Missing the Point About the Contraceptive Mandate

We at Answers in Genesis have been praising God this week for the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of the Hobby Lobby company regarding its free exercise of religion as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. It should have been an easy decision, but the vote was 5-4. Four justices ultimately had wanted to decide to oppose the free exercise of religion for certain Christians—the Christian owners of Hobby Lobby, who did not want to offer abortion-causing drugs to their employees as mandated by Obamacare. Instead they wanted to abide by Christian principles and not be forced to accept a secular view on the sanctity of life (i.e., not be involved in killing children in the womb).

Denying the sanctity of life by four justices and tens of millions of Americans is reflective of something alarming in our culture. Many who supported the Obamacare mandate seemed either to miss the biggest problem with the law or flatly opposed what God says in His Word. (Or they just didn’t care.) Regardless, many people have bought into the false religion of man’s word determining truth—and that it is greater than God’s Word on a host of issues.   Continue at Ken Ham

Is Religious Freedom Under Attack in the USA?

Actually, I don’t believe it’s “religious” freedom that is under attack in America, but “Christian” freedom is certainly under fire in this nation. Increasingly, we are seeing a court system and legislature that want more tolerance of a certain form of religion, but at the expense of an intolerance of Christianity. More and more this culture seeks the absolute tolerance of the religion of secularism and its moral relativism, but at the same time intolerance of the absolutes of Christianity built on the foundation of the absolute authority of the Word of God.

Personally, I believe the U.S. Supreme Court case about Obamacare and Hobby Lobby (our lead article on the Court’s important decision today will be posted soon) has been just another blatant example of the attempted erosion of Christian freedoms in this nation. Yes, the news this morning from the U.S. Supreme Court was encouraging, but how did this nation even get to the point where Christian-owned businesses would be forced to offer abortion-causing drugs in its health coverage for employees?   Continue at Ken Ham

Is the Date of Easter of Pagan Origin?

You may have heard the claim that Christians should not celebrate Easter because of its origins. Many believe that what we call Easter today was developed as Roman Catholicism co-opted pagan festivals celebrated in different regions in honor of various false gods and goddesses. The claims are laced with names of scholars who have made connections between the names of the festivals and goddesses, the timing of the celebration, and the symbols used.

To take these scholars at their word seems charitable, but I question the wisdom of such wholesale abandonment of a celebration that is at the very heart of the Christian community and faith. Three separate issues need to be identified and evaluated: the date of the celebration, the name of the celebration, and the symbols employed in the celebration. My goal is to examine each of these ideas separately so we might understand the issue more fully, repenting of what is erroneous and embracing what is true.    Continue at Roger Patterson

The Noah Movie Is Disgusting and Evil—Paganism!

Friends, last night I watched the Hollywood (Paramount) movie Noah. It is much, much worse than I thought it would be—much worse. The director of the movie, Darren Aronofsky, has been quoted in the media as saying that Noah is “the least biblical biblical film ever made,” and I agree wholeheartedly with him.

I am disgusted. I am going to come right out and say it: this movie is disgusting and evil—paganism! Do you really want your family to see a pagan movie that portrays Noah as a psychopath who says that if his daughter-in-law’s baby is a girl then he will kill her as soon as she’s born? And when two girls are born, bloodstained Noah (the man the Bible calls “righteous” in Genesis 7:1) brings a knife down to the head of one of the babies to kill her—and at the last minute doesn’t do it. And then a bit later, Noah says he failed because he didn’t kill the babies. How can we recommend this movie and then speak against abortion? Psychopathic Noah sees humans as a blight on the planet and wants to rid the world of people.

I feel dirty—as if I have to somehow wash the evil off myself. I cannot believe there are Christian leaders who have recommended that people see this movie.   Continue at Ken Ham

Yet Another Hollywood Deception to Promote the Noah Movie

Well, Paramount has done it again! The studio has produced a new trailer for Noah movie (to be released in theaters March 28) that I believe is really another Hollywood deception (like the previous video clip). It’s designed to make Christians think this Noah movie accurately portrays the account of Noah, the Ark, and the Flood in the Bible—which it certainly does not. (See my previous blog post on the film that was previewed by one of our staff members a few months ago.)

The new video trailer is described this way:

The video. . .features a short introduction from actress Emma Watson. In the movie, Watson’s character Ila is the adopted daughter of Academy Award winners Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly; Crowe stars in the title role and Connelly plays his wife Naameh.

The story of this movie is based on the famous biblical tale, “Noah’s Ark.” Director Darren Aronofsky worked on the screenplay with long-time collaborator Ari Handel. The movie will be released on March 28, 2014.    Continue at Answers in Genesis

Evolutionists Running Scared

The anti-creationist website Panda’s Thumb has an item about the upcoming debate between Bill Nye (the “Science Guy” of TV fame) and me. AiG released information about this February 4 debate yesterday on our website.

