Another creationist dentist expert on evolution

Another dentist comes out as an expert on evolutionary theory. Dr. Jobe Martin has produced a set of DVDs, pushed by the AFA, with what sounds like a huge collection of what he understands as gaps in our understanding: Incredible Creatures That Defy Evolution. He then takes these gaps and marches on to present them as evidence that evolution does not work, and that his particular notion of a creator made it all.

I have not seen the videos, so I cannot rule out that he is talking about some animals that I have never heard of, and that those animals indeed could not be even imagined to have evolved. However, the chance of that seems small, just because, as an evolutionary biologist, it is unlikely that I have not heard of any of these incredible creatures. Also, while the cover could be meant to mislead people like me, it features giraffes, hummingbirds, penguins, elephants, horses, and a seahorse. Not animals that make evolutionary biologists shiver with despair over their origins. Not that all details are known, but so far (perhaps up until Dr. Martin) no knuckle-biting mysteries.

So who is Dr. Jobe Martin? How did he come about such expertise, as we would require of someone who see himself fit to educate us all? It sounds sort of like a Christian version of Adnan Oktar (aka Harun Yahya), except Oktar sent his magnificent Atlas of Creation to hundreds of people for free, and we have to pay good money for Martin's DVDs.

Jobe Martin, a native of Bloomsburg, PA, was a biology major at Bucknell University and a 1966 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh Dental School. After spending two years in the Air Force, he established a private dental practice at NASA in Houston. Jobe and his wife, Jenna Dee, moved to Dallas in 1971 when he assumed a teaching post at the Baylor College of Dentistry. In 1982, he made the decision to enroll at Dallas Theological Seminary. He graduated in 1986 with a Masters of Theology in Systematic Theology. Dr. Martin also has an Associates Degree in Business from Eastfield Community College in Dallas.

In other words, Dr. Jobe Martin was conspicuously unqualified to evaluate the evidence for evolution. He hasn't studied evolution, perhaps apart from a class or two in his days as a pre med.

But, he could very well have spent the last twenty years as a serious student of evolution. So did he?

Dr. Jobe Martin has spent the last twenty years studying the topic of Biblical Creation vs. Evolution, and lectures frequently on the subject. He began his scientific career as a dentist, and a believer in Darwinian evolution, as he had been taught in numerous courses in high school, undergraduate school, and dental school. Some of his Christian students at the Baylor College of Dentistry challenged him to prove to them that evolution was a correct, complete and accurate explanation for the origin of the earth and all of its abundance of unique life forms.

Hmmm... Numerous courses in high school and dental school? I know how little evolution is taught nowadays in high school, and how little students care. Could be that high schools were totally focused on evolution in the 1950's. It could be that he loved evolution as a pre med and took lots of courses on evolution, and related subjects. Could it also be that he took numerous evolution classes in dental school? Sounds doubtful. I'd pay good money too see his transcripts.

But studying biblical creation vs. evolution does emphatically not qualify you as an expert, I am sorry to say. It does not mean that he submerged in evolutionary theory, learning all he could, and then years afterward did his best to honestly assess the evidence pro and con. Rather, as a committed creationist, it sounds like he set out from the beginning looking to misrepresent evidence as though it does not support evolution. He certainly wouldn't be the first. If (and that's a gargantuan if) he can show us an animal that indicates something with evolutionary theory is wrong, then he would be the first.

As Dr. Martin studied the topic in order to educate these students in evolution, he began to see that most of the world is heavily indoctrinated from their earliest education to believe in an earth that was created billions of years ago in the Big Bang, and life which evolved from non-life. Yet in reality there is very little scientific evidence to back up this version of origins. Over the course of the next decade, Dr. Martin became an expert on the subject, and has uncovered countless pieces of evidence that the Big Bang, evolution of life from non-life, and an earth billions of years old are simply not factually provable, and are in fact, somewhat incredible.

The claim that he became an expert is what is incredible. As in unbelievable. An expert in cosmology, geology, geophysics, biochemistry, chemistry? I don't include biology in this list, because no biologist would ever say "evolution of life from non-life." And all this in one decade?

If you, like I, would like to see the movies but refuse to pay for them, we can at least get a glimpse into what will be presented from these questions listed in afa.org. I list them here with links to scientific explanations:

• Are there really creatures that produce fire to defend themselves?
• How does a giraffe get a drink without causing lethal blood pressure to his brain?
• How can Geckos walk upside down, even on glass and not fall?
• How can birds navigate over thousands of miles of ocean and never get lost?
• How do fireflies and glowworms create light that generates no heat?
• How do great whales dive to the bottom of the ocean without the pressure causing them to implode?
• What creature was the inspiration for the helicopter?
• How can some creatures be cut in half and still regenerate themselves? Some can even grow a new head!
• What kind of bird can kill a lion with a single kick?
• How can some dogs know that a storm is coming before it appears, or can sense when their masters are about to experience a seizure?
• Which creature perlexes scientists because of its amazing ability to heal itself, even when it sustains horrendous injuries?
• How do Emperor Penguins go two and a half months without eating or drinking?

Basically, these are intriguing questions, some of which have been answered. I don't know if they all have, but there certainly aren't any reason to think that any of these questions should be a problem for evolution.