Ken Ham's Blog, page 407

Speaking at the “End of the World”

Tomorrow, I have the privilege of speaking at the music and teaching festival in the UK called “Creation Fest.” It’s being held in the extreme southwestern part of England. “Land’s End,” as the area is called, is as far west as you can go in England.

The festival grounds are located in Wadebridge and near Plymouth, the port from which many Pilgrims left for America in the 1620s for religious freedom. Also, just down the road is the famous town of Penzance, the site of the comic opera called “The Pirates of Penzance.” It’s a fascinating area of England.

I will be speaking Sunday afternoon at the festival site’s “Big Shed” as it’s called—on two occasions.

One of the other speakers is my friend Pastor Brian Brodersen, who was the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Westminster (London) many years ago and where I have spoken—Brian is now the associate pastor to Chuck Smith at the large church called Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa (Calif.), and is a well-known radio Bible teacher on the program Back to Basics. His wife Cheryl (daughter of Chuck Smith) will also be there.

For your interest, here is the devotional I submitted to Creation Fest for those in attendance to go on Facebook and read:

www.facebook.com/notes/creation-fest-uk/genesis-is-it-poetry-ken-ham/10151012172553721

To find out more about this free Christian music and teaching festival, go to www.creationfest.org.uk

One of the other reasons I am in the UK is to be a part of our Olympic Games outreach—with 100 Americans who flew over yesterday—to engage in creation evangelism on London’s streets.  While I will not be going to London for any of the Olympic events, the 100 volunteers will hear me give a few talks on using apologetics to evangelize more effectively and then they will hit the streets of London to pass out our special booklets Big Ben Time and share their faith one-on-one with thousands of visitors from around the world. Then I will be speaking in a few location in England and N. Ireland—see my schedule at  www.answersingenesis.org/outreach/conferences

Find out more about our Olympic Games outreach this next weekend and next week at:

www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2012/07/27/london-olympics-gospel-at-the-games

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

More Awards for AiG

Praise God! Christian media awards are helping tell others about AiG’s video productions and their important messages of biblical authority and the gospel!

We’ve received word that three of AiG’s most popular DVD productions received awards for excellence at the recent annual convention of the group International Christian Visual Media (www.icvm.com). ICVM is one of the most respected trade associations for Christian professionals involved in film and video production. It is comprised of many of the top producers, actors, writers, cinematographers, and others who use their God-given talents to reach the world with the gospel message. This year’s good news involves the winning of two top awards (called “Gold Crowns”) and three others:

Check This Out (animated DVD)—“Best Short Film” Winner, 2012 ICVM Gold Crown Award
The Foundations (Ken H AM series)—“Best Series” Winner, 2012 ICVM Gold Crown Award
I Dig Dinosaurs (Buddy Davis live action documentary)—“Documentary Under $50,000” category, 2012 Silver Crown Award
The Foundations (Ken H AM series)—“Curriculum” category, 2012 Silver Crown Award
I Dig Dinosaurs (Buddy Davis live action documentary)—“Children’s Film” category, 2012 Bronze Crown Award

This year’s event featured Christian film veterans such as Phil Vischer (VeggieTales), the Kendrick brothers (Courageous, Fireproof, and so on), Bart Gavigan (BBC writer), Jerry Jenkins (coauthor with Tim LaHaye of the Left Behind book series), and numerous others. We praise God for these awards of recognition that help affirm the quality of AiG’s productions to those considering their use!

(Awards listing is at http://www.icvm.com/crown-winners/108-2012-crown-award-winners.)

Here is a photograph of AiG VP Dale Mason as he spoke about these awards to the AiG staff yesterday:

Down Under Guest

We were thrilled to have Paul and Sharon Salmon from Australia at AiG for a few days. Paul worked in the AiG ministry in Australia for over 20 years and is a close friend. He now works in Christian education in Brisbane, Australia. Paul was also on the board of AiG USA in the early years of the ministry. Here is a photograph of Paul as he spoke to the AiG staff:

UK Here We Come

Mike Zovath and I will be in the UK for the next 10 days as I speak in England and Northern Ireland. Mike gave the AiG staff a run through the itinerary yesterday so they could pray more effectively for this time of ministry.

