December 6, 1995



Resources Defending the Literal Truth of Genesis 1-11

Following are recommended resources for further study or to suggest to others in your ministry who have questions. Most of them are available at Answers in Genesis.

For DVDs, we have given the links for where to purchase in the USA. The format of those DVDs may not work in other countries. The AiG UK web site (reached through a tab near the top right corner of the AiG-USA site) likely will have most of these in the PAL format.

To Begin…

For a good short summary of why we should not follow the scientific majority in their dogmatic claims about origins, see this article by Dr. Andrew Snelling: .

Some of the most asked questions

Below we list a few of the 130 questions addressed in the 4-volume New Answers Book. The location of the question/answer is listed as volume:chapter. In some cases the chapters are also linked to the place on the AiG web site, where they can be freely downloaded. If you are interested in the question of:

• What are the 10 best evidences for a young earth? See this article and its links.

• How can we see stars and galaxies that are millions of light-years away if the universe is only 6000 years old? See 1:19.

• How did the animals spread all over the earth (including marsupials to Australia) after the Flood? See 1:11.

• What really happened to the dinosaurs? See 1:12.

• Where do the ice ages fit into the young-earth creation view? See 1:16.

• How did the amazingly designed attack and defense structures in animals come about? See 1:21.

• Did humans evolve from ape-like creatures? See 2:8.

• What about the similarities of human and chimp DNA? See 3:10 and this and this.

• What are the created “kinds” in Genesis 1? See 3:4 and this and this and this.

• Is there a gap for the millions of years somewhere between Gen. 1:1 and 1:3? See 1:5. The most thorough refutation of the gap theory is Weston Fields’ book, Unformed and Unfilled.

• How did the Grand Canyon form? See 3:18.

• Why don’t we find human and dinosaur fossils together? See 1:13

• Doesn’t the order of fossils in the rock record favor long ages? See 2:31

Two good periodicals are the quarterly family-oriented Answers Magazine, presenting articles for all ages on creation and the biblical worldview, and the Answers Research Journal, a peer-reviewed online technical journal.

Nature of science

On the powerful control of uniformitarian naturalism in science (which is the driving force behind the idea of millions of years), see Dr. Terry Mortenson’s article Philosophical Naturalism and the Age of the Earth: Are they related?. See also his article on the historical development of the geological timescale.

The DVD “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed” exposes the censorship of arguments and persecution of scientists that oppose evolution strictly on scientific grounds. This is a “must-see” film to understand the atheistic control of science today and why it is virtually impossible for young-earth creationists to get their best research published in secular science journals and have therefore had to develop their own peer-reviewed technical journals. This exposes the lie, so often heard, that “creation scientists aren’t real scientists evidenced by the fact that they don’t publish in the peer-reviewed literature.” In fact, they do. It’s just not their young-earth creationist papers that get into the secular scientific literature, for reasons revealed in this DVD.

Following the same theme, Dr. Jerry Bergman documents the persecution of scientists who question evolution in his revealing book, Slaughter of the Dissidents. Although Bergman has nine degrees (including 2 PhDs), has taught in secular academia for years, and has a voluminous publishing record in the secular scientific journals, he himself has been one of the persecuted.

Evolution and the promotion of Atheism

The Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey TV series of 13 programs aired in America in Spring 2014. It is having a worldwide impact as it aggressively promotes atheistic (cosmological, geological and biological) evolution and attacks the truth of Genesis 1-11 (thereby attacking the gospel that is rooted in that literal historical truth).  The series was viewed by millions of people in 70 countries and now is a DVD-based curriculum that will be widely used in schools in America and many other countries in the years ahead to indoctrinate hundreds of millions of children in an atheistic worldview.  In Question Cosmos (based on her weekly web reviews of each TV program) Dr. Elizabeth Mitchell provides a study guide to help students and parents see through the deceptive arguments masquerading as proven science. Also, consider this short article, which analyzes some of the skeptics’ responses to the AiG web reviews.

Biology

Dr. Terry Mortenson’s DVD lecture Origin of Species: Was Darwin Right? gives a good layman’s introduction showing that the fossils, natural selection and mutations do not prove evolution but confirm the truth of Genesis.

shows that the development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria offers no support for molecules-to-man evolution.

explains the difference between the scientifically demonstrable fact of adaptation within a kind (in this case, beach mice) versus the evolutionary belief in the transformation of one kind of creature into a different kind (i.e., microbe-to-microbiologist evolution).

explains why the change in beak sizes of Darwin’s Finches offers no support for molecules-to-man evolution.

