How Satan Has Undermined The Authority Of Scripture - Part 1 By Dennis Lindsay

Part 1  |  Part 2

The evolutionary community has just celebrated Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday. Darwin’s legacy has led to the reinterpretation of Earth’s history, which claims Creation began millions and billions of years ago. Yet, two hundred years ago, almost everyone in Europe, America and much of the known world believed the Earth was created just 6,000 years ago.

During Charles Darwin’s day, theologians began listening to the opinions of secular scientists who were speaking outside of God’s Word. James Hutton, in 1795, wrote a book entitled, Theory of the Earth, claiming the earth was millions of years old. This influential book caused people to wonder if the earth was truly only 6,000 years old. Darwin’s book, The Origin of Species..., published in 1859, further tempted people to doubt the Words of the Creator. This resulted in theologians attempting to reinterpret God’s Word. Christian theologians scrambled to harmonize Scripture with the “millions of years” theory and compromised the Bible.

Anglican minister, Thomas Chalmers invented the gap theory in 1814 to accommodate the evolutionary “ages” of geology by placing them in a hypothetical gap between the first two verses of Genesis, and Christians began accepting the “millions of years” idea into the Bible. It is argued the Earth became void long after the primeval creation, as a result of Satan’s rebellion in Heaven, which supposedly allowed the geological ages to be inserted between these two events.

It is sad that many evangelical Christians have compromised God’s clear revelation in Genesis, chapter one. God has made it plain that “in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them” (Exodus 20:11). Today in America, the Bible has lost its absolute authority, and it is obvious why the statistical polls reveal so many Americans believe in God together with evolutionary thought and why so many college graduates reject their Christian heritage. Millions and billions of years of Earth history have come to replace a relatively recent Creation. In 2 Corinthians 11:3, Paul admonishes the believer to beware that Satan will use the same method he did with Eve:

“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (NIV).

In other words, Satan has provoked the church to ask “Did God say …?” “Did He really mean six literal 24-hour days for Creation? Is there another possible meaning—one that harmonizes with ‘science’?”

In The Center of the Bible 
“It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man” (Psalm 118:8 KJV).

This passage is a key verse for the Word of God to get the center of our attention and is the verse located in the center of the Bible. It distinctly reveals the two sources in which one can put their trust: theism or humanism, God or man. Man’s most basic sin has always been (and still is) to replace God with man—“you shall be as gods” (Genesis 3:5). Today, this false religion is known as secular evolutionary humanism, and it dominates the intellectual establishment in every nation of the world.

Gallup Poll Reveals Widening Gap Among Christians
A Gallup poll released earlier this year shows that 39 percent of Americans say they “believe in the theory of evolution,” while only 25 percent say they do not believe in the theory. The final group, 36 percent, had no persuasion either way. An earlier Gallup poll on the issue, conducted a year ago, found that only 14 percent of Americans believe that humans developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life (atheistic position). Forty-four percent believe that God created human beings almost overnight within the past 10,000 years (biblical position), and another 36 percent believe that God guided humans’ evolution from animals over a much longer period of time (theistic evolutionary position). The poll reveals that although the majority of Americans still believe in God, they are divided on the age of the Earth and what process God may have used to create man. Did it occur over millions of years or happen instantly?

I am convinced these statistics reveal why the Church is losing its power to influence American culture. The authority of Scripture has been replaced by the persuasion of a man-made religion. The poll reveals that a large portion of Christians does not think the days in the Creation account of Genesis, chapter one, are literal 24-hour days. Instead, the religion of Darwinism has persuaded the Church to replace the six ordinary 24-hour days of Creation with millions and billions of years. On the surface, this view may seem harmless; however, if evolutionism is true, then Scripture for many Christians ceases to be the final authority and offers the youth of America reason to doubt the accuracy of God’s Word and reject their Christian faith. Furthermore, the purpose of the Cross becomes meaningless. Instead, the Bible becomes like any other religious book—a collection of myths, allegories, symbolic metaphors and folklore that has little or no relevance to 21st century living.

Insight from the Humanist Society
In the British Museum of Natural History, a statement is posted that reads, “Appreciating its age is central to understanding the Earth’s processes.” In other words, the age of the Earth is central to understanding the history of the Earth. How absolutely true this statement is regarding understanding Scripture and how Creation relates to God’s plan of redemption. The age of the Earth is central to one’s understanding of God’s Word. I believe the term “millions of years” has mesmerized the minds of Christians to question the meaning of God’s Word, and this undermines the authority of Scripture.

Many young people are turning away from their Christian roots and leaving the Church, after being raised in Christian families. Research by George Barna shows 70 percent of the public school students from Christian homes in America will walk away from the Church and the faith of their parents once they leave home.2 As one high school student commented, “A few months ago I started on my high school geology course, and my faith was weakened by the evolutionary arguments presented in it.” A statement in Christian Century reveals the battle the Church faces, “More cases of loss of religious faith can be traced to the theory of evolution than anything else."

Evolutionism can creep into the belief system of a biblical Christian and corrupt it little by little, eroding one’s faith in the Bible, much like termites that work silently destroying the foundation and the structure of a home.

Not in the Bible
One cannot find “millions of years” in the Bible. Genesis, chapters 5 through 11, has tight chronologies that will not allow millions or even thousands of years to be inserted. The chronologies of man’s history are repeated four times: Genesis 5, 11, I Chron. 1 and Luke 3. Interestingly, when Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s dreams, he reveals the reason it was repeated, “And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass” (Genesis 41:32 KJV).

The genealogies of man are recorded four times in Scripture. There are no gaps in them. Even the New Testament book of Jude, verse 14, states that Enoch was the seventh generation from Adam. One sees clearly, there are no gaps between Adam and Enoch. The point is, in order to accommodate evolutionism, there are those who’ve attempted to insert vast ages of time into Scripture, giving the idea there are millions of years outside of the Bible. The only place one could attempt to fit millions of years into Scripture is before the creation of Adam and Eve. The ultimate reason for doing so has nothing to do with what the Bible has to say. It has everything to do with the outside opinions and influences of others who are entrenched in an evolutionary worldview. It is obvious why evolutionists wish to add millions of years to Earth’s history. They do not like the God of the Bible. This is evident in the statement made by a well-known evolutionist, George Wald, Professor Emeritus at Harvard University and the Winner of the 1967 Nobel Peace Prize:

“I don’t want to believe in God. Therefore, I choose to believe in that which I know is scientifically impossible, spontaneous generation leading to evolution.”

The religion of humanism began in the Garden when Satan said to Eve, “You can be as god” (Genesis 3:5).

