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The Lie: Evolution
 

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CREATIONIST EXAGGERATIONS (Get Rid of the Roach)

By Karl Priest 9-2007 (revised 6-30-15)

If you are an evolutionist reading this article you should not get too giddy. Just read some of my other articles to see the outright lies told by your evolutionist friends. Related to this particular article, I have three separate non-creationist articles that state that mayflies once grew to the size of birds as large as canaries or sparrows. I have found no evidence to confirm that whopper.

Nevertheless there is no excuse for creationists making claims that cannot be verified by science and/or scripture.

Unfortunately, some great creationists have made some statements that are, at best, exaggerations regarding insect fossils.

One is the esteemed Dr. Kent Hovind who has stated insects once existed that are much larger than those living today. I have no doubt that some insects (such as dragonflies based upon fossil evidence) were larger before the flood, but there is no evidence of anything like Dr. Hovind claims to be a fact. In particular is Dr. Hovind's claim about the size of pre-flood cockroaches.

To give credit where it is due, Dr. Hovind did have the courage and manners to talk to me. He told me proof of a giant cockroach was held by the St. Louis Zoo. Zoo officials did not verify that claim.

Initially in 2000 I tried to convince Dr. Hovind to make a correction. Dr. Hovind said he only changes his presentation to please the Lord. To which I responded, “It is not pleasing to the Lord for you to continue to spread false information. That would be lying.”

Following is my last email to Dr. Hovind and below that is a snip from a transcript of Dr. Hovind making the statement during a debate. I have personally heard something similar when listening to Dr. Hovind make a live presentation.

1-27-2006

Dr. Hovind:

I really appreciate your ministry, but remain concerned that you have not corrected the error of the large cock-roach fossil you have claimed exists. The largest cockroach fossil is only 3.5 inches long.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/11/1112_TVbigroach.html
http://cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templates/view.cgi?category=Sci-Tech&story=/news/2001/11/09/cockroach01
http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/template.cfm?name=Cockroach

I do not need to cite scientific and scriptural reasons why you should set the record straight.

Thank you.

In Christ,

Karl Priest

Transcript from John Ankerberg program:

Hovind: The fact is, I read the Bible and I look at science and I see several interesting things. Insects are found in the fossil record that are huge. Insects breathe through their skin. There’s a real problem as an insect gets larger...it breathes through spiracles in its skin. As you increase the size of an insect, the surface area to volume ratio changes radically and you have a problem where it can’t get enough oxygen. And yet we find dragon flies—they found one in Italy here recently with a 50-inch wing span. Well, a 50-inch dragon fly couldn’t possibly fly today. Something was different. Two-foot grasshopper fossils were found. Eighteen-inch cockroach fossils. In Germany this summer they found an 8-1/2 foot centipede fossil. Something was different on this planet because insects today cannot get that size because of the surface area to volume ratio problem. They just don’t have enough skin to absorb the oxygen they need. Plus the flight. You know, pterodactyls are found with 50-foot wing spans. They couldn’t fly today.

(http://www.ankerberg.com/Articles/_PDFArchives/science/SC3W0901.pdf)

I focused on the cockroach in my comments to Dr. Hovind, but I find no evidence of grasshoppers even approaching anywhere near 12 inches. I did not investigate the centipede claim, because centipedes are not insects, but Internet research reveals that living cntipedes (Scolopendra gigantea) can reach up to almost twelve inches.

There is a fossil of a large dragon fly, but its wingspan is much less (about 20 inches less) that the 50 inch span claimed by Dr. Hovind. (http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/uniramia/odonatoida.html)
Other giant insects probably existed, but until the fossils are found dogmatic statements about them only provide a legitimate opportunity for criticism from about them only provide a legitimate opportunity for criticism from evolutionists.

Regretably Dr. Hovind’s son, Eric, has incorporated this error into Eric’s otherwise excellent jazzed-up creation presentations. He uses a trick-photography image of a giant roach in a modern kitchen in Part 3 of his DVD Curriculum series “Beginnings”.

On October 8, 2009 I asked Eric for a citation. Receiving no response, I informed him of the error on October via the website contact form.*

The Hovind’s are not alone in committing this egregious error.

