Taking back theology!

by Dr. Terry Mortenson, AiG–USA speaker, researcher and writer

July 18, 2006

This year’s theme for AiG–USA has been “We’re taking them back.” We are attempting to take back dinosaurs, DNA, distant starlight, disease, different skin colors, languages and dripping stalactites by showing that these things make much better sense when viewed through a biblical worldview rooted in the literal history of Genesis 1–11.

Besides taking back the scientific disciplines of astronomy, biology, geology, archaeology, paleontology, anthropology, etc. which have been captured by the godless evolutionary worldview, we also need to take back theology.

Most of the Christian seminaries and Bible colleges around the world have compromised with the idea of millions of years of earth history (if not also with Darwin’s theory of evolution). And this has been going on for almost 200 years, ever since the church bowed the knee to the claims of atheistic and deistic geologists in the early 19^th century, which is the theme of my book The Great Turning Point.

Earlier this year I spent several days speaking at an ostensibly “evangelical” Christian university. Even though the school’s doctrinal statement declares the Bible to be the inspired, inerrant Word of God, it was so sad to hear that most of its professors favor theistic evolution and many believe that Genesis 1–11 is mythology.

In April I had the privilege of presenting two lectures in England on the history of the church’s compromise with millions of years, as a part of a historic international conference sponsored by AiG–UK. Almost 400 people from about 15 countries attended. While there, two Dutchmen talked to me about coming to speak in their country, especially to lecture in theological colleges.

While in the UK, I met a man who had attended a famous Bible college in London, founded in the 19^th century by some very godly, Bible-believing men. Sadly, the man said that most of the professors there now do not believe Genesis is history and even question the historicity of the book of Exodus.

One of the ways AiG is trying to help take back theology is by having a book booth in the exhibition hall at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS). In addition, for the past five years I have been organizing a small gathering of young-earth creationist ETS members for the purpose of encouragement and prayerful strategizing about how we can influence other ETS members, the vast majority of whom are compromised with millions of years and don’t think the age of the earth even matters. Most of them fail to see the problem of death before the fall and the problem of the character of God.

This concerns me so much that I have been recently talking to Tom Vail of Canyon Ministries (and editor of Grand Canyon: A Different View) to discuss ways to get old-earth seminary professors to join Tom on a rafting trip to the Grand Canyon to see the powerful evidence in the Canyon that confirms the biblical account of Noah’s Flood and a recent creation.

Not only do we need to take back compromised colleges/seminaries, we also need to encourage schools that do believe Genesis to give more teaching on the creation-evolution controversy. Many schools are doing little to nothing to equip their students to teach and defend the truth of Genesis 1–11 in this evolutionized culture. We need more schools like Master’s College in California and Liberty University in Virginia that have a whole course (required by every student to graduate) devoted to grounding students in the biblical and scientific arguments that defend the literal truth of Genesis.

In that regard, creationist students and parents should encourage such schools to use AiG’s The Answers Academy as a resource in the classroom, especially if professors don’t feel qualified to deal with the science side of the debate.

Please pray for us as we seek to do what we can to help call our seminaries and Bible colleges back to the truth of Genesis, so that instead of undermining people’s faith in Genesis (as Princeton Theological Seminary did in the life of Charles Templeton) they will be training the next generation of pastors, missionaries and other Christians leaders to believe Genesis from the very first verse.

Recommended resources

Answers Academy Curriculum (Originally $199.99.) This faith-defenders study series equips viewers to answer the big questions about the accuracy of the Bible. Apologetics made easy!	Millions of Years: Where Did the Idea Come From? Using high quality illustrations, Dr. Mortenson races through the last century and a half to reveal that what one believes about the age of the earth is a worldview conflict of foundational importance.	Noah’s Flood Dr. Terry Mortenson presents some of the biblical evidence that the Flood was a year-long, global, catastrophe as well as some of the geological reasons that confirm this world-changing event happened.	Thousands … Not Billions Radiometric dating is one of the linchpins of evolutionary education today. Dr. Don DeYoung shatters this and other dating methods employed by evolutionists to cast doubt on the reliability of the Bible and its chronology of earth history.
Thousands … Not Billions Evolutionists seek to undermine faith in Genesis as the true history of the universe by stating “facts” that don’t square with the biblical record. This presentation demonstrates that Christians no longer have to puzzle over these glaring contradictions.	Think Biblically! John MacArthur and other scholars confront the false worldviews that dominate our postmodern world. You’ll understand how to cultivate a biblical mind-set on worship, psychology, gender, science, education, history, and more!	Battle for the Beginning (The) Explores the Bible’s own claims about creation, evolution and the vital issues at stake in the dispute over the beginning of the universe by taking an in-depth look at Genesis 1 and comparing it to scientific evidence.

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