Ken Ham's Blog, page 438

How Do We Know the Bible Is True?

AiG and Master Books recently published a new apologetics book, which is entitled How Do We Know the Bible Is True? There have been a number of reviews written about this new book, so I selected one to share with you on this blog.

Do You Know What You Believe?

How do you know the Bible is true?

How were people saved before Christ died on the cross?

What's wrong with Atheism?

Are the claims in The Da Vinci Code true?

How are we supposed to think about polygamy in light of Scripture?

Do you have clear answers to those questions? Could you explain them to someone else?

If those kinds of issues intrigue and challenge you, you will like "How Do We Know the Bible is True?" edited and compiled by Ken Ham and Bodie Hodge. I say "compiled" because each chapter is written by an expert or scholar in that particular field.  Contributors include authors, pastors, an engineer, an astrophysicist, and a medical doctor.

While it was fun to read, I also believe it would be a great foundational book for every Christian. It would make an excellent small group study, as well. The discussions would be rich and stimulating! I can also see it being used in Christian high schools or in home schools. It would be an exciting study for a junior or senior Bible class.

Tim Chaffey, one of the writers, wrote, "The Bible is written in such a marvelous way that a child can understand the basic message, and yet the most educated theologians continue to learn new things from the Bible as they study it."

Which is precisely why this book is so good! The Bible is approached with awe and wonder, yet with intelligence and sound research.

I found it to be extremely helpful, interesting and inspiring!

Thank you to the blogger who wrote this review.

You can find out more about this book and order it from the online store.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

Do Most Parents Even Know What is Being Taught at Christian Colleges?

A few months ago, we released the powerful book Already Compromised," which details research (conducted by America's Research Group) into what Christian colleges are teaching—particularly in regard to the book of Genesis. The results are revealing and shocking. The majority of Christian colleges are compromising Genesis and thus undermining biblical authority to the students entrusted to them by parents to train.

As a reminder of the importance of this book, I received two comments this past week I want to share with you.

The first one was a comment posted on my public Facebook.

I am currently getting my masters in biology education at a supposedly Christian college and have had to endure TOO MUCH evolution teaching . . .  In my most recent class, I had to read the book "The Language of God" by Francis Collins (along with a selection by some prominent atheists such as Richard Dawkins) and it was unbelievable how much nonsense was passed of as right thinking . . . I was disgusted.

The second quote comes from a person who was a professor at a Christian college.

I taught at [name of Bible college withheld] in New York for two years. This Christian school is far astray, and the students are very weak on their view of Genesis. The erosion and attack on biblical inerrancy is having a profound negative affect there. I fear that many parents are unaware how many of their children are developing these compromise views. Students at this Bible college are being encouraged to consider their upbringing about believing in Genesis as narrow minded.

– Steve Perry, Virginia

From my personal experience, I have found most parents do not know what is being taught at most Christian colleges. I have had parents tell me, "Oh, we are sending our children to a wonderful Christian College that stands on God's Word." Then I ask the name of it, and when they tell me, I usually groan because I am familiar with the rife compromise at that particular college.

I urge all parents and students considering a Christian college to obtain a copy of Already Compromised. Read it carefully, and learn how to ask the right questions as you research which college you should choose.
I also encourage parents to check out AiG's special webpage, which presents a good college list to start with as you research which college to consider attending.

So many adults have confided in me over the years that their parents spent tens of thousands of dollars sending them to a Christian college, only to have their faith greatly undermined. I plead with parents to take this issue very seriously indeed.

We praise the Lord that we have five children who have now all graduated from college. However, the bottom line is that I would rather my children dig ditches and eventually go to heaven than be some highly educated person and go to hell because they received biblical-authority undermining teaching and then rejected the Word of God.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

Youth Exodus from the Church

The Barna Group has new research out on the youth exodus from the church.  As a reminder, in 2009 AiG produced the book Already Gone, detailing research by America's Research Group on why 2/3rds of young people are leaving the church by the time they reach college age.  The church is losing the next generation.  It only takes one generation to lose a culture—remember what happened after Joshua and his generation died:  "When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel"  (Judges 2:10).

I have linked to an article about the study—but wanted to comment on just a few points. The article states:  "The study also found many young adults do not like the way churches appear to be against science. Over one-third of young adults said that "Christians are too confident they know all the answers" and one-fourth of them said that "Christianity is anti-science"."

