Ken Ham's Blog, page 437

Shepherds That Lead the Sheep Astray

Recently, a supporter of Answers in Genesis was asked to preach in a Presbyterian church. He preached on John 10:22–30. He sent me the following email that summarizes what he taught:

Here we have the Good Shepherd coming back again and again to teach in the temple. Why? Simply to reach and redeem His creation through [H]is complete sacrifice on the cross and resurrection. In this particular instance, the Light of the World (Jesus) came to the temple during the "festivity of Lights", also known as Hanukkah. Sadly, once again the religious leaders (the ones who were supposed to direct people to know God) were the most blind of all people. Why? Because they despised the fact that Jesus would not only heal the sick on the Sabbath but easily defended Himself with the authority of the Word.  In contrast, these men could only fight back with their own man-made commentaries known as the Mishnah. Like these religious leaders, today many have made their decision to stand on Man's word versus the powerful simplicity of God's Word (2 Corinthians 11:3).

Finally in v. 26, after so many chapters of patience and teaching, Jesus tells them plainly what their problem is – "You do not believe ….".

26 But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.[b]27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. 30 I and My Father are one."

You see, at the core of this encounter with God Himself all men (no matter how much or how little education) must make a decision to either choose the worship of pride (like Lucifer and his fallen angels) or acknowledge our need to repent of sin and believe on the Word of the Lord Jesus Christ (Mark 1:15).

It just so happened, that a leader in that denomination happened to visit the church and hear this sermon. After the service, this denominational leader talked to this friend of AiG who had just spoken.  He wrote down an account of how the conversation proceeded with her:

She and a pastor started talking about hermeneutics after the service saying that scripture is open for interpretation. Here are a few quotes and my responses:

Dr:  "Many believe that even John 14:6 can be interpreted to mean something different … it all depends on your education and training. That is why we value education in the PCUSA"

Me:  "So does this mean there are no absolutes in God's Word and I make the choices for God's  [W]ord?"

Dr: "Homosexual ordination should not be the main subject but Christ" (in light of them now allowing homosexual pastors)

Me:  "So where does repentance work in this equation? Mark 1:15 Jesus Himself said repent and believe. As a church should we not point people to turn from sin?"

(she quickly changed the subject)

Dr.: "I'm not going to argue. I'm . . . supposed to listen to everyone and not sway either way. You cannot judge a gay couple that is committed to a relationship. We need to wake up and be conscious of the times even in this country – gay people are not going away …What we need to do is teach people how to defend their faith because few know how to."

Me: "The reason few know how to defend "the faith" [is] that there is too much confusion in the church if you are telling people that God's Word is open to anyone's interpretation."

Dr.: "The most important thing is my faith and how I believe … Plus, Jesus never spoke against Homosexuality"

Me:  "Jesus spoke clearly about marriage being between one man and one woman – I quoted "Have you not read" in Matthew 19:4 ? This comes from Genesis as He instituted this …God judges sin. Especially to the unrepentant man or woman.  We simply need to read Genesis about two cities Sodom and Gomorrah which is also echoed in Jude, Romans 1, 1 Cor. 6, etc. I have parents asking me for God's Word because their kids are confused. Should we not show them God's Word or would it be best to send them to the Homosexual club nearby?"

Dr.: "That's where we can argue about interpretation …Are you also going to tell me that the Heavens and Earth was made in 6 days?"

Me:  " Did God not tell us in His Word there was evening and there was morning?"

Dr.  "So you believe in a literal 24 hour period in Genesis?"

Me:  "God Himself tells us in Ex. 20:11: For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day."

Each time I used Scripture she would change the subject. All she would rely on was "it depends which seminary and education you have been through" (Man's [w]ord).

Lastly, she promoted how tolerant she is and those like her. Yet I covered the fact how intolerant such tolerant people are when someone has another view that comes verbatim from Scripture.  I knew I could not misrepresent our Lord and His Word even with a high-level executive. I recalled Jesus' words "if you deny me before men, I will deny you before my father."  I felt so passionate about "defending the hope within me" and can clearly see how all these denominations are rotting away because of compromise and false interpretation of God's Word.

1 Tim 6 3 "If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ , and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, 4 he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words , from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, 5 useless wranglings[a] of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth , who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself."