It didn’t take long before social media went nuts when Christians and non-Christians began to find out about this debate.

But there is a common thread through the social media posts from secularists others—they want Bill Nye to cancel. Why? Well read this post on the Panda’s Thumb website:

Bill Nye to debate Ken Ham?!

Let us hope not, but a reader just sent me the following from Mr. Ham’s Facebook page:

‘Well the big news for 2014 as we begin this new year is that in February, at the Creation Museum, I will be debating the well known Bill Nye The Science Guy! In the next day or so we will post more details including how you can buy tickets to this event. It’s quite rare these days for such a well known evolutionist to publicly debate a creationist–so we do expect a lot of media interest. For now, I just wanted to let you know about this–keep watch for details!’   Continue at Ken Ham

When Does Life Begin? What Do the Textbooks Say?

One of the major trends many of us have witnessed over the years has been the way God has basically been thrown out of the public education system, including secular colleges and universities. Students often have to contend with teaching that is contradictory to God’s Word—especially when it comes to the origin of the universe.

What about public education and the question of when human life starts? A biology textbook author recently wrote an article in which she discusses the variety of views secular biologists have on when human life begins. Dr. Ricki Lewis is one of the authors of McGraw-Hill’s biology textbook Life (as well as a number of other books) and is an adjunct professor of genetics at Albany Medical College.

Now, Dr. Lewis acknowledges that biology textbooks don’t usually take a strong stand on when human life begins:   Continue at Ken Ham

Warning All Churches

Over this year, there have been a number of news reports on another movement in the church advocating for the acceptance of homosexual behavior and same-sex relationships. Matthew Vines, an openly homosexual 23-year-old student at Harvard University, posted a video on YouTube of a speech he gave on homosexuality and the Bible. In the talk, he claims repeatedly that God’s Word does not condemn monogamous same-sex relationships.

Now, a recent report from the Christian Post highlighted the amount of compromise happening within the church on this issue. The headline of the article explains, “50 ‘Hand-Picked’ Christians Trained To Convince Churches To Re-Interpret Scripture’s Gay Boundaries.” Vines apparently hosted a training conference recently in his home state of Kansas for Christians who want to convince their churches to accept same-sex relationships.   Continue at Ken Ham

Where Was the Garden of Eden Located?

Most Bible commentaries state that the site of the Garden of Eden was in the Middle East, situated somewhere near where the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers are today. This is based on the description given in Genesis 2:8–14:

The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden. . . . Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. The name of the first is Pishon. . . . The name of the second river is Gihon. . . . The name of the third river is Hiddekel [Tigris]. . . . The fourth river is the Euphrates. 

Even the great theologian John Calvin struggled over the exact location of the Garden of Eden. In his commentary on Genesis he states:

Moses says that one river flowed to water the garden, which afterwards would divide itself into four heads. It is sufficiently agreed among all, that two of these heads are the Euphrates and the Tigris; for no one disputes that . . . (Hiddekel) is the Tigris. But there is a great controversy respecting the other two. Many think, that Pison and Gihon are the Ganges and the Nile; the error, however, of these men is abundantly refuted by the distance of the positions of these rivers. Persons are not wanting who fly across even to the Danube; as if indeed the habitation of one man stretched itself from the most remote part of Asia to the extremity of Europe. But since many other celebrated rivers flow by the region of which we are speaking, there is greater probability in the opinion of those who believe that two of these rivers are pointed out, although their names are now obsolete. Be this as it may, the difficulty is not yet solved. For Moses divides the one river which flowed by the garden into four heads. Yet it appears, that the fountains of the Euphrates and the Tigris were far distant from each other.    Continue at Ken Ham

Can Christians Promote Heresy?

Dear Ken Ham,

I got confused reading your latest blog post on Peter Enns (4/20/13). You claim that he promotes heresy, yet in your last paragraph you claim that you're not calling him a heretic. How do you promote heresy without being a heretic?

– T.K., Connecticut

Hello, T.K., and thank you for writing to Answers in Genesis. You raise an interesting question: Can a Christian sin and even sometimes spout heresy without being a heretic? It appears that Scripture answers this query in the affirmative.

Did not Paul condemn Peter (and Barnabas) of hypocrisy and teaching by example a works-based salvation, which was a form of heresy? Yet they obviously were not heretics but Christians—and Peter was appointed as an apostle.

Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, “If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews? We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not! For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.” (Galatians 2:11–18)    Continue at Ken Ham

“Found Out” by the Huffington Post!

Well, I have a confession to make to you. The large liberal news and commentary website Huffington Post, through its clever investigative efforts, has discovered something startling about me. Now, because HuffPost has made this matter public, I have no option: I have to make a public admission.

