“Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the LORD God of Israel.” (Ezra 4:3)
Better understood as historical "stories" about the unobserved past, neither creation nor evolution can be proven. The Institute for Creation Research has long been known for holding to the recent creation "story" as true and clearly taught in Scripture.
The Creator made all things "very good," with Adam as steward. Things may have superficially appeared as if a lengthy process was utilized in their formation, but the Creator told us how long He took, in case we might mistake His completed perfection for age. No death was present, for God cannot create imperfection and call it "good." Adam's subsequent sin warranted the death penalty being levied against Adam's entire domain. Today's malignant processes were not the ones God used to create, for He "finished" it (Genesis 2:1). To claim otherwise might wrongly assert that it required long ages.
The Creator's holy nature necessitated the great Flood of Noah's day, which restructured the entire planet, annihilating all living land creatures not on Noah's Ark. Today's sedimentary rock layers contain myriads of dead animals that testify eloquently to this. These layers formed quickly under dynamic watery processes, not slowly under the uniform processes we observe today.
This destructive event was, according to Scripture, followed by other disruptions of the natural order, such as the confusion of tongues at Babel. Other times, the Creator/ Sustainer/Judge employed far-from-the-norm energy levels and timing of events to bring about His will. He still retains the option to intervene, but leaves natural laws to govern events happening today. But what a scientific mistake and a denial of Scripture to assume things were formed and have always operated by the processes we observe, even operating over great ages. Indeed, this makes a travesty of the plan of God and His sovereign control over all things.
In today's Christian world, many have rejected these clear scriptural teachings in favor of a uniformitarianism. Many "semi-creationist" Christian leaders hold to theistic evolution, stating that God created using naturalistic processes over long ages. Others may hold that God supernaturally created but did so over great time. They may tell a different "story" about history, but their evaluation of the evidence is indistinguishable from that of a pure naturalist. Donning biblical glasses, we see that the earth doesn't even look old, but it does look cursed and flooded.
When the people of Israel returned from their Babylonian captivity and began rebuilding the Temple, they encountered the Samaritans, Israelites who had intermarried with local pagan tribes. These "semi-Jews" claimed to want to help in God's work, but in reality wanted to skew it for their own ends. Wisely, the Jewish leaders saw through their ruse and refused their help. "Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the LORD God of Israel" (Ezra 4:3).
Today, the greatest opposition to creation comes from "Christian" scholars who have married pagan thought with the biblical worldview. Much like the Samaritans of old, they not only bring a different agenda, but hamper and oppose those whose agenda is biblical. Our agenda is not just to teach recent creation and the global Flood, as important as these doctrines are, but to uphold and defend the authority of all Scripture. God has called Christians to be soldiers in His army and to fight His battles. As a scientific organization, He has called us to bring scientific armaments to the battlefront, demonstrating Scripture's scientific accuracy, and to support other warriors with different specialties. Together we can win the battle. He has already won the war.
* Dr. Morris is President of the Institute for Creation Research.
Cite this article: Morris, J. 2010. Modern Samaritans. Acts & Facts. 39 (3): 15.