It is interesting to me that when this church leader heard the AiG supporter quoting Scripture and standing on biblical authority (and defending marriage as a man and a woman), she then brought up the issue of the six days of creation.

I believe this church leader knows that once you take God at his Word concerning marriage, then you have to take God at His Word concerning what is written in Genesis. But of course, if you reject Genesis as literal history, ultimately to be consistent, you will reject the biblical teaching on marriage being between a man and a woman (which Genesis teaches) and instead defend the unbiblical position of "gay" marriage!

Sadly, the conversation above reflects the position of so many church leaders in America today! Pray the Lord will convict the "shepherds" to stop leading the "sheep" astray.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

The Ark Is News in Bangkok

You may recall a few weeks ago that the Associated Press syndicated a news article about developments concerning our full-size Noah's Ark, which will be built in northern Kentucky. We've seen the AP article appear in several international and national news outlets, including this past Monday in the Bangkok Post of Thailand. Below you can see a scan of the Thai article, which includes a drawing of the Ark complex (to be built in Williamstown, Kentucky—about 40 miles south of the museum), and also a photo of Mike Zovath, who is heading up the Ark project. Mike was in charge of building our Creation Museum, which we opened over four years ago and it has seen almost 1.5 million visitors come through.

To find out more about the evangelistic Ark, go to the Ark Encounter.com website.

Also, today we have a TV crew from Russia here at the museum and also want to find out more about the Ark. Furthermore, a TV correspondent from Dateline TV in Australia arrives today and will interview "an Australian working in America" (i.e., me).

The Genesis Flood Book—Celebrating 50 Years

Speaking of the Ark and Noah, I wanted to remind you that we are holding a very special event this Saturday at our new Legacy Hall inside the Creation Museum. We are celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the classic book The Genesis Flood. The book's surviving co-author, Dr. John Whitcomb, will be speaking, and we will be flying in the son of the other author (the late Dr. Henry Morris, founder of ICR) to speak—that's Dr. John Morris, president of ICR in Dallas, Texas.

The conference is offered at no extra charge to paying museum guests (and museum members) that day. See the schedule below. It's a wonderful line-up, and I hope supporters in the region can turn out and celebrate this monumental book, which started the modern biblical creation movement 50 years ago.

October 15, 2011 – Legacy Hall, Creation Museum

9:00 AM
Ken Ham – Welcome and Introduction


9:05 AM
Dr.  Terry Mortenson – Millions of Years and the Demise of the Flood


10:30 AM
Dr.  John Whitcomb – Helping People Understand the Flood


11:50 AM
Dr.  John Morris – Fifty Years of Impact: the Genesis Flood and the Growth of Young Earth Creationism


1:50 PM
Special tribute video by Dr. John MacArthur and Dr. Woodrow Kroll


2:00 PM
Dr. Andrew Snelling – Defending the Flood and its Geology: the Imperative and the Challenges


3:30 PM
Ken Ham – Willingly Ignorant: the Flood last time, Fire the Next


5:00 PM
Dr. John Morris – The Fossil Record

You can find out more information from this link.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

Already Compromised

Today's item is a guest blog post by AiG board member Tony Biller. Tony (an attorney) wrote a review of our book Already Compromised.

"…what they don't know is that, like the secular schools they wish to avoid, and like the majority of the great Christian institutions of higher learning of the past, many, many of the Christian schools they attend are…Already Compromised."–Ken Ham

I recently finished reading Already Compromised by Ken Ham and Dr. Greg Hall.  Already Compromised is a follow-up title to Already Gone. That first book disclosed poll research showing that a large percentage of children raised in conservative evangelical churches were leaving the faith and that most that leave had made up their mind to do so by high school.  The book also disclosed the surprise correlation showing that a child's regular involvement with a Sunday school increased the risk.  See also here.  The implication was clear -- we're not doing a good job training and teaching our children.  The book was a call for churches to invest in teaching children and equipping families to learn biblical apologetics in an increasingly hostile and skeptical world.

Already Compromised takes the analysis one step further by examining the next phase of a young person's life, college. The book analyzes a poll of 200 evangelical colleges.  The poll was again conducted by Britt Beemer of America's Research Group.  They polled the leadership at universities and seminaries on core questions of faith and doctrine.  The leadership polled consisted of presidents, vice presidents, religion department chairs, and science department chairs.  As with Already Gone, the poll discloses some disappointing and surprising  results.