Under the headline “Dinosaurs Were On Noah’s Ark, According To Creation Museum’s New Radio Ad,” HuffPost dropped this bombshell:

No dinosaurs described in the Bible? No problem, according to creationism proponent Ken Ham, who recently argued that despite popular opinion, dinosaurs and Biblical characters did co-exist—in fact, they traveled together on Noah’s Ark.

Ham, the president/CEO and founder of Answers in Genesis-U.S. and the Creation Museum, made the unconventional claims during a new 60-second radio ad for the museum released this week.

Well, they found me out. I confess! Yes, I admit I believe dinosaurs and people lived at the same time. Furthermore, I do believe two of each kind of dinosaur (roughly at the family level of classification) were on board Noah’s Ark.   Continue at Ken Ham

Watch “The Great Delusion—The Spiritual State of the Nation” for Free

The Answers Mega Conference continues through Friday here in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. We have many speakers giving talks related to the decline of the culture and how you can be equipped to give answers to those who attack the authority of God’s Word.

My presentation on Monday evening titled “The Great Delusion” focused on the spiritual state of this nation. God’s Word is being attacked at its very foundation, and most Christians do not understand the problem or how to combat it. It is also my assertion that this culture is under judgment—under the wrath of God as described in Romans chapter 1. In many ways, I believe Romans 1 describes the state of the culture in America. How then should we view the leaders (including the president) that govern this nation? You may be surprised at the answer.

It is vital for everyone to understand the delusion—the great lie against God and His Word that has swept the nation and is sweeping the world. Yes, the news is depressing! God is judging America for its rebellion, its wickedness. But the good news is we can do something about this.   Continue at Ken Ham

The State of the Nation and the Genesis 3 Attack

On August 9–11, I will be returning to speak at the beautiful Billy Graham Training Center at “The Cove” in the North Carolina mountains.

 

I will give four presentations, plus hold a question-and-answer session, that will cover a variety of topics touching on the state of our nation. Using God’s Word, I will shed some light on what is really happening spiritually in America—and what we as Christians can do about it.

 

One of my verses for this special time at the Cove will be 2 Corinthians 11:3:

But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

As we look at the state of our nation today, we see godlessness and unbelief sweeping across the culture. “Gay” marriage and abortion are increasingly being accepted. Also, the atheists are growing in number and aggressiveness in this once very Christianized culture.

 

Something else is very sad in my adopted country of America. Statistics reveal that at least two-thirds of our young people are leaving the church by college age, and very few return. What is happening? What has caused this? What can we do about it?   Continue at Ken Ham

Teaching the Sanctity of Life at the Answers Mega Conference

The Answers Mega Conference is right around the corner—but it’s not too late to register your family to attend our major national conference for 2013. The Answers Mega Conference is July 22–26 in beautiful Sevierville, Tennessee (near Gatlinburg). Once again we’ll meet at the city’s excellent convention center.

This year, you’ll hear from some excellent speakers on the topic of life issues in our culture. Just this week, Steve Ham, our director of international outreach, gave a talk in our staff meeting on the sanctity of life and the image of God. His main point was that the value of human life is derived from the Word of God. In Genesis 1, the Lord God says that man is made in His image:  Continue at Ken Ham

Zip Around the Creation Museum

Yesterday was the grand opening of the impressive new zip line course at the Creation Museum—the biggest and best zip lines in the Midwest! The new zip line course includes 23 zip lines (eventually 27) and 10 sky bridges. We’re very excited about the evangelistic opportunities we’ll have at the Creation Museum as a result of the new zip line course, as it will certainly draw a broader range of people to the museum complex.

Recently I’ve been interviewed by several members of the media about the zip lines, resulting in some great coverage of the Creation Museum and our new adventure course. Cincinnati.com posted an article and a great video of the course. Another news organization, Channel 5 TV in Cincinnati, ran an article and posted a video not long ago announcing the zip line course. And our new course was featured in an article on the popular international website, The Christian Post.    Continue at Ken Ham

Do We Have the Definition of Marriage Wrong?

The biblical definition of marriage has faced an incredible amount of attack from secularists lately, with the push for the legalization of same-sex marriage. But in a recent article in an Iowa newspaper, three professors—two of religious studies and one of history—claimed that evangelical Christians have the definition of marriage wrong. The authors on this article were Robert Cargill, assistant professor of religious studies at University of Iowa; Kenneth Atkinson, associate professor of history at the University of Northern Iowa; and Hector Avalos, professor of religious studies at Iowa State University:

As academic biblical scholars, we wish to clarify that the biblical texts do not support the frequent claim that marriage between one man and one woman is the only type of marriage deemed acceptable by the Bible’s authors.

