At a secular radio station in Florida earlier this year,

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1 A monthly newsletter equipping Christians to uphold the authority of the Bible from the very first verse Current headquarters CREATION MUSEUM GIFTS *Figure does not include pledges and gifts in kind. Museum Update p. 4 MAY 2002 A devilish ploy! continued next page VOLUME 9 ISSUE 5 At a secular radio station in Florida earlier this year, the talk show host informed me that his favorite atheist was on the phone waiting to confront me about my belief in creation. As I spoke to the professed atheist on the air, he told me that evolution was an accepted scientific fact. I then replied with a question: Could you tell us the best evidence you know of that makes it obvious that evolution is true? The man replied, The fossil record. OK, I said, but what in the fossil record? He then stated, The fossils. OK, I replied, What in the fossils convinces you evolution is true? And so on. We really didn t get much beyond this point. The incident reminded me of many similar conversations I ve had. For instance, after I gave a lecture at a university in Spain, a student stood up and said (through the translator): But you re wrong everyone knows the Earth is billions of years old. How do you know that? I asked. The dating methods, he replied. Which specific dating methods are you referring to? He said, I don t know, but they re in our textbooks! Time and time again I ve found that the majority of non-christians who argue with me about evolution and/or the age of the Earth by Ken Ham, AiG President

2 Page 2 continued from page 1 can t defend their position. Most of them believe evolution and billions of years because they read it somewhere, saw it on TV or remembered something from their schooling. It must be true. I ve also found a similar situation in the Christian world. On a talk show on Christian radio, a caller told me that while he agreed that evolution wasn t true, he did not believe the days of Genesis 1 were ordinary days. I asked him, Why don t you believe the days of Creation are ordinary days? He replied, Because the word for day in Genesis 1 doesn t mean an ordinary day. Why doesn t it? I asked. He answered, Because the word day can mean something other than an ordinary day. I said, That s true, but the word day can also mean an ordinary day in fact, the majority of times it is used it means an ordinary day. I then asked him this important question: It is true that the word day can mean something other than an ordinary day however, can you tell me in what context the word day in Hebrew does mean an ordinary day? In other words, when does the word day mean an ordinary day? There was silence he couldn t answer the question. He allegedly knew the word day in Genesis 1 didn t mean an ordinary day, but he couldn t tell me when the word day did mean an ordinary day. Evidently, he had heard or read somewhere that the days in Genesis 1 weren t ordinary days but he had no idea or understanding of the context and how one determines what Old Testament Hebrew words mean. He had just accepted something on the basis of authority from a fallible human. I find the majority of people who disagree with AiG s position on Genesis argue in a similar way to the above examples. Actually, this situation is very typical, having its origins back in the Garden of Eden! Let me explain. May 2002 Volume 9 Issue 5 The Answers Update is published monthly at no charge by Answers in Genesis, a non-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) evangelistic organization. President: Ken Ham Editors: Mark Looy; Mike Matthews Production: Dan Zordel; Diane King Internet: WHO ARE WE? AiG equips the church to uphold the authority and accuracy of the Bible from the very first verse, thereby enabling it to more effectively present the Gospel in our increasingly secular, evolutionary society. PO Box 6330 Florence, KY Industrial Rd Florence, KY Phone... (859) Fax... (859) Donations & Book orders only... (800) Museum info. line...(859) x360

3 Page 3 In Genesis 3 we read that the Devil said to Eve regarding God s instruction not to eat the fruit, You shall not surely die (verse 4). There is no indication that Eve or Adam examined this statement. They didn t ask for substantiation they didn t check it out. They just accepted it on the basis of the Devil s authority. Satan told them authoritatively that they wouldn t die, and they just accepted it. Sadly, the Devil s ploy is rife through the world today. So many in the secular world as well as in the church have accepted billions of years or evolutionary ideas on the basis of a fallible authority man s authority. There is, however, One whose Word we can accept on the basis of authority. Because the God of the Bible created us, He owns us, and has thus established that He is the only absolute authority. And when you do apply true science in this situation, you ll find over and over again it confirms that the Bible is what it claims to be the authoritative Word of God. Don t succumb to the Devil s ploy of accepting a fallible authority and thus not being able to defend what you believe. I ve personally experienced that accepting God s authoritative Word and being properly equipped to defend the Christian faith will result in many being challenged to consider God s Word and listen to the Gospel. Ken Ham I m thrilled that my church can send you this donation. I feel so strongly about your work and I m grateful for it. I don t quite understand why it is that so many Christians don t see it s important and relevant and crucial. Pastor B.T., New Jersey

Page 4 Museum building update By the time you receive this Answers Update, AiG hopes to have been granted site plan approval for its Creation Museum near Cincinnati.