Here is the basic itinerary:

Sunday, August 5

Creation Fest—Wadebridge, Cornwall

3 PM—Relevance

4:30 PM—Science confirms bible

Tuesday, August 7

8 AM Pastor’s Breakfast, Holiday Inn, Chapel Lane, Great Barr

Wednesday, August 8

St John the Baptist Church, Cauldwell Hall Rd, Ipswich

7 PM—Relevance

8:30 PM—Science confirms the Bible

Friday, August 10

Broughshane Presby Church, Ballymena

7 PM—Relevance

8:45 PM—Dinosaurs and the Bible

Saturday, August 11

Martyrs Memorial Free Presby Church, Belfast

8 PM—Relevance

Sunday, August 12

Newtownbreda Baptist Church, Belfast

11 AM—Relevance
Ballygowan Free Presby Church, Ballygowan

6 PM—Six Days and the Authority of Scripture

Monday, August 13

Whitehall Metropolitan Tabernacle, Belfast

8 PM—Death and Suffering

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

Our “Chikin”* Day

A number of staff members ate at our local Chick-fil-A (CFA) restaurant yesterday for what was called an appreciation day for CFA’s president. He supports biblical marriage, and he has been attacked for it. The turnout of CFA supporters across the country was incredible! I posted some photos of the lines on my Facebook page, and many people responded saying the lines and wait were the same across the country. In Florence, KY, which is about 15 minutes from the Creation Museum, one staff member arrived at 4:30, well before dinnertime, and waited 70 minutes for his food. He estimated that there were 150–200 people ahead of him. Many people on my Facebook page said there was little or no media coverage in their areas (though there was national network coverage on TV). One person who posted on my Facebook wall said customers at his CFA were more upset about the lack of media coming to his restaurant to cover the massive response than the wait.

Chick-fil-A boldly supports biblical values as an organization, and the secularists are intolerant of that. Dan Cathy, president and chief operating officer of Chick-fil-A, said recently, “But as an organization we can operate on biblical principles. So that is what we claim to be. [We are] based on biblical principles, asking God and pleading with God to give us wisdom on decisions we make about people and the programs and partnerships we have. And He has blessed us.” Of course they have a right to do that with the freedoms we still have in the USA, and they welcome anyone to eat in their restaurants. Sadly, because of the growing secularizing of our culture, there is an increasing number of people, a small minority (but very vocal and in positions of authority), who want freedom for just about everything—except for Christians.

A report from a member of our research team who went to the Chick-fil-A in Florence for the appreciation day is below.

When we arrived at Chick-fil-A, we were shocked to see the drive-thru line was wrapped around the building and veered out of sight down the road along the strip of stores. It was around 11:45, and people were lined up around the building!

Line of cars

Line of people

While we were waiting in traffic to get into the parking lot, we saw a couple of people standing on the curb. One was holding a large wooden cross (taller than him) and the other was holding signs in support of CFA’s stand on biblical marriage. People shouted words of encouragement from their vehicles. There were no protestors in sight.

While we waited in line outside (our wait was about an hour), we watched as one of the employees took a drive-thru order. The employee told the customer it was her “lucky” day—she had been selected to get her order for free. The customer responded, “But I want to pay today!”

We were disappointed at the lack of media coverage. To the best of our knowledge, there were no reporters at the restaurant for most of our stay, which was close to two hours. In that time, there was not one lull in the lines! Near the end of our lunch, a reporter and cameraman walked in and interviewed the manager and some customers.

As we waited in line, I spoke with various CFA employees, who said the response had been overwhelmingly positive. They hadn’t heard any negativity from customers. One of the employees said that they had to set up a table with water for people waiting outside. “But everyone’s been very patient with waiting in line,” she continued. I asked the cashier who took my order what time it started to get this busy. He said, “When we opened.” It was awesome to see so many people coming out in support of a company that upholds biblical values!

Lots of people

Staff member Bodie Hodge talked with customers while waiting in line.

Our group enjoyed a lunch that was entirely worth the wait!

More staff members arrived to eat lunch.

Dustin DiChiara, the owner and operator of the Florence, Kentucky, Chick-fil-A, spoke with me while we were there. He expressed his gratefulness for how many people were supporting Chick-fil-A. “We ramped up, beefed up, and prepared to be busy, but we’re even busier than expected. We’re overwhelmed with gratitude for the outpouring of support.”

DiChiara said he looked at the numbers of people supporting Facebook groups that are for and against Chick-fil-A. He found that there was a “vast difference” between the numbers. He said that Chick-fil-A does not ask customers about their personal beliefs. “Our goal is to serve every customer with honor, dignity, and respect.”

