Ken Ham - How Do We Know the Bible is True Volume 1

First printing: July 2011
Ninth printing: August 2021

Copyright 2011 by Answers in Genesis. All right reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, copied, broadcast, stored, or shared in any form whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles and reviews. For information write:

Master Books , P.O. Box 726, Green Forest, AR 72638

Master Books is a division of the New Leaf Publishing Group, Inc.

ISBN: 978-0-89051-633-1

ISBN: 978-1-61458-123-9 (digital)

Library of Con gress Number: 2011932373

Cover by John Lucas

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version of the Bible.

Please consider requesting that a copy of this volume be purchased by your local library system.

Printed in the United States of America

Please visit our website for other great titles:

www.masterbooks.com

For information regarding author interviews,

please contact the publicity department at (870) 438-5288.

Acknowledgments and special thanks for reviewing chapters in this book:

Tim Chaffey (executive editing), Roger Patterson, Bodie Hodge, Dr. Terry Mortenson, Dr. Bob McCabe, Steve Fazekas, Dr. Jason Lisle, Ken Ham, Mark Looy, Dr. Alan White, Dr. Steve Falling, Dr. Steve Carter, Dr. Tommy Mitchell, and Steve Ham

Acknowledgments and special thanks for editing chapters in this book:

Jeremy Ham, Karin Viet, Doug Rumminger, Tim Chaffey, Becky Stelzer, Mike Matthews, Anneliese Rumminger, and Bodie Hodge

Illustration and photo credits:

Dan Lietha, Chuck McKnight, Laura Strobl, Bodie Hodge, and Tim Chaffey

Contents

Introduction

What Does Biblical Authority
Have to Do with Today's Church
and Culture?

Ken Ham

Change the Culture?

W hat is your real motivation at AiG? Are you political activists? Are you trying to get creation taught in the public school classroom? Does your ministry aim to change the culture? Isn't the Church irrelevant in today's world?

These are just a few of the many questions I have been asked by the secular media over the years, particularly during the media blitz surrounding the opening of the Creation Museum in 2007. In these interviews, I made it clear that the thrust of Answers in Genesis (AiG) is to uphold the authority of God's Word as we not only provide answers to the questions of skeptics but also preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and see people won to the Lord.

At AiG, we understand that the Christian culture we once had in America (and the once-Christianized culture of the West in general) has become increasingly secularized over the past few years. AiG helps the Church understand that this societal change occurred from the foundation up that is, instead of the culture generally being founded on the teachings in God's Word, generations were eventually taught to exalt autonomous human reason instead and build their worldview on that foundation.

And what has been the basic and most successful mechanism for this secularization of the culture? Over the decades, millions upon millions of Americans, one person at a time, have been indoctrinated to believe in the idea of evolutionary naturalism and millions (billions!) of years and thus to doubt and ultimately disbelieve the Bible as true history.

As generations began to reject God's Word as reliable and authoritative, they began to consistently build a secular worldview based on moral relativism. As this change occurred, many such secular humanists moved into positions in education, the government, legal systems, etc. The worldview they had adopted determined how they would vote in passing laws, establishing curricula, making moral choices, and so on. The Western culture changed from a predominantly Christian worldview to an increasingly secular worldview. To understand how important a person's worldview truly is, consider what the Bible teaches about how a person's actions are governed by their thoughts.

For as he thinks in his heart, so is he (Proverbs 23:7).

For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34).

As people repent, are converted to Christ, and are then taught to build their thinking consistently on God's Word (and as Christians are challenged to de-secularize their own thinking and build a proper worldview), then they can make an impact on the culture. After all, God's people are told to be "salt" and "light" (Matthew 5:1314) and thus affect the world for good. Jesus said, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16). That's why I often explain to the secular media that the ministry of AiG and the Creation Museum is to preach the gospel and hope to see people converted to Christ and thus be "salt" and "light" in their daily living. As these people find themselves on school boards, are elected to local government, or obtain influential positions in the media, their worldview will govern the way they vote and effect changes.

The AiG ministry is providing answers to the skeptical questions of our day that cause people to doubt the Bible's historicity and truthfulness. And in this era of history, the most attacked part of the Bible's history is Genesis 111. When people understand they can trust the history in the early chapters of Genesis, they can better understand and be more responsive to the gospel the gospel that is based on that history. Of course, countering the skeptics brings up other apologetics questions that need to be answered.

AiG's aim is not to change the culture. Changing the culture is a by-product of a much bigger and more eternally significant goal. As one life at a time is changed, each of those Christians can have an impact on the culture for the glory of Christ.

So this is what AiG and the Creation Museum are "about" and what we believe every Christian should be doing: presenting and defending the life-changing gospel message to see lives changed for the glory of God and to see the Church return to the rock-solid foundation on which it was built (Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 2:20).

Is the Church a Relic?

The Grand Canyon is a form of relic. What do I mean? Well, the present processes operating at the Grand Canyon in northern Arizona, such as the minimal erosion by the Colorado River, cannot explain how the canyon was really carved. In addition, no processes operating today at the canyon can explain the laying down of the massive sedimentary strata that I have seen there (e.g., Coconino Sandstone), nor the massive sheet erosion that resulted in the Kaibab Plateau.

In order to produce this "relic" of a deep canyon and layers we see today, something very different than what is happening in the present occurred in the past. It was the result of the aftereffects of the global Flood of Noah's time.

To me, this is analogous to something happening with the Christian Church in our Western world. For example, I have traveled to the United Kingdom many times over the past 25 years. Several years ago, I began taking photos of British churches that have been turned into bars, nightclubs, Sikh temples, theaters, shopping centers the list is a long one.

The U.K. was once predominantly Christian. Today, most of the U.K. has become extremely pagan; just a remnant of Christianity remains in England and the other U.K. nations. Even though there are some new churches (thank God!), "relic" churches exist all across the U.K. The Christian influence is largely gone.