Humanism has persisted throughout time in every nation in numerous forms of religion. Humanism was alive in ancient pagan cultures. Humanism is the denial of a personal, omnipotent, infinite Creator. Evolutionism is the humanistic religion of today. It is the modern form of the ancient apostasy of making man-made gods. Humanism is a religion because it worships the creation rather than the Creator. Paul the apostle reveals in his letter,

“They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen” (Romans 1:25 NIV).

The Bible reveals why people are deceived:
“... every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness” (II Thessalonians 2:10-12 NIV).

Paul warns young Timothy, as well as us today,

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ” (Colossians 2:8 NIV).

Christian Compromises
By accepting the millions and billions of years and attempting to fit them into Scripture, Christians have arrived at compromised positions. The perilous positions that Christian leaders have accepted and bought into are: theistic evolutionism, the gap theory, progressive creation theory, the day age theory and the local flood theory—all of which have added millions of years to the Creation account in Genesis, chapter one. Not one of the above positions comes from the Bible. They are man-made positions that straddle the fence with one foot in the biblical worldview and one foot in the humanistic worldview. They all have one common factor: to add millions of years to Scripture. The problem is the Church has married into a pagan religion much like Israel did when they intermarried with the surrounding nations. As a result, they became attracted to the gods of other religions. Even King Solomon, with all of his wisdom, was guilty. As Scripture declares:

“King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women … They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, ‘You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods’… his wives led him astray … his wives turned his heart after other gods … ” (I Kings 11:1-4 NIV).

Solomon’s end result was compromise and the erosion of his faith in God and His Word. These “millions of years” theories are one of the most dangerous heresies in the history of Christianity. They destroy the purpose of the Cross and the doctrine that sin caused death (as we shall see next month in part two of this four-part article). It becomes clear why America’s Christian foundation has been eroded away. Sadly, many Christians attempt to accommodate the imaginary ages of evolutionism.

Intimidation by the ungodly humanists of our society is the primary reason why evangelical scientists and theologians have compromised God’s Word. These people are wistfully seeking approval from the secular colleagues and the intellectual establishment. They are the men pleasers of old who seek academic approval rather than biblical authority.

“For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God” (John 12:43 KJV).

What does the Bible’s teaching on Creation have to do with the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Consider what happens to Christ’s work of salvation if the days of Creation according to Genesis, chapter one, are not normal 24-hour days. Death in the animal kingdom would have existed in the world long before the first man ever “sinned;” therefore, death would not be the result of sin. If this were so, why would Christ have to receive the penalty for sin by death on a cross? Evolutionism challenges the origin of sin, its effect on man and the very heart of Christ’s work. John’s Gospel tells us that all things were created through the Word Who became flesh. This is Jesus.
“Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made” (John 1:3 NIV).

We see the Word (Jesus) in action in Genesis, chapter one. The Word Who made us, and everything else, is the very same Word Who came and purchased our salvation. So Genesis, right from the very first words, is actually the beginning of God’s revelation to us of the Person and work of Christ the Creator, Savior and Redeemer. God’s Word either stands or falls on one’s faith and trust in the first chapter of Genesis. If the days in Genesis, chapter one, have various meanings, how do we know if the account of the death and resurrection of Christ is accurate or has more than one possible meaning? What about the Second Coming of Christ? Maybe there are multiple meanings for the time of the Lord’s return that may be millions of years away.

The Use of “Day” In Scripture
Can’t the word for “day” in Scripture have different meanings? It is true the Hebrew word for “day” can have different meanings, but in Genesis, chapter one, the evidence for each day of Creation represents an ordinary 24-hour day—no exceptions.

The point being made is not that the word “day”in Scripture can have different meanings because “day” can mean a day, year or time. The point is, in Genesis, chapter one, “day” can only mean an ordinary day. Furthermore, if “day” does not mean an ordinary day in Genesis, chapter one, then when does “day” mean an ordinary 24-hour day after Genesis, chapter one? When do the days become ordinary days? Just how important is this issue of the length of days in Genesis, chapter one? It is absolutely essential in understanding the meaning and significance of why Christ came to Earth and died on the cross, and especially for young people to sustain their faith. It is obvious from Scripture that God has the ability to create in six ordinary 24-hour days, but did He do so during the Creation week? When does “day” in Scripture mean an ordinary day? The answer to this question can be easily discovered.

The Use of “Day” Outside of Genesis, Chapter One
The word for “day” in the Old Testament is “Yom” and is used 2,301 times. No one ever argues over its meaning, except in Genesis, chapter one. Why is this? No one argues about the length of a day in Joshua, chapter six, when the Israelites marched around Jericho for seven days. Why do Christian leaders argue over the meaning of “day” in Genesis, chapter one? I am convinced it is because Christians have fallen for the same temptation to which Eve yielded in Genesis 3, “Did God really mean what He said?” Satan is well aware of the implications of millions and billions of years. He knows it causes God’s plan of redemption to become null and void, powerless and without purpose.

Consider the following ways in which the Holy Spirit, throughout the Old Testament, provides us with the certainty that each day of Creation is an ordinary 24-hour day. Outside of Genesis, chapter one, “day” plus a number (such as “the first day”), either in the plural or singular form, is used 410 times and always means an ordinary 24-hour day. There are no exceptions. When the words “evening and morning” are used together without “day” (38 times), it always means an ordinary 24-hour day. When “evening” or “morning” is used with the word “day” (23 times), it always means an ordinary 24-hour day. There are no exceptions. When the word “night” is coupled with the word “day” (52 times), it always refers to an ordinary 24-hour day. In checking out Genesis, chapter one, the obvious conclusion is that each of the seven days refers to an ordinary day. Verses 5, 8b, 13,19, 23, 31b all have the following words connected with the word “day”: “night,” “evening,” “morning,” “first,” “second,” “third,” “fourth,” “fifth,” and “sixth.” We find 19 references in chapter one of Genesis connecting the word “day” to numbers, “evening,” “morning” and “night”. It could not be clearer. There are no verses in the Bible where “yom” means anything other than a normal 24-hour day if it is modified with a number like “the second day.” Only one time does “yom” mean an indefinite period of time: when it is not connected with a number, and its meaning is clear.

God clearly reveals the days in the Creation are ordinary days, just like the two thousand plus additional references in Scripture that refer to a day as being an ordinary 24-hour day. Still, there is much more evidence for the days of Creation being normal 24-hour days.

The Term “Week”
On a related topic, where did man come up with the idea for a week? From the beginning of recorded history, man has operated under the present system. Why not four, five, six eight, nine or 10-day weeks? We get our day from the rotation of the Earth on its axis, the month from the rotation of the moon around the Earth, and the year from the rotation of the Earth around the sun, but there are no astrological observations for the week. When and where did man begin to use seven days for a week? It is obvious from where the idea came. It came from the Word of God. The answer is found in Exodus 20:11.

