Answers for Women Part 1 (Why Genesis Matters)

Back in April I attended the first ever Answers for Women conference at the Creation Museum.  It was an edifying time to say the least.

Upon arrival, each woman received a gift bag which contained the items pictured above.  Before the first session we had a lovely time of worship in the newly built auditorium.

Dr. Georgia Purdom, whose vision it was to have an Answers for Women conference, spoke first on Why God's Word Matters from the Very Beginning.  Anyone familiar with Ken Ham's Already Gone knows that children who were raised in Christian homes are leaving the church in droves when they start attending college.  Studies show that these youth are not changing their minds about God when they get to college--they were already spiritually gone in the middle and high school years.

Why?

The answer may surprise you.  As these children were indoctrinated by evolutionary thinking in schools and through the secular media, the questions they had about the truth of the Bible went unanswered by their parents and the church.  The key appears to be not so much the environment (public schools and secular media) but more the sufficiency of the answers they receive to their questions.  Children have serious questions about how science and the Bible fit together and they need specific answers to those questions.  Dr. Purdom reminded us that we are required to give clear answers (1 Peter 3:15).

Instead, many parents have given unclear answers such as, "well as long as you believe God did everything" or "as long as you believe in Jesus because that's the most important part of the Bible", forgetting that if we reject the account of creation and the fall of man in Genesis, we don't need the rest of the Bible because we don't need Jesus.  And if the clear account of creation in Genesis is not what it seems, then perhaps the virgin birth and the resurrection are not what they seem, in which case we can just forget about the Bible altogether because it's not reliable or even true.

Dr. Purdom went on to point out that Jesus illustrates this very point in John 3:12.  We must trust the Bible's geology, biology, and astronomy (earthly things) in order to trust what it says about the spiritual (heavenly) things.

So what's the big deal about believing Genesis?  Many "theistic evolutionists" seem to think we can put it aside and focus only on the New Testament.  But consider this:

• Genesis affects the doctrine of marriage (man and woman) Matthew 19:4-5
• Genesis announces Messiah (Genesis 3:15)
• If Adam is not real, then Jesus is not real or needed (Romans 5:15)
• Genesis affects the doctrines of sin and death.  If God used evolution to create Adam and Eve then God thinks death is "very good" (Genesis 1: 10, 12, 18, 21, 25 and 31) and it will never be conquered.
• Death would not be a punishment for sin (as it clearly is in Genesis 2:17), it would just have always been there.
• Biblical evolutionists don't have an answer when asked what is the punishment for sin.
• Even athiests know Genesis is important--they consistently attack Adam and Eve and the talking snake.  They rarely start their attacks with the virgin birth or the resurrection.

Dr. Purdom revealed that the real battle between creationism and evolution is over the SAME EVIDENCE--not different evidence as most people believe.  Science is objective but scientists are not--they are subjective and they are interpreting the science.  The interpretation of the science is where the real battle is happening.

Finally, Dr. Purdom exhorted us as mothers to help our children understand the issues of today from a Christian worldview so they can be "bulletproof" to the influences of society that they will encounter.  We can reinforce the truth of God's Word by not referring to Biblical accounts or events as "stories" (as so many Christian children's products do).  And we can be encouraged always by remembering the directive of 2 Corinthians 10: 4-5 to demolish all pretenses against God's Word. 

Stay tuned for more notes from other Answers for Women sessions!