science and the Bible by Bolton Davidheiser, Chairman, Science Division, Biola College
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Some time ago a Christian reviewer of a book by a Christian author ex horted the reader to remember that there might be a danger in citing ex amples of the wonders of nature as the handiwork of God instead of at tributing them to natural causes. The difficulty is, he said, that as science finds explanations, one’s God becomes, in a sense, smaller and smaller. This seems to be part of the trend which is occurring in some Christian circles which, whether intentionally or un intentionally, is undermining faith. Actually, as more is found out about the world of nature through scienti fic investigation, it is shown to be still more marvellous instead of less so. There is no end of examples. Let us consider three. Honey bee workers are marvelous ly adapted for the requirements of their various tasks. This particularly plagued Charles Darwin because the workers do not reproduce and hence other bees cannot profit by any gene tic modifications which might occur in them. They inherit their adapta tions from the queens and drones, which are themselves not so adapted. Karl von Frisch and his associates investigated the habits of the workers further and found out how they com municate to each other both the di rection, with respect to the sun, and the distance to a newly-discovered source of food. To test this, one man may place a dish of honey any place where it can be found by a worker and then mark with a spot of color the bee which finds it. Another man who understands the “ language” of the bees can watch through a win dow in the hive as this bee signals the position of the honey and then he, as well as the other bees, can find it from the information given. If there is a barrier, like a portion of a mountain, between the food and the hive so that the bee which finds it cannot return to the hive by a straight line, it computes the angle between the direction of the sun from the hive and the straight line from the hive to the food and it communi cates this angle to the other bees, together with the distance by the in direct route. Von Frisch comments, MARCH, 1962
“That they are able to fly by an in direct route and yet reconstruct the true direction without the aid of rul er, protractor, or drawing board, is one of the most wonderful accom plishments in the life of the bees and indeed in all creation.” It has been known for a long time that some molds in the soil have the ability to catch and utilize for food the «numerous minute worms which abound there. A sticky substance is exuded at the surface of some of these predatory molds and the worms stick fast, unable to get away. But further investigation has revealed a truly marvelous method which certain molds use in catching their prey. On little side branches, the mold grows small loops like miniature dough nuts. If one of the microscopic worms touches the outside of a loop, noth ing happens. But when its head end pokes through the hole of the loop and it touches the inside surface, the loop constricts in less than a tenth of a second and the worm is caught in a strangle hold from which there is no escape. A scientist who believes all this came about naturally says, “ How they evolved their predatory habits and organs remains an evo lutionary mystery.” There is one kind of mite which lays its eggs inside the ear of certain moths, destroying the function of the ear. Although as many as ten females and their progeny may overcrowd one ear, in every case except two in more than 1,000 studied, the other ear was left uninhabited and intact. If a gra vid female is placed in the other ear it makes itself at home, but in na ture this happens with extreme rari ty- There is a good reason for this remarkable behavior for the moths can hear the high frequency sounds which bats emit as a sort of radar to find their prey, and the moths man euver to avoid the bats. If both ears were destroyed, both the moth and its load of mites would become an easy prey to the bats. “Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty . . .” For another remarkable example see Bird Migration” in The King’s Business December, 1958.
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