“For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

One might ask, “Why would an infinite all-powerful Creator take so long (six days) to create the universe?” God could have done it in six hours, six minutes, six seconds or no time at all, but He chose the seven-day week. God created in steps to set a pattern for man. We are to copy His pattern, and besides, Scripture also reveals that the number seven signifies completion or perfection. When God finished Creation, it was perfect and complete. He rested. It was time to enjoy Creation and romance His newly created love—man.

Is the Lord’s “Day” a Thousand Years?
“With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day” (2 Peter 3:8 NIV).

Can a day be like a thousand years as 2 Peter 3:8 reads? Yes, but the rest of the verse cancels out this idea. Why do people only apply this interpretation to Genesis, chapter one? Why not apply it to Jonah’s journey in the whale? After all, isn’t God omnipotent enough to keep Jonah in the whale for 3,000 years? No, the meaning of “day” is understood in the context of the passage.

This passage in 2 Peter is a key verse of the so-called “progressive creationists” who try to correlate the days of Creation in Genesis with the supposed 4.6 billion year system of evolutionary geological ages. As a result, theologians have come up with the “day age theory.” In this theory, theologians say each day represents a geological age of millions and billions of years. Notice, the verse states “a thousand years” and not millions. This verse has nothing to do with Creation. In the context of 2 Peter 3:8, the meaning is that God is outside of time. In other words, what God can do in one day might take a thousand years by natural processes. It is simply telling us that time doesn’t mean anything to God. This passage refers to the Second Coming of Christ and not Creation.

We know that a word can have multiple meanings. When Christ told His disciples He would come back again, we understand the meaning of “back” even though “back” can have multiple meanings. If “day” can mean “thousands of years,” then the Second Coming of the Lord may be millions of years from now. After all, what do people mean when they claim Christ is coming back again?

The word “back” has various meanings like the word “day” and can be used in a number of ways: “I’m sitting with my back against the back of the chair in the back of the room because the chairs in the front hurt my back, and I am not sure if I will come back here again.” Although four different meanings are used for the word “back” in this sentence, we’re able to understand every meaning because of its context.

It is the same with the word for “day” in a passage of Scripture. One understands the meaning of “day” by the context in which it is used. Actually, in the context of the verse, Peter is condemning the last-days evolutionary people who teach “all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” This teaching is known as evolutionary uniformitarianism, which is a 24-dollar word, attempting to claim the present is the key to the past. Peter boldly declares that those who make such claims are “willing ignorant,” or as some have translated, “dumb on purpose.”

Peter is rebuking the last-days evolutionary uniformitarians who would deny the catastrophic effect of the Great Flood in Noah’s day for the simple reason they do not want to consider a world wide judgment. Peter foretells of this judgment which is coming again and will include them.

Satan is well aware of the importance of the meaning of “day”. His followers also understand the significance of the Gospel related to Genesis as one atheist wrote,

“It becomes clear now that the whole justification of Jesus’ life and death is predicated on the existence of Adam and the forbidden fruit he and Eve ate. Without the original sin, who needs to be redeemed? Without Adam’s fall into a life of constant sin, terminated by death, what purpose is there to Christianity? None."

The bottom line is the Bible loses its power to influence and affect culture when we accept vast ages of time for Earth’s history. If the Earth is millions and billions of years old, we would have to accept that there was death before sin. This subject will be covered in next month’s Christ For The Nations magazine, entitled “Did Death Occur on Earth Before Man Sinned? Part II of The Myth of Millions and Billions of Years—How Satan Has Undermined the Authority of Scripture.”

Recap of Part I:
Last month, in Part I of “How Satan Has Undermined the Authority of Scripture,” we probed the evolutionary myth of the “millions and billions of years” of Earth history and how it has led theologians to reinterpret the meaning of “day” in Genesis, chapter one. As a result, young Christian people have lost confidence in the inspiration and reliability of God’s Word, particularly the biblical view of Creation, and instead, are turning to a humanistic worldview. Biblical evidence was provided to confirm how Scripture reveals that each day in the Creation account of Genesis, chapter one, were ordinary 24-hour days. God’s Word can and must be trusted to be accurate.

Now, in Part II, we will consider the subject of death according to the evolutionary worldview. We shall see the consequences of the evolutionary humanistic gospel and how it adversely affects the meaning and significance of Christ’s death and plan of redemption. We will see why Satan has continued his long war against the Creator, and why and how he has seduced Christian theologians into marrying Darwinian evolutionism theories. We will understand why Bible scholars have been led to reinterpret Genesis, chapter one, and to reinterpret the meaning of “day.” Death, according to the evolutionary worldview, is one of the essential components Satan has used to undermine the authority of Scripture. We will understand how and why God’s plan of redemption and the purpose of the cross have lost the power to attract young people to the Gospel. We will see why young people have lost their faith in Christ and have turned to a humanist worldview.

The central doctrinal teaching of Christianity is that death is connected to sin. This is not some lone teaching without a Scriptural foundation. The fact that death is connected to sin goes back to Genesis. The bad news that man is lost begins in Genesis, and this is why we need a Savior. Satan is out to destroy the foundations of the Gospel, either totally or by attracting Christians into marrying his doctrine of evolution’s “millions and billions of years.” This marriage will cause the decay, disintegration and, eventually, the death of the meaning and significance of the message of the cross. The Gospel will become powerless. The Good News of the Gospel does not make any sense without the bad news of where sin and death originated.

When Did Death Enter The Picture?
When did physical death occur on planet Earth? According to Romans 5:12, death entered the scene when man sinned in the Garden of Eden.

“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned” (NIV). Again, we read in Romans 8:2 “... sin leads to death.”

According to Darwinian evolutionism, death is not unique and has always existed. It is nothing more than a process of life that has been around for millions and billions of years. Furthermore, according to evolutionism, death is the cause of life and every new species. Isn’t that a twist? Evolutionism says death created and birthed man. It is a natural part of life on Earth. There have been billions of years of death and struggle, and it is this evolutionary mechanism which results in new life forms. Man is the product of a long series of evolutionary processes and cycles of death that has happened purely by chance.  The late High Priest and evangelist of evolutionism, Carl Sagan stated it this way,

“How did we as human beings get here? Only through an immense number of deaths, death and accidents over millions of years, are you and I, brains and all, here today.”

One hundred years earlier, Darwin explains this concept in his book Origins of the Species.
“Thus from the war of nature, from famine and death, the most exalted object which we are capable of conceiving, namely, the production of higher animals, directly follows.” 

The higher animals Darwin is referring to are you and I. Darwin is saying, war and death exalts us to a higher level. If this is true, then Adolf Hitler was actually practicing the evolutionary process in the extermination of Jews, Christians and the handicap during World War II and this is the very process being taught in our public school system across our nation. It is clear that death is the hero of the plot for evolutionism.

