Reviewing Ham vs. Nye

Dear readers,

We are sure many of you are aware of the significant event that took place in Petersburg, Kentucky last night. It was broadcasted live online and reached an estimated (minimum) two million people! Not to mention the many more who will watch the recorded version available online for free or later purchase as a digital download or DVD copy. This event is the Ken Ham vs. Bill Nye debate.

Our team would like to take this opportunity to publicly express our thanks to Ken Ham and Answers in Genesis (AiG) and also briefly share each of our thoughts on the debate.

Ken, praise the Lord for using you to share His Word with so many people worldwide! You stepped up as a leader and represented Him well by sharing the Truth. You engaged countless unbelievers and believers alike by drawing attention to this crucial discussion that has already produced numerous print and digital articles, social network conversations, and other multimedia resources. You upheld the ultimate authority of the Bible as the very basis of the laws of logic, science and morality. You presented the Gospel clearly several times throughout the debate, and we pray the Lord will use the message you shared to draw many hearts to Himself!

We pray each of our readers would take the time to contemplate the messages presented in the debate. We hope you were encouraged and will continue in what Ken Ham has started here. Follow Christ and share the Truth with those who have no hope!

Here are a few thoughts from our team:

Drawing Worldview Conclusions

Don Landis
Pastor of CBC, Chairman of Board at AiG, President of JHBC

Mr. Nye wanted a prediction. Here it is: Believe in evolution (his worldview woven with evolution, relativism, and humanism), and the culture that follows you will have no morals, no values, no self-worth, no true equality between man and woman or black and white, no understanding of why there is evil and abuse, no purpose for living other than self, no foundation for love or compassion of others, and no hope or future. After your very short years you die and rot and your conscious ceases to exist anywhere. You have no one to quote but yourself; your opinions are worthless and, by your own admission, meaningless.

(Read Pastor Don's full review here)

An Answer to the Mysteries 

Analea Styles

As I watched the debate last night I was struck by the very real joy that Bill Nye has for science and discovery. No one can deny that Bill Nye, “The Science Guy”, has a deep passion for learning about the universe and desperately wants to figure things out “scientifically”. He mentioned that one of our greatest questions is “Why are we here?” In fact he was keen on pointing out that mankind has many big questions about life, the universe, and origins – things we don’t understand and he willingly admitted, “I want to know”...

... I love that Ken Ham repeatedly pointed to God’s Word as the answer. We do not back down on the truth – that we base our beliefs on FAITH in God and His perfect Word. We have our confidence in Him. We know the compelling and wonderful truth of the Bible, the true joy that comes from the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22), faith in God (Romans 15:13), and salvation in Christ (Psalm 51:12)! 

(Read Analea's full review here)

The Proper Way to Engage

Matthew Zuk

I thought that Ken did a phenomenal job of standing firm on the authority of God’s Word and he presented the Gospel at least four to five times throughout the debate. He stayed on message and presented his position very well throughout the night. He remained gracious to Bill Nye and did not resort to ad hominem arguments to tear Bill down. Ken maintained composure regardless of what Bill said and simply stayed on the message that there is only one absolute authority: God, and only one door to salvation: Jesus Christ. 

It is important to remember that it is not our job to “win” debates when we are talking to unbelievers. They are blind to the truth and so no matter what evidence we bring up it will never convince them. They will always find some way to refute the evidence we present, even if our evidence is conclusive and their points make no sense. 

 (Read Matthew's full review here)

Why You Should Watch the Debate

Timothy Thornton

Two and a half hours could never have gone so fast! The debate last night with Ken Ham and Bill Nye was extremely enthralling. The topic of debate was: “Is Creation a viable model of origins?” Ken Ham proposed that Creation as described in the book of Genesis is the only model of origins, while Bill Nye explained that the mainstream scientific view of evolution and millions of years of natural processes should be the only model of origins taught in schools. 

While neither of the debaters could convince the other of their own views, the debate was not a frivolous event. Some may wonder why people would debate something that cannot be agreed upon, or why people would even want to watch it. However, there are several reasons that the debate was not pointless; that it was actually very valuable, and if you have not watched it yet, I highly recommend you do for those very same reasons...

(Read Tim's full review here)

How does all this apply to you? 

Derrick Zuk

My feelings were mixed while watching this debate. I cheered Ken Ham on, but also felt disappointed with some of his responses. He had many great arguments, but he seemed to lack in several key areas I wish he addressed more. Namely these things: 

• That the "Bible, as written in English, translated many many times over the last three millennia" (Bill Nye quote) is trustworthy
• That we are not respecting "Mr. Ham's word" but God's Word as our absolute authority.
• That Nye has no basis for his claims to truth, morality and science itself.

After everything Bill Nye said, my mind raced to tear apart and destroy his statements; it was too easy, I began laughing at the absurdities he called compelling evidence. Yet part of me reminded myself of who Bill Nye is and who he represents. He is lost, a sinner in need of a Savior who cannot understand spiritual things and whose wisdom is reduced to foolishness – and he represents a lost world. He needs prayer, so through the debate I prayed for his heart and for those who support him.

I encourage each of you to do the same, and also to share it with others. Get a copy of the DVD, show it to your churches and youth groups, talk with your unsaved friends about it. The world is full with people like Nye who ultimately reject God because of their love for sin. They know the truth, but they suppress it in unrighteousness. Eternity is a long time; pray for Bill Nye and all those who choose to reject Jesus Christ. Only the Holy Spirit can change hearts and draw the lost to Himself. Pray for believers to take advantage of this opportunity to share the hope that is within us!

On this blog, the Ancient Man Team is dedicated to presenting history through the lens of Biblical authority. Please explore our blog posts about ancient man and feel free to contact us with any questions or comments!

What were your thoughts on the debate? Do you agree or disagree with any of our responses? Or maybe we missed something that you noticed. Let us know in the comments!