Perhaps not surprisingly, just because a college calls itself "Christian" does not mean that the school is committed to teaching all the fundamentals of the faith, particularly in the treatment of the Old Testament.  There was overwhelming support for the fundamentals of "New Testament" Christianity, ie virgin birth, Christ's substitutionary atonement, a literal heaven and hell, the Second Coming, and the bodily Resurrection of Christ.  A large percentage of respondents however were not so committed to "Old Testament" truths, particularly in the areas of creation and the flood.  Accordingly, there was also meaningful weakness in many colleges regarding the inerrancy of scripture.

A high level take-away is to make sure you know what your colleges teach if you or your loved ones are attending an institution because they profess to be a place of Christian learning.  Beemer's survey in Already Compromised does a good job of asking the right questions from several different perspectives to show that one has to really dig to understand what schools mean when they say they believe in the Bible.  A number of the questions show that some schools appear to engage in "newspeak."  Buyer beware.

One of the biggest surprises for me was in the research regarding human origins and the Book of Genesis.  One would assume that since evolutions is "Science," as compared to the religion department, the science departments would harbor a greater percentage of skeptics regarding the creation account in Genesis and support for old earth/evolutionary theories.  Of course, one would be quite wrong.  In reviewing the survey data, Mr. Ham states, "It turns out that the science department is much more biblical in their beliefs than the religion department! … [O]nly 27 percent of people in the science department believe in nonliteral creation days.  Yet 55.6 percent of people in the religion department believe in nonliteral creation days."  (emphasis in orig.) Schools that agree with AiG's statement of faith are listed here.

Already Compromised is yet another call to the church to stand up, defend, and teach God's word.  Greg Hall has an excellent chapter calling the church to apologetics arms. The books are a must read for those concerned with understanding the condition of the Church in the United States.

Tony also posted this review on his blog.

You can obtain information about the book Already Compromised.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

Honoring Two Heroes of the Faith

Drs. Morris and Whitcomb, co-authors of the classic 50-year-old book The Genesis Flood.

This coming Friday evening and during the day on Saturday, AiG is holding two very special events at the Creation Museum's new 1,000-seat auditorium to honor two heroes of the Christian faith.

This year is the 50th anniversary of the publication of the famous book, The Genesis Flood, co-authored by Dr. Henry Morris and Dr. John Whitcomb. There is no doubt that the Lord used the publication of this book in beginning the modern biblical creation movement.

In fact, this book (as well as The Genesis Record by Dr. Henry Morris) had a profound influence on my life. And as I often say, the Creation Museum and Answers in Genesis ministry are in reality legacies of four special people: My Mum and Dad, and Drs. Morris and Whitcomb. That is why we named our new auditorium "Legacy Hall." We trust the legacy of these special people will be taken up by families as they pass a spiritual legacy on to their children.

Furthermore, to honor Dr. Morris and Dr. Whitcomb, the Creation Museum has named two of our classrooms "The Morris and Whitcomb Rooms."

This Friday evening, a special banquet is being held in honor of these two men. Dr. Henry Morris passed on to be with the Lord a few years ago, but the Morris family will be represented by our good friend, Dr. John Morris, president of the Institute for Creation Research. We are thrilled that Dr. Whitcomb will be with us in person as we celebrate the publication of this ground-breaking book that the Lord has blessed in so many ways around the world. I have met many people who have told me that The Genesis Flood book "saved them" from their compromising college or seminary so that they did not stray from the authority of God's Word. I have had others testify that they became Christians as a result of this book.

On Saturday, Dr. Whitcomb, Dr. John Morris (ICR), Dr. Terry Mortenson (AiG), Dr. Andrew Snelling (AiG), and I will give a series of presentations dealing with the Flood and related biblical and scientific issues in a unique one-day conference at our museum. You will probably never again have the opportunity to see these five speakers together for such an event. I urge you to make an effort to come.

You do have to register for the Friday evening banquet (by noon today, Monday), but the Saturday all-day conference is free with your paid museum entrance (or free with your museum membership).