As we left two hours later, the lines were even longer than they were when we arrived!

I blogged recently about the controversy surrounding Chick-fil-A.

Chick-fil-A’s president has been unapologetic in his stand for the family as God designed it. Dan Cathy said in one news report, “We are very much supportive of the family—the biblical definition of the family unit.”

Just as Dan Cathy said above, we have to look to the authority of God’s Word for our definition of marriage. And marriage was instituted in Genesis 1.

This national rally of support was not really a wake-up call to eat chicken of course, but a wake-up call to Christians to recognize we are in a spiritual war that is raging more than ever in this country. God’s people need to stand boldly on God’s Word. If you look at what has happened in England, you will see Christians are being persecuted in many ways for publicly professing their Christian worldview. This will happen more in this country if God’s people don’t get back to God’s Word and be the salt they should be.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

*Using the spelling of chicken in Chick-fil-A’s well-known advertising campaign.

“Animal Man” Here Next Week

You may have seen a photo of him holding an animal on the south lawn of the White House while standing with President George W. Bush, or you may have watched him on the David Letterman television show. Dan Breeding, “the Animal Man” (no, he’s not some evolutionary hybrid of man and creature), will be presenting his special animal shows on August 6–11 here at the Creation Museum. Dan’s specialized creation teaching—showing off some remarkable creatures of God—is great enough (children love it), but to make things even better, next week he will be accompanied by AiG musician Buddy Davis. It’s all called “Wild Animal Encounter: A Musical Extravaganza.”

It’s the first time we have put together a program like this for the Creation Museum. So whether it will be your first time to the museum or whether you’re a repeat visitor, this is a great time to stop by. Tickets are only $5 for this program (in addition to museum admission). Because we know that some large families often attend the museum, there will be a maximum charge of $30 per household (and children four and under are free).

Also, you can get your photo taken with one of Dan’s animals!

Now, with so many animals on display here next week, Buddy has decided to sing perhaps his best-known song, “It’s Designed to Do What it Does Do.” The lyrics are taken from one of my sayings at our AiG conferences about the incredible design we see in God’s creatures. Buddy and I eventually wrote a children’s book based on the saying and his song. The “Design” song is also featured on one of Buddy’s popular CDs.

Watch me give a promotional video for next week’s “Wild Animal Encounter: A Musical Extravaganza.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

And don’t forget—“eat mor chikin” today! (See my blog post from yesterday for an explanation.)

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

Why Are They Intolerant of the Only True Marriage?

“But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’” (Mark 10:6)

A firestorm erupted recently when certain intolerant secularists took aim at the president of the restaurant chain, Chick-fil-A. Dan Cathy publicly took a stand on the only true marriage—one man and one woman.

Of course, Dan Cathy’s stand is 100 percent biblical. The first marriage occurred when God created the first man and woman, Adam and Eve. God made Adam from dust and Eve from his side. That’s what we read in Genesis 2:23.

And Adam said:

“This is now bone of my bones

And flesh of my flesh;

She shall be called Woman,

Because she was taken out of Man.”

Furthermore, in Matthew 19, when Jesus Christ (the Son of God, the Word, the Truth, the Creator) stated the following:

And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Matthew 19:4–6).

Jesus quoted from the creation account in Genesis 1 (Genesis 1:27, “male and female”) and from the more detailed account of the sixth day of creation in Genesis 2 (Genesis 2:24, “one flesh”).

Jesus explained that the doctrine of marriage was based on the history in Genesis—of one man and one woman! Defining marriage any other way is an abomination in God’s eyes. In fact, the sign that God is turning a culture over to judgment is given in Romans 1.

Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them. (Romans 1:22–32)

Isn’t it interesting to note that those who take a stand on the true biblical doctrine of marriage will be slammed by secularists, as Dan Cathy has been. For instance, one news site reported the situation the following way:

The controversy began when Cathy elaborated on his “guilty as charged” comment in an interview on the Atlanta radio program The Ken Coleman show.

I think we are inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say, “We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage.”

First the Jim Henson Co., which provided Muppets toys for Chick-fil-A kids meals, pulled its toys and its partnership with the restaurant. Then the mayors of Boston and Chicago expressed opposition to new Chick-fil-A outlets opening in their cities. [Note: regarding the claim that the Jim Henson Co. pulled its puppets from Chick-fil-A kids meals, read what Chick-fil-A stated on their Facebook page.]

