Apologetics

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If you are a Pentecostal
you probably are a Creationist

Gregory W. Eckrich1

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: 1PETER 3:15 KJV (emphasis added --gwe)

If you sat-in on a high school biology class and the teacher stated that evolution is true and science has proved it, what would you do? Can you defend your faith as 1Peter 3:15 says? Can you answer the biology teacher? Can our children? If the congregations of which I have been a member are typical, our children do not have the slightest idea how to respond. Why would they if they have not been taught! Resultantly, they do not respond; most buy in to the religion2 of evolution and they are lost to the Lord. Sadly, this process of evolutionary or humanist3 indoctrination started even before World War II in the United States and has come to fruition with the baby-boomers and their offspring.
Let us look at a movement whose motto could be said to be defending scripture starting with the very first verse.
FUNCTIONAL DEFINITION
Creationists boldly announce the literal account of Creation in the Book of Genesis. Six 24 hour days of Creation: building materials and light made on day one; day two the separation of waters above and below by a firmament; dry land, herbs and grasses on day three; fourth day the sun, moon and stars; fishes, fowls and whales on day five; on day six dinosaurs, creepy-crawlies, beasts of the field and humans; lastly, a halt to all labor and rest on day seven. This is literal Genesis. Most Pentecostal doctrine agrees. Thus, if you are Pentecostal and consistent in your belief, then you probably are a Creationist believer.
THE IMPORTANCE OF GENESIS
Why do you think Genesis is the first book in the Bible? It comes first because all things in the material world have a beginning. It is Genesis that defines all beginnings. It must be emphasized that NO CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE MEANS ANYTHING WITHOUT A LITERAL CREATION, A LITERAL EDEN, A LITERAL ADAM AND EVE , AND LITERAL ORIGINAL SIN. [Welcome to Genesis and to the great origins debate!]
This statement is emphasized because Genesis, particularly chapters 1-11, is the foundation of Christianity. Let me say again: if there is no literal Genesis then the rest of the Bible makes no sense and is without foundation. Why do we wear clothes? Because of the weather? No, Genesis. Doctrine of one man and one woman for life? Genesis. Satan's coming punishment? Genesis. Mankind's salvation? Genesis. Genesis is foundational.
If a physical Adam and Eve did not eat a physical forbidden fruit and get thrown out of a physical Eden, then why would we need a physical Jesus to come to earth to die a physical death for our sins? The answers is we would not. But, He did come!
THE PROBLEM
Have you ever watched demolition experts take down a building? Explosives are placed against the foundations of the building and the load bearing superstructure. A switch is thrown. The foundations are blown out. The superstructure is blown out. The building implodes and collapses into a heap of debris.
Our Biblical foundations have been blown out too. They have been under attack since the very beginning. Currently, they are being attacked and undermined by secular humanism. The result is the collapse of Christianity in many formerly Christian nations. What became of once-Christian Great Britian? Christian France? Russia? the United States?
The foundational principles have not only been systematically removed from our society but from our churches by compromising churchman (subject of another article). The principles, which form one's world view, were recently examined by George Barna, Christian pollster. He reported in December 2003----
"The research indicated that everyone has a worldview, but relatively few people have a biblical worldview - even among devoutly religious people. The survey discovered that only 9% of born again Christians have such a perspective on life. The numbers were even lower among other religious classifications: Protestants (7%), adults who attend mainline Protestant churches (2%) and Catholics (less than one-half of 1%). The denominations that produced the highest proportions of adults with a biblical worldview were non-denominational Protestant churches (13%), Pentecostal churches (10%) and Baptist churches (8%).
"For the purposes of the research, a biblical worldview was defined as believing that absolute moral truths exist; that such truth is defined by the Bible; and firm belief in six specific religious views. Those views were that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life; God is the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator of the universe and He stills rules it today; salvation is a gift from God and cannot be earned; Satan is real; a Christian has a responsibility to share their faith in Christ with other people; and the Bible is accurate in all of its teachings."4
THE SOLUTION
If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? Psalm 11:3
What can the righteous do? We must defend the faith starting with the very first verse of Genesis. We must understand that our Bible is spiritually defensible. And why not--it is the Word of God. Secondly, science defends our scriptures! The modern Creationist movement has assembled an enviable cadre of scientists who are also believers in the Word of God. They have systematically responded to the lies and half truths propagated by the enemy. What is more, they have made their works intelligible to laymen. There is breadth and depth of materials to re-teach us what is ours by God's grace.
This is an introduction to the Creationist movement. How will you teach your family, your congregation, your country, God's truth and give scriptural and scientific evidence for it? How will you arm your children to counter the lies of evolution taught them in the humanist institutions called public schools? And, television starting with the 'big three' networks and working all the way down to the History station?
Where will you start? And when?
Suggested resources:
Answers in Genesis, Florence, KY www.AnswersInGenesis.org
Institute for Creation Research, El Cajon, CA www.icr.org
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1-Gregory W. Eckrich is an AG layman who teaches adult Sunday School at Highland Assembly of God in Highland, IN. He also teaches Wednesday nights covering a variety of topics emphasizing the primacy of Genesis. “I became interested in Creationism in the early 1990's. It appeared to have the answers I needed to respond to anti-Christian arguments, most notably evolution.” See suggested resources.
2-Religion: “4: a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith” p 724 WEBSTER'S SEVENTH NEW COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY, G. & C. Merriam Company, Springfield, MA, USA 1965 One must agree that in the absence of solid evidence, the evolutionists certainly exhibit ardor and faith in their religion of evolution. --gwe
3- Humanism has been defined by the United States Supreme Court as a religion. A cursory definition: human beings are the highest form of life on earth; there is no God; humans must and will find their own solutions to all problems.
4-Www.barna.org Data taken from the Barna website. Study entitled “A Biblical Worldview Has a Radical Effect on a Person's Life,” December 1, 2003.

Copyright 2005 Gregory W. Eckrich

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