This semi-technical article by veterinarian Dr. Jean Lightner shows how rapid variation can arise within a created kind, in this case a lizard population. Other articles related to this issue of rapid variation, even producing a new species (but which is not evidence of evolution of one kind into another kind) are:

▪ “Sizeable Sturgeons Set Evolutionary Speed Records,” , shows sturgeon fish producing rapid variation but remaining sturgeons,

▪ “Human Evolution: Faster than a speeding bullet”

▪ “The Origin of Species: Creation Style!”

▪ “Speedy Species Surprise,”

▪ This is an easy-to-understand 3-minute video summary of the topic of rapid speciation. The video is one of many scattered throughout the AiG Creation Museum.

by Dr. Georgia Purdom (PhD, molecular genetics) and several others discusses mediated design, which is likely one mechanism for helping us understand the source of information necessary for rapid speciation (within a kind) after the Flood. Related to this is:

▪ Related to this is Dr. Jean Lightner (DVM), “Meiotic recombination—designed for inducing genomic change,” Journal of Creation 27:1 (2013), pp. 7-10, which discusses recently discovered evidence of design-programmed mutations (i.e., mutations are not all accidental errors in the genetic code, as evolutionists have assumed), which on-going research will likely show to be a partial explanation for rapid speciation (not evolution) after the Flood.

Plant geneticist John Sanford shows that mutations are fatal to the theory of evolution in Genetic Entropy and the Mystery of the Genome (FMS Publications, 2014). Dr. Sanford is a highly qualified research geneticist at Cornell University and for much of his career he was an evolutionist. This semi-technical, but layman friendly book shows that Neo-Darwinian evolution can neither explain how biological information got into the genome of living creatures nor how it could remain there. A devastating critique that no evolutionist can responsibly ignore (but they are ignoring it and instead raising ad hominem arguments). See a summary of this book in his DVD lecture, “The Mystery of Our Declining Genes,” available from Creation Ministries, Int’l.

The 38-minute downloadable DVD Evolution vs God contains interviews with atheist science students and atheist science professors at major universities. Their own words reveal the scientific bankruptcy of evolution. A great witnessing tool, too. View the trailer here.

Donald DeYoung & Derrick Hobbs, Discovery of Design. Take a fantastic journey into the intersection of science and God's blueprints for life - discovering answers to some of the most intricate challenges we face.

Metamorphosis explores the remarkable world of butterflies (especially the Monarch) as few ever have before. Filmed in the rain forests of Ecuador, Mexico’s Trans-Volcanic mountain range, and leading research centers, this DVD is a powerful documentary revealing the amazing design of these creatures, which cannot be explained by the blind, purposeless, directionless process of evolution. The film features incredible slow-motion photography. Unfortunately, it doesn’t explicitly give glory to God.

Anthropology

Marvin Lubenow, Bones of Contention (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2004, 2nd ed.). The result of over 25 years of study, this is the best young-earth creationist critique of the evolutionist evidence and arguments in support of human evolution. A Colorado State University professor of anthropology, who once debated Lubenow, commented, “Like a true scholar, Lubenow has researched in depth the literature in scientific journals, sifting the evidence, searching out the areas open to interpretation. He is a pleasure to fence with intellectually.” The first edition of this book (now out of print) included a very revealing appendix on the dating of skull 1470 (a famous supposed ape-man fossil appendix, which shows how unreliable radiometric dating is. Lubenow’s short summary of that appendix is here.

Where are all the human fossils? See here.

Could mankind possibly have descended from a single pair just 6000 years ago? Definitely. See and . The first is a little less technical than the second.

What about the claimed evidence that human and chimpanzees DNA is 98% the same? Not true. For an introduction see and then follow the links at the end of the article. Related to this is the DVD and Did Neanderthals and Modern Humans Share a Common Gene Pool?.

Several DVDs present scientific and biblical evidence powerfully demonstrating that Adam and Eve were supernaturally created and were unique from all other creatures. Humans are not descended from apes: Ape-men: the Grand Illusion, Three Ways to Make an Ape Man, The Hearing Ear and the Seeing Eye, and The Uniqueness of Man.

A number of helpful articles on why a literal Adam matters for the gospel can be found in the spring 2011 issue of the Journal of Theology from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY:

In the 2013 four-views book on Adam, Dr. Bill Barrick argues for a literal Adam and against the old-earth views of Denis Lamoureax, John Walton and C. John Collins.

On the gospel necessity of a literal Adam, Dr. John Byl (Reformed theologian and astronomer/mathematician in Canada[1]) has written an insightful blog article at .

