are for saying that simple reptilian scales can evolve into feathers. One scientist said: “If this (bird evolution) is serious science, than so is the story of Cinderella19].
While all these features are impressive in themselves, the most incredible feature of the woodpecker is its tongue. This highly specialized instrument en-ables the bird to capture insects that bore tunnels deep into the tree. Extremely long and thin, the tongue is armed with backward-pointing barbs at its tip. These barbs, along with a sticky “glue” that covers the tongue, help the woodpecker to hook and remove even the most stubborn insects from their tunnels[20]. Since the tongue is so long, its arrangement in the woodpecker’s skull is sometimes quite bizarre. In the European Green woodpecker, the tongue runs “... around the back of the skull beneath the skin, and over the top between the eyes, terminating usually just below the eye socket.Rockford: Tan Books, 1984], p. 29.
3. Johnson, p. 39.
4. Field, p. 29.
5. Martin, Jobe, D.M.D., Th. M.; The Evolution of a Creationist, [Rockwell: Biblical Discipleship Publishers, 2005], p. 39.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid., 41-42.
8. Ibid., 42.
9. “Creation versus Evolution”, Mothers’ Messages, March 200, p. 7.
10. Martin, p. 41.
11. Johnson, 39.
12. Martin, p. 159.
13. Ibid.
14. Ibid., p. 158-160.
15. Ibid., p. 161.
16. Johnson, p. 49.
17. Martin, p. 265.
18. Ibid.
19. Ibid., 266.
20. Ibid., 266-267.
21. Ibid., 267.
22. Ibid., 131-133.