Based on the careful research conducted for Already Gone, we found that a major problem is that churches and Christian homes just teach Bible stories (Jonah and the great fish; Paul's missionary journeys; Jesus on the Cross, etc.), which we should all hear about, but most of these students go to public schools where they are being taught a certain kind of apologetics—they are being taught the so-called evidence for millions of years and evolution.  Because of this, many of these students begin to doubt and then disbelieve God's Word and its various accounts.  We found they were "already gone" in their hearts and minds at a young age.  It is no wonder the Barna study had so many say that "Christianity is anti-science."  To them, they are taught "real evidence" at school (and through the TV), but at church are taught "stories."  They see the church as anti-science.  Not only that, but our research found many of these young people are told by a church authority figure to believe in evolution and millions of years—reinforcing what they are taught at school.  Thus when they are also taught at church to "believe" the Bible, they see the hypocrisy—and many eventually reject God's Word as they begin to believe more and more that the Bible is "anti-science."

The Barna-related article also states, "The fifth reason the study gives for such an exodus from churches is many young adults struggle with the exclusivity of Christianity. Twenty-nine per cent of young Christians said "churches are afraid of the beliefs of other faiths" and feel they have to choose between their friends and their faith."  We believe this reinforces our belief that there is a lack of the teaching of apologetics in churches and Christian homes.  Most kids are not taught how to answer the skeptical questions of this age and how to defend the Christian faith.  Most churches concentrate on spiritual, devotional, and moral things (and teach just Bible stories—and the word "story" today has come to mean fable or fiction to many people), but don't teach generations how to logically defend the Christian faith against false religions and the secular attacks of our age—such as evolution and millions of years.  This is why AiG has been producing apologetics-based VBS programs (that emphasize biblical authority, the gospel, and how to defend the Christian faith).  Also, AiG is producing an entire integrated Bible curriculum for all ages to educate generations in biblical authority, the gospel, and how to defend the Christian faith against the attacks of our age so that generations will be able to stand boldly and uncompromisingly on the authority of the Word of God.

Another part of the article states:  "Many young adults also feel that their experience of Christianity was shallow. One-third of survey participants felt that "church is boring."  After speaking in a church on Genesis and science, a lady came up to me with her teenage daughter.  She said, "My daughter keeps complaining that church is boring.  But she sat up and listened to you this morning and then said to me, 'Mom, now I understand what the Bible is about—this changes everything.'  You really touched a nerve with my daughter.  She loved what you said."

Actually, I have heard similar testimonies over and over again.  This is because so many churches do not connect the Bible to the real world—kids think the Bible is just a book of stories—but what a difference it makes when they understand it is real history that connects to geology, biology, astronomy, etc.—and that there are logical answers to what they are being taught at school (evolution and millions of years) that to them undermines the Bible's authority.

Another comment in the article states:  "18 per cent said that their church was too concerned about the negative impact of movies, music and video games."  I personally believe this is because there are churches who speak against these things (movies, music, and video games), but those they are attempting to impose this on by and large don't believe the Book (the Bible) upon which Christian morality is based.  It is seen as a type of legalism that imposes a morality on people.  Christian leaders need to teach God's Word as the true history of the world, teach generations how to answer the skeptical questions of this age, and help build a Christian morality on the foundation of the revealed Word of God.  They need to build a Christian worldview from the foundation up, not impose it from the top down.

There is much more we could say—but I urge you to read the book Already Gone—or read it again!

Here is the link to the article:

www.christiantoday.com/article/survey.lifts.lid.on.what.young.people.dont.like.about.church/28700.htm

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying.

Ken

Time Is Running Out—Christian Leaders Register Now

Time is running out, but it's not too late to register for the "Answers for Pastors" conference here at the Creation Museum. (I encourage anyone in Christian leadership—Sunday school teacher, elder, deacon, pastor, and so on—to come to this special event.)

So often pastors and Christian leaders spend so much time and energy ministering to their flocks that they often become drained and weary. We have brought together some of the most sought-after apologetics speakers to equip Christian leaders with practical biblical answers, encourage them in the sufficiency of Scripture, and strengthen them for the challenges they face today.

Speakers include Dr. Al Mohler (president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary), Brad Bigney (pastor of Grace Fellowship in Florence, Kentucky), Dr. Michael Haykin (author and teacher), our own AiG speakers, and me. And for the wives, international speaker Karen Haught will be offering a dynamic women's track especially for the ladies. A special time of worship in music will be led by the gifted pianist and composer John G. Elliott.

