by Matthew C. Harrison
As classical Christians, we believe that the account of creation in Genesis records history. There is no middle ground here. You don’t get very far with a real Adam in a mythical garden, or with a real fall into sin without a first human being. You can’t stretch the accounts to cover billions or millions of years and so mesh the biblical account with Darwinism. The order of things created in Genesis does not even follow the order proposed by evolution. The problem of evil is unavoidable, and Darwin presumes death (a fallen state) as a presupposition to the development of human life (survival of the fittest). Genesis is either complete myth, or it is history recorded in the simple language of its time. . . .
Some years ago I found myself flat on my back in a dry, rockstrewn riverbed, hours from anywhere in central Australia. It was a crystal clear, pitch black, moonless night. I beheld the heavens in a spectacular, 3D, high definition, life-sized, living, moving mural. It took my breath away. For the first time in my life, I beheld a whole galaxy. Horizon to horizon, a one-hundred-eighty-degree swath of a billion stars of the Milky Way, painted like glitter on a swath of black velvet, the blackness of deep space.
I was filled with doubt teetering on the edge of belief. “Where is your God?” (Psalm 42:10). In the face of infinity, how can I possibly believe that there is a God who is concerned about our tiny planet? How can I believe that there is a God who knows who I am and should even care about me or about any human being? Is there a God at all? Who and what am I? What is my life compared to the universe? I am a micro-speck, a piece of subatomic dust, circling a black hole — a minute piece of finitude, about to be devoured by infinity. “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” (Psalm 8:3–4)
But then I began to consider that all I beheld was marvelously ordered. “Give thanks to him who made the great lights, for his steadfast love endures forever; the sun to rule over the day, for his steadfast love endures forever; the moon and stars to rule over the night, for his steadfast love endures forever” (Psalm 136:8–9). I was staring God in the face, as it were. No, not God in the flesh, the revealed Son of God, but the same God in nature, nevertheless. “Is not God high in the heavens?” (Job 22:12) Yes, to be sure. But this is God who revealed himself to Abram (who had the very same thoughts with which I struggle) and promised him, “I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven . . . And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 26:4). God used the very thing that terrified Abraham to console him.
. . . And then I beheld, in my infinite insignificance, the Southern Cross, and my doubt was dashed upon the Bright and Morning Star (Revelation 22:16). “He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names” (Psalm 147:4). And the joy of knowing this God of the heavens in Christ chased back all doubt. “And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy” (Matthew 2:9–10).
The secret to living a good news life in a bad news world is marveling with joy at the vast ordered complexity of all creation and recognizing by faith the God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) who created it all for our blessed surprise, enjoyment, and faith.
Excerpted from A Little Book on Joy (CPH, 2010), 103–107.
Having their eyes so far apart gives the various Hammerhead species 360 degree vision which is definitely advantageous, however there are three other aspects to that big flat head which serve the shark very well. We notice the eyes but the nostrils are also located out towards the ends of the hammer, or “cephalofoil”. Hammerheads do much of their hunting on the bottom, and at night. Flat sea life like ray’s, and flatfish like Flounders, are well camouflaged and will often bury themselves under the sand thus finding them visually is extremely difficult so other senses need to come into play. You’re probably aware that sharks have very rough, sand paper like skin covered with “dermal denticles”, tooth like structures. The denticles on Hammerheads have ridges on them which help guide scents in the water to their nostrils, which are widely spaced along the “hammers” of it’s head. Research indicates that sharks are able to differentiate between what, and when, each nostril senses, similar to the way an owl triangulates the location of it’s prey through sound as it hunts at night and in winter, when it’s prey is under the snow, and we can determine the location of objects we look at with our front facing binocular vision. Like many predators and scavengers, sharks have a very sensitive sense of smell, just as raptors have excellent vision, and can smell blood or rotting flesh from great distances. However, the Hammerhead’s prey is usually not hurt so the only scent they exude is from their undamaged skin. Thus creatures who rely on them as their primary food source must develop additional, non-visual, methods to find them at close range. In addition to utilizing scent and vision, the bottom of a shark’s head is covered in “ampullae of lorenzini”, electrical sensors. Having those sensors arrayed over a wide platform helps in locating prey, as the Hammerhead can determine which sensors are picking up signals and swim in that direction. You’re probably aware of the lateral line fish have which picks up electrical impulses and helps them to find their prey. Hammerheads swim very close to the bottom and swing their long flat heads back and forth until they pick up scent and electrical impulses from their prey, which has buried itself beneath the sand. The more sensors they have over a wide area, the better they are at picking up these signals and the more successful they are at finding their hidden prey. Finally, Hammerheads are often seen pressing a ray to the surface with one end of their cephelofoil while they bite off the wings. As sharks, of course, lack hands, this ability to hold their prey is extremely useful. Thus, that big weird looking’ head provides the perfect surface for a large number of electrically sensitive cells, widely spaced nostrils, 360 degree vision, and a method for immobilizing their prey, benefitting the shark in several ways. Hope this helps.
I always think that if man were the result of evolution then scripture would have been written differently. The Genesis account would include “…and God waited” many times.
Also I always think one of the strongest arguments for creation instead of evolution is hammerhead sharks! Have you ever seen one up close? How is that an evolutionary improvement?