A tale of two museums!

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Grace Watson
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1 A monthly newsletter equipping Christians to uphold the authority of the Bible from the very first verse Current headquarters MAY 2001 VOLUME 8 ISSUE 5 A tale of two museums! By AiG lecturer Geoff Stevens In the first museum are three floors of artifacts, including a lampshade made of human skin, and a room filled with the shoes of 4000 gas chamber victims. And then there are the nose calipers, eye color charts, and hair samples, some of the tools Hitler used to determine who would survive i.e. who was genetically fit or unfit to live? As many exit this museum, they are stunned into silence at what they have just seen, unable to believe humans capable of such things. Two blocks down the street, among all the other museums and monuments celebrating America s heritage, stands another museum; this one is purely scientific. Filled with dead artifacts, the Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. is a tribute to the savior and sustainer of life: the natural mechanism of Darwin called survival of the fittest. As students gawk at all these dead things, they see, first hand, the evidence for survival of the fittest. As they exit, they believe that cruelty and violence in nature Creation Museum gifts Figure includes cash in hand, faith-promise gifts, and expenditures paid (e.g. architect s fees) Over 600 AiG supporters saw a new Stegosaurus model unveiled during museum groundbreaking! (See p.5)

2 Page 2 is what our natural history is all about. For the last 200 years, western civilization has been educated at a type of museum of natural history. We have been taught throughout society (public schools, TV programs, magazines, etc.) that death, dying, disease, pain, struggling, suffering, and extinction have always been here and always will be here. These supposed mechanisms, it is said, keep the human race from becoming extinct. Hitler actually believed what he had learned in his own culture s museums of natural history. The Nazi leader was, in his own mind,trying to do good in order to help out the human race. For example, Hitler s T4 program of lethal injections removed harmful mutations from the human gene pool. And Hitler saw that 70,000 mentally and physically handicapped (many of them children) were a genetic drain on life. In the natural world they would not survive Mother Nature would soon discover them and remove their negative effects from the gene pool. He was horrified that if well-intentioned people interfered, the weak would live artificially, and breed with those of good genetic stock and thus pollute the entire gene pool. Arguments about Hitler s possible demonic possession fail to get the worldview of evolution off the hook. Many thousands of henchmen were involved in the mass exterminations. Millions of ordinary Germans had been seduced by evolution-based propaganda films into accepting the elimination of the mentally handicapped and incurably ill as normal. The pre-war Nazi racial hygiene programs, the precursors to the Holocaust, were praised by many leading American scientists as scientifically enlightened. As philosopher and Hitler survivor Viktor Frankl put it: The gas chambers of Auschwitz were the ultimate consequence of the theory that man is nothing but the product of heredity and environment or, as the Nazis liked to say, of blood and soil. I am absolutely convinced that the gas chambers of Auschwitz, Treblinka, and Maidanek were ultimately prepared not in some ministry or other in Berlin, but rather at the desks and in lecture halls of nihilistic scientists and philosophers. 1 Who were these nihilistic philosophers? The philosopher who had the greatest influence on Hitler was Nietzsche. In his parable, Thus Spake Zarathustra, he claimed that God is dead and that humankind was an evolutionary intermediate between beast and a superman: Man is a rope, stretched between the animal and the Superman a

3 Page 3 rope over an abyss Ye have made your way from the worm to man, and much within you is still worm. Once were ye apes, and even yet man is more of an ape than any of the apes 2 Today, many medical doctors trained at their museums are in a sense more hypocritical, at least inconsistent, than Hitler. On one hand, most say survival of the fittest got us here, and on the other, instead of killing off those who are weak or sickly, they actually help them keeping them alive to reproduce with all sorts of diseases and deficiencies, thus hindering humanity s evolution. The two museums above are really one and the same. The natural history museum teaches theory, and the other the Holocaust museum documents how it was practiced. Yet how many busloads of students on field trips to these museums of natural history will it take before we 1. Viktor Frankl The Doctor and the Soul: Introduction to Logotherapy (New York: Knopf, 1982), xxi. 2 Thomas Common, translator The Philosophy of Nietzche, (New York: Random House, n.d.)28-29 have a generation of little Hitlers? You see, worldview (i.e. man s view of his place in the world) directs lifestyle. Nazi Germany succeeded for a time because the church had lost its ability to stem the tide of immoral, anti-biblical thinking. Luther had once instructed Germany with Sola Scriptura (the Bible alone), but by Hitler s time, the culture had lost its saltiness. Is the church in America going to help let history repeat itself by compromising the Bible? We are already seeing a more hidden from view version of the Holocaust the increasing slaughter of millions of innocent babies. Though no one knows exactly what other logical outcomes of an evolutionized, humanized worldview are around the corner, we can already discern glimpses through such things as school shootings, euthanasia lobbies, and the like. One powerful way to help confront the humanistic worldview that demeans life and hides its real purpose is the building of AiG s