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino wrote a letter to Cathy, posted on the city’s Facebook page, condemning his comments and his company’s plans to open a restaurant in the city. “I was angry to learn on the heels of your prejudiced statements about your search for a site to locate in Boston. There is no place for discrimination on Boston’s Freedom Trail,” the letter reads. “It would be an insult to (Boston’s gay couples) and to our city’s long history to have a Chick-fil-A across the street from that spot.”

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel expressed similar sentiments on the company opening a restaurant in Chicago, saying “Chick-fil-A’s values are not Chicago values.”

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/07/27/chick-fil-as-controversial-gay-marriage-beef

Well, Chick-fil-A’s values may not be Chicago Mayor Emanuel’s values, but they are God’s!

Isn’t it interesting that these secularists often claim Christians like Dan Cathy are intolerant because they believe in the absolutes of God’s Word? However, the secularists are really the ones being intolerant.

I’ve had people say to me over the years, “But your stand on marriage is intolerant of ours—we allow all views—we are tolerant!” My answer, “Well my view is that your view is wrong, and that marriage is that of one man and one woman—a male and female—anything else is against God’s clear Word.” Then they typically say to me, “Well you are being intolerant of our view!” And I answer them, “Actually you are intolerant of my view—you are not allowing my view that your view is wrong!”

This is a clash of two world views. One is based on the absolute authority of the Word of God and the other is founded on man’s opinion (which means they allow all views except the absolutes of God’s Word that teaches absolutely what is right and wrong). Those clergy and other Christians who do not defend marriage as being only that of a male and female are not starting with God’s Word, but are adding man’s fallible opinions to the Word of God.

So what’s the real issue behind secularists being so intolerant? They are shaking their fist at God! They are “willingly ignorant” (2 Peter 3:5). They “suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (Romans 1:18). They are exhibiting their sinful hearts.

“The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

Actually, we are living in a time when we see what happens as people abandon God’s Word as the foundation for their worldview.

In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. (Judges 21:25)

It is also important to note that the public education system has by and large thrown out God’s Word and raised generations of children to believe they are just animals who evolved by natural processes. In that worldview, who determines right and wrong? And who determines what marriage should or should not be? In fact, why should there be any such thing as marriage any way? Why shouldn’t people do what they want with any one, even any animal? Why shouldn’t they do what is right in their own eyes if they can get away with it? Why not? If there’s no absolute authority, what right does anyone have to tell anyone else what they should or should not do?

As the culture continues to abandon God’s Word and degenerate further, we will continue to see people “doing what is right in their own eyes.” And God will continue to remove His restraining influence and judge this nation!

The only solution is for people to return to the authority of the Word of God.

And I also recommend you “eat mor chikin!”*

Congratulations Dan Cathy for your bold stand!

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

*Chick-fil-A’s catch phrase.

New Noah Video in Production

AiG’s production designers and video team have been working on a set where they will film a short video that will be used to promote the Ark Encounter project.

Here is a photo of the set as it is being constructed.

And here are two photos of the actor playing Noah getting prepped for the video.

Ben Wilt, who is heading up the video shoot, wrote to me saying, “Thought you might be interested in seeing our hair and make-up test. This was a test that Doug Henderson did on our actor who will be playing Noah in the upcoming video I’m shooting for the Ark team. The test went great, and I think our Noah character is looking very cool! I’m very excited about this video as I think it’ll really help in the fundraising effort.”

For updates on the building of a full-size Noah’s Ark south of Cincinnati, Ohio, and to watch our current Ark Encounter video, go to ArkEncounter.com.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

Three Video Crews Here in One Day!

Even though the Creation Museum has been open more than five years, film crews from around the world continue to visit and film. On some days it can be a TV news team that has flown here from Japan to do a feature piece on the role of religion in America, to an article for a newspaper in Switzerland. Even Al Jazeera, the Arabic news network, has been here twice (and its reporting about us was fair).

It was a particularly busy day last Wednesday when we had three different video crews visiting and filming the museum. One represented a live-action video for teens that will be produced primarily for Christian families, another is producing a pro-life documentary (I was interviewed, along with Dr. Georgia Purdom), and the third represented a major TV outlet (which we’ll keep quiet for the moment). The documentary film, to be released in 2014, will be on the creation vs. evolution issue and done in a balanced way, on a network with a viewership of several million people in America and England. In a few months, I’ll let you know more about this creation vs. evolution documentary. Because the crew was here for four days filming in the museum and interviewing me and other staff, AiG and our Creation Museum should have a prominent place in this major film.