You can see all the details on our outreach site.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

Christianity—Major Demographic Shift

Next month, I will travel to Asia (Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia) to speak at an All-Asian creation apologetic's conference on November 9–18—the first of its kind for that area of the world, to our understanding. Already, hundreds of Christian leaders from throughout Asia have registered to attend. You can find out more details at  http://www.answersingenesis.org/worldwide/aacc.

I thought it very fitting that I am speaking at this All-Asian conference, considering a news report released this past Friday entitled "Christianity Experiencing Major Demographic Shift, say Scholars."  In understanding the sovereignity of God, I believe this conference is very important for this time in church history to help Christian leaders know how important it is not to compromise the book of Genesis (and thus undermine biblical authority) with evolution and millions of years. We have seen that whenever the church begins to grow in once very "barren" spiritual areas and sees an awakening, those who compromise God's Word will try to influence the Christian leaders to adopt such compromise—a tactic by the enemy (the Evil One) to try to derail the awakening occurring.

The recent article stated the following:

Scholars claim the biggest change in the history of Christianity is underway amid the religion's move to Africa, Latin America and Asia, according to Kim Cain writing for Ecumenical News International www.episcopalchurch.org .

"The story of Christianity as a worldwide faith is being written before our eyes," declared Dana Robert of Boston University School of Theology, as she addressed a group of world church leaders at the Global Christian Forum (GCF) in Manado, Indonesia. . . .

According to Peter Crossing of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity, in 1910 about 66 percent of the world's Christians lived in Europe; a century later it was only 26 percent. . . .

"Conversations about mission and witness have become an urgent agenda for declining mainline Christians…as they struggle to reframe their identity in a global marketplace. At the same time, adherents of new ministries often see their witness as a recovery of primitive Christianity that challenges the older denominations," Robert said.

At Answers in Genesis, we have been saying for some time that Christianity is greatly waning in the West, which is related to a massive attack on biblical authority by the secularists. They have captured generations of young people from the mainline and even evangelical churches by indoctrinating them to believe the history in Genesis is not true, and as a result, they doubt and disbelieve the rest of the Scripture. Once again, I urge people to read the two books Already Gone and Already Compromised, which detail the compromise by church leaders and the doubt and unbelief occuring in generations of people who were brought up in the church.

At the All-Asian creation apologetics conference, I will be using what has happened in America (and the West in general) as a warning to the Asian church as it grows. I will challenge Christian leaders to stand against the rampant secular ideas that have infiltrated the church in the West, which has led to the spiritual deadness that now pervades these western nations.

You can read the entire article at this link.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

The End of Evil?

In a world where materialistic evolution is taught as fact through the education systems, it should not be surprising to read an article that states:

Is evil over? Has science finally driven a stake through its dark heart? Or at least emptied the word of useful meaning, reduced the notion of a numinous nonmaterial malevolent force to a glitch in a tangled cluster of neurons, the brain?

Yes, according to many neuroscientists, who are emerging as the new high priests of the secrets of the psyche, explainers of human behavior in general. A phenomenon attested to by a recent torrent of pop-sci brain books with titles like Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain. Not secret in most of these works is the disdain for metaphysical evil, which is regarded as an antiquated concept that's done more harm than good. They argue that the time has come to replace such metaphysical terms with physical explanations—malfunctions or malformations in the brain.

Of course, people still commit innumerable bad actions, but the idea that people make conscious decisions to hurt or harm is no longer sustainable, say the new brain scientists. For one thing, there is no such thing as "free will" with which to decide to commit evil. (Like evil, free will is an antiquated concept for most.) Autonomous, conscious decision-making itself may well be an illusion. And thus intentional evil is impossible.

. . . And in reducing evil to a purely neurological glitch or malformation in the wiring of the physical brain, in eliminating the element of freely willed conscious choice, have neuroscientists eliminated as well "moral agency," personal responsibility? Does this "neuromitigation" excuse—"my brain made me do it," as critics of the tendency have called it—mean that no human being really wants to do ill to another? That we are all innocent, Rousseauian beings, some afflicted with defects—"brain bugs" as one new pop-neuroscience book calls them—that cause the behavior formerly known as evil?

Are those who commit acts of cruelty, murder, and torture just victims themselves—of a faulty part in the head that might fall under factory warranty if the brain were a car?

