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Recently in the news there was some controversy over the private Christian school Blue Ridge Christian Academy. Part of their curriculum uses material from Ken Ham, of the Answers in Genesis ministry.
I've mentioned before how I fully support his ministry, and also pointed out how many people (Christians often included) would get rid of him in a second if they could. It's very sad to me that Christians are against him because the primary message of his ministry is God's authority in scripture over man's authority.
Because of his background, he achieves this primarily through apologetics and education on Young Earth creationism. Young Earth Creationism is a set of three words that sets atheists on fire and gets the venom shooting often with Christians as well. For someone to actually suggest that God could have created the world in six days, without using Evolution, is considered to them to be the most egregious of statements.
The school mentioned above came under attack because a quiz was given with answers corresponding to what the students had learned on one of Ken Ham's curriculum DVDs. This is a Christian school, teaching from a Christian perspective, but as soon as someone opposed to Ken Ham's ministry found out about it, there was a media firestorm. Atheists and Christians came out of the woodwork to condemn Mr. Ham and his ministry; as well as, to make threats towards the school itself.
Thankfully, in the midst of the "scandal," support began pouring in to the school as well. Donations sent to them will likely keep them afloat through the next fiscal year, when previously it looked as if they may have had to close.
I will not normally take so passionate a stand on something, but it bothers me how much guff people give Mr. Ham and AIG Ministry. They're accused of child abuse and brainwashing our youth. Everything they are teaching is scripturally based and accurate as it relates to God's word. Mr. Ham understands salvation and Christ, and believes the essentials of the faith. Why is it then, that so many are opposed to him?
My theory (not to steal the evolutionists' words) is that it flies in the face of what man has established as scientific truth. Ken Ham is not opposed to science as some would suggest. He simply understands that our Creator God, who left us the Bible as his evidence, has also placed ample evidence within creation for us to understand His universe. Ken Ham simply approaches science from a perspective that places God's authority above man's.
But, while Mr. Ham has to daily "battle" attacks on his ministry by atheists who would prefer to see him out of the picture, my concern is going to be more with my Christian brethren.
I've mentioned before that belief in young earth is not a salvation issue. You can be saved by Christ and believe in an old earth, and Jesus isn't going to revoke your salvation. But, it does reflect an authority issue, and that can be a slippery slope into other, more serious compromise. Not surprisingly, these days there is a huge authority issue within the faith already. People have left the Bible in favor of pop culture Christianity that has Jesus floating around telling everyone how great they are. It's not Biblically sound, but it feeds our human desire to keep God out of the majority of our life decisions. Reliance on self and independence are promoted as the flavors of our time. Christians have unfortunately fallen into this pattern that the world pushes daily.
And, one of the most common areas to find that compromise is with the world's thoughts on science and evolution. Science is not incompatible with Biblical thinking. There is no natural law or observation that God does not already fully control. We are told in Chapter 1, Verse 1 of God's Word that by his hand all was created. And, because he is God and can do this with no trouble, it was created in six days.
Creation, as the Sunday school grads will recall, was initially perfect. In fact, up until the sin of Adam and Eve, things were going along just fine. Adam was given dominion over all of the earth. On the sixth day, God had created all land dwelling animals, and that means that humans dwelt with some of our favorite creatures to discuss, Dinosaurs (though the term 'dinosaur' didn't come around until the 1600s). Prior to Genesis 9, all creatures ate plants, so there was no risk of dinos and humans trying to eat each other. It wasn't until the earth's landscape was changed by a global flood in Noah's time, that God allowed man to have all animals for food, and the dynamics of the environment could no longer support some life (dino extinction). Dinosaurs could have easily fit in an ark that only had to take two of each "kind" of animal. Likely the animals were of prime breeding age since they needed to repopulate the earth, so they may have been smaller than full adult size. This would allow comfortable accommodation within the ark, which was also significantly larger than any Sunday school picture we may be used to seeing.
These are the basic principles (taught with much more evidence than what I have provided here) used in AIG ministry. The quiz given to the 4th grade class at a Christian Private school, was based on these concepts.