Death is just a natural process of the entire spectacle. Death becomes the hero of the plot. It is the process by which man arrived on planet earth. According to the theory of evolutionism the bottom line of death as we shall see is that Christ’s suffering and death are of no real value if millions and billions of years are in fact true because the curse of death is not the result of the sin of man.  On the other hand, the Bible declares that the purpose of Christ’s death is to redeem man from the curse of the law —death—and from man’s sin of rebellion. As Scripture declares,

“... that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death— that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” (Hebrews 2:14-15 NIV).

“He came once for all, at the end of the age, to put away the power of sin forever by dying for us” (Hebrews 9:26 LVB).

“...God put into effect a different plan to save us. He sent his own Son in a human body like ours—except that ours are sinful—and destroyed sin's control over us by giving himself as a sacrifice for our sins” (Romans 8:3 LVB).

The Purpose of the Cross: To Break the Power of Death
Christ died to restore a ruptured relationship between God and man and to reverse the curse. Before the Fall (before sin entered the world), the world did not know about broken relationships. If decay, disease and death existed before man sinned, then sin was not the cause of death. If sin is not the cause of death, then for what purpose did Jesus come and die? The Bible reveals He came to restore the broken relationship and to remove the effects of the curse. The Cross is a cross for redemption. Redemption from what? The curse. Otherwise, the resurrection is meaningless, and this is why humanists claim the resurrection is nothing more than Christian superstition.

I Corinthians 1:18 states the message of the cross is foolishness to the unbeliever, and 1 Corinthians 15:12 asks the question, “Why do some of you not believe in the resurrection?” If the Bible isn’t accurate regarding the cause of physical death, then how can we trust the Bible’s accuracy regarding the resurrection of Christ? As a result, the most powerful truth of Scripture is lost; therefore, people often say today (as they did in Christ’s day), “The resurrection is foolishness.”

Christ’s death on the cross was to deliver man from rebellion and the root of sin. If sin is not the cause of death, the doctrine of redemption is at stake. According to evolutionism, breaking the law didn’t result in the penalty of death. Death occurred prior to man breaking any law. Evolutionism claims that as primates evolved intelligence, they gradually developed social relationships and then acquired a need for rules. This is the evolutionary explanation of how man evolved socially. 

If this is true, we must ask ourselves a question: why should we be concerned with sin and the penalty of death, about which the Bible speaks, if breaking the law is not the cause of death? This means, as some compromising theologians would argue, that the wages of sin is not physical, but rather spiritual. However, Romans 6:23 clearly reveals that the “wages of sin” is physical death. 

On the other hand, if the Earth is millions and billions of years in age, then for what purpose did Christ have to die such a horrible physical death on the cross? It is because He died to pay the penalty of sin—death. In Genesis, chapter six, God said He was sorry He had made man because of all the violence and death. God was sorry man had chosen a life of sin. The sin of man led to God’s punishment—destroying the world with a flood which caused the death of every human on earth except Noah and his family. According to the Bible, the penalty of sin is death.

The Purpose Christ Came to Earth
Scripture reveals Christ’s purpose in coming:

“He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8 KJV).

What were the works of the enemy? Satan came to steal, kill and destroy. (John 10:10)

God’s Word reveals the purpose of Christ’s coming to Earth was to save the lost from the penalty of sin—death and eternal separation from God. Romans 6:23 declares, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” If sin didn’t cause death, then there is no need for a Savior. If sin didn’t cause death, then the shedding of Christ’s blood has lost its value. Thus, Christ’s death on the cross becomes totally purposeless. Satan realizes this essential point of man’s salvation, and this is why he is relentless about saturating science with the myth of “millions and billions of years.” Evolutionary death nullifies and voids the purpose of redemption.

The reason why death is such a vital issue to the meaning and significance of the history of our planet is this: if it can be shown that death is not connected with sin, then the biblical basis for sin and morality is not regarded as a real concern. This is exactly what Satan is attempting to accomplish. The nature of man rejects anything that would make him accountable to the Creator, neither to His laws nor to His morality. If death is connected to sin, then one understands his responsibility and accountability to obey the moral Governor and Judge of the universe. In the same respect, one would also understand the consequences for disobeying His law. This is also why humanistic evolutionism so fervently attempts to discredit the world wide Flood, which was God’s judgment on a sinful and wicked world.

If death is not caused by sin, then the consequences of violating God’s moral code is meaningless, and one can do as he/she pleases without any fear or threat of punishment. “Millions of years” destroys God’s authority as the moral Governor of the universe. He becomes nothing more than a mythological god like those of the Greeks and Romans. The 10 commandments becomes nothing more than the 10 suggestions. When people see God’s rules in this humanistic light, they will remove them from the walls of the public schools and court houses of our cities. Isn’t this occurring in our nation?

Can You Have Death Before Sin?
In Genesis 1:29, 30 we read that all animals were vegetarians; however evolutionism purports something altogether different. Evolutionary geology states that death reigned in the animal world for “millions of years.” The law of the jungle ruled: kill or be killed. It was the law of survival of the fittest. If “millions and billions of years” are true, then the fossil record reveals death long before man ever walked on the Earth. The fossil records reveal there were animals in the act of devouring other animals when they suddenly died and were buried. Other fossils have the undigested remains of animals in their stomachs.  Furthermore, there are thorns in the fossil record that are claimed to be hundreds of millions of years old. On the other hand, the Bible reveals that thorns were part of the curse, and the curse came as a result of man’s sin.

Both accounts cannot be true. As Romans declares, “Let God be true, and every man a liar” (Romans 3:4 NIV). It is easy to understand why even thorns were a part of the crucifixion. Thorns symbolized the curse. The power of Satan was about to be crushed at the time of Christ’s death, which had been foretold in Genesis 3:14 and 15.

Furthermore, human skeletons have been found and dated by evolutionary methods as being millions of years old. This would imply that the genealogies in Genesis are not accurate since Adam, and there are many names missing from the record. You surely can not fit them into the genealogies of Genesis. The genealogies are in keeping with Biblical History. Who are we to trust, God’s word or man’s interpretation of Earth’s history according to evolutionism?

The Ape-Man Myth
This evolutionary fantasy is another chapter that falls into the same category of mythological fiction. Yet, many Christians have bought into the notion that God may have created through this evolutionary process or even that the ape-man like creatures may have been a part of a prehistoric race before Adam and Eve and were judged at the time of Lucifer’s rebellion. Scriptures have been found to harmonize with this illusion. Unfortunately, the truth of ape-man is that it is built on man’s imagination and has absolutely no evidence for their existence. All such fossils that have been claimed to be ape-men have been identified by evolutionists as either fully man or fully ape. There is no basis in reality for an ape-man. This is the wishful thinking of the unregenerate mind who wishes that God does not exist. Evolutionism is pseudo science to get rid of God.