Yes, the media are still fascinated by the museum and also the Ark Encounter.

Outreach to the Middle East

One of my personal passions, shared by many of our staff members who have spent time in the Middle East, is to reach Arabic and Persian Muslims (and other Muslims) with the message of the gospel. That takes the form of many things, including a major speaking tour of Egypt by AiG’s Terry Mortenson when much of the uprising was occurring in Cairo last year. We are also “behind the scenes” in a major way for an Arabic-language website that uses apologetics to present the gospel.

On Thursday, I was glad to welcome ministry friends Monir and Samya. At our chapel service, they shared something about their ministry to Muslims. Through radio programs, literature, DVDs, website, and music ministry, this delightful couple (he is from Egypt originally, and she from Lebanon) are on-fire Christians who reach out to Muslims primarily in the Middle East (and here in the United States).

Find out more about their ministry (by the way, I have not given their real last name for obvious reasons, as they travel to the Middle East constantly and into areas that can be very resistant to the gospel) at www.calloflove.org.

Monir is a well-known Christian singer among the millions of Arabic-speaking Christians around the world. As a musician, he goes under the name of Monir Habib—watch him sing and play the lute below:

Click here to view the embedded video.

It was also good to see my friend Faris Sahawneh during our chapel. Faris was here at the museum with his family and to meet with Monir and Samya. Faris is on the staff of Mid-Continent University in western Kentucky. Originally from Jordan, Faris played a part in getting me an honorary doctorate from MCU earlier this year. He “conspired” with my wife and some of the AiG staff to bring me to the MCU campus under the pretext of speaking in chapel and getting to know the faculty of this fine university. Just a few minutes before I was to speak in chapel, the university president and Faris dropped the news that they would be giving me an honorary doctorate! And then my “conspiring” wife whipped out the special robe that I was to wear. Sneaky. But somehow I made it through the chapel service.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

Beware of Those Who Want the Church to Compromise

Over the years, I have noticed that more and more churches and Christian colleges are compromising on Genesis with evolution/millions of years. Recently, I blogged about an article in Christianity Today where the author discussed Dr. Darrel Falk’s life and how he attempts to reconcile evolutionary ideas with the Bible. Dr. Falk is a professor of biology at Point Loma Nazarene University in California—a Christian college.

In my previous blog post, I discussed the impact of evolutionary ideas on Dr. Falk’s beliefs and how he now influences students toward evolutionary thinking in his role as a professor in a Christian college. Well, now I want to look at how Dr. Falk is attempting to influence the church.

Dr. Falk became the president of BioLogos in December of 2009. BioLogos is known for promoting “evolutionary creation,” which as I said before is really just another name for theistic evolution. BioLogos has tried to convince the church that evolution/millions of years can and should be mixed with Scripture. In the Christianity Today article, Dr. Falk gives readers his perspective on finding truth in Scripture:

We must be patient with each other and allow each other to follow truth as we see it in Scripture. . . . We must recognize that we will never reach the point where we all see Scripture the same way. When there is division in the church, it will be difficult for the thirsty to find their way to Jesus.

Now, there are some things in the Bible that Christians legitimately disagree on, but Genesis should not be one of them. The creation account is not ambiguous or hard to understand. It is perfectly clear that God created the universe by speaking and that He did it all in six literal days. That doesn’t mean that we should not be gracious toward one another, but we have to expose error when we see it.

What Dr. Falk and BioLogos are arguing is that Scripture is not trustworthy enough to communicate our origins accurately—at least not without the addition of evolution/millions of years—and that any claim to a single interpretation of Genesis will negatively impact those trying “to find their way to Jesus.” And yet I’ve received countless testimonies over the years from people who doubted they could trust the Bible because of what they’d been taught about evolution/millions of years, but have come to faith in Christ after hearing our speakers explain how Genesis is a literal account of creation and having their faith in the trustworthiness of God’s Word restored.

Of course, believing in six literal days of creation and a young earth are not essential for salvation.  But it is an authority issue!  In other words, can we trust the authority of God’s Word, and can man’s fallible word be used in authority over the Word of God!  Professors like Dr. Falk may preach the gospel, but sadly, they are undermining the authority of the Word of God and this is having a devastating effect on the current and former generations they influence.