4 Page 4 Museum building update By the time you receive this Answers Update, AiG hopes to have been granted site plan approval for its Creation Museum near Cincinnati. Lord willing, the building permit will follow soon after. The waiting is almost over! Now that the weather has warmed up, we have already begun to work again on the museum property along I-275 in Northern Kentucky and west of the Cincinnati Airport. For example, AiG has contracted for the storm-water detention system installation, which launched Phase 2 of the building project. Also, AiG was given a variance that allows us to install the underground utilities even before the site plan approval is given. Thus the delays in obtaining site-plan approval have definitely not stopped the work! Furthermore, as we reported last month in a special museum mailing, much design work for the future museum exhibits has already been completed. We hope to lay the foundation for the complex early in the summer, and then erect the steel for the building (perhaps by September). Getting the building in the dry Museum exhibit design continues! In this model of the museum s interior, two sauropod models are seen! Artist rendering by Dan Tullius (i.e. the shell of the 95,000-square-foot facility completed) will mark the end of Phase 2, which we hope will be finished by Christmas! Please continue to lift up this Godsized project in prayer. Pray that the permits will be granted in time to keep the project on schedule. Also, please pray that donations for this mortgage-free project will keep pace with the construction timetable. To get the most up-to-date information, visit Help us finish the puzzle for Phase 2! (Each puzzle piece represents almost $200,000.) Phase 2 of Museum/Headquarters project $3.865 million Phase 1 DONE! Land purchase, building design/ development, site preparation Phase 2 Building shell in the dry, indoor/outdoor exhibit design in progress ($3.865 million) Phase 3 Interior and exhibit construction Phase 4 Exhibit construction continues, landscaping, parking, wastewater treatment plant, furniture

5 Ken Ham creates uproar in England! Ken Ham, president of AiG, created quite a stir on his recent trip to Great Britain, an uproar that reached all the way to the prime minister! If you recall Ken s letter mailed to you earlier this month, the media frenzy was sparked by his stop at Emmanuel College in northeast England. The college (actually a secondary school) had rented out its auditorium for a creationism conference on 9 March, though the school did not sponsor the meeting. Many in the British media were outraged when they learned that the head of the school is an ardent Bible-believer and that some of his teachers teach creation alongside evolution. Richard Dawkins, vice president of the British Humanist Association, opened the attack with a bitter editorial in the Guardian. His tirade likened creationists to Holocaust deniers who want to infiltrate the staff of an otherwise reputable school, and energetically promote their inanities to a susceptible generation. Soon scathing reports appeared on radio, on TV and in several national papers, including London Times, The Ken Ham has spoken frequently in Darwin s homeland. Page 5 Guardian, Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Sun. Why the row, as the British would call it? Emmanuel College is a faith school, supported by a mix of private and government funds. Evolutionists were incensed at the idea of creationism being taught at taxpayer s expense. As the seething hatred of creation percolated through the nation, it reached the halls of Parliament. A member of Parliament actually challenged Prime Minister Tony Blair about his views on the matter. To the media s horror, he actually defended the school, noting that it was achieving good results, and he praised diversity as a good thing. Well, this stirred things up even more. A Times reporter harrumphed, If Tony Blair was a creationist then the right response was clear: he should have said so, and resigned at once. It s exciting to see how God s enemies are bringing national attention free of charge to AiG s efforts to defend the authority of God s Word, and to call the languishing church in Britain back to its roots in Genesis!

