My soap box. Just think about it.

Today I went to the Creation Museum in Kentucky.  This museum is the brain child of Ken Ham a prominent creationist. He proposes that the world is not billions of years old like some in the scientific community would have you think, but instead, is only 6-10 thousand years old as the Bible suggests.  Stick with me on this one. Some of you may not know that I too hold to this view, but I don’t want you to think that I just shifted my views today. I have researched and studied this idea for about 5 years now ever since watching a lecture series that Ken produced. I am going on my soap box for this post because I feel that it is important to at least get this alternate view out there even if you choose not to agree with it. I hope that you will read it with a critical and open mind.

It has been indoctrinated into our society that the world has to be billions of years old. It is in every school book, every museum, and every TV show. Children are learning it as a fact in school, and those who oppose billions of years are mocked for their beliefs.  Those that are outside the scientific community feel that because they don’t understand all the complicated tests performed to determine the age of the earth they cannot question the results. Therefore, the church and many Christians have given in and said, “Okay, we’ll just work around it, try to fit it in with our beliefs and it doesn’t matter anyway as long as you believe in Jesus.”  Are they right? Well, on the one hand, yes. As long as a person believes Jesus died on the cross for their sins and rose again, they are saved. Period. I will never deny that.

On the other hand, there is a huge problem brewing!! The very foundation of Christian doctrine and ALL that we believe begins in Genesis. Why is there sin, why is there a need for Jesus, why is there death and suffering, and why is there a 7 day week? All of these questions have their origin in Genesis. If you break the foundation the entire building begins to fall.

Here’s the problem logically broken down:

1. If you believe in macro-evolution you have to believe in billions of years. Even scientists admit the only way “molecules to man” evolution could be true is if there were billions of years to accomplish the seemingly impossible task.  Conclusion: throw out your belief in six literal days of creation and replace it with billions of years.  (**Let me stop right here and clarify what I mean by macro-evolution. Macro-evolution is the theory where, as genetic variability increases within a species, the organism becomes more complex and forms a new species. So bacteria can change, over time, into man. Now, micro-evolution or variability within a species (which we see observable evidence of everyday) is not what I am discussing. Natural selection, which occurs presently, is not what I am discussing. Those two things are well and good and God planned that there would be plenty of variability in our DNA to allow for all the differences we see today. However, popular science would have you believe that if micro-evolution and natural selection are true then macro-evolution has to follow. Not true. Micro-evolution and natural selection are processes that work together and tend to decrease genetic variability not increase it. I will explain more if you want just give me a call.

Okay moving on...

2. If you believe in billions of years and the scientific theory of evolution then you believe that dinosaurs lived millions of years before mankind. It is common knowledge that in the fossil record there are examples of dinosaurs with cancer, animals eating other animals, death, suffering, and destruction. But wait a second. Didn’t death come into the world through the sin of Adam and Eve? How could there be millions of years of animals getting sick, and killing other animals in the “perfect” world God created before the fall. Conclusion: throw out your belief that sin came into the world through the disobedience of God by Adam and Eve. In fact, replace it with the idea that God created a world full of death and destruction and then “said that is it was good."
3. The way scientists come to their conclusions when dating rock layers is based on the assumption that the rate of decay over millions of years has been constant. Therefore, no catastrophic event could have happened that would make these decaying processes go faster or it would totally invalidate all their dating methods. Conclusion:  throw away your belief in Noah and a world wide flood.  Of course, we have already learned that you can’t believe the word of God literally (notice the sarcasm in my voice). It says in Genesis 7:20-23 that, "The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than fifteen cubits. Every living thing that moved on land perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark."

Well, gosh, that does not fit into evolutionary theory, so again they tweak it to fit what they want to believe and try to convince us that it was a local flood and it did not cover the whole earth. Just Noah’s portion. Don’t worry, when God repeats himself three times in so many verses He doesn’t REALLY mean it. It’s all just another story. It’s all figurative. It’s all just analogies  that have no basis in scientific fact anyway, right? So tell me then, what about the story of Christ rising from the dead. Is that just a story? All scientists would tell you that is a physical impossibility. What about all the other miracles in the Bible? Why do we choose to believe some and not others?