In the Gospel of Mark we find the Words of the Creator, Jesus Christ, that the Earth and the creation of Adam and Eve were created essentially at the same time. Christ quoted from Genesis 1:27 when He said,

“But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female” (Mark 10:6 KJV).

Since man’s creation, which was God’s main purpose of His Creation, it is inconceivable why God would waste billions of years in such a meaningless process before man came on the scene.  It is here we see that the greatest of God’s creative works was “from the beginning of the creation,” not 15 billion years after the beginning of the creation, as modern old-earth advocates allege. Since Christ was Himself, the Creator of all things (John 1:3; Col. 1:16) He would know best when He created man and woman since He was a witness to the event.

From Where Did Disease Come?
Did disease come as a result of man’s sin? The animal fossil records reveal that when the animals died, they were full of diseases, the same diseases that are present today in living organisms. These disease-ridden fossils are dated as being millions of years old. If disease is not a result of the curse, there is a problem: who is responsible for death and disease entering the world? For those who believe in God, this view makes Him responsible for death and disease rather than man. If the earth is millions of years old, then death, decay and disease have been around long before man walked on the Earth.Thus, man’s sin is not responsible for disease or for death.

No one wants to accept the blame. Just as Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent, no one wants to take responsibility for evil. However, Scripture reveals that man is responsible for death, decay and disease. Man is responsible for 9/11, not God. We are responsible for Hurricane Katrina, not God. Man is responsible for all the death and suffering that has taken place throughout history. We are responsible for all the pain and suffering that is taking place presently around the world for both natural disasters and for man-made disasters. We are responsible for the murder and bloodshed that takes place in countries that are ridden with war. Man is responsible for the evils that occur in our society every day. What you believe about your history determines your worldview. If you believe in “millions and billions of years” of death, then evil is just a part of life, and we should feel no guilt or responsibility.

The good news is that God came to redeem man from death and the curse. For those who have accepted Christ as Savior and made Him Lord, He is coming to restore Creation to its original state of perfection when He wonderfully ushers in the New Heavens and the New Earth which his disciple will enjoy forever with Him.

Was the Earth Created Before the Sun?
Well, what about the sun being created on the 4th day as the Genesis account of Creation declares? How can you have day and night before the sun? This question is a common question asked by skeptics because the Genesis account of creation reveals “light” was created on the first day of the creation week and the sun was not created until the fourth day. However, before answering this question, let us consider another matter. Do you have any problems with any of the other miracles of Scripture such as Moses parting the Red Sea, Elijah calling down fire from Heaven, Jesus turning the water into wine or His walking on water, not to mention the “virgin birth” and the “resurrection?” Just because we do not understand Gods Word or some particular verse, does not give us the right to make it fit within man’s opinions.

Otherwise, we will have a problem with the authority of God’s Word. When an individual begins to doubt the authority of Scripture, it will not be long before one eventually denies God’s existence. Atheism is a convenient way to avoid responsibility for one’s sinful acts. If God’s Word is true, then we can trust His Word to not say something that is illogical or inconsistent.

The answer to the question of how day and night could exist before God created the sun is rather simple. Even the evolutionary cosmologist has no difficulty having light before the sun. According to their cosmic history of the universe, the “big bang” scenario began some 15 billion years ago while the sun “evolved” only five billion years ago. So, light energy was somehow “created” before the sun and other stars. Actually, light is an entity independent of the sun and other heavenly bodies, and this is one of the remarkable scientific insights of the Bible. Keep in mind that light is far more than just visible light, the light we can see. One does not need the sun for day or for light. All that is needed is light and darkness. On day one we read, “And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light” (Gen 1:3 NIV)

Scientists know that there are various sources of light that do not come from the sun. Even for Christians who believe that God created everything, beginning with the Big Bang Theory, are still contradicting Scripture. The Bible declares that God created the sun after He created the Earth. Proponents of the Big Bang Theory, declare that the sun came before the creation of the Earth, and the stars were not created until day four. However, the Big Bang claims stars evolved 10 billion years ago.

Then, on day 3, plants were created before the sun was created.  The order of creation is too radically different to attempt to harmonize the days of creation with the evolutionary notion of creation. Obviously, one can not fit the Big Bang Theory into the Genesis account of Creation unless you reinterpret Scripture to say what you want it to say.  Furthermore, Scripture reveals that there is coming a time when there will be no more sun or moon, and yet, there will be light and even seasons for growing fruit (Rev. 21:23; 22:2).

What about Radio Metric Dating (RMD) and Carbon-14?
It must be understood that the scientific evidence is overwhelming in favor of a young Earth and a recent creation of the universe. Someone might argue, “How can you say this in light of radio metric dating method for determining the age of rocks and fossils. Keep in mind that the evidences for or against a young Earth is not the issue. The difficulty is and always has been God—True or False. No one wants God to rule one’s life. As Scripture reveals,

“The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one” (Psa 14:1-3 NIV).

The process known as radio metric dating did not come on the scene until after World War II. The idea of millions of years came a century earlier. This evolutionary faith was popularized in the 1800's. This led to the reinterpretation of Genesis, chapter one. Today, RMD is hailed as a divine tool in support of “millions and billions of years” of Earth’s history by the evolutionary community. However, it is widely known that RMD, as a measuring device, is unreliable, inaccurate and riddled with assumptions and erroneous conclusions that cannot be proved. The intention of this article is not to list the problems, nor document the thousands of errors associated with the use of RMD, but rather our purpose is to remain focused on how and why the evolutionary dogma of millions of years undermines the authority of Scripture.

When someone uses the argument of RMD as evidence for the Earth being millions of years old, one does not have to talk about the multiple problems associated with the use of RMD. All the evidence in the world against the use of RMD will not convince a mind and heart who wants to be one’s own authority. Instead, a Christian should respond to the unbeliever, with the question, “What about the hundreds of scientific evidences and physical processes (nature’s clocks) that testify to a young Earth? These young Earth evidences within nature set limits on the age of the universe and the Earth and confirm Creation was recent within the last few thousand years.

In other words, more than 90% of the clocks in nature give the Earth’s age as less than billions of years, and most point to an Earth of only thousands of years old. Keep in mind, all dating methods that man devises are based on fallible and unproven assumptions concerning the past and are used to reinterpret God’s infallible Word. If you take the Bible alone, you will never come up with the idea of “millions and billions of years,” that is, if you start with the Bible. However, you will compromise God’s Word if you try to insert man’s opinions and his fallible assumptions into Scripture.

The reason for the opinions and assumptions of the evolutionary theory of the age of the Earth has the underlying motive of undermining God’s authority. This in turn allows one to ignore the authority of the Creator and become like or as god. This is how Satan convincingly led Eve to believe in Genesis, chapter three. With God out of the picture, one is free to be his own boss and become accountable to whomever one pleases. This man made theory of millions and billions of years becomes and easy way out of responsibility to the Creator by denying the authority of His Word.