I have included the link below if you really want to read the entire article.  So how should we respond to it?  I decided the best way was just to quote two verses of Scripture:

… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

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

Here is the link to the article.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying.

Ken

Three Film Crews at the Creation Museum

Over four days recently, a film crew for the Samuel L. Collins live-action video series was at the Creation Museum. Each episode features this 15-year old young man as he explores the world and sees it through the eyes of the Bible. "The Search for Biblical Truths" is the subtitle for this series. As an Indiana Jones-type character (though 15 years old), Samuel (his real name) has videos in which he shares messages that the Bible is practical and that young people can apply Scripture to every aspect of their lives.

For one of their upcoming episodes, they filmed several segments—featuring Buddy Davis of our staff—inside our museum. The production should be finished sometime next year.

In the photo, Buddy is in the far left getting instruction from producer John Collins as Samuel in the background looks at some of our dinosaur exhibits.

Such filming can sometimes be a challenge to arrange because we certainly don't want to disrupt our regular visitors in the Creation Museum. But this was one of those instances where we could do some "work-arounds" over several days.

Some staff members have watched the first video in the series, which was shot entirely on location on the exotic island nation of Singapore in Asia. See this link to watch a preview of this video.

Find out more about this video series for young people at http://searchforbiblicaltruths.com/.

Below is a photo of the entire crew, with Collins in the middle standing next to Mark Looy, our CCO (the tall one standing in the middle).

Also, earlier this week a crew from TCT TV (a Christian network based in Illinois that carries our TV program) was here to film the museum and interview me (see http://www.tct.tv/explore.php ). Next week a major TV network from Australia will be touring the museum and interviewing me as an Australian living in America.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

She Made a Wish and It Came True!

Summer Osborn was a special visitor to the Creation Museum for the past two days. As a brain cancer survivor, she was given the opportunity through her Make-A-Wish group in Georgia to travel with her family to virtually any place in the USA, and Summer chose the Creation Museum as the place to go! Make-A-Wish flew Summer and her family from Atlanta to our Cincinnati area, and they will spend four days in our region—two full days in our museum (yes, there is so much to see here that many people stay for two days). Today they are spending the day at the famed Cincinnati Zoo (though we cautioned her about the evolution content in some of the zoo's exhibits).

The family had heard me speak in Woodstock, Georgia, earlier this year, and I met Summer there. I invited her to visit the museum (about an eight-hour drive away), and they were blessed through Make-A-Wish to fly up rather than drive.

I was so honored that Summer chose the museum as the one place she wanted to visit! And she was so happy to hear Buddy Davis do a concert in our new Legacy Hall, and she met with Buddy afterwards. Summer told us that her other favorite things at the museum included our "Men in White" special effects show and our planetarium shows; in fact, we made it possible for her to watch three different planetarium programs, including one that we normally reserve for our Christmas outreach—"The Christmas Star." I also gave her a sneak preview of our new observatory and its two high-power telescopes; the observatory is almost finished and will be ready soon for public use. Then we gave her a set of my new DVD series called Foundations.

Rachel Bosket of our staff (who helped coordinate the visit with Make-A-Wish), me, Summer (sitting in a wheelchair), and the rest of her family (Susie, Luke, and Steve).

Summer noticed the stuffed poodles on my bookshelf that people have sent me from around the country (one of my talks discusses so-called "dog evolution" and how poodles are genetic oddities ), so we made sure some of the stuffed poodles were kept in the photo.

Please pray for this sweet young lady as she recovers from her battle with cancer.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

Dawkins Targeting Teenagers with Anti-Christian Propaganda

Today's blog is written by AiG speaker and researcher Dr. Georgia Purdom. Dr. Purdom, who holds a PhD in molecular genetics from Ohio State University, wrote the following blog post to inform you about a new book from famous British evolutionist and atheist Richard Dawkins that targets teenagers:

Richard Dawkins' new book The Magic of Reality was released today. It's a book targeted to teens to give them answers to questions such as, "How old is the universe?," "Why do the continents look like disconnected pieces of a puzzle?," "What causes tsunamis?," "Why are there so many kinds of plants and animals?," and "Who was the first man, or woman?"

In a promotional video Dawkins made for the book he says the following:

In The Magic of Reality I have set out to show you what is myth and what is real and to persuade you that the true magic is science.

