Every Word of God

At the Defending the Faith conference...

Ken Ham mentioned these verses:

Every word of God proves true.

He is a shield to all who come to him for protection.

Do not add to his words,

or he may rebuke you and expose you as a liar.

~ Proverbs 30:5-6

More Wisdom from a Humanist

More words from Ken Ham in The New Answers Book 1...

Huxley made the point that if we are to believe the New Testament doctrines, we must believe the historical account of Genesis as historical truth. Huxley was definitely out to destroy the truth of the biblical record. When people rejected the Bible, he was happy. But when they tried to harmonize evolutionary ideas with the Bible and reinterpret it, he vigorously attacked this position.

More words from Thomas Huxley...

I confess I soon lose my way when I try to follow those who walk delicately among "types" and allegories. A certain passion for clearness forces me to ask, bluntly, whether the writer means to say that Jesus did not believe the stories in question or that he did? When Jesus spoke, as a matter of fact, that "the Flood came and destroyed them all," did he believe that the Deluge really took place, or not? It seems to me that, as the narrative mentions Noah's wife, and his sons' wives, there is good scriptural warranty for the statement that the antediluvians married and were given in marriage: and I should have thought that their eating and drinking might be assumed by the firmest believer in the literal truth of the story. Moreover, I venture to ask what sort of value, as an illustration of God's methods of dealing with sin, has an account of an event that never happened? If no Flood swept the careless people away, how is the warning of more worth than the cry of 'Wolf' when there is no wolf?

No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

~ Matthew 24:36-39

Even a Humanist Sees It Clearly

First, a little history lesson.

Thomas Huxley was a humanist who lived during the time of Darwin and, in fact, became known as "Darwin's bulldog" because he did more to popularize Darwin's ideas than Darwin himself. He wanted to tear down Christianity at every turn; and as theologians of his day compromised the authority of Scripture by adding a belief in millions of years and evolution to the Bible, Huxley used that compromise against them.

In Ken Ham's words...

"What was Huxley's point? He insisted that the theologians had to accept evolution and millions of years, but he pointed out that, to be consistent, they had to give up the Bible totally. Compromise is impossible."

~ Ken Ham,

in The New Answers Book 1

Here is a quote from Huxley himself, written about 113 years ago; and hopefully that background info will help it make more sense...

I am fairly at a loss to comprehend how anyone, for a moment, can doubt that Christian theology must stand or fall with the historical trustworthiness of the Jewish Scriptures. The very conception of the Messiah, or Christ, is inextricably interwoven with Jewish history; the identification of Jesus of Nazareth with that Messiah rests upon the interpretation of the passages of the Hebrew Scriptures which have no evidential value unless they possess the historical character assigned to them. If the covenant with Abraham was not made; if circumcision and sacrifices were not ordained by Jahveh; if the 'ten words' were not written by God's hand on the stone tables; if Abraham is more or less a mythical hero, such as Theseus; the Story of the Deluge a fiction; that of the Fall a legend; and that of the Creation the dream of a seer; if all these definite and detailed narratives of apparently real events have no more value as history than have the stories of the regal period of Rome--what is to be said about the Messianic doctrine, which is so much less clearly enunciated: And what about the authority of the writers of the books of the New Testament, who, on this theory, have not merely accepted flimsy fictions for solid truths, but have built the very foundations of Christian dogma upon legendary quicksands?

~ Thomas Huxley,

in his essay "Lights of the Church and Science"

Your word is truth.

~ John 17:17

Back to the Beginning

You know how it is when you buy a car? Suddenly you start noticing all the other cars that look exactly like yours as you drive around. Who knew there were so many dark green Mazda minivans in the world?! :)

That's what's been happening with me and Colossians. Now that I'm putting extra emphasis on it because of a sermon series I've been hearing, I find verses from Colossians popping up all around, at various times, from different sources. I'm loving the book of Colossians even more than I used to!

Here are the latest verses to jump out at me:

For by him [Jesus] all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

~ Colossians 1:16-17

I suppose the reason these verses stood out to me is because lately, I feel like I've been re-examining EVERYTHING. All my beliefs have come under scrutiny again, as I (along with Jeff, of course) try to figure out what direction we are being called to go by God. We are standing at a crossroads, having left one church at the end of this past year and not having completely settled into a new one yet. So I question and ponder and study...

What do I really believe about the roles of men and women, particularly in the church?

What do I really believe about the way the Holy Spirit works in this day and age?

What do I really believe are the absolute essentials that must be found in a church, the things on which I will not compromise?

What do I really believe about the way the printed words of the Bible intersect with culture?

And on and on...

Well, as Julie Andrews sings in The Sound of Music, "Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start..." (I can hear her voice in my head as I type.) Back to Genesis, I go.

I just started reading The New Answers Book 1, edited by Ken Ham; and in the first chapter, I had to smile a little when I read this in the section on "How Do We Recognize the Evidence of Intelligence?":

Why do scientists become so excited when they discover stone tools together with bones in a cave? The stone tools show signs of intelligence. The scientists recognize that these tools could not have designed themselves but that they are a product of intelligent input. Thus, the researchers rightly conclude that an intelligent creature was responsible for making these tools.

In a similar way, one would never look at the Great Wall of China, the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., or the Sydney Opera House in Australia and conclude that such structures were formed after explosions in a brick factory.

Neither would anyone believe that the presidents' heads on Mt. Rushmore were the products of millions of years of erosion. We can recognize design, the evidence of the outworkings of intelligence. We see man-made objects all around us--cars, airplanes, computers, stereos, houses, appliances, and so on. And yet, at no time would anyone ever suggest that such objects were just the products of time and chance. Design is everywhere. It would never enter our minds that metal, left to itself, would eventually form into engines, transmissions, wheels, and all the other intricate parts needed to produce an automobile.

Clearly, there IS evidence of design. There IS evidence of a creator.

For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

~ Romans 1:20