I teamed up with friends from ICR and Eric Hovind of Creation Today for some campus outreach at two Dallas-area universities just a couple months ago. Our team engaged with dozens of students over a wide range of topics. Most brought arguments against Christianity, but a handful of Christians came forward to chat as well. Several expressed the same concern. They were studying Scripture, following Jesus, and witnessing to their friends, but whenever they heard objections to Christianity based on science, they had virtually no answers. Could we help?
Yes! The Lord has ICR on the planet to meet this exact need.
One student, Jackson, had come to know the Lord just two years ago. He and I chatted on a pleasant, breezy day at a picnic table. He pinpointed his problem for me. He had read in John 5:46–47 how Jesus told the Pharisees that they should believe all of Moses’ writings. Well, that includes Genesis and its record of the creation and the Flood. But haven’t fossil experts proven that humans evolved from apes—not Adam? And haven’t archaeologists found no worldwide layers, making the Flood a myth? That’s when faith-changing information can come to the rescue.
Actually, those supposed fossil ape-men consist of remains from apes or men or both that are forced to fit together by boundless imagination.1 And we have to look at the vast stack of rock layers found beneath archaeologists’ layers to see the worldwide patterns that affirm the Flood.2 How I wish we had more time to help Jackson tackle these tough questions, but he soon had to run to class.
Before these campus events, we’d already decided to launch a new column in Acts & Facts to equip young readers with the answers they need most. Students should enter the wild world of university life with their faith on a firm foundation instead of feeling so ill-equipped. My time with them confirmed we’re heading in the right direction!
Look for “Essential Training for Christian Students Standing for Truth” at the very top of an article in each regular issue of Acts & Facts. This column will feature creation science, philosophy, history, archaeology, and the Bible itself in its own defense.
We hope that a new generation will be encouraged by the Genesis-friendly facts and logic that we plan to feature in this column. And why not also hope that older generations—the majority of our supporters—read and pass this down as well? Together we can equip our younger, beleaguered brothers and sisters in Christ to build their house on the rock so their faith stands when storms of questions and doubt inevitably come their way in school and beyond.
We serve a risen Lord Jesus who is “the truth” and became one of us.3 We long for His followers to be “ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you.”4 We really can tackle the toughest, and for some the most important, questions. We have every reason, then, to embrace and explain what makes Him worth studying with all our minds, serving with all our strength, believing with all our wills, and loving with all our hearts. Let’s get trained and stand for truth!
References
- Thomas, B. 2025. Guide to Human Origins. Dallas, TX: Institute for Creation Research.
- Clarey, T. 2020. Carved in Stone: Geological Evidence of the Worldwide Flood. Dallas, TX: Institute for Creation Research.
- John 14:6.
- 1 Peter 3:15.
Stage image credit: Tanya Hovind
* Dr. Thomas is a research scientist at the Institute for Creation Research and earned his Ph.D. in paleobiochemistry from the University of Liverpool.