Of course your registration will include admission to the beautiful Creation Museum and a special sneak peek of the future Ark Encounter (a full-size Noah's Ark). And every pastor will receive a complimentary copy of my co-authored book Already Compromised.

This is one conference that pastors and Christian leaders won't want to miss! Please forward this blog post to your pastor and encourage him to join us on October 18–20 in the new Legacy Hall at the Creation Museum for "Answers for Pastors."

Register at www.answersforpastors.org.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

New Book by Nazarene-Affiliated Scholars Slams Biblical Creationists

I have written a number of blogs previously concerning the biblically undermining teaching of Karl Giberson, until recently a professor at Eastern Nazarene College (Massachusetts) where he gave lectures on science, and religion. His co-author of a new book that slams AiG and other Christian groups, The Anointed, is a historian at this Nazarene College.

Dr. Giberson's short summary of the book appeared on September 27 at Science and Religion Today.

It states the following:

Why Do So Many Evangelicals Prefer to Get Their "Science" From Ken Ham Rather Than Francis Collins?

In Mark Noll's 1995 classic exposition of anti-intellectualism in American evangelicalism, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, he wrote: "The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical mind."

Nowhere is this more true than in the strange preference that evangelicals have for the discredited young-earth creationism of Ken Ham over the legitimate and well-founded science of Francis Collins. The ideas promoted by Ham are so obsolete that some of them were actually abandoned by the scientific community in the 18th century! Ham's confident assertions that the earth is a few thousand years old and that there was a time in the history of our planet when humans co-existed with all other species had been abandoned by science when Darwin was a toddler.

In our new book, The Anointed: Evangelical Truth in a Scientific Age, historian Randall Stephens and I show how charismatic, media-savvy evangelical leaders like Ken Ham (natural science), James Dobson (social science), David Barton (history), and Tim LaHaye (biblical studies) lead their fellow Christians astray by convincing them to accept discredited ideas.

Anti-evolutionists like Ken Ham—and his colleagues at places like the Discovery Institute—constantly bash science as ideology claiming that its conclusions derive from "assumptions" rather than observations. After years of seeing science bashed, many evangelicals simply don't trust it. And so they embrace a "science" that seems to agree with the Bible, oblivious to the fact that it has no support of any kind. And the irony is that their fellow evangelical, Francis Collins, and others have shown that you can hold traditional evangelical beliefs without rejecting science.

Well, I guess they must think AiG is making an impact since they spend so much time on me! I'm honored. Once again, they make the same old false accusation that Dr. Giberson has made many times before, that we "bash science" and that we reject science. This is simply not true. We love science.

Now, we also need to understand that the word science means knowledge, and as we have stated over and over again, there is a great distinction between operational science (based on repeatable tests, builds our technology, etc.) and historical science (knowledge concerning the past—history). In fact, three years ago I actually participated in a written debate with Karl Giberson on the Beliefnet website. I include all the links for the back and forth, but I encourage you to read at least the one I wrote called "Science cannot judge the Bible." Karl Giberson knows what we say about science—it is all in writing in these debate articles—so he and his co-author are making false accusations in their just-released book.

Also, in the book, Giberson and his historian co-author revile us for speaking on topics for which we are not credentialed, but then they write about theology, eschatology, politics, and other topics for which they are not academically trained!

At least one of our PhD scientists is writing a detailed review of the book, particularly in its statements concerning me and AiG. We should have that available in the near future.

Here are the links to the Beliefnet debate articles. If you can read all of these you will certainly understand what Karl Giberson believes and how we respond to his claims.

Creation vs. Evolution on Beliefnet

Read them in the following order:

Bio: Ken Ham
Bio: Karl Giberson
KG: "Why I am not a creationist"
KH: "The Bible teaches creationism"
KG: "Seeing God's Revelation in Nature"
KH: "Are you certain about certainty?"
KG: "Why I came to peace with science"
KH: "Science cannot judge the Bible"

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

Begin

Recently, we released a new book called Begin. Simply put, we present the gospel the way God does it in the Bible—by starting at the beginning in Genesis. You can read details about the book in this article I wrote on the AiG website.

An AiG supporter wrote the following to us about this new powerful tool for evangelism:

Thank you thank you thank you! for the new book "Begin." I was searching for some study that I could use for our "Bible Curriculum" this year in homeschooling, that would give my children an overall thorough picture of the Word and what we believe. I looked on your website and there it was!