Critique of C. John Collins, Did Adam and Eve Really Exist? (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2011). In this recent work Collins identifies and describes the various views concerning the existence and identity of Adam and Eve. He concludes that Adam and Eve were indeed historical individuals and that their existence is significant theologically. The weakness of the book resides in the fact that Collins does not offer a thorough analysis of the various views, does not clearly identify to which view he himself adheres, and does not offer argumentation strongly supporting the view he takes. When he touches upon other aspects of the creation account (such as the six days), he avoids an explicit statement of his position (which is an old-earth “analogical days” view). For a helpful review of Collins’s book, see Richard Belcher’s blog: , Feb 2012.

For a thorough critique of John Walton and NT Wright, The Lost World of Adam and Eve (IVP Academic, 2015), see Steve Ham, “The Lost World of Adam and Eve: A Response” Answers Research Journal 8 (2015):371–383. It will be posted at on July 29, 2015.

What has the Church historically believed about Adam? See the scholarly work of William VanDoodewaard, The Quest for the Historical Adam (Reformation Heritage Books, 2015), which shows that belief in a literal Adam made from dust and a literal Eve made from Adam’s rib and a literal historical Fall is historic mainstream Christian orthodoxy.

Geology

Dr. Andrew Snelling’s 2-volume work, Earth’s Catastrophic Past: Geology, Creation and the Flood (Dallas, TX: Institute for Creation Research, 2009), updates and greatly expands the biblical and geological arguments in Morris and Whitcomb’s The Genesis Flood (1961). No old-earth creationist can responsibly ignore this work resulting from 30 years of geological research. It contains extensive sections on radiometric dating and deals with many geological formations that old-earth geologists claim require millions of years to form. Dr. Snelling also has a DVD lecture series on these subjects.

Terry Mortenson, The Great Turning Point: The Church’s Catastrophic Mistake on Geology—Before Darwin (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2004) is a shortened version of his PhD thesis and explains how the millions of years idea developed in the early 19th century on the basis of using anti-biblical (deistic and atheistic) naturalistic, uniformitarian assumptions to interpret the rocks. The book focuses on a number of Christian authors who became known as the “Scriptural geologists” and wrote biblical, philosophical and geological arguments against the old-earth views and the various Christian attempts to harmonize millions of years with Genesis (e.g., day-age, gap, local flood views). A 1-hour DVD lecture based on this research is Millions of Years: where did the idea come from?

On the evolutionist belief in multiple ice-ages over the course of millions of years, see creationist meteorologist Mike Oard’s DVD lecture, The Ice Age: Only the Bible Explains It. There is clear evidence for only one ice age.

Evolutionists have long claimed that the Coconino Sandstone formation in Grand Canyon was deposited in a desert and therefore proof of the myth of Noah’s Flood. Geologist Dr. John Whitmore proves them wrong from multiple lines of evidence he has discovered in his extensive field and lab research. See technical articles here and here and a layman’s article summarizing this research will be posted on soon.

Links to various articles regarding radiometric dating: .

Two short but revealing articles exposing how the different dating methods apparently confirm each other are here (on the dating of the famous human-like skull KNM-ER1470 found by Richard Leakey in Kenya in 1967, which took 10 years of debate to be dated at an age the evolutionists could accept) and here (which explains what evolutionists do with inconsistent data). See also two of the DVDs in the 5-lecture set by Andrew Snelling, “Geology, a Biblical Viewpoint on the Age of the Earth”. A layman’s book explaining why Christians do not need to bow the knee to radiometric dating is Don DeYoung’s Thousands, not Billions.

is the Internet’s most complete catalog of peer-reviewed scientific journal papers confirming the existence of original biological tissue found in dinosaurs bones! For insight on the evolutionists’ suppression of the truth, listen to the very revealing 7-minute phone conversation (click on the picture of the red blood cells in dinosaur bone) between Dr. Jack Horner (one of America’s leading evolutionary dinosaur experts) and Bob Enyart (a young-earth creationist radio talk-show host), who initially offered Horner $10,000 to date a dinosaur bone by Carbon-14. And after the phone call Enyart upped it to $23,000 (see letter at the end of the phone clip above). Horner still refused. Good example of “suppressing the truth in unrighteous” (Rom. 1:18)

Critique of “Christian” old-earth geology: John Reed has a PhD in geology and is also an elder in the Presbyterian Church of America (PCA). In this paper he presents a summary of a longer semi-technical critique of an article written by eight old-earth geologists in the PCA arguing that the church should accept millions of years. The old-earth article was published in Michael Horton’s journal Modern Reformation.

