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Download September 2008 PDF - The Institute for Creation Research

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Changing the truth of God into a lieL A W R E N C E E . F O R D4 ACTS&FACTS • SEPTEMBER <strong>2008</strong>Afew weeks ago, two local seminarystudents stopped by the ICR headquartersin Dallas. One of them, aTh.M. student, regularly receivesour Acts & Facts magazine. As I showed themaround, we chatted about seminary life, professorswe knew, and getting through the rigorsof coursework in preparation <strong>for</strong> ministry.When one student saw the newest ICRfossil acquisitions—the enormous skulls of amosasaur and a phytosaur—he told me thatduring the study of Genesis in his Old Testamentclass, he mentioned to the teacher thatdinosaurs and men had lived together and thatNoah took dinosaurs on the Ark. He didn’texpect the chuckles he received from his classmates,however.“Are you serious?” the professor askedhim.“Of course,” the student replied. “It’swhat the Bible describes.”“Son, I am an Old Testament scholar,”declared the professor, “and that’s not what theBible says.”When I heard this account, I was saddened.Similar episodes are occurring on seminarycampuses across the United States. In fact,the number of Bible colleges, seminaries, andChristian universities that have abandoned theplain-sense reading of Scripture is increasing atan alarming rate as more and more academiciansin Christian higher education acquiesceto hybrid theories that seek to “unify” Scripturewith evolutionary processes.<strong>The</strong> same is happening in local churcheswhere members challenge their pastors andteachers regarding the literal reading of Genesis1-2. Inundated as we are with the beautifulphotography of National Geographic, DiscoveryChannel programs, and PBS’s Nature, whocould argue <strong>for</strong> something as “unscientific” asthe Bible?More disturbing are the Christian leaderswho allow science to govern their interpretationof Scripture, touting “new discoveries”that “prove” evolutionary claims, and treatingthe Genesis account as a mere framework <strong>for</strong>expressing the fact that God created, ratherthan as a narrative relating the actual details ofGod’s work during the creation week.Can there be unity between creationand evolution? Did God just get life going andlet evolution take over? Six days or six billionyears—does it matter?Some would say that it does notmatter, that it’s not an “essential” ofthe faith. <strong>The</strong>re are, in fact, born againbelievers who do not believe in a literalreading of Genesis 1-2. Are we to questiontheir faith?Not necessarily. But the contradictionswith which these individuals must live shouldjar them into coming to terms, once and <strong>for</strong>all, with whether they believe in the accuracyand authority of God’s Word. If the Bible is infact authored by God, the Creator of life, thenthose who doubt God’s writings are burdenedwith proving that science—based on humantheories—explains the origin of life better thanScripture.In the introduction to <strong>The</strong> Battle <strong>for</strong> theBeginning, Dr. John MacArthur wrote thesestartling words about how naturalistic sciencehas infiltrated the church:Many who should know better—pastorsand Christian leaders who defend thefaith against false teachings regularly—have been tempted to give up the battle<strong>for</strong> the opening chapters of Genesis. Anevangelical pastor recently approachedme after I preached. He was confusedand intimidated by several books he hadread—all written by ostensibly evangelicalauthors—yet all arguing that the earthis billions of years old. <strong>The</strong>se authors treat

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