We just got our copy in the mail today and started going through it. After the children went to bed, I couldn't help going over the whole book from cover to cover. I can hardly wait to go through more tomorrow with the children!  ;)  We had already been working on reading through Genesis before I found out about the book, and now they'll be getting even more out of the study.

Love the 10 things a Christian should know section, at the end of the book. Blessings to you who bring "Good News!"

The first printing of Begin has already sold out! The book is currently on back order, but we should receive more around Monday, October 3. You can purchase your copies of Begin on the online store.

Igniting Passion

It was thrilling to receive the feedback below from one of the committee members who brought the AiG conference to Niagara Falls, New York, recently:

Our committee has already been thinking about what we can do to follow up on this. In the immediate future, we intend to make use of AiG materials for small group studies and for our church libraries, as well. We're also thinking about a bus trip to the Creation Museum sometime next year. We had formed this committee with the sole purpose of planning the creation conference, but it looks as though this may be just the start of something, rather than the end.

I just wanted to thank you for a fantastic conference! We're hearing so many stories about how people have been impacted by what they heard on Saturday. Praise be to God!  I'm so grateful for you and the ministry of AiG. It has made such an impact on my life and given me a passion for the Word of God. My prayer all along is that God would use this conference to ignite that same passion in others. I'm so excited that God allowed me to be a part of this. May God continue to bless you and the AiG ministry.

We praise the Lord for the way AiG is being used to ignite passion in others!

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

You Can Be a Stargazer!

At the Creation Museum, we run regular "Stargazer's Nights." These programs are run by AiG astrophysicist Dr. Jason Lisle. Using the museum's high-quality telescopes and also the museum's planetarium, Dr. Lisle helps people go to the stars!  The planetarium shows are extremely popular programs, and soon the people attending these events will be able to also use the incredible telescopes being installed in the new Creation Museum observatory.

We had a neat story from this past Friday's Stargazer's Night. It was an amazing evening with very clear skies. The participants looked at Jupiter, star clusters, binary stars, and a supernova 27 million light years away. Hundreds of people have attended the ten Stargazer's Nights that we scheduled this spring and summer (some of which were added after other events sold out). We have announced twelve more dates for 2012 to address the large demand for these programs. (See http://creationmuseum.org/events/programs/stargazers/.)

For the Stargazer's evening this past Friday, two guests traveled over 1,100 miles just for this event and the opportunity to see Dr. Lisle. Jennifer and her step daughter Jackie drove from Austin, Texas, for the sole purpose of being part of this event. I spent some time talking to them. The following picture is of Jennifer and Dr. Lisle:

Thousands Hear Creation Messages in Florida

Many thousands of people, as well as hundreds of children and young people on Monday morning, heard the creation apologetics presentations Dr. Gary Parker and I gave while in Jacksonville, Florida. The following are some photos taking during our time there:

The senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Dr. Mac Brunson, and me

The huge main auditorium Sunday morning

Speaking in the main auditorium

Dr. Gary Parker speaking Sunday evening

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

Intolerant Atheists in California

A good friend of AiG's in California purchased the building that the Institute for Creation Research owned before ICR moved to Texas. The creationist museum in Santee has recently been expanded. AiG's Dr. David Menton was invited to speak at the special day to open the expansion. Well, 12 atheists decided to demonstrate outside the museum. We often find such people so intolerant of creationists.

In fact, there really are no atheists.The Bible makes it clear that everyone knows there is a God (Romans 1:20–21, 28) and that the law of God is written on their hearts (Romans 2:15).  Scripture also explains that those who rebel against God "suppress the truth in unrighteousness" (Romans 1:18). Why would these so-called atheists even care about creationists and one of their museums if there is no God? What does it ultimately matter? Well what matters is that they work hard to suppress the truth because in essence they are putting their hands over their ears and crying out,  "We refuse to believe. We reject God. We don't want to hear. We refuse to listen."  These atheists who were demonstrating against a creationist museum is all a part of their active suppression of the truth.

This "atheist" demonstration was reported on by the Christian Post news source. I have linked to the article below. I have quoted from the piece below with a few comments:

In the early afternoon, atheists from various parts of Southern California assembled in front of the museum located about a 20-minute drive from San Diego. Signs included one asking, "Why Hasn't Evolution Eliminated Creationists?" Another sign held by an atheist stated, "Thou Shall Not Lie – Creationism is NOT Science."