6 Page 6 Dr Laura supports evolution? Talk-show host Dr Laura Schlessinger, an Orthodox Jew known for her conservative views on morality, expressed support for evolution on two recent broadcasts. Dr Laura indicated that evolution was God s wonderful way of creating. So an AiG-US staff member sent her a private letter asking, Why would the all-powerful Creator of the universe use such a cruel and wasteful process to bring about the higher forms of life? Apparently, Dr Schlessinger s academic background in behavioral and natural sciences has led her to embrace evolution. It demonstrates that acceptance of the moral teachings of the Old Testament does not necessarily prompt a belief in its history. AiG sent Dr Laura a copy of the book Not By Chance by anti-evolutionist Dr Lee Spetner, an Orthodox Jew (see p. 9). We sincerely hope that she develops a new attitude (to borrow her famous phrase) towards the full authority of the Bible. Editor s note: If you would like to write a respectful letter to Dr. Laura, send a fax to (818) or write to Dr Laura Schlessinger, PO Box 8120, Van Nuys, CA Greeks on the Web! Born and raised in Athens, George Karayannopoulos was steeped in a secular, evolution-based education. Through creationist literature, George says in his testimony, the Lord showed me the truth about origins and helped me trust Him and His Word in its entirety. George s new knowledge instilled a desire to see Christ proclaimed as both Creator and Savior. Using his Internet skills, George has been helping put together AiG s Greeklanguage Web site. In late January 2002, his dream became live! (See Like the Apostle Paul, who preached on Mars Hill in Greece 2,000 years ago, AiG is preaching today the Creator God and His plan of salvation in the agora of the 21 st century the Internet! says George. More on the Web! Read more about George at AnswersInGenesis.org/ Greekwebsite Dear AiG, I pray every morning for the AiG staff and the museum construction, including during the 27 days I was in the hospital. I was so blessed and inspired by reading Ken s informational letter on the great outpouring of [interest in] AiG literature in other languages. G.L., Carlisle, PA

Eyes of the science world turn to Ohio A host of international media has taken a keen interest in a growing controversy in Ohio s public school system, pitting evolutionists against advocates of

7 Eyes of the science world turn to Ohio A host of international media has taken a keen interest in a growing controversy in Ohio s public school system, pitting evolutionists against advocates of intelligent design. The Ohio State Board of Education is considering whether to become the first state to include intelligent design (ID) in its science standards. ID is the belief that the irreducible complexity of certain biological features, such as the human eye, is evidence for a designer and against blind naturalistic processes. Along with their favorite old canards, the evolutionists have introduced some new arguments in the Ohio debate, even calling their opponents liars and scoffing at their credentials as scientists. AiG views this whole debate about teaching origins in the public schools as a sad testimony to the decline of Christian influence in America. Bible-believing teachers once had the freedom to speak openly about the history, geology and biology proclaimed in Genesis. Who would have dreamed that simply raising questions today about the validity of evolution would generate such controversy? While AiG supports ID s efforts to promote academic freedom and question evolution, one of the weak Page 7 points of the ID approach is its deliberate failure to align itself with Biblical history. Without acknowledging the impact of the Fall, ID leaves itself open to gibes about a clumsy Designer. While the proponents of ID try to leave theological issues out of the debate, their opponents will not. A problem arose in the days prior to Charles Darwin, when the Deists rejected Biblical history and talked of a designing God. They persuaded people to leave the Bible out of it and presented watchmaker arguments for design. As a result, many people began to ask themselves, What sort of God would design a world with death and suffering? For more information, go to I am the Keeper of Collections Management at [museum name withheld] in England. I just wanted to encourage you about the new museum you plan. As a Christian, I am pleased that a project of this size and nature is underway. It will come to pass because God provides good gifts, and I am sure that this project will bear much fruit. It is so rare to see anything Godfocused in my profession. Identity withheld, England

and/or TJ. We need to influence our alma maters one college at a time, says a AiG supporter who is a concerned graduate who recently contacted the library director at his old school.