Over the last few months, BioLogos has featured essays from outside writers that call into question some of BioLogos’s views:

Falk has held to his plea for Christians to love and respect each other while advocating different points of view. In bearing this out, BioLogos recently invited a number of Southern Baptist biblical scholars to publish essays critical of the BioLogos perspective on the BioLogos website, in order to foster mutual understanding.

So far, the scholars who have contributed essays are Kenneth Keathley, William Dembski, James Dew, John Hammet, and Bruce Little. In regard to this series, Kenneth Keahtley said, “They [BioLogos] need to hear from us on the nature of Scripture, the nature of the fall and of salvation. And we need to hear from them on the nature of modern science,” (Travis Loller, “Scientists, seminarians debate evolution online,” Kansas City Star, www.kansascity.com/2012/07/18/3711292/evangelical-scientists-debate.html).

But I’m not so sure that the positions the contributors hold are all that different from BioLogos’s beliefs, because not one of the contributors has come out in strong support of a young earth or a literal reading of the creation account in Genesis. In fact, Kenneth Keathley, professor of theology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and William Dembski, professor in culture and science at Southern Evangelical Seminary, both hold to an old-earth. Not only does Dembski believe in millions of years, and death and suffering before the Fall,  he proposes a theodicy to show how those who believe in millions of years—and death and suffering happening before sin—could fit that with the Bible’s teaching that death came after sin. In that theodicy, he suggests that the first people could have had a sort of amnesia about their alleged ancestry from ape-like creatures: “Moreover, once God breathes the breath of life into them, we may assume that the first humans experienced an amnesia of their former animal life” (The End of Christianity, p. 155).

Another one of the contributors, John Hammet, professor of Systematic Theology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote in his essay (biologos.org/blog/evolutionary-creationism-and-the-imago-dei), “In the area of science, to call me a novice would be a kindness, so to question their [BioLogos’s] evaluation of the scientific evidence for the evolutionary process would be inappropriate for me.” Hammet’s statement is problematic because it assumes that only a scientist can make a judgment about evolution, even though God’s Word in Genesis is a true record of origins, and any Christian can use what it clearly teaches to judge man’s evolutionary beliefs.

James Dew, assistant professor of the history of ideas and philosophy at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary wrote, “While we admit that there is some evidence that points in this direction [toward evolution], we are not convinced that evolution is the best explanation of all the evidence that needs to be considered.” That’s not very convincing support at all for a young earth or a literal Genesis.

What’s really happening here is that BioLogos is willing to tolerate any view except a dogmatic literal 6-day young earth creation view. Dr. Falk said of the Southern Baptist Voices series, “I don’t think our differences are anywhere near as great as people might have thought.” (www.kansascity.com/2012/07/18/3711292/evangelical-scientists-debate.html) And in the case of a number of the contributors, their differences aren’t that great—because they, like the people at BioLogos, have compromised on Genesis—or at least leave the door open to differing views to allow for evolution and/or millions of years.

Despite attempts to minimize the differences between biblical creationists and old-earth creationists or theistic evolutionists, the theological problems created by such attempts to harmonize the Bible with billions of years are indeed significant. The order of events in Genesis 1 often have to be rearranged to accommodate such views, and those who wish to mesh evolution with the Bible must accept that there was death, suffering, diseases like cancer, and even thorns before the Fall—but all those things are a result of sin!  The Scripture is explicit that thorns came after the Curse.  How could God call cancer “very good”?

Dr. Falk and the other members at BioLogos have continued to try to reconcile these differences, with programs designed to help pastors teach their congregations about evolution/millions of years and courses for any Christian who wants to mesh these ideas with Scripture.

While we should be gracious toward one another in these matters, we cannot sacrifice truth in the name of unity. As Christians, we must teach authoritatively what Genesis says—that God created in six literal days—and that Scripture can be trusted to teach us the truth about our origins.

We must “contend for the faith” (Jude 1:3) and actively oppose those who propose views that directly undermine the authority of the Word of God and place man’s fallible ideas in authority over God’s infallible Word.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

(I wish to acknowledge the research assistance of Steve Golden in the writing of this blog item.)

