Originally published in Creation 2, no 3 (July 1979): 4-8.
This series of articles is designed to overcome the problem many people have when they study or read biology. That is, they may not believe in evolution, but they cannot find a way to say this or put it into practice since everything they read or think is done in evolutionary terms. This series has been prepared particularly for use in high school biology courses by the Creation Science Biology Committee and covers selected organisms from all major phyla.
Have you ever realized how many different “bits” go to make up a human being?
Millions of muscle cells, blood and nerve cells and bone cells are needed just to allow you to lift one finger one millimeter. Man is truly an engineering marvel. What then of an animal that can move, eat, respond to stimuli, capture, kill and reproduce—yet it is just one single cell. These activities compose the everyday world of the Protozoan. Commonly described as “primitive and simple,” the protozoans are anything but that! This definition is outstanding for the magnitude of the erroneous impression it makes. No protozoan is simple and none are primitive. Let us look at the ameba as an example of protozoa, and then at how an “analysis” and “description” of the ameba very much depends on belief in how it got here.
The ameba is small, usually no bigger than a dot (.); most are “friendly” to man but some cause serious diseases. They will live in a range of environments from mouth to mountain lakes and many can survive drought in a special “case” they make for themselves.
The descriptions of the ameba which follow are those by (1) a person accepting the evolutionary theory and (2) a person who accepts that God deliberately created the first protozoans and had a purpose for them then and now. Note the difference in description which is produced by the different starting points.
Protozoa are:
Protozoa have evolved from chemicals but no evidence is available to provide the detailed steps of this process although the general direction is well-known.
Protozoa are:
Protozoa are the products of a deliberate creation and whose basic plan has remained similar since the time of creation.
Answers in Genesis is an apologetics ministry, dedicated to helping Christians defend their faith and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.