Marrying Evolutionism
Many Christians do not see what the atheists clearly see. By marrying evolutionism, many Christians have been blinded to believe that Adam is simply a metaphor for the head of the human race. It is said that Adam was not a real person and not a real historical figure. Death is only spiritual. Such a belief negates the meaning of judgment, for the Bible declares, “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment ...” (Hebrews 9:27 NIV).

Unfortunately, there are many theologians, seminary professors, Christian leaders, Christian college professors and ministers who believe and teach the evolutionary doctrine of “millions and billions of years” for Earth’s history. This is the reason so many Christians believe in an old Earth. It is apparent, for this reason, young people in the church lose their faith after attending college.

The link between physical death, the shedding of blood and the payment for sin was not something that began as a Levitical practice. It began in the garden in Genesis. Christians must understand this tenet as foundational to the Gospel. They must not attempt to marry millions of years to the Creation account in Genesis or the Gospel loses its foundation. There has to be a literal Fall with physical death as a consequence; otherwise, we do not need a literal Savior.

Part III
Next month, we will continue our study of how Satan has undermined the authority of Scripture with a look at the first test given in Scripture. It is given in the first chapter of Genesis. It is the key to understanding and accepting the Creation account in Genesis and God’s Word. Next month’s study is entitled, The First Test in the Bible: Genesis 1:1—Fidelity.  “Did God say that? Is that what He meant?” Over 3000 times in scripture, the Bible declares to be the Word of God.

If you would like more information on how you can help support the completion of the Creation Museum of Earth History on the Christ For The Nations campus, please contact us at the following: Creation Museum of Earth History Christ For The Nations 3404 Conway St Dallas, TX 75224 1-800-933-CFNI (2364) or 214-376-1711 ext 6216 ceo@cfni.org

How Satan Has Undermined The Authority Of Scripture - Part 3
By Dennis Lindsay
The First Test in the Bible: Genesis 1:1-Fidelity

Parts One and Two Recap
In this four-part series, we are discussing how Satan has undermined the authority of God’s Word and the reasons why young Christians are leaving their Christian faith in college. In part one, we examined the evolutionary myth of “millions and billions of years” of Earth history by looking at the meaning of the word “day” in Scripture.  We convincingly discovered that the word “day” in the Creation account of Genesis, chapter one, overwhelmingly means an ordinary 24-hour day.

In part two, we examined when physical death first occurred on planet Earth.  Scripture clearly states that physical death first took place after man sinned.  It was the consequence of his rebellion against God’s authority when Adam and Eve disobeyed His direct command.  Satan has tenaciously fought to mesmerize the Church into accepting the evolutionary doctrine of “millions and billions of years” for Earth’s history.  The dogma not only undermines the authority of God and His Word, but also invalidates the purpose of Christ’s death on the cross.

Now, we will continue our discussion, providing the key for understanding and accepting the Creation account of God’s Word and His authority.  This involves a test God gives everyone in the first verse of the Bible—a test of fidelity—“In the beginning God ...” It is a test every college student faces when they enter college—whether a secular or Christian college—and study the origins of the universe.  If a person can embrace Genesis 1:1, they will not have problems with the rest of the Bible.  If you believe in Genesis 1:1, you will have no trouble embracing all the miracles: the world wide Flood, Creation in six, 24-hour days, the parting of the Red Sea, putting the sun on hold for nearly a day, turning water into wine, walking on water, the virgin birth, the raising of the dead and hundreds of other miracles throughout the Bible.

The Church Has Failed The Test
Today, there has been a philosophical shift in the Churches view of biblical authority.  The consequences are everywhere.  Prayer has been removed from the public schools, the 10 commandments have been thrown out, and the murder of millions of innocent lives is a common practice in the abortion clinics across the land.

The Bible declares that God created everything which exists in the Heavens and the Earth in six days.  To make the time frame of a single day clear and unmistakable, God states there was an evening and a morning to show that the Earth had only rotated one complete cycle. A person reading the first verse is met immediately with a test—a test of fidelity.  The test is to see whether one will submit to biblical authority and Divine revelation.  The test is to see if one will believe what Scripture says is absolutely true. Over 3,000 times, the test is given in Scripture because over 3,000 times Scripture claims to be the Word of God.

Can Science Be A Part of the Test?  No!
What is fidelity?  It is trust, commitment and loyalty.  It is more easily understood in the context of the marriage vows a couple recites during their wedding ceremony.  Through these vows, each spouse is expressing their total commitment and loyalty to one another.  The same commitment holds true here: one either believes what Scripture says or one does not.  One can accept it or reject it, but one cannot alter it.  One may respond with, “What about science?”  “Don’t we have to apply science to the Genesis account of Creation to be intellectually honest?”

One must move beyond the notion that science needs to be applied to Genesis, chapter one.  If one attempts to apply science to the Creation account, there will be a great amount of confusion and doubt because there is no such thing as the science of Creation.  The word “science” means knowledge. All science is based on observation and verification by repetition.  Creation had no human observers and cannot be verified by repetition.

Creation is neither observable nor repeatable.  It did not happen by any uniform, observable, predictable, repeatable processes as there were no fixed laws.  Rather, it is just the opposite of science. Creation was an event that was not subject to all we understand about fixed laws.  Creation occurred prior to God establishing the fixed laws that govern Creation.  Creation is a supernatural miracle, and therefore, there is no science of Creation.  Furthermore, there is no other account of the Creation throughout all of Scripture—only in the book of Genesis.

In the account of the Creation in Genesis, and all other biblical references to Creation, there is neither an implicit or explicit reference to anything other than a six-day Creation.  There is no allusion or statement regarding any evolutionary presence or process suggesting that God used another means for Creation.  There is only one historical account of Creation, and it is in Genesis, chapter one.

The Present Is Not the Key to the Past—The Bible Is
Someone might argue, “Can’t the present be used as the key to understanding the past history of the Earth?”  No, it cannot; the Bible is the key to understanding the past history of the Earth.  The present has nothing to do with the manner in which God created.  Do the creatures and plants change?  Do they mutate within a species?  Yes, they do.  How can we explain these changes? We observe these changes for this reason: functioning within the completed creation are fixed, observable, repeatable laws. These laws allow us to understand these processes. However, none of these observable, repeatable processes have anything to do with Creation.  These minute changes occur within a species and have absolutely nothing to do with the evolutionary whim (the mud to man myth) of a species changing and evolving into an entirely new and different species.  No such changes have ever been observed in the laboratory nor exist anywhere in the record of the geological rock layers of the Earth.