Christian Colleges and Compromise

A recent article in Christianity Today provided yet another example of the compromise going on in our Christian colleges. The article concerned Dr. Darrel Falk, who is a professor of biology at Point Loma Nazarene University—a Christian university in California—but he believes in millions of years and evolutionary ideas. Dr. Falk thinks that the church should also embrace this sort of thinking. He has been the president of BioLogos for the past few years—a group dedicated to propagating evolution and millions of years among Christians.

Well, Dr. Falk recently announced his resignation from his position as president of BioLogos (effective at the end of the year). At about the same time, Christianity Today published an article about Dr. Falk’s life, how he came to faith in Christ, and how he has reconciled evolution with the Bible. Dr. Falk calls himself an “evolutionary creationist,” which really is just another term for theistic evolutionist.

I have quoted Dr. Falk in some of my talks before, to show how some university professors at Christian schools are compromising on Genesis and teaching students to do the same. In one interview, Dr. Falk is asked the question, “If a young Christian undergraduate came to you and said, ‘what is our current understanding of the best proof for the age of the universe,’ what would you say?” Dr. Falk’s response plainly reveals his bias toward evolution and millions of years:

The age of the universe is around 13 billions years old. I would talk to them a little bit, and I would say the age of the earth is 4.3 billion years old. I’ve got various books I could refer them to, and I would go through and say, “Here’s the kind of data that shows the age of the universe.” And I would kind of lead them through that process of the role of astronomy that demonstrates so clearly how old the universe is; the age of the rocks which tells us how old the earth is. (You can listen to Dr. Falk’s full response on YouTube.)

First, it’s interesting to point out that the standard response from many evolutionists is that the earth is 4.5–4.6 billion years old. But Dr. Falk is claiming 4.3 billion—that’s 200–300 million years different! Now, Dr. Falk is a professing Christian and is teaching at a Christian university, so why would he choose to answer a student’s question about the age of the earth and universe without ever looking to Scripture? (Or maybe he did mention the Bible in the interview and the magazine did not quote him—but I doubt he did, considering how much I have seen of him in video interviews.) By not using the Bible as his basis, he’s essentially telling his students that what God’s Word has to say about the age of the earth and universe cannot be trusted.

I wrote about the compromise of Christian colleges and seminaries on Genesis in my coauthored book Already Compromised. Dr. Falk’s answer to the question above highlights perfectly the struggle our children will face trying to find biblically based answers to their questions in the university system. Even Christian universities are not exempt!

But do you know what I thought was even more interesting about this article? In Dr. Falk’s testimony, he said that as a child and teenager he believed Genesis was historical! The author wrote about Falk’s first encounter with evolutionary ideas. “In junior high he [Falk] encountered a textbook that pictured humans evolving from apes. He didn’t believe it was true—his church read Genesis with a strict literalism—but he feared that it might be and that his faith would be undone.” I suspect, after reading the article, that he wasn’t taught apologetics at church so he would be able to defend the Christian faith and know why evolution and millions of years are incorrect.

When did he begin to doubt the truth of Genesis? In college, when he took his first biology courses! Of course, Dr. Falk did not attend a Christian college, but the point is still the same—he was taught evolutionary ideas as fact, and he began adopting those as his starting point over God’s Word. The author writes that when Falk first examined the intricacy of the cell, he decided, “evidence that all of life is related due to common origin was clearly written in the cell.” The author goes on, “In the church of his boyhood, he found no place for this knowledge or this beauty. He only knew how to read Genesis as six-day history, which he could not reconcile with what enthralled him in the laboratory.”

Well, there are two problems with Falk’s conclusions here. First, he paints the church as somehow anti-science, as though the church doesn’t recognize the complexity of the cell. Of course Christians are not anti-science—at least not regarding science that’s observable and repeatable. The Bible teaches that God spoke into existence everything in creation, including those intricate cells Falk observed. Secondly, a literal reading of Genesis does not prevent Christians from pursuing and enjoying science. The Bible is our starting point and we are able to better interpret and use observational science because of it. However, by and large, most churches have failed to teach generations creation apologetics so they will not be lead astray by the world’s false teaching. This became very clear from the research detailed in the book Already Gone, where we documented why so many young people are leaving the church when they become adults.

Dr. Falk’s encounter with evolutionary ideas contributed to his “slide away from the faith,” as the author calls it, noting that “it wasn’t principally because of science.” But Falk’s belief that evolution and millions of years can be mixed with Scripture had a lot to do with it, considering that when he did decide to go back to church, he could not find one that was thriving and that held to evolutionary ideas.

