Whether it’s liberal theology, evolutionism, the age of the earth, or moral issues (e.g., abortion and gay marriage), these are all ultimately battles over the same issue. In 2 Corinthians 11:3, the Apostle Paul warns us about an ever-present danger: “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”
Paul, in essence, is warning Christians that there will be efforts to seduce people away from a simple devotion to Christ and His Word.
To understand this text better, we need to go back to Genesis 3:1: “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say . . . ?’ ”
From the beginning, the battle was over the authority of the Word of God. The first woman, Eve, followed by her husband, Adam, gave in to the temptation not to take God at His Word. Instead, he relied on his human reason to determine truth. All his descendants inherited a sinful nature that would be prone to refuse to take God at His Word, and instead they would make human reason their supreme authority.
This battle against God’s Word has manifested itself in every era of history. This year, Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday is being celebrated, along with the 150th anniversary of his work On the Origin of Species. More than ever, secularists are using evolution to attack the reliability of the Bible.
On every side the Apostle Paul faced skeptics who questioned the clear proclamation of God’s Word. The early church faced several challenges to the authority of the Scriptures, including Gnosticism, which taught that man was his own god.
In the sixteenth century, the Roman Catholic Church’s sale of indulgences for forgiveness of sin and release from purgatory marked a climax in the elevation of human thinking above God’s Word. Luther nailed his 95 theses to the Wittenberg Church door, challenging such indulgences. This act sparked a debate about whether the Bible or the church is the ultimate authority, and it essentially began the Reformation.
The battle against God’s Word did not cease, as a series of men and events sought to undo the positive effects of the Reformation. Behind these attacks was an effort to make human reason supreme and steer people away from the authority of the Word of God. It was another manifestation of Satan’s attack in Genesis 3:1.
In the 1800s, new speculation about the age of the earth and the evolution of life raised questions about the accuracy of the Bible. The growing doubts gained international attention at the 1925 Scopes evolution trial. The trial marked a symbolic turning point in Christendom and in American society. The media reported that Christians could not adequately defend Genesis. In the decades that followed, increasing compromise about biblical authority in Genesis 1–11 has made the church so weak that the Bible no longer impacts the culture as it once did. The Bible’s influence is largely gone because the church has allowed human reason (including Darwinian thinking) to invade the church and push aside God’s Word.
Today a new reformation is needed. It’s time for a new generation of reformers to stand up and call the church back to trust in God’s Word where it is most under attack: the history of Genesis. Apologetics ministries, including the new Creation Museum, have already issued the call to turn away from the opinions of fallible men like Darwin and stand firmly on the entire Bible.
Believers need to nail Genesis 1–11 on church doors across America! And as we take God at His Word, we can then watch the power of His Word transform lives and influence the culture. Christians should be praying that the Lord will rebuild the foundations of His house that shifted from the firm ground of His Word because of the works of people like Charles Darwin.
Believers need to nail Genesis 1–11 on church doors across America! And as we take God at His Word, we can then watch the power of His Word transform lives and influence the culture. Christians should be praying that the Lord will rebuild the foundations of His house that shifted from the firm ground of His Word because of the works of people like Charles Darwin.
Dr. Ken Ham is the founder and president of Answers in Genesis-USA and the high-tech Creation Museum near Cincinnati, Ohio. He has authored or co-authored many books concerning the authority and accuracy of God’s Word and the effects of evolutionary thinking, including the just released Already Gone and the bestselling The Lie: Evolution.