Each chapter poses a question. Before giving the true scientific answer I also describe a few colorful myths that have been used to answer the question some ancient and some commonly believed to this day.

Of course, among myths from the Egyptians, Vikings, and Aztecs is the Judeo-Christian "myth" of Genesis. But who decides what is myth and what is real? If our brains are nothing more than the result of evolutionary processes such as mutation and chance, then why should we trust them to differentiate correctly between myth and reality? If Dawkins was consistent with his worldview, he would realize he has no basis for the reliability of his senses. Dr. Jason Lisle stated the following in the article "Feedback: Coming to Our Senses":

Since God designed the human mind and our senses, we would expect them to be able to function properly. So, in the Christian worldview, it makes sense that our senses would reliably perceive the environment and that our mind would have the ability to be rational. But in the evolutionary worldview, the sensory organs and the brain are just chemical accidents that happened to convey survival value. Therefore, there is no logical reason to think that they should be reliable.

Dawkins also appeared on BBC Newsnight to discuss his book with Jeremy Paxan. Paxan asked:

And part of it is comfort isn't it [people wanting to believe supposed myths]? If you are told, and I don't want to get too much into religion, but if you are told that you are a unique creation made in God's image, loved by God and the rest of it, as opposed to the scientific conclusion which you must come to that you are a pretty unsubstantial speck in the cosmos. One is comforting, one is slightly alarming isn't it?

Dawkins replied:

Well one is false and one is true. And it is rather important as to whether it is alarming or not to get what's true. You can make up any number of stories that are comforting but the truth has some value as well.

Dawkins answer that "truth has value" is a not an answer to the question posed by Paxan. What he is essentially trying to "cover up" is the conclusion that there is no meaning and purpose in life if we are nothing more than the result of random evolutionary processes. That conclusion is too depressing and sad for most people (and probably would not make people want to buy his book!) However, the conclusion that we have meaning and purpose in life can only stem from the knowledge that we are made in God's image and that God loved us so much that He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for us.

Toward the end of the interview there is a revealing interaction between Paxan and Dawkins:

Paxan: Do you really care that there are a lot of stupid people around?

Dawkins: I do actually yes, I really do, I mean I care that children are being misled by those stupid people.

Paxan: Why?

Dawkins: Because I think that children deserve to know what's true and what's wonderful about the world into which they've been born. It really is true and it is wonderful and it's such a crying shame if children are denied that by ignorant and stupid adults as you've described them.

Obviously Dawkins and Paxan think adults such as myself and my readers are stupid and ignorant for believing that the Bible presents actual truth. So why does Dawkins care? Because of the children that are being "misled" and "denied" knowing about the wonderful world we live in. Once again, Dawkins is inconsistent with his worldview. Since an atheist has no ultimate foundation for morality, why is it wrong to lie? If when we die we just go to dust and that's it, then why does it matter what I believe and teach my children while I'm living?

I pray that rather than being discouraged by Dawkins and his book, you are motivated and encouraged because resources are available that start with God's Word as truth to teach your children and teens the right answers to these questions.

How old is the universe?
Why do the continents look like disconnected pieces of a puzzle?
What causes tsunamis?
Why are there so many kinds of plants and animals?
Who was the first man, or woman?

Every home with children needs copies of The Answers Books (1–3) for adults, The Answers Book for Teens (just released!) and The Answers Books for Kids (1–4).

Keep fighting the good fight of the faith (1 Timothy 6:12)!

You can follow Dr. Georgia Purdom on her blog.

Dr. Purdom recently co-authored another book review on a new release—"The Anointed," written by two theistic evolutionists. AiG's beliefs were attacked throughout the first chapter and also in the book's introduction. Read that eye-opening review at answersingenesis.org.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

Beware of Wolves

"For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock."  (Acts 20:29)

In the Old Testament, over and over again we find that many "shepherds" (leaders) led the people astray. And in the New Testament, we read of many examples of religious leaders who were teaching things that were in error, leading people away from the truth of God's Word. The apostle Paul mentioned many of them by name.

We are also warned in the New Testament that there would be people in the church whose teachings would undermine the authority of God's Word.

