Which Came First, the Defense or Countermeasures?

Luke 11:21
“When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace….”

Our Lord recognized that in a sinful world we must be prepared to protect ourselves. The same is true in the animal and plant world. When it comes to trying to explain this truth using evolutionary thinking, there are some serious difficulties.

There are many plants that have effective defenses against the insects that attack them. For example, a plant called Bursera defends itself with poisons that squirt from its leaves when a certain beetle larva attempts to feed on it. However, the larvae have learnt to chew on a particular part of the leaf first. When they do this they disable the plant’s defense system and can munch away on the leaf without fear of harm.

According to evolution, the plant’s defense mechanism and the beetle’s countermeasures had to evolve simultaneously: countermeasure perfectly matching defense, otherwise the countermeasure would be quite useless. The probability of this happening, even if evolution was true, is extremely remote. Even evolutionists have realized this problem and have published their attempts to explain how this could happen, but such explanations are based on a complex foundation of evolutionary assumptions and little evidence.

According to evolution, such unlikely interrelationships had to evolve by chance many times when one looks at all the defenses that plants use and predators can outsmart. Creationists see these systems as created fully formed by our Creator.

Prayer: Lord, I thank You that although You created a perfect world, You provided for our needs in a sinful world.

Author: Paul A. Bartz

Ref: Science News, 11/15: 2003, p. 318, “Chronicling a war of beetle vs. leaf.” Photo: Bursera simaruba. Courtesy of Kurt Stueber. (CC BY-SA 3.0)