Babel in the Backyard

In the wake of the publishing of The Secrets of Ancient Man the Ancient Man Team is gearing up for round three in the ancient man series! We're excited about the addition of new team members and the new research we have already uncovered and started to sift through. To give you a little glimpse into what we are up to these days, check out what one of our researchers has to say about joining the team...

The Ancient Island of Malta

By Analea Styles

http://www.wheretogoinmalta.com/qrendi/attractions

In a short account in Acts, wedged between his shipwreck and arrival in Rome, we find Paul and his company on the island of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea (Acts 28:1-10). The brief story describes the unusual kindness of the native people towards the shipwrecked survivors. It is on this island that Paul is bitten by a viper and yet suffers no harm, causing the natives to think him a god.

A Road to Heresy

By Derrick Zuk

Photo Credit: Derrick Zuk

I hear my fellow believers talking about geology and science and the age of the earth and I find myself wondering, do we believe in two different gods? If you believe the earth is millions of years old and hold consistently to that view, then logically you cannot believe in the same God I do.

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!

The Proper Way to Engage

A Response to the Ken Ham / Bill Nye Debate
By Matthew Zuk

First of all I would like to praise God for giving courage, wisdom, grace and clarity of thought to Ken Ham. We must always remember to give God the glory for all of our accomplishments as everything we have; all of our gifts, talents and abilities come from our Creator God who made us in His image! 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.

Romans 1:18-23 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.” (Emphasis added)

These verses explain how we should expect the unsaved world to interpret the knowledge they receive. All people know that God exists, however they reject Him and exchange serving Him with serving themselves and other created beings. They exchange the Creator for the created, the infallible with the fallible, the righteous with the unrighteous, the perfect with the sinful, and the infinite with the finite. As believers we see how absurd this exchange is, however these verses explain that the people who reject God and suppress the truth have become futile in their thinking. I think last night’s debate was a great example of this; no matter what Ken said, Bill would always reject it for what he considers “real science”, even if it has no basis. He would rather reject logic than accept God, and thus, as Paul in Romans states, he was futile in his thinking.

This is why we cannot convince someone with evidence to accept Christ; only the Holy Spirit can change an unsaved person’s heart. He must change their desires and open their eyes to see the truth. And what is the truth? They are sinners who deserve eternal torment; they are hopelessly lost and cannot obtain salvation through works of their own. Only the sacrifice of Christ by the grace of God can save them and that all they need to do is put their trust and faith in Christ and repent of their sins.

Our mission whenever we speak to unbelievers is to properly represent Christ and to present them with the only means to their salvation: the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. We need to present the truth. That is our message, that is what we have been commanded to carry out to all ethnicities.

Matthew 28:19-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

That is our purpose, to go out and reach people with the Gospel and to hold the Word of God as the supreme authority. We are to do all things to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31) and I would like to thank Ken Ham for striving to reach this goal, for being a leader in taking a stand on the authority of the Word of God and for recognizing he can only achieve this through God’s grace and strength! Pray for Ken and all of the staff at Answers in Genesis and pray that God will open the eyes of Bill Nye and those who have rejected the truth. And praise God for all that He has done; He is truly awe inspiring!



Read more of our debate responses:

• An Answer to the Mysteries - Analea Styles
• Drawing Worldview Conclusions - Pastor Don Landis

Was Noah's Ark Round??

By Analea Styles 

You may have seen the recent news about a newly translated artifact that supposedly sheds light on the biblical story of Noah’s Ark.

According to headlines, “the original Noah’s Ark…was round”[1]. This Fox News article goes on to promote the assumption that the biblical account of Noah’s ark is a more recent, rewritten, and unreliable version of older historical accounts.

The tablet on display at the British Museum
http://nypost.com/2014/01/24/4000-year-old-tablet-suggests-noahs-ark-was-round/

Irving Finkel, the man who translated the “4,000 year-old” tablet, states, “I am sure the story of the flood and a boat to rescue life is a Babylonian invention”[2]. There are many secular historians who would agree with him – that the biblical account of the worldwide flood was written after the Jews went into exile in Babylon. Historians claim that the Jewish people heard the tale of the global flood while they were living there and later added it to their own Scriptures.

Pyramids: A Testimony of Similarity

By Analea Styles

Mentioned briefly in The Genius of Ancient Man, the islands of Tenerife and Mauritius harbor some of the most intriguing pyramid sites in the world. The mystery of these sites is not due to advanced megalithic construction (such as the Great Pyramid) or incredibly sophisticated technology (as seen in ancient nanotechnology), rather these two islands are fascinating due to their geographic locations and the similarities between the pyramids found there.

Mauritius Pyramid 3
Photo credit: Stephane Mussard

Timelines and Perspectives: Timelines of History

By Brian Mariani

How many religions do you think there are there in the world? Millions? Thousands? Hundreds? A dozen?

Timelines and Perspectives: Defining our Terms and Checking our Bias

By Brian Mariani

In the study of Ancient Man, Creation vs Evolution, or any other controversial scientific or historical topic, terminology can be confusing and misleading. As we have mentioned before, presuppositions can also make these discussions unclear and hard to follow. 

In this 3-part series, we will discuss Naturalism and Biblical Creation, contrasting their beliefs, biases, and interpretations of evidence. This will make our position clear and defend the foundation of our point of view.

Couldn't God Have Used Evolution to Create?

By Matthew Zuk

The Bible: Genesis 1
https://timpritchett.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/0f0f0f-uzz5pn.jpeg

This is a question that is posed by many Theistic Evolutionists in today’s “Christian” culture. The answer to this question is derived from Scripture; God tells us how He created everything and therefore to pose this question is to doubt His inerrant Word and more than that His perfect nature. There are two primary reasons why God did not, and could not, use evolution and millions of years to create.

Response to Persecution

By Don Landis

Persecution comes in many forms, but at its central core it is the rejection of God and the resulting attack on those who follow Christ and claim He is the supreme Lord and the only way to salvation. Persecution has been growing more prevalent in recent years, however in order to understand the persecution of today we will first consider the persecution that has taken place in the past.

The Foundation of "The Genius of Ancient Man"

Jackson Hole Bible College Campus

First of all, we’d like to thank all of our readers of The Genius of Ancient Man and this blog. We’ve been on quite the adventure over the past three years and we’ve been so blessed to watch God spread our book around the nation and use it for His purposes. 

Hearing all the positive reviews from our readers, how Genius has impacted and influenced people in some way is mind-blowing. We are praising God continually for using us in this way to spread His truth and we are excited about the different opportunities that are opening to us as time goes on.

The Minoans: Rejection of the Creator

By Matthew Zuk

Palace of Knossos - Photo by Ken Zuk

As seen in our previous articles, the Minoans are among the most advanced ancient civilizations ever discovered. Yet they also experienced one of the most cataclysmic collapses in history. This article deals with the biblical reasons as to why they experienced such a destructive demise.