November 13, 2004, a beautiful fall morning, found me driving south to Red Deer to hear John McKay of Australia. He has been described as a veteran creation geology expert and a walking encyclopedia of creation knowledge. With accolades like that, I was excited about this opportunity to learn. This man’s father was a Scottish lawyer, so he joked that he learned how to argue while very young.
The first session took us on a brief world tour. One of the places I found most interesting was the province of Nova Scotia. Here we find many fossilized trees standing upright through numerous coal seams, and some of the trees have associated fossilized fish and amphibians, evidence that the trees were buried quickly, in flood conditions. There are also fossils of 1 m long sow bug-like creatures. Indeed Nova Scotia has a mixture of fossilized bones, including those of crocodiles, sharks, lizards, dinosaurs and fish, all in the same general area. The speaker pointed out that this does not mean they lived together but rather that they died together. England has similar phenomena.
The second session was called Designosaurs. This covered the Christian worldview as well as concepts of design in dinosaurs. The media often portray T-rex as ferocious, but there is not the slightest evidence of T-rex teeth marks in any animal so far, so it is unlikely that they were carnivores. Cycad seeds have been found in the stomachs of some dinosaur fossils. Since these seeds are poisonous, it may be that the dinosaurs were designed with enzymes to counteract this poison.
Session three was on giants in the land. Just as sow bug-like creatures were so huge, so dragonflies had a two metre wingspan. There were poplar leaves 28 cm across. Horsetail plants grew over 30 m tall. There were oysters half a metre across. That should be enough for a whole dinner party. Beavers up to 3 m long were evidently up to chewing down bigger trees. Kangaroos that are now a metre tall, used to grow up to 5 m. In Numbers 13:23 we read that it took two men to carry a bundle of grapes. The Bible is as reliable about agricultural accounts as it is on spiritual topics. Mr. McKay concluded that many extant plants and animals are basically miniatures.
The last session was on teaching creation in schools. While it is true that in many jurisdictions teachers are not allowed to bring up the subject, nevertheless students can and they should be encouraged to do so. Mr. McKay reminded us that there is much we could learn from the Australian aboriginals. They have studied creation and understand that the Creator is smart. They have also recorded their dinosaur sightings in pottery, textiles, rock carvings and petroglyphs. I came away realizing again that I am simply well informed dust, designed by a loving, intelligent Creator.
Lisa Derksen
July 2005
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