How creation operates and functions now does not provide us with any information about how it was created.  For example, the people who witnessed Lazarus being raised from the dead could eat with him, talk and walk with him and observe his behavior after being raised.  However, after his resurrection, nothing they observed in Lazarus’s behavior could, in any way, reveal the process of the miracle by which he was raised from the dead.  The event was not connected to any observable, repeatable, scientific laws.

The same is true with the feeding of the 5,000.  One could meet and speak with the people and study their digestive processes, yet, this would not provide any understanding scientifically of the processes by which the fish and the loaves were created.  Thus, Creation cannot be understood in any other way except by revelation from the Creator.  Creation has no connection to science at all.  Creation was not a scientific event.  Natural law did not play any part of it.  It was a miracle.  All that we have, with regard to an understanding of creation, comes to us through the revelation of Scripture.  Everyone who reads the Genesis account of Creation immediately faces a test of whether or not they will exercise fidelity and trust in the Word of God.

An Unsolved Mystery
People strive so hard to understand God.  Our struggle isn’t that we may love and serve Him better, but rather, that we might figure God out in order to make Him less mysterious.  Once this is accomplished, we may get Him to serve our needs more effectively.  Unfortunately, if we could figure God out, then there would be no need to trust Him.  We would have God in a box.  Any attempt to remove all mystery about God is futile, and this is the way it should be.  It is like trying to catch a hurricane in a jar.  God can never be figured out by science or any other natural means.  The God of the Bible is inexplicable, incomprehensible, and the entire universe cannot contain Him.  The only reason we can know anything about Him at all is because He has graciously revealed Himself through creation, His Son, Jesus, and His written Word—the Bible.  It is for this reason that the mystery of God keeps our hearts filled with wonder.  This is why we will worship Him throughout eternity.  God will never be “figured out.”  He is the infinite Creator.

Could God Have Created Through Evolutionism?  
Again, someone might ask, “Couldn’t God have used evolutionism?”  The question is irrelevant.  If one wants an answer, the only answer that can be found in Scripture is this: God did not use evolutionism (known as theistic evolutionism) in Creation.  God made everything in six days.  Why would God have used such a cruel, wasteful and inefficient process as evolutionism for His means of Creation? The great ages assumed by evolutionary geologists supposedly involved billions of years of suffering and dying of animals before man ever evolved.  This would be a most inefficient, wasteful and cruel method that could be designed for creating humans. Why would God waste billions of years in such a meaningless manner to create man?  What is the point?

Think about it.  Creation that involved millions of years of death, disease and decay over vast geological ages would produce a graveyard full of dead things around the entire world miles deep.  If this were true, then why would God say “It is very good” when He finished His Creation? This would be unthinkable, unless “good” has a meaning other than what we understand “good” to mean.

Even worse, if death were a part of God’s plan, then what is the meaning and significance of Christ’s coming?  If God created through evolutionism, then one has no option but to disbelieve the Bible is true.  As revealed in Part One, we can study the Hebrew text all the way throughout Scripture and will only find a literal Creation, completed in six, 24-hour days.  Yet, some hard-headed individuals will respond, “Yes, I know that is what the text says, but that just cannot be the only interpretation.”

In Job 38:2, 3, we find God asking, “Who is this that darkens council with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.”  God was asking Job, “Job do you want to play God for a day?  Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty?  Are you going to tell me how I did it and that I did it differently from the way I said I did it?  Job, where were you when I laid the Earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Were you there, Job?” (Job 38:4)  This is God’s way of saying, “Job, zip it up and be quiet!” Shortsightedness was Job's problem.  Job replies in utter humiliation, “I am nothing. I shut my mouth” (Job 42). The issue that we all face when reading the Genesis account of Creation is our fidelity to Scripture. If young people fail to realize this, they will be prime targets of the enemy to lose their faith after enrolling in college.

Intelligent Design Versus Biblical Creation
Even honest evolutionists admit that evolutionism is incompatible with the evidence.  The end result is the Intelligent Design Movement (IDM). Although Intelligent Design is not Biblical Creation, the two are related. The former seeks truth though scientific investigation and concludes an intelligent designer must be behind the vast amount of information and mathematical intricacies so evident throughout Creation. Biblical Creation, on the other hand, starts with the intelligent Designer and argues for evidence to support its premise. For Bible believing Christians, God created the universe, and He did it according to what He has revealed to us in Scripture, particularly in Genesis, chapter one. It contends that evolutionism is nowhere to be found in the process.

The contribution that the Intelligent Design Movement makes is that it validates the idea of a transcendent designer—which everyone naturally refers to as “God.” This rationale is the objection of the Darwinian evolutionists. However, what Intelligent Design fails to tell us is which god it is.  It is at this point that Christians should come in to provide an intelligent witness and reasonable response for the God of Intelligent Design as being the same God of the inspired Word of God, Who is Jesus Christ (John 1:1-3).   However, this is still not the answer to the issue of fidelity. Fidelity concerns itself with submitting to the authority of God and His Word.

Unfortunately, the IDM still suffers from the same disease as the Atheistic Movement (AM), which is sin and the acknowledgment of guilt.  They refuse to see their need of a Savior, and they refuse to submit to God and His rules of morality.  The result is the same.  Both the IDM and AM still get to be their own god and write their own rules by which to live.  Both are still in the same camp—the unsaved camp. The ID movement may know God as Creator, but they do not know Him as Savior, nor do they have a solution for evil.  They make the Creator the author of evil since they do not know Him as the redeemer because the God of the Bible is also the Judge and Lawgiver.  The issue isn’t just about the beginning of the Bible—it’s about the end of the Bible as well.

The real issue is this: what did God say, and do you believe what He said?  Also, where do you start believing Scripture?  At one point in the Scriptures does one begin accepting it as a historical truth that one can fully and completely trust as being totally accurate? The purpose of evolutionism was Satan’s way to kill the God of the Bible, His law, and His absolute standard for human morality in thought and conduct. It was invented to do away with biblical guilt and accountability by eliminating the moral Judge of the universe and leaving people free to do whatever they want without guilt and without fear of any consequences.  As the infamous Humanist Manifest of 1973 declares, “No deity will save us. We will save ourselves.”

Evolutionism and the ID Movement Are Hostile to the Test of Fidelity

1. They do not want to acknowledge the Creator of the Bible because that would mean God owns Creation.
2. They do not want to acknowledge a world wide flood because that would mean God has the authority and power to judge His entire Creation.
3. They do not want to acknowledge a coming judgment because that would mean God has rules that man must obey.

 Theistic evolutionism and other compromising positions demonstrate a lack of fidelity and trust in the authority of Scripture more than anything else.  They dethrone Divine revelation and replace it with an evolutionary hypothesis guess.  Scripture, not science, is the ultimate test of truth.  The apostle Paul reminds Timothy to guard the truth of Scripture with which he had been entrusted.

“Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly” (2 Timothy 2:16 NIV).

There are only two basic religions or philosophies throughout the world.  One is man-centered, and one is God-centered.  One is based on “millions and billions of years,” the other is based on a supernatural, instantaneous miracle.  One is humanism, based on evolutionism.  The other is Theism, based on biblical Creation.  One is based on man as savior. The other is based on God as Savior.  It is infinitely and eternally superior to put your trust in the Creator, Jesus Christ, than to put your confidence in man.

Test For Selecting A Christian College
The first word to consider in the theology of Creation is the word, “fidelity.”  Does one trust the Scriptures as the inerrant and inspired Word of God?  The matter of origins is not just a matter of the history of the Earth, it is a matter of one’s fidelity—trust, commitment and loyalty—toward the Bible.  It is the first point in which one accepts or rejects the Holy Scriptures.

By asking an individual in ministry or at a college this question about their view of Genesis, the answer given will immediately reveal the level of fidelity they have toward the inspiration and authority of Scripture.  The right response will come if one truly accepts the Bible as the inerrant and inspired Word of God.  If they have a wrong answer concerning Genesis, chapter one, then wrong answers will show up in other areas of Scripture and courses of study, too.  Soon, the student will be struggling with other passages that cannot be explained with a scientific formula.  All that is necessary to remove one’s fidelity in the authority of Scripture is to have an arbitrary hermeneutical scheme of interpretation to undo Scripture.  Isn’t this the same course the devil took when he said to Eve, “Is that really what God meant?” (Genesis 3:3-5).

In the coalition of more than 100 Christian colleges in North America, there are only a handful who hold to a literal interpretation of the Creation as it is given in Genesis, chapter one.  Genesis, chapter one, is a dangerous place to go astray because there is a lot more of God’s Word that follows!  I would be very careful in pursuing an education at a Christian college that has a compromised position on the Creation account in Genesis, chapter one.

College professors, who ascribe to the old Earth worldview, use an arbitrary reasoning which allows them to shift their hermeneutics of Scripture from a mythological, allegorical, poetical viewpoint to a literal, historical viewpoint after Genesis, chapter one.  Many Christian college professors begin accepting the Bible as historically reliable somewhere between Genesis, chapter two and eleven, or after chapter eleven and the Tower of Babel.

Everyone, no matter how learned, is faced with the test God gives in the first verse of the Bible—the test of one’s fidelity toward the Word of God.

For Those Heading Off to College—Beware!
In America, approximately 400,000 high school graduates go to college each year. From these 400,000, only about 15% (about 60,000) would call themselves evangelical Christians. Of these 60,000 college-bound Christians, about 85% (about 50,000) will choose non-Christian colleges.  Out of the 50,000 Christians who choose to attend secular schools, 52% (over 25,000) will no longer identify themselves as born-again Christians by the time they graduate.  More than half of the Christian high school graduates who go to college each year will lose their faith. Most will lose it in their first year away from home, and as a result, will not come back to their faith.

Researcher Steve Henderson found that students’ post-graduation philosophy most often reflects the values of their college senior year faculty.  Lifetime values indicate that 25 years after the students graduate, they will still be adhering to the values of their senior year faculty.  After extensive research, Henderson calls the college years “a moment in time when students shift from an imposed faith to an owned faith.” Evidence further indicates that almost all people keep those owned values for the rest of their lives.

In summary, the most intense time of maturing as a young person is in his/her college years.  The college years are a time when a student makes the shift from an imposed faith to one of their own.  It is also a time when the student’s faith is primarily influenced by their faculty mentor(s).

The Weakness of the Modern Church
The Church has lost its influence to affect the culture because it has failed the first test of Scripture—fidelity.

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6 NIV).

The Church fails to trust God’s Word and accepts fallible man’s opinions about Creation.  The door has been unlocked for God’s authority to be questioned, undermined and reinterpreted.  The result is a powerless Church because it fails to recognize and accept the authority and power of the Creator. Instead, it has replaced God’s Word with man’s fallible opinions regarding Creation.  Today, the culture says the Bible is not the absolute authority.  As a result, the Church does not have the respect it once had because the leaders of the Church are reinterpreting God’s Word to fit into man’s fallible opinions.  As a result, millions of young college students have left the Christian faith and replaced it with a non-Christian worldview.

Expect your faith to be challenged.  Satan will cloud one’s mind with doubts.  We must believe God’s Word in our heart, even when our mind questions it.  We must anchor ourselves to God’s Word, so we don’t drift away with the doubts that come to our mind via the doubters of the evolutionary camp. 

Today, the world is using the same hermeneutic method of interpretation of Scripture.  Since it has rejected the six-day Creation as literal days in lieu of “millions and billions of years” for Earth’s history, it follows they will reject other miracles in the Bible that cannot be tested by the scientific method.  This rejection of Scripture is known as the process of eisegesis, which is reading one’s own ideas into Scripture. An example of this is defining the Hebrew word “yom” (“day” in English), as it appears in the Creation account in Genesis, chapter one, as meaning long ages of time. With this interpretation, the door is not only open to question Genesis, but also the virgin birth, the resurrection of Christ and all the other miracles of Scripture. This form of biblical interpretation breeds unbelief and influences one to doubt the authority of Scripture.  On the other hand, the correct form of biblical interpretation is known as exegesis, which is a critical explanation or interpretation of a portion of Scripture. The result is a literal interpretation of Genesis, the virgin birth, the resurrection of Christ and the miracles throughout the Bible.

Christ For The Nations Institute Passes the Fidelity Test
Since its inception in 1970, Christ For The Nations Institute has remained a Bible-based school that focuses on the authority and inspiration of the Word of God.  The staff and faculty fully believe God’s Word is inspired and inerrant; that Creation occurred in six, literal, 24-hour days, and it began approximately 6,000 years ago.  The Bible-based curriculum is taught from a Charismatic/Pentecostal heritage. All students are required to take the course I instruct, entitled “Creation Science,” which presents the above position.  Over 35,000 students have graduated from over 75 nations.  Christ For The Nations stands on the Word of God as being the final authority.

Part Four
Next month’s article will conclude this four-part series. We will focus on how the evolutionary myth of “millions and billions of years” has led to the rewriting of American history.  America is suffering from its rejection of God’s Word and authority of Scripture on which our nation’s foundation was built.  Nevertheless, we know God still rules and reigns, and one day, the whole Earth will be full of His knowledge (Isaiah 6:3).  Christ For the Nations has an answer for how Satan has undermined the authority of God’s Word. 

The Creation Museum of Earth History is soon to be completed.  To be relevant to the world, we must lay the foundation of Genesis for all to understand the message of the cross.