An atheist is telling people they should not lie? Since when can an atheist do that? You see, if there is no God and thus no absolute authority, then ultimately morality is relative. So everyone has a right to their own opinions, and such a person can't insist someone else must have their "morality"—whatever that is!

Orange County atheist group leader Bruce Gleason, who organized the field trip for his "Backyard Skeptics" to the museum event, told The Christian Post that teaching creationism harms the country. "We think that creationism is actually dumbing down our kids and the United States," Gleason said. "It's dumbing down most every home school child in the South that is taught that God created the world instead of inspiring them to think more creatively."

Amazing! Most kids go to public school and by and large generations of these children are being taught evolution as fact—creation is not allowed to be mentioned in the public schools. And this atheist claims the teaching of creation is "dumbing down our kids and the United States." Actually, it's the teaching of evolution that is not only "dumbing down our kids," but indoctrinating them to believe they are just animals—with no purpose and meaning life.

You can read the entire article on the atheist protest on the Christian Post website.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

Operation Space . . . Down Under

AiG's Vacation Bible School (VBS) programs are gaining in popularity—not just in America, but around the world. What a thrill it was to receive the following photographs taken as AiG's Operation Space VBS was used in a church in Australia this year:

The person who organized this VBS program, wrote the following to us:

Congratulations on such a brilliant, inspiring program. Everyone loved it and they all loved the songs. We went "overboard" with decorating the rooms for the lessons but that is what gets kids in. I collected hundreds of beautiful silver stars last year before Christmas  to fill the ceilings with.We covered the walls with dark blue or black material and then plastered them with stars and cut-outs.

One 8 year old child who came last year to [AiG's VBS program] Amazon Expedition (not a Christian) wasn't allowed to come this year but pestered his father for so long until he allowed him to finally come!!! He loved it!

One 10 year old (from a non-Christian home) wasn't coming but when he came up with his Gran to the church and saw the rooms, he asked to come . . . and had a ball!!!

We had many non-Christians who came this year and are booked in for next year. Everyone just loved it and learnt so much about the Bible and Jesus.

We even have a child booked in next year to come from [a town] in Queensland (about 15 hours away).

The T.V. folk were so over-awed with what we had done and can't wait to see us "In Egypt " next July.

Thank you again for your ministry . . . I just love it and love the many resources that you stock. We all can't wait to do "Tthe Egypt File" next July.

. . . The whole week was done so professionally this year and everyone were just "blown away" by how incredible it all was. We had visitors from as far away as Toowoomba in Queensland to come and check it out. The town is abuzz amongst the Christians about how brilliant it was. Our Children's Ministry leader from our church came and will promote it Australia-wide.  I have never been so exhausted in my life but it has been all worth it for the children we will see in the Kingdom because of this program.

Praise the Lord children are being reached with the gospel in Australia through AiG's VBS programs.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

Can God Call Someone to Be a Creation Scientist?

It is so thrilling to hear of young kids who want to be creation scientists.  I have met so many of these youngsters at the Creation Museum.  God is certainly raising up those in the coming generations who will stand for the Lord and His Word.  Here is an exciting email we received this week:

. . . my family and I are Baptist missionaries serving on the island of Barbados, West Indies . . . For quite some time now, our ten year old son has had a great interest in science and the things around him.  The Jonathan Park audio series has helped to spur that interest.

This past summer during Vacation Bible School, he asked my wife, "Mom, can God call someone to be a creation scientist– someone who preaches and teaches to defend God's Word and creation?"  She assured him that God could do so, and that we both would be very proud if God called him to be a creation scientist.

So it was a great thrill to our family when earlier this month we were able to visit the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky.  It was further heightened when we were able to hear you speak and [our son was] able to take a picture with you!

We would appreciate so much your prayers that God would continue to lead in our son's life that God might use him in a way to bring honor and glory to Himself.

Yes, we do need to pray for God's continual leading in this young man's life (and the lives of so many other like-minded kids).

In Florida to Speak with Dr. Gary Parker

Dr. Gary Parker and I will be speaking at an AiG conference at First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Florida Sunday and Monday.  On Monday morning, we have special programs for elementary, middle, and high school children.  For details, go to www.answersingenesis.org/outreach/event/7000

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying

Ken