4 Page 4 Creation Museum near Cincinnati, where the true history of the world will be presented. Won t it be exciting to see busloads of students exiting our museum having learned true history, from the Bible, including the fact that sin is the real cause of death, pain, Due to popular request (800 people turned out last year!), AiG books, tapes, and other Bible-upholding resources will be discounted for a one-day-only sale in its warehouse on Saturday, June 2 (9 am-3 pm, ET). You ll save at least 10% on all purchases (except Creation magazine and discounted packs), and, of course, you ll save on shipping costs! Some clearance items will be offered for up to 50% off! Ken Ham will sign his books and meet AiG supporters from 10 am until noon. While at the resource warehouse, make sure that you and your family spend a few moments in the warehouse next door and take a sneak preview of some of our potential museum exhibits including 20 dinosaur and suffering? Sin and death are the starting points of the Gospel message. Maybe then these young people will be less inclined to shoot each other, and be more ready to hear about Jesus Christ, The Great Physician, who came to heal the sick, the weak, and the needy! June 2 AiG open house and book sale! models that are awaiting placement in our Creation Museum. Also, take a tour of AiG s nearby headquarters to see our 500-gallon aquarium and Noah s Ark model. Directions: Take I-75 to the Cincinnati/N. Kentucky area and get off at exit 180 in Kentucky (12 miles south of downtown Cincinnati). This exit is also known as Hwy. 42. Head east on Hwy. 42 for 1 4 mile to Industrial Rd (there is a Rally s fast-food restaurant on the corner). Take a right on Industrial and go exactly 2 miles; after going under the railroad bridge, take a left at the first driveway to the HQ building (7080 Industrial Rd.). For information, call (859) , ext Last year s open house/book sale attracted over 800 visitors who took advantage of special discounts, watched videos, and toured our current facilities. We ll do it again June 2!

5 Huge turnout for museum ceremony despite horrible weather A groundbreaking event in the fight for Biblical authority! Freezing rain and a cold wind did not daunt the more than 600 Answers in Genesis supporters who traveled from several states to participate in the March 17 groundbreaking ceremony for AiG s future Creation Museum in the greater Cincinnati, Ohio area. The 260 cars parked in the muddy 47-acre site displayed license plates from several states, including Alabama, Virginia, Florida, Maryland, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, and Tennessee. An AiG supporter informed us that he drove all the way from Arkansas (more than a 600-mile journey), and a couple from Florida drove 14 hours just to be a part of this historic event in the ongoing battle for the accuracy of the Bible. Ken Ham, AiG Executive Director, told the wet, shivering, but enthusiastic crowd that it was his prayer that (l-r) Ken Ham, Mike Zovath, Ted Schulz, Mark Looy, and board members Carl Kerby and John Pence Page 5 the Creation Museum will be used by God to help bring America back to the authority of the Bible, and that it will also be an international outreach through the medium of the Internet, where a virtual tour of the museum will eventually be offered to Web visitors around the world (AiG s highly popular site has about 13,000 visitors a day). Mr Ham said that he does not know when the first phase of the museum will be open as it is dependent on donations. He added that he believes that thousands of Biblebelievers around America and even overseas will get behind the mortgage-free project so that the building can be occupied by late A $1 million donation from an Ohio family came in earlier this year. At the groundbreaking ceremony, AiG also unveiled its newest dinosaur model sculpted by Buddy Davis: a magnificent 17-feet long, 10-feet high Stegosaurus (see p.1). It will join the 70 other first-class models that Buddy has exquisitely sculpted for the walk-through-history museum. Executive Director Ken Ham was interviewed by the media before the groundbreaking ceremony.

6 Page 6 Since we released our new video set, Answers with Ken Ham, this 12-part series answering twelve of the most-asked questions on Genesis (see p. 9 for titles) has been obtained by hundreds of churches and families. But how has this well-produced, well-illustrated series been received? Here is how churches in Tennessee have caught video fever : Dear Ken, It was a great pleasure meeting you on March 18 th in Marietta, Georgia. The following is how the AiG seminar has affected our congregation. The church I go to is a small, rural church in Rockwood, Tennessee. Last Wednesday night our pastor told us that he had (your) series about Genesis on video tape. He said that if anybody was interested (after viewing the first video), he would continue the series on Wednesday nights. Not only did we become interested, but our congregation could not wait for the This new Bible-upholding video & DVD set is being distributed widely! Caught on video! next in the series! Even our older members, who may have not have had much of a formal education, were absolutely enthralled. The tapes are constantly being checked out of the church library. One of our young people has been taking the video series to an after-hours study at the local high school, where students, on their own time, are learning the truth about creation. I then showed the tapes to my father, who was a deacon at another local church. He became enthused, showed them to his pastor, and now they want a set. My cousin saw the tapes, and now their church is interested. Whether you know it or not, this ministry is spreading. It s informative. It s entertaining. And, most of all, it is the truth of God s power. B.G., Lenoir City, TN Editor s note: For more information on this exciting new video and DVD series by Ken Ham, look for the ordering information on p. 9. Dear AiG: As a former atheist and believer in evolution (enforced by the university experience of a physics education), it is amazing to look back at what I was willing to swallow as long as it denied the existence of God. Thank you for the information you have made available to Christians (and everyone for that matter). I love reading your articles and [sharing] them with my family and friends. May the Lord bless your mission. S.S. (by )