As you can, hopefully, see there is no way of “working” evolution into our Biblical beliefs without seriously compromising the very foundation of those same beliefs. You have to choose which you will believe. Psalm 11:3 says, “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?"

Again and again the Bible has held scientific truths which are ignored for a time.

Examples:

God is speaking to Job in Job 38 and he says, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?... When the morning stars sang together.”   World-Science.net says, “Like musical instruments, stars can produce notes through their vibrations."

Leviticus 17:14, “For the life of every creature is its blood: its blood is its life. Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any creature.”  We now know that blood is what gives us life, but not so long ago, when George Washington was alive, they would “bleed” people to try to get rid of illness. Not listening to the truths already laid out.

Isaiah 40:22, “It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth…” Wow, a circular earth suggested before Pythagoras came along?! (Also check out Job 26:10 and Proverbs 8:27)

Job 40:15-18, “Take a look at Behemoth, which I made, just as I made you. It eats grass like an ox. See its powerful loins and the muscles of its belly. Its tail is as strong as a cedar. The sinews of its thighs are knit tightly together. Its bones are tubes of bronze. Its limbs are bars of iron.” Could this be a description of a dinosaur living during the time of Job? Hum? Has God been consistent with truth in other areas?  

The question is do you believe the Bible is an old, relic just like the fossils used to discredit it or do you believe it is the LIVING word of God. A history and a science book that you can fully trust.

Am I telling you that you have to take every word in the Bible literally? No, there are times when God uses parables, or analogies to make a point, of course. Then there are other times when he is making a statement, as in the examples above. You only have to use common sense to discover the difference. The Bible says in John 3:12 "If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?"


I know some of you are saying, “Well, how much research have you done on evolution, and how many books have you read regarding their arguments?” To those people I would say. Besides, the journal articles I have read and the people I have talked to who hold opposing views to mine, I spent 7 years pursuing a scientific degree. I have been bombarded with their theories over and over again and have been expected to accept them as truth. In fact, I struggled through a period of seriously questioning my faith because of these inconsistencies between God’s word and the world’s word. I honestly believe that my faith would be, at best, mediocre at this point in my life had it not been for the Bible study I did on this issue 5 years ago. This gave me a scientifically based alternative to evolution, that not only agreed with, but strengthened the truth and majesty of God’s word in my eyes. It is not good that even other Christians disregard, and consider ignorant those who choose to believe Gods word as truth and not just some story that’s read in Sunday school. We should be building each other up, and we should be wary of anything inconsistent with God's word. 

If you recall in Genesis 3 Satan comes to Eve and says, “Did God really say that you should not eat from any tree in the garden.” Did God really say… Wow, Satan continues to use the same tactics over and over. Are we learning? Did God really say he created the earth in 6 days? Did God really say he passed his judgment by flooding the entire earth? That’s for you to decide. The seed of doubt has been planted and nurtured and its roots grow deep!

I have not gone into all the rationales behind the alternate theories presented by the scientist who believe in a young earth. I have just given a basis for why I think this subject is so important. This is only the beginning.

If your eyes are burning from reading this huge post you can stop now, but for those who are interested in the alternative theories proposed by the scientists who believe in a young earth I will post some links for you to check out and I am always willing to talk. I might not know the answer to your question, but I will find out.

I used mostly articles from Answers in Genesis because they make them easy to understand and because they are the most readily available. Check references of articles for further research into subjects. 

These are basic foundational questions:

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab2/best-proof-of-creation

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab/hasnt-evolution-been-proven

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab/couldnt-god-have-used-evolution

Here's the really good stuff, the actual scientific data:

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab/does-c14-disprove-the-bible

http://www.answersingenesis.org/tj/v11/i3/comets.asp 

http://www.answersingenesis.org/tj/v8/i2/helium.asp         -- watch out this is a really technical one :)

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab/does-starlight-prove

http://www.icr.org/article/3112/

http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/3414             -- the infamous verse. This is a good one***

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v4/n3/radiometric-dating

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab2/adam-and-noah-live

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2007/05/11/feedback-devoid-of-evidence