Overview
Many Christian churches and parents fail to equip their children with the tools to defend their faith against an increasing tide of biblical skepticism. Most pastors, priests and church leaders appear satisfied with teaching “what” we should believe, not “why” we can believe it.
Despite a vast array of new apologetic information made available in the past few decades, few churches grasp the significance of this information to the future of Christianity. A survey conducted in Naples, Florida, by the Creation Data Institute Inc. found that only one in ten churches carried any significant biblical apologetic (reasons for believing) material in their libraries.
Too many churches are avoiding the evolution issue completely because they have not adequately equipped themselves to discuss the subject in defense of the biblical account of creation. Others make the mistake of trying to fit evolution theory into the Bible. This is commonly called theistic evolution. Some justify their silence by inferring that it’s okay to accept evolution as long as you believe in salvation through Jesus Christ. They don’t seem to comprehend the difficulty in accepting the truth of Jesus Christ without a foundational belief in biblical authority. Biblical authority begins with Genesis. Since the Genesis account is fundamental to almost every other book in the Bible, it needs to be defended against all forms of skepticism, and it can be.
1 Peter 3:15 — Peter writes, “Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life, and if you are asked about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it.”
What’s at Stake?
What is at stake is the decline of Christianity in North America. We have witnessed first hand the decline of Christianity in Europe and we are currently on a similar path.
We are losing our moral foundation required for a stable civilization. Without accepted moral absolutes every man does what is right in his own eyes. Laws are determined by whoever has the most power. The ultimate result is often tyranny. Therefore what is at stake is God’s judgment on mankind.
Cultural Trends Affecting Our Christian Worldview
- Atheism — The World's Newest Major Religion: No Religion
- Promotion of Evolution Theory — Evolutionists aggressively promote their beliefs through the media, Internet, museums, and institutions of higher learning.
- Evolution — The sole undisputed faith-based religion in our schools is evolution.
- Absolute Truth — Less than 10% of youth believe in absolute truth.
- Theistic Evolution — Approximately 2/3 of Christians under 65 and 1/3 over 65 attending church accept evolution rather than the foundational biblical Genesis account of creation.
- Christian Students — Roughly 70% stop following their faith before they complete their public education.
- Christianity and Age — 85 % of Americans born before 1945 still call themselves Christians, yet only 57 percent of those born after 1980 do.
- Public School System — 46% of Americans believe in biblical creation, yet have little choice but to send their children to public schools that teach evolution as the source of origins.
- United States — Approximately 85% of Christian churches are in decline, 10% are flat and only 5% are growing.
- Europe — Only 10-15% of the population attend church regularly.
How We Can Encourage Biblical Apologetics and Share Evidence for Creation by God
- Ask if you can leave apologetic tracts or pamphlets in hotel rooms, doctor’s offices, etc.
- Take every opportunity to refute evolution theory. For instance, respond to letters to the editor mocking creationists.
- Encourage the display of apologetic pamphlets such as those distributed by the Creation Data Institute Inc.
- Encourage oral and written church competitions on apologetic subjects to stimulate personal research and develop a better understanding of the Christian faith.
- Encourage Christian movie making and Christian television programming.
- Encourage church leaders and members to use apologetics in discussions about origins, age of the earth, global flood, suffering, the Bible’s authority, and other Christian matters.
- Support Christian apologetic ministries like Answers in Genesis (AIG), Institute for Creation Research (ICR), Creation Ministries International (CMI), and Creation Data Institute (CDI).
- Encourage Christian TV and radio stations to promote apologetic evidence for creation by God to counter evolutionary “origins” taught in public schools.
- Encourage churches to run courses on apologetics and evidence for creation by God.
- Encourage churches, Bible colleges, seminaries and Christian book stores to increase the number of apologetic books, DVDs, magazines and other materials available.
Conclusions
North American churches need apologetic ministries. It is not enough today to know what you believe, but you also need to know why you believe it. Christians need to be equipped to defend their faith in a world that is becoming increasingly hostile to Christianity.
The responsibility for equipping Christians to speak with authority on the subject of their faith lays squarely with our churches, parents, and Christians themselves. Resources are becoming increasingly available through the good work of Apologetic organizations like the Institute for Creation Research, Answers in Genesis, Creation Ministries International, the Creation Data Institute and many others. We need to bring these resources into focus in the Christian community and beyond.
If the Christian church is to flourish it will have to pick up the slack and begin teaching what is not being taught in our public schools, universities, museums and institutes of higher learning.