Oh what an (un)tangled Web! One of the reasons AiG sees about 13,000 people visiting its Web site www.answersingenesis.org each day is its ease of navigation.

7 Oh what an (un)tangled Web! One of the reasons AiG sees about 13,000 people visiting its Web site each day is its ease of navigation. You shouldn t get tangled up in dead ends and/or get lost in the site (as often happens on some sites). It has also become popular because it is constantly updated (usually three new items are posted each day). Are you aware that we now offer occasional live Web casts where, right on your computer, you can hear AiG s staff and guests discuss various topics related to creation/ evolution and Biblical authority? It s called AnswersLIVE. On May 17 at 9:00 p.m. eastern time, we will present another live Web cast originating from our studios in the greater Cincinnati area. Ken Ham and renowned archaeologist Dr Bryant Wood will field questions from around the world (by ) on the topic of Jericho, Sodom and Gomorrah, or a subject of your choosing. Previous AnswersLIVE Web casts on topics such as starlight and time, plate tectonics, etc. have been listened to by literally thousands of people (including after the Web cast each program is recorded and is available for listening to at a later time). When you go to our home page on May 17, click on the Answers Media button to gain access to the Page hour live program. You will need the RealPlayer feature, which you can download free of charge through our Web site. If you can t listen on May 17, you will find the Web cast archived on the Answers Media section of the Web. Invite your friends to listen in as well on May 17, especially if they have questions about the accuracy and authority of the Bible! I just recently found out about your Web site, and I love it! Many questions that skeptics confront me with, I now have convincing answers (for). I will tell my friends about your ministry and site. J.K. Creation in-depth! Essential for the avid student of the creation versus evolution controversy! Subscribe to the TJ (Technical Journal) by calling (3 issues, $37 year).

8 Artist rendering by Dan Tullius Page 8 Stewardship and Trust Services Mysteries of God! I Corinthians 4:1 states, Let a man so account of (or regard ) us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. We do have obligations, and will be judged accordingly. But think about it: stewards of the mysteries of God. That s something to get excited about! And that s something to be excited about. No burden, but an opportunity! Is creation a mystery of God? Well yes. For many, how we get here and why definitely is a mystery. But, we have answers, and we are stewards of those answers. Each day, may we have a conscious awareness that we are stewards of the mysteries of God and may we manage our finances accordingly. Direct any questions about deferred giving strategies to Paul Laude, CFP at (859) , ext Please pray Prayer points that God will lead AiG to construction-related businesses in the region (and across America) to help build the Creation Museum for much less than $14 million in cash. that God will bless the creation evangelism efforts going on in South Africa ( South Africa is going through a very difficult time, and the creation evangelism message is really needed for true reconciliation in our country, reports Dr Johan Kruger, an AiG friend). I am an ex-agnostic Darwinist who was lead to Christ through (creation ministry). It is obvious to me now that a resistance to the truth is required to maintain a belief in progressive billion-year evolution. Keep up the great work. Help us finish the puzzle! (Each puzzle piece represents $250,000 raised) M.M., by Over $4 million in donations of cash and services have come in for the mortgage-free Creation Museum! $10 million more is needed.

9 Didyaknow? Did you know that the Bible teaches us that thorns came after the curse, and that there is an important lesson for us to learn about this? Many Christians believe that the fossil record is millions of years old, and so they have to accept that the curse had nothing to do with thorns and thistles. You see, there are many examples of fossil thorns in the fossil record that are supposed to be millions of years old. Thus, these thorns were allegedly in existence millions of years before the first man existed. But look at Genesis chapter 3 verses 17 & 18, where God said to Adam: Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. If God s Word is true, then thorns could not have existed before Adam sinned. What this means is that Christians who believe God s infallible Word can t believe in man s fallible word of millions of years! Taken from the May 22, 2001 broadcast of the Answers with Ken Ham radio program.

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