Bishop or Bible? A Question of Authority | The Institute for Creation Research

 
Bishop or Bible? A Question of Authority

At a popular tourist stop, a new attraction had been set up to teach people about growing fruits and vegetables under special conditions. However, as visitors commence the tour of this attraction, the story of evolution is presented as fact in a dramatic way. The thousands of tourists who visit this display are told that billions of years ago the earth began as a hot molten blob—then, as it cooled and water formed, life arose from the sea: eventually land plants, etc., were formed. Of course, this type of presentation is not unusual in today's world.

Response—A Christian who saw this display wrote a letter of complaint to the manager. The reply to this complaint is a sad reflection on the state of the Church. It should make each of us realize how important it is for the creation ministry to continue to grow and evangelize the Church as well as non-Christians. The manager wrote, "Regarding your comments on the narration, I was very surprised to read of your belief that we are promoting evolutionary doctrines. I am a regular church attendee and a firm believer in Creation. So I checked with my Bishop on the theological soundness of what we said and was assured that we were not out of line."

Wrong Authority—It is interesting that this person checked with the Bishop and was told that he could believe in evolution. (By the way, the narration mentioned nothing of God—it was just the theory of atheistic evolution.) Had the man checked with the Bible, and particularly Genesis, he would have discovered an enormous conflict. When we study the Bible diligently, it becomes quite evident that Genesis not only teaches Creation by the Word of God, but also is foundational to all the rest of the Bible's teaching. A major problem in the Church today is that people put human wisdom above God's Word. In I Corinthians 4:6, Paul, warning about pride, states "that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written."

Trusting Man—We sinful humans are so easily puffed up because of human wisdom that we think we can trust man's reasoning powers to determine truth. In all matters, Christians should be like the ancient Bereans, about whom we read in Acts 17:11. They "searched the Scriptures daily whether those things were so." When we don't do this, there can be disastrous consequences.

Return to Foundations—Many Christian colleges and seminaries either compromise with evolution or say Genesis doesn't matter. When students ask the professors in these institutions questions about evolution, they are usually told either to accept evolution or to ignore the whole issue. They are being taught to doubt God's Word. Many pastors don't even realize they have been taught evolution.

The Church MUST return to its foundations. Christians must realize how far short they have fallen from accepting the truth of God's Word—ALL of God's Word. Today's liberals Christians are promulgating the notion those changing times and new scientific "knowledge" demands a changing Gospel. No wonder Christ said in Luke 18:8 " . . . when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" However, there is only ONE faith, and only ONE Gospel, as the Apostle John put it in Revelation 14:6, "an everlasting Gospel." And this Gospel has its foundation in the Book of Genesis—the book of beginnings.

Raised Up—The ministry of the Institute for Creation Research is laying again the foundation that has been removed and can provide the basis for revival in this nation and other nations around the world. This is not just another ministry! ICR has been raised up in these times to call the church back to its foundation and to proclaim the message of Christ as Creator and Savior to a pagan world. Please support this ministry as much as you can. We must realize that we are not just missionaries to the pagan world, but also to the Church!

dino

Will the Real Dinosaur Please Stand Up!

How many different dinosaurs were there? Secular books on dinosaurs give the idea that there were hundreds of different kinds of dinosaurs. Children are indoctrinated to believe that these hundreds of different types of dinosaurs lived during the dinosaur age millions of years ago. Thus, they are led to believe that evolution is true and the Biblical account of creation wrong.

However, one begins to lose faith in "science falsely so called" when a careful dinosaur investigation is made. There are far fewer dinosaurs than we have been led to believe. We recently reviewed the book A Field Guide to Dinosaurs—an evolutionary book claiming to be the first complete guide to every dinosaur known. We mention just a few examples from this book:

1. Arctosaurus is known from only one vertebra once thought to be a turtle's (page 92).

2. Colonosaurus is known only from a jaw that might just as well be from a bird or sea lizard (page 92).

3. Diplotomodon is known only from one tooth (page 93).

4. Paronychodon was named from a single tooth found in Montana (page 93).

5. Chienkosaurus is known from just four teeth. Some experts think they came from a prehistoric crocodile (page 82).

6. Embasaurus is known only from pieces of backbone (page 76).

7. Macrodontophion is known from just one round-topped tooth (page 76).

8. Supersaurus is possibly a diploma docid (page 119).

9. Dystrophaeus is known only from pieces of bone from an arm, hip, or shoulder. It was a big dinosaur, possibly the same kind as another already named (page 115).

10. Aepisaurus is from one arm bone found in France (page 125).

It almost seems that whenever some bone fragments are found in so called "dinosaur age" rock, someone names a new dinosaur! There are some complete skeletons of dinosaurs and some large deposits of dinosaur bones, but there are far fewer dinosaurs than we have been led to believe. Not only that, but also what are named as different dinosaurs, in many instances may just be variations within a kind (like the variation within the dog kind mentioned elsewhere). ICR has some excellent books that explain dinosaurs and how they fit into the Biblical account of creation and the flood.

Back-to-Genesis Soon to Include Special
Home School and Christian School Programs

"Back-to-Genesis" is ICR's most popular family-oriented seminar program. Thousands attended the seminars in 1988 and many more are planned for 1989. From early 1989, the "Back-to-Genesis" seminar will feature a special series of workshops for home schools conducted by Dr. Richard Bliss. This will involve hands on experiments for parents to help them develop skills to teach their children how to understand science from a Christian basis

Another addition to the "Back-to-Genesis" program will be a special lecture and film presentation geared for Christian and home school students conducted Friday morning before the "Back-to-Genesis" seminar begins. It is expected that Christian schools will bus their students to the auditorium where the seminar is being conducted for this special event. For further information on the "Back-to-Genesis" seminar, contact the ICR Information Officer, Mr. Mark Looy

Why Does A Wombat Have A Pouch That Opens Backwards?

A wombat is an Australian marsupial, which, like the kangaroo has a pouch. However, the pouch of the wombat opens backwards! At wildlife sanctuaries in Australia, the evolutionist guide usually tells the listening audience how wonderful evolution is to make sure the wombat's pouch was turned around. This is necessary because the wombat tunnels under the ground—if its pouch opened forward like the kangaroo, the young would not survive as the pouch would become filled with dirt! One wonders how the young wombats survived for millions of years as the pouch slowly evolved its way around to ensure the pouch opened backwards! Design by the Almighty Creator—NOT evolution is the ONLY explanation.

Did You Know?

Did you know that the domestic dogs, fox, coyote, wolf, colishe, jackal fennec, and dingo could be the descendants of a single mating pair of dog-like creatures? If this is the case, Noah would have only needed a pair representing the dog "kind" on board the Ark that would eventually give rise to the large number of varieties (this is variation within a kind—NOT evolution) that we see today. Noah did not have to take an excessively large number of animals on board the Ark. Noah needed only the representative kinds of all the air breathing land dwelling animals—and these could have easily fit on the Ark with room to spare!

Cite this article: Kenneth Ham. 1989. Bishop or Bible? A Question of Authority. Acts & Facts. 18 (1).

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