Dr. Falk’s experiences as a student and the outcome of his education in biology are a perfect example of what can happen to Christian students whose faith is shaken by evolutionary ideas. And the way he handles answering questions about origins for his students now serves as yet another warning for parents as they help their children choose a college to attend. Our children must be taught that Scripture is sufficient and that an attack on Genesis is an attack on the trustworthiness of Scripture as a whole.

I would encourage you to read the book Already Compromised for more information on how Christian colleges are compromising, and to visit www.CreationColleges.org for a list of schools that hold to a literal Genesis.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

(I wish to acknowledge the research assistance of Steve Golden in the writing of this blog item.)

What Does Six Creation Days Really Mean?

Over the years, I have had many people tell me that they asked their pastor or other Christian leaders whether they believed in six literal days of creation. They would tell me the answer was often “yes” and therefore these leaders (apparently) agreed with Answers in Genesis. But sadly, these leaders may not agree with AiG’s stand on six literal days, young earth, no death and disease before sin, etc. How is that possible?

I have found that some people (like Hugh Ross, for instance) will say they believe that God created in six days, but you have to ask very specific questions and discover that they really mean millions of years! Even though Hugh Ross uses the word “day,” his understanding of what that means can be very different to what the person asking the question understands it to be. Also, there are many Christian leaders who will say they believe in six literal days of creation according to the literature of Genesis, but they may believe in millions of years and adopt a compromise position like the Gap Theory, Framework Hypothesis, or views like that of John Sailhammer (the billions of years for the universe supposedly fit in Genesis 1:1).

Here is a good case in point. Many people over the past couple of years have told me how great it is that R.C. Sproul—a very fine Bible teacher whose resources have been a blessing to many—changed his mind about Genesis and would now agree with the stand AiG takes on the six days of creation and the age of the earth and universe. However, having read recent articles and heard R.C Sproul discuss this issue, I was really skeptical that he would agree with the stand that AiG takes. Tim Challies, a blogger, author, and reviewer recently published an interview he had with R.C. Sproul. Here is the section pertaining to the question about the days of creation and the age of the earth.

Have you ever had second thoughts about the stand that you took in favor of a six-day creation and a young earth, especially in view of all the new material on the subject that has come out since 2006?

Well, that’s kind of a complex question because when I took the stand, I took the stand on a six-day creation. I didn’t take a stand on a young earth. I don’t know how old the earth is. I didn’t know then. I still don’t.

And what do we mean by “young earth”? If you’re thinking six thousand years, I doubt that. If you’re thinking 12 billion years, I doubt that, too. All I was speaking about was the understanding of what the Scriptures teach regarding the six days of creation. And I’m not even sure it’s correct to say that I took a stand. I said that’s what my view was.

When you say you have a view, it’s one thing to say, “I think that this is the way it is.” It’s another thing to take a stand where you say: “Here I stand. I’m going to die on this mountain.” I could be wrong in my understanding of Genesis. It’s a very difficult to deal with the literary genre in the opening verses of the beginning chapters of Genesis. I think there has to be some room for some flexibility on it.

You can read the entire interview.

I watched a video recently where R.C Sproul and others were discussing the age of the earth. In one section, he talked about the great age of things in the world (particularly associated with astronomy) and basically said that is the reason he doesn’t know what the age of the earth and universe is. To me, it is a glaring admission that he is really starting outside of Scripture in regard to the age issue, and this is determining his hermeneutic used for studying Genesis 1–11. I’m absolutely sure he would not use such a hermeneutic for the rest of the Bible! So many theologically conservative Christian leaders seem to have one hermeneutic for Genesis 1–11 (because of outside influences) and a different hermeneutic (that we would most likely agree with) for the rest of the Bible! This is a major problem throughout Christendom.

The reason I decided to deal with this subject again is to help people understand that when they are trying to find out exactly what a pastor or Christian leader believes in regard to Genesis, one has to ask some very specific questions to dig down to what they really do believe.

I don’t deny that godly men like R.C. Sproul are great Christian scholars who preach the gospel and no doubt have been able to lead many people to the Lord over the years. However, I do believe that no matter how great a Christian leader is, if he doesn’t take a stand on the days of creation but allows man’s ideas of millions of years to influence how he interprets Genesis, the leader (maybe unwittingly in many cases) contributes to an undermining of the authority of the Word they believe in.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken