Life according to Attenborough

In November 2005, the iconic figure of Sir David Attenborough returned to our television screens to present yet another ground-breaking natural history series.

‘Life in the Undergrowth’ is a dazzling tour through the world of the land-living invertebrates — insects, bugs, spiders and worms. As we have come to expect from previous Life series, it is a visual treat. Miniature cameras no larger than a seed allow us to view the world from the perspective of the creatures being observed.

Furthermore, the sensitivity of the new equipment avoids the problem of having to drench the tiny animals with so much light that they are ‘fried’ or behave unnaturally.

The latest technology has been employed to great effect to bring us never-before-seen wildlife photography. There are amazing shots of leopard slugs mating while hanging from a slimy thread, velvet worms giving birth through their mouths, giant centipedes catching and eating bats in a Venezuelan cave, ants ‘milking’ treehopper bugs for honeydew, and tiny wasps that ‘fly’ underwater with feathery wings. Truly we can say with the Psalmist: ‘O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches’ (Psalm 104.24).

Different worldview

Nevertheless, we ought to keep in mind that Sir David’s new series, awe-inspiring though it is, presents us with a worldview that is foreign to the Bible:

* Sir David’s world is one in which solely natural processes — mutation and selection — are regarded as sufficient to explain all the diversity of life that we see around us. His commentary is revealing: ‘Eventually larger animals appeared…’, ‘Some enterprising creatures found it safer to lay their eggs out of the sea…’, ‘Simple plants began to advance over the mud…’. The precise details of how evolution brought about these remarkable transformations is never addressed — but many viewers will accept, on Sir David’s authority, that this is how it must have happened. We might say that this is evolution of the ‘with-one-bound-he-was-free’ variety! But there is no room in this materialistic worldview for design; it is not even considered a possibility.

* Sir David’s world is one in which death, bloodshed and cruelty are regarded as a normal part of the natural world from the beginning. This is how the world is and always has been. The Sydney Morning Herald (March 25 2003) reported Sir David saying: ‘When creationists talk about God creating every individual species as a separate act, they always instance hummingbirds, or orchids, sunflowers and beautiful things. But I tend to think instead of a parasitic worm that is boring through the eye of a boy sitting on the bank of a river in West Africa, that’s going to make him blind. And I ask the creationists: “Are you telling me that the God you believe in, who you also say is an all-merciful God, who cares for each one of us individually, are you saying that God created this worm that can live in no other way than in an innocent child’s eyeball? Because that doesn’t seem to me to coincide with a God who’s full of mercy”.’

The Fall

But Sir David, like Charles Darwin before him, has forgotten the Bible’s account of the Fall of Man, which brought the curse of death upon the creation. This is a world that has been marred and spoilt by human sin — and disease-causing organisms are just one manifestation of that awful reality.

* Sir David’s world is one in which man is just another animal — in fact, an animal the world would be better off without. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph (November 12 2005), Sir David said: ‘I am afraid it is a bit of a clichŽ of mine, but if we disappeared overnight, the world would probably be better off; but if they (i.e. the invertebrates) disappeared overnight, the world would come to an end’. It is a tragic irony that Sir David’s humanistic outlook is ultimately self-destructive and results in such a low view of mankind. One wonders what motivation there is in such a worldview for care, charity or compassion towards other human beings. How different is the Bible’s perspective on man! The Scripture tells us that man has been made ‘a little lower than the angels’ and is crowned with glory and honour (Psalm 8.5). He is not just another animal — but the very image of his Creator. As such we have a duty of care and responsibility for one another and for the amazing world into which God has placed us.

So, as we watch ‘Life in the Undergrowth’ and marvel at the stunning photography, let us also remember to praise and glorify our Maker. Let us remember that this is God’s world — a product of plan and purpose, not chance and necessity. Let us remember the terrible consequences of human sin — the true origin of death and suffering. And, finally, let us remember that we are special to God — so much so that he sent his only begotten Son into this sin-cursed world to redeem a people for himself.

Paul Garner has a degree in Geology and Biology and is a full-time lecturer and researcher with Biblical Creation Ministries.

This article is reprinted with permission from Origins (Issue 43), the journal of the Biblical Creation Society. Further details about the society are on http://www.biblicalcreation.org.uk.