Dr. David Catchpoole, who writes extensively for Creation Ministries International, says, (in the article “Insect Inspiration Solves Giant Bug Mystery”) says, “Can you imagine a time when mayflies were over five times bigger than today, and the ground was walked by giant ants—their queen bigger than a hummingbird? What about if insects looking somewhat like gigantic flying cockroaches with 43–cm (1½–ft) wingspans came into your kitchen? Would you have felt uneasy with gargantuan dragonflies—wingspans as wide as a hawk’s—darting around you? “Sound impossible? In fact, all of these examples are known from actual fossils—so at some time in the past such creatures were living on this earth.” (http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/4686/)

Dr. Cathpoole did not respond to my contact efforts.

In Creation News (vol. 15, No. 1, 2001), John Mackay (of the group Creation Research) wrote, “Alongside such giant preserved plants are fossil cockroaches, forty times bigger than the ones we see today.” Mackay, also, would not respond to my contact attempt.

Note: I reached someone in the office of both organizations who informed me they would relay my message (which I clearly stated) to both men.

Alas! These fine men, all of whom can easily defeat evolutionists in debate, for some reason, cling to this unnecessary and incorrect claim.

I really think they picked up the idea in some evolutionist material, interjected some Biblical references to giants, and are too proud to admit error.

As soon as these men make the appropriate corrections I will revise this article.

I received a tip that Dr. Don Patton had unearthed a giant roach fossil. During a presentation Dr. Patton said, “I excavated a cockroach from near Oblong, Illinois several years ago. [It was] a foot-and-a-half long. [My] wife wouldn't let me bring it in the house." (“The Laws of Science Part 2 of 6” about 34:12 at http://www.bible.ca/tracks/video/don-patton-evolution-refuted-creation-science-flood-geology-laws-of-science.htm ) I contacted Dr. Paton via two October 29, 2012 emails and asked for verification of this fossil. Dr. Patton replied, “Due to several unfortunate circumstances, I no longer possess the fossil but I excavated it near Oblong, IL about 1978. To a follow-up question, asking if he had photographs or independent citations, Dr. Patton answered, “I'm afraid not. It was effectively stolen from me.”

There is plenty of cockroach facts that confound evolutionists. Unless we have verifiable facts creationists should not use the giant roach unless it is clearly a humorous point in a presentation.

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For convenience of readers I have added some snips from pertinent citations.

Giant Roach Fossil Found in Ohio Coal Mine
Bijal P. Trivedi National Geographic Today November 12, 2001

Geologists at Ohio State University have discovered a fossil of a giant prehistoric cockroach that roamed North America about 300 million years ago.

The cockroach is about 3.5 inches long (9 centimeters)—twice as large as the average modern American roach but slightly smaller than some specimens found in the tropics.

(http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/11/1112_TVbigroach.html)

Largest cockroach fossil predates dinosaurs
November 13, 2001 CBC News

An(sic) geology student in Ohio has found the largest-ever complete fossil of a cockroach, a nine-centimetre long insect that lived 300 million years ago, well before the first dinosaurs. Cary Easterday, a master's student at Ohio State University, found the fossil roach, more than twice as big as a common American roach, in 1999.

The fossil is an unusual find because insects don't have bones or hard shells, parts that are usually preserved in fossil. Easterday credits unusual chemical properties of the site for preserving the insect.

The fossil reveals a lot of detail about the roach. The veins in the insect's wings, the bumps on its shell, its legs, its antennae and its mouth parts were all preserved in the fossil.

(http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2001/11/09/cockroach011109.html)
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Evolutionists also exaggerate the size of a roach fossil. In “ Why Giant Bugs Once Roamed the Earth” (National Geographic, August 8, 2011) Ker Than (See “Let’s Squash Natural Selectionfor more from Than) said that fossils of “huge cockroaches were common during the Carboniferous period.” I emailed Mr. Than and asked if he had a citation for the largest fossil roach. He did not respond.
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For further reading about giant insects see my article “Large Little Creatures”.

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* Brother Eric:

I asked for a citation for the existence (in the past) of the giant cockroach that is mentioned in Part 3 of “Beginnings”. I wanted you to realize that there is no proof of the existence of a roach that size.

I unsuccessfully tried to convey this to your father.

I am your friend and co-laborer in the cause of Christ the Creator.

We have enough criticism from evolutionists without providing easy targets like this.

Please correct this situation.

Sincerely,

Karl