8 Page 8 Creation evangelism in action! Creation at your local library or alma mater! Looking for a unique opportunity to get out the Gospel? Over the past few years, hundreds of AiG supporters have been contacting their local public libraries and their alma maters, offering free AiG books and free subscriptions to AiG s Creation magazine and/or TJ. We need to influence our alma maters one college at a time, says a AiG supporter who is a concerned graduate who recently contacted the library director at his old school. It s an easy sell, especially because of the current emphasis on fairness, Suggested form letter equal access and academic freedom in schools. Creation vs evolution s a hot topic on campuses right now many students have an nsatiable curiosy about opposing guments! Dear [name of the library director], I have enclosed a sample issue of Creation magazine and the TJ (a technical journal of science), two professional publications that have been produced for over two decades. The organization that produces these magazines has a large staff of respected scientists who offer an alternative viewpoint on modern debates about origins science. This is a growing national debate, with students and other citizens lining up on both sides of the issue. I believe that patrons of the library would appreciate a high-quality resource that allows them to examine alternative viewpoints. Would it be possible for me to donate a subscription to XXX Library, with these magazines displayed in the same place as other science magazines? I will renew the subscriptions each year, as long as I am able. Please write, or call me at XXX-XXXX, if you have any questions or if you would be willing to accept my offer. Sincerely, SIGNIFICANT DISCOUNTS FOR SUBS GIVEN TO LIBRARIES! $18 for Creation! $32 for TJ! Consider offering a subscription to your local Christian school! Call (800) for details.

9 Didyaknow? Did you know that natural selection is actually an enemy of evolution? Sadly, most students are taught that natural selection is a friend of evolution. When I was in England recently, I was amazed at how many times evolutionists brought up natural selection as the best evidence for evolution. Somehow evolutionists think that creationists don t accept natural selection. During media interviews, British reporters were shocked when I said I believe in natural selection. After all, every one of us can see populations constantly changing. As environments change, the most-suited creatures survive. This has nothing to do with evolution, however. In fact, natural selection is really the enemy of evolution. Every biologist knows that natural selection only works with information already in the genes. Natural selection the death of living things leads to a loss of information, the opposite of what s needed for evolution! God gave living things all their genetic information in the first days of Creation. Scientists have never observed brand-new information appearing in genes, but they do see lots of information being lost. If you accept the Bible as authoritative, it s easy to understand natural selection. Excerpted from the 21 May 2002 edition of the Answers with Ken Ham radio program, now on 540 stations worldwide! The envelopes, please! Page 9 Several Answers Update readers have engaged in a very thoughtful and resource-saving activity! After a few months of collecting their unused AiG reply envelopes, they send them back to us to be reused. Some people who live near our Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati offices have actually dropped by our headquarters to hand-deliver the envelopes! We thank the many dozens of people who have been doing this. You can be a part of helping us be good stewards of the Lord s resources by mailing your unused AiG reply envelopes to Laura Verderame, AiG, PO Box 6330, Florence, KY Laura Verderame holds up envelopes returned from a thoughtful supporter in Joplin, MO Thank you for sending your wonderful newsletters. Many times I have been able to use the information to share the Truth with someone. God bless you. D.G., Nampa, ID

10 Page 10 Planned giving assistance Life insurance: a gift that works! A gift of life insurance to a nonprofit ministry can be an attractive option because it enables you to provide a death benefit to the ministry that is larger than any gift you might otherwise be able to make during your lifetime. Depending on the regulations in your state, there are generally two ways you can make an outright gift of life insurance to AiG: 1) You can transfer ownership of an Prayer points Please pray that our sister AiG ministry in England will be effective in following up the incredible publicity created in March when Ken Ham spoke in England and Scotland, which even prompted a response by British Prime Minister Tony Blair (see p. 15). existing policy to the ministry, or 2) You can give the ministry cash to purchase a new policy; by making the ministry both the owner and beneficiary of the policy, you will also be entitled to a charitable deduction. For information on this or other planned giving opportunities, please call John Pence at (800) , ext that God will encourage His people to give to the mortgagefree Creation Museum project (see p. 4). that our Answers with Ken Ham radio program will be a blessing to listeners on the several dozen new stations that have been added to the Answers network in the past few months.

Whose word do you tremble at?

Whose word do you tremble at? A monthly newsletter equipping Christians to uphold the authority of the Bible from the very first verse Current headquarters CREATION MUSEUM GIFTS Figure includes cash in hand, faith-promise gifts, and