Now, there is not a single statement in Scripture affirming polygamy, homosexual behavior, bestiality, and so on. These academics cite a number of instances of polygamy in the Old Testament as evidence for their point. And while it’s true that God-fearing men such as Jacob or King David practiced polygamy, God didn’t affirm their behavior. In fact, polygamous lifestyles inevitably brought hardship and judgment on them. (For a more detailed explanation of the biblical view of polygamy, see “What About Polygamy in the Bible?” and “Contradictions: A Man of Many Wives” by Roger Patterson.)   Continue at Ken Ham

ACLU Needs Legislation to Protect Its Anti-God Religion

Wake up Christians! When the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is  successful in getting the Ten Commandments out of public places and the teaching of creation, the Bible, and prayer out of public schools, they did not get religion out.

They just replaced the Christian religion with their religion of atheism. They are involved in this effort again, this time in Ohio, as a Fox News report explains:

A proposal by an Ohio school district to add creationism to a list of controversial topics deemed appropriate for classroom discussion has ignited a debate over the separation of church and state among parents and a civil rights group.

The Springboro Board of Education took comments on the proposal at a meeting Thursday night attended by parents, students and teachers. Some parents urged the board to abandon the plan, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio sent a letter to the board, saying the policy would violate the separation of church and state. [Read more at this link.]

I get so tired of reading the same old misrepresentations and false information from the ACLU and secular media (even from Fox News, which is less hostile towards Christianity) when it comes to the creation-evolution issue in public schools.    Continue at Ken Ham

Atheists Secretly Attend Answers for Women Conference

Earlier this month, our second annual Answers for Women conference was held at the Creation Museum in Legacy Hall—and we were thrilled to see that attendance had doubled from last year! Many women expressed how much they enjoyed and were blessed by the conference.

But after the conference, an “interesting” blog post appeared on a well-trafficked atheist blog. Two women, both atheists, had attended the conference in an “undercover” manner—with an obvious agenda. Now, at the beginning of their commentary, these women expressed that they were “jumpy” and afraid when they arrived at the Creation Museum. Why? What exactly were they afraid of? I’ll get to that in a moment.

First, part of the ministry of the Creation Museum is to share the gospel with unbelievers, in the hope that they will repent and believe. So we encourage atheists to visit. These two women had no reason to be afraid and to keep it a secret that they are atheists. We  welcome atheists to the conference, assuming they would plan to act appropriately throughout the conference. So it was actually quite humorous to read what these two women wrote about how scared they were—they portrayed their visit almost as if they were undercover agents in a communist country hoping they wouldn’t be discovered for fear of some horrible reprisal.  It was just ridiculous stuff to read.    Continue at Ken Ham

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Churches That Boldly Stand on God’s Word

I often document examples of the rampant compromise taught by many church leaders and academics, which is rife in the church in general. For example, see my blog post from yesterday for an example of shocking compromise in the Christian Reformed denomination that undermines God’s Word.

At the same time, it’s also important to know that God still has a remnant—a powerful, faithful remnant in this nation. There are many godly families and pastors who stand boldly on the authority of the Word of God. Let me just give you an example of two.

I speak at many AiG conferences held in churches across this nation. Recently we held AiG conferences in Blackshear Place Baptist Church in Flowery Branch, Georgia, and also First Baptist Church of Naples, Florida. The senior pastors of these churches wrote to us after the AiG conferences with these words:

Our recent “Answers in Genesis” conference, led by Ken Ham and his team, was one of the best attended and most enthusiastically received seminars in my 21 years here. First Baptist Church of Naples, Florida will not be the same, with many gaining a new trust in the authority of the Word, a stronger belief in the creativity of our universe, and a fresh passion for the glory of God. The use of multi-media, the speakers’ lively sense of humor, and incorporation of up-to-date data allowed Mr. Ham to captivate all ages for an extensive period of time. The resources of Answers in Genesis are practical and very popular with our folks. In Christ – Dr. Hayes Wicker.

Here is another from a church where I first spoke in 1997:    Continue at Ken Ham

Warning! Rampant Compromise - But Isn't it Really Heresy?

“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away disciples after them.” (Acts 20:28–30)

The article I link to below is an extension of what has been going on at Calvin College in Michigan. In previous blog posts and articles I have quoted professors from Calvin College who no longer believe in a literal Adam and literal Eve—or a literal Fall. Calvin professors have been teaching evolution as fact for years. Now, why would any Christian parent spend thousands of dollars to send their kids to a college that attacks and undermines the authority of God’s Word? Calvin College, by the way, is a college of the Christian Reformed Church of North America.

The Banner is the magazine of the Christian Reformed Church and is also located in Grand Rapids. The article I link to below references a 1991 Agenda for Synod document by the Committee on Creation and Science. This was a response to Howard Van Till’s The Fourth Day (1986) and the teachings of Clarence Mennigna and Davis Young, which kicked open the door all the way (partly opened by others) to accepting theistic evolution in the CRC denomination. (Van Till, Mennigna, and Davis were professors at Calvin College.)    Continue at Ken Ham