Questions about Noah’s Ark: In his thorough book, Noah’s Ark: A Feasibility Study, researcher John Woodmorappe answers numerous skeptical questions raised by non-believers and Christians regarding the Ark. Without invoking any miracles or technologies that would not reasonably be at Noah’s disposal, Woodmorappe answers such questions as how many animals were on the ark, how eight people could care for all those animals, how they got fresh air and fresh water, what they did with all the manure, and what the carnivores ate after leaving the ark. Fascinating reading in a question-answer format that is understandable to serious-minded students and lay people, but fully documented for the person who wants to dig deeper.

Astronomy/Cosmology

On the question of distant starlight (how we can see stars and galaxies millions of years away if the universe is only 6000 years old) at a layman’s level see Jason Lisle’s (PhD, astrophysics) layman’s article and DVD lecture. For a technical article explaining Dr. Jason Lisle’s proposed young-earth creationist solution to the distant starlight problem see this technical article. See also this earlier 2011 technical article on other ideas that creationist cosmologists should consider.

To see that the big bang theory is not a proven fact that “all secular astronomers accept” and to be informed about the censorship of opposing views that exists in astrophysics today, see this open letter to the scientific community. When first published in New Scientist in 2004, it was signed by 34 prominent scientists from 10 countries. It has since been signed by an additional 218 “scientists and engineers” and 187 “independent researchers” from over 50 countries.

Some of the key unproven assumptions behind the big bang theory are discussed here:

Two excellent DVDs showing that evolutionary astrophysicists have no idea really how our Solar System and stars and galaxies formed. The presenter, Spike Psarris, was previously an engineer in the United States’ military space program. He entered that program as an atheist and an evolutionist. He left it as a creationist and a Christian.

This 3-part DVD series on astronomy and origins features five prominent creationists in the field. They explore scientific challenges to the Big Bang, different views on the origin of the universe, and the distant starlight travel time problem.

Danny Faulkner (PhD in astronomy and Distinguished Professor Emeritus of astronomy and physics at University of South Carolina, Lancaster) presents a young-earth creationist view of the universe in his book, Universe by Design (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2004). His well-illustrated book, The New Astronomy Book (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2014), provides teaching at many educational levels from children to adult.

Jason Lisle (PhD in astrophysics and Director of Research at the Institute for Creation Research), Taking Back Astronomy (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2006), is a beautifully, color-illustrated book showing that the astronomical facts confirm the truth of the Bible’s statements about the universe.

On the question of geocentrism vs heliocentrism, it is often argued that since the church now follows the scientific consensus in holding that the earth goes around the sun, not the sun around the earth, the church should follow the scientific consensus regarding the origin and history of the creation. Dr. John Byl, young-earth creationist astronomer/mathematician and elder in the Canadian Reformed Church,[2] offers a well-informed perspective at . Many of the responses to Dr Byl’s article on the site are also thought-provoking.

Theology & Biblical Exegesis

Death before the Fall? On the biblical evidence that rules out millions of years of animal death, disease, extinction and other natural evil, see Terry Mortenson, “The Fall and the Problem of Millions of Years of Natural Evil,” Journal of Ministry & Theology 16, no. 1 (Spring 2012): 122–58, on the web here, which expands on what he taught on the Grand Canyon trip.

For a critique of William Dembski’s theodicy proposal of how to accept millions of years of animal death, disease and extinction before Adam sinned and still believe that all this natural evil is the result of God’s judgment after Adam’s sin, consider this article. At the end of that article (in the Postscript) is reference to and documentation of Tom Nettles’ excellent critique of Dembski’s theodicy. Nettles is Professor of Historical Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Also cited in the post-script is David Allen’s response to Nettles (Allen is Dean of the School of Theology at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary where Dembski was at the time a professor) as well as Nettles’ insightful response back to Allen. Given the endorsement of Dembski’s book by many very well known apologists, theologians and other Christian leaders, it is important to understand the criticisms of his argument.

A theological/exegetical defense of young-earth creationism suitable for seminary courses but accessible to thoughtful lay readers are the fourteen-author work edited by Terry Mortenson and Thane H. Ury, Coming to Grips with Genesis: Biblical Authority and the Age of the Earth (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2008), and Andrew Kulikovsky, Creation Fall, Restoration: A Biblical Theology of Creation (Scotland: Mentor, 2009). Kulikovsky is Australian and the book is his MA thesis (Louisiana Baptist University). Bill Barrick has written an endorsement on the back cover. It is available in the UK at: .