It's wonderful to me that some of our upcoming generation will have Biblical truth to stand upon. For the parents training their children in the way they should go with good, solid, Biblical foundation you have my utmost respect and praise.
The world decided a few hundred years ago that if you didn't accept evolution as cold, hard fact, you were either an idiot or crazy--or both. I can understand even today why those who do not believe or are in rebellion with God would also think the same way towards us. But, I cannot for the life of me understand why fellow Christians will jump at a chance to attack other Christians over the basis of trying to teach the Bible to children instead of man-made scientific theory.
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| ©Dan Lietha http://www.danltoons.com |
Were the scientists there when God spoke the worlds into existence? God poses the same rhetorical questions to Job (Job 38:4). The methods used by scientists are human designed, and therefore by nature subject to the curse of sin. Scientists are no more noble in their morality than others, so why do we place all of our faith in them as if they cannot skew evidence in favor of evolution? At least for creationism we have the Bible to stand upon. Scholars the world over will attest to its validity, and for the Old Testament, even more so in some cases. Therefore, the Genesis account should stand firm in the face of scrutiny. But, in our midst, the devil walks among us seeking whom he may devour, and lately, he seems to be intent on devouring Christians who would stick to the Bible's authority on our world and its history.
Compromise is the flavor of the day, and it will only get worse. It is time to take a stand on Biblical truth. The reason I support AIG is because they are not afraid to stand for their beliefs. They catch more slack from outside sources than any other ministry I can think of to date. And, what they teach is not outrageous from a Biblical standpoint. The problem is we don't like the Biblical standpoint, and prefer to mix and match passages to suit our individual needs and moods.
In effort to show support for Mr. Ham and the ministry (and because I think it's a great quiz), I decided to take the same quiz that the 4th graders took. Turns out, as a 27 year old college educated man, I still got the same answers as the 4th graders. Those who know me will attest to the fact that I am not stupid, so it seems then that God's word is not dependent on age, and that the so called "Child abuse"accusation leveled at Ken was misplaced hatred on the atheists' part. Clearly, I'm a fully functioning adult.
Below I've posted the original quiz and my updated version (which I made slightly more essay format). I posted a copy of mine to Ken Ham's Facebook page to show support, but honestly shied away from posting it on my account because I was concerned many of my friends and even fellow Christians would have chided me for it.
That's where this blog came about in the first place. When talking about Biblically sound, hard to take truths, sometimes people's feathers get ruffled. God's word is a sharp sword, piercing and convicting to the heart, so it is no surprise things don't always sit well with everyone. My word is not God's word, but the Bible is God's word, and I believe it 100%. I will not waver on its account of anything, from creation to final things, I take it at face value because it is meant to be taken that way. We are not to read into it our own desires and wants, but to let it speak to us and convict us of our sin and need for a savior. And, the grand drama of perfect creation, sin, the cross, and our eventual heavenly home is all based on the foundation that God does what He says he does, did and will do.
Regardless of differing opinions on non-salvivic issues, we all must recognize a sin problem and the need for Christ to eliminate that problem. It's at the heart of the faith, and AIG Ministry has that goal at its heart as well. Do me a favor fellow Christians and give these guys a chance. I'm amazed at what I learned from studying some of their resources. It's great, Bible-based info, and it allows us to stand for what God holds true, not what mankind wants to be true in an effort to eliminate accountability to God from their lives. God's authority through scripture is the name of the game. If the goal of our salvation is to be ever more like Christ, do we really want to eliminate the foundation upon which all of Christ's ministry and purpose rested?
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For more resources on Answers in Genesis and their ministry check their webpage: http://www.answersingenesis.org
http://www.arkencounter.com
http://www.creationmuseum.org
Here is the original quiz that caused the uproar and article response from Ken Ham: http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2013/04/30/atheists-attack-christian-school
Here is my version of the quiz:
https://www.evernote.com/shard/s88/sh/343ebf16-70ab-467a-a32b-b77877fc0676/e0a283894aa678cff22f3c7242e0e459
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