In our modern church today, there are many leaders who have compromised with the pagan religion of the day (i.e., evolution and millions of years—indeed, this really is today's pagan religion to explain life without God). Sadly, many Christian leaders have been teaching generations in the church to accept this secular worldview and re-write God's Word (particularly in Genesis) to fit with it.

Yes, as harsh as it might sound, today there are shepherds in the church who are also "wolves"—they have infiltrated the church with their destructive teaching. Now, I am not saying these wolves are not Christians—I suppose the term can fit Christians as well as non-Christians.

One such example is seen clearly in the writings of Dr. Karl Giberson. Until recently, he was a physics professor at Eastern Nazarene College in Massachusetts—probably leading many students astray about the Bible's authority with his compromised teaching. He has been involved with the theologically liberal BioLogos Foundation and recently co-authored a book (The Anointed, published by a division of Harvard University Press) with Eastern Nazarene College history professor, Dr. Randall Stephens. (By the way, Dr. Darrel Falk, a Nazarene professor in biology at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, has also similarly written against AiG and the literal creation position.)

AiG scientist Dr. Georgia Purdom (who holds a PhD in molecular genetics from Ohio State) and AiG's CCO Mark Looy have written a critique on aspects of The Anointed, particularly its introduction and first chapter. In these sections, there is a personal attack on my credibility, especially as a writer and speaker on apologetics (and other people are attacked as well). That attack plus the several outright mistakes we found in the book exhibited the poor scholarship seen in The Anointed. It's hardly what one would expect from a publication associated with such a prestigious secular university as Harvard.

Before you read our web critique of The Anointed (which is the lead article on our website today), I encourage you to discover more about Dr. Giberson's thinking by reading an article he wrote that appeared on the "FrumForum" website yesterday. Read the following excerpts, and I will offer some comment:

By the time we were in college our generation of evangelicals had been educated into a profoundly different worldview than that of the secular, anti-Christian, Satan-following Ivy League elites we had been taught to fear. We understood the world to be a spiritual battleground with forces of good pitted against forces of evil. Real angels and real demons hovered about us as we prepared to wage these wars. We sang songs like "Onward Christian Soldiers" in our churches. At summer camps and vacation Bible schools we stamped our feet, and waved our arms as we sang with good Christian gusto "I'm in the Lord's Army." We knew which side we were on. . . .

Many evangelicals, myself included, were fortunate enough to study under Christian scholars, like my professors at Eastern Nazarene College in the 1970's or my colleagues today at Gordon College, who see through the nonsensical claims of people like James Dobson, David Barton, Francis Schaeffer, and Ken Ham—who runs the preposterous Creation Museum in Kentucky. Even as a college student I recall Schaeffer being examined rather critically and young earth creationism dismissed out of hand.

Comment: What happened to Dr. Giberson is the result of teaching by compromising college professors, and this is now occurring in Christian colleges across this nation, affecting generations of Christian students. That is why we published the book Already Compromised earlier this year; I urge every parent and student considering a Christian college to read this book and find out about the horrible destructive compromise that is so rife in many Christian colleges.

Historian Randall Stephens and I have been interested in this alternative knowledge world for years. We grew up in it and emerged from it unscathed—as near as we can tell—but many of our evangelical students over the years have arrived at college with "truths" from this alternative knowledge world written on their hearts. Harvard University Press has just published our sympathetic insiders' analysis of the parallel culture of American evangelicalism. Titled The Anointed: Evangelical Truth in a Secular Age, we look at how evangelical knowledge structures are exploited by media savvy authorities like those mentioned above.

Comment: Think about what he is saying here. There are students who go to a Christian college who might have a conservative view of Scripture—believing as we would at Answers in Genesis, for instance. However, the job of some professors like Giberson and Stephens is to educate them not to believe the Bible at face value and to reinterpret it to fit in with modern secular ideas. No wonder we are losing two thirds of young people from the church (please read our book Already Gone, which documents the youth exodus from the church).

You may read this entire sad article on the "FrumForum" website.

Now I urge you to read the lead article on the AiG website today, which is entitled "Exposing The Anointed."

I trust that after having read both these articles, you will realize the enormous problem we have with wolves in today's church and also see the terrible devastation wreaked on our young people and their view of the Bible as a result of attending certain Christian colleges.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken