Page 512 - Atlas of Creation Volume 3

The oxygen and nutrients
for the voracious meta-
The retina trans- Veins in the bolic appetite of the pho-
forms the image optical cav- toreceptors are
into neural signals. ity feed the
retina. provided by a unique
The cornea as- Optic nerve capillary bed, called
sists with the fo- connects the
cusing of light. eye to the the choriocapillaris,
brain. which is an anatomiz-

ing network of large
and flattened capillar-
ies which form a rich
vascular layer situ-

ated immediately ex-
The lens ternal to the
focuses
the image. photoreceptors, sepa-
The sclera is a firm, rated from them only
white layer that cov- by the retinal cell ep-
ers the eyeball.
ithelial cell layer (RPE)
Light enters The iris muscles and a special mem-
through the control how brane—Bruch's mem-
opening of much light will
the pupil. enter. brane—which together form
a highly selective barrier
which only allows passage into
The eye, one of the manifestations of God's su-
perior Creation, has been created in a way that the retina of metabolites and nu-
permits it to function in the most efficient man- trients required for the function of
ner.
the RPE and photoreceptor cells.
These capillaries are much larger than standard capillaries being between 18–50 microns in diameter.
This unique network of blood channels gives every impression of being specially adapted to provide the pho-

toreceptor layer with copious quantities of blood. 71
In his book, An Introduction to the Biology of Vision, Professor James T. McIlwain writes, "Because of the great
metabolic needs of the photoreceptors, the eye seems to have adopted the strategy of 'swamping' the choroid with blood

to ensure that supply is never a problem." 72
It is for this reason that the photoreceptors are "inverted." Clearly, there is a strategy here. The inverted
arrangement of the retina is not faulty as Dawkins claimed, but is proof of Creation for a specific purpose.

In a relevant article, Denton examines whether the retina could have been formed in a different way.
His conclusion was that it could not. Dawkins' suggestion that the retina should be flat, with the receptor
cells facing the light, would distance them from the capillaries that nourish them and in great measure,
would rob them of oxygen and nutrients they need. Extending the capillaries into the retina layer would

not solve the problem, because this would produce many blind spots and reduce the eye's ability to see.
Denton comments:

The more deeply the design of the vertebrate retina is considered, the more it appears that virtually every fea-
ture is necessary and that in redesigning from first principles an eye capable of the highest possible resolution
and of the highest possible sensitivity (capable of detecting an individual photon of light) we would end up

recreating the vertebrate eye—complete with an inverted retina. . . 73

In short, the arguments of Dawkins and other evolutionists that "the vertebrate retina is faulty" derive
from ignorance. Their conclusions have been vitiated by more informed and knowledgeable investigations
of the minutiae of living creatures. Actually, in the history of Darwinism there have been many other argu-
ments arising from ignorance. One is the myth of the "vestigial" organs.

510 Atlas of Creation Vol. 3