Terry Mortenson gives a critique of the old-earth views of three leading systematic theology texts in “Systematic Theology Texts and the Age of the Earth: A Response to the Views of Erickson, Grudem, and Lewis and Demarest.” This paper was mentioned in one of his talks in the Canyon. Among other things it shows these excellent theologians’ lack of understanding of the role of philosophical assumptions in the interpretation of scientific evidence and the unrecognized conflict between their belief that there was no natural evil before the Fall and their acceptance of millions of years.

“Why many Christian leaders and scholars don’t believe Genesis” documents the statements of many godly Christian leaders and scholars which reveal that the primary (or a very important) reason that they don’t believe what Genesis appears to say about creation, the Flood and the age of the earth is because “science” or the “scientific data” or “scientific research” is contrary to the plain meaning of some or all of Genesis 1-11.

In the debate in the church over the age of the creation, is inerrancy the issue or is it hermeneutics? Evangelical theologians, scientists and lay people often dogmatically insist that their rejection of young-earth creation is not an issue of inerrancy (which they passionately affirm) but merely a question of the correct interpretation of Scripture. In the DVD lecture Inerrancy & the Undermining of Biblical Authority Terry Mortenson presents his reasons for rejecting this claim.

Ken Ham and Terry Mortenson provide a critique of an article by JP Moreland (famous American evangelical philosopher) where among other things they explain why Gleason Archer was mistaken in his view that too much happened on the 6th Day of creation for it to be 24 hours (therefore Archer held to the day-age view) and why Moreland is mistaken in arguing that the Bible teaches (“if we take it literally”) that there are “four corners of the earth” (which contributes to Moreland’s rejection of the young-earth interpretation of Genesis).

The Eastern Orthodox Church Fathers were essentially young-earth creationists prior to the 19th century and they believed that the days of creation were literal but also served as a figurative representation of the future (after creation week) 6000 years of history. See this review of a book by a prominent American Eastern Orthodox monk.

A book relevant to the role of Ancient Near-Eastern literature in the interpretation of Genesis is John N. Oswalt, The Bible Among the Myths: Unique Revelation or Just Ancient Literature? (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2009). See also Todd Beall’s chapter in Coming to Grips with Genesis.

On the antiquity of Genesis (and evidence that text of Genesis 1-11 pre-dates ANE pagan creation and flood myths), see Bill Cooper, The Authenticity of the Book of Genesis (Creation Science Movement, UK, 2011).

For a biblical and theological critique of John Sailhamer’s view of Genesis 1 (that Genesis 1:1 is describing the creation of everything and the rest of the chapter is describing the creation of the Garden of Eden, which is the Promise Land), see Andrew Kulikovski’s book review at .

See also chapter 7 in James Jordan, Creation in Six Days (Canon Press, 1999).  The chapters of this book critique several other old-earth views (including C. John Collins’ “analogical days” view and the “framework” views of Meredith Kline and Bruce Waltke), as seen in the table of contents.  An earlier version of the Sailhamer critique was posted in 1997 in parts at , , , and

For a critique of John Walton’s view that Genesis 1 describes the inauguration of creation as a cosmic temple and doesn’t give us any information about how or when God created the material world, see Trevor Craigen, Review of The Lost World of Genesis One by John Walton, The Master’s Seminary Journal Vol 21:2 (Fall 2010), pp. 261–63 (available at ).

For a critique of John Lennox, Seven Days that Divide the World (2011), see .

For an analysis of the views of Genesis 1 in several leading Genesis commentaries (by Gordon Wenham, Victor Hamilton, Kenneth Matthews, Bruce Waltke, John Walton and C. John Collins) see .

For a critique of the views on Genesis of R. C. Sproul, John Piper, D. A. Carson, Michael Horton, and Timothy Keller, see .

For a critique of Hugh Ross’s view of Genesis 1, see .

General creationist books & some other creationist web sites

Paul Garner, The New Creationism (Faverdale North, UK: Evangelical Press, 2009), gives a good overview and defense of young-earth creationism. Paul has training in biology and geology and speaks regularly on creation in the UK (see .uk). Among other things, Paul contends that while the widely accepted Big Bang theory is contrary to Scripture, there are also good scientific reasons for rejecting it. CLT alumni from the UK should consider this book.

Norman C. Nevin, ed., Should Christians Embrace Evolution? Biblical and Scientific Responses (Nottingham, UK: IVP, 2009). In this book, thirteen prominent UK scientists and theologians respond to theistic evolution, especially as championed in Denis Alexander’s book, Creation or Evolution: Do We have to Choose? (Oxford, UK: Monarch Books, 2008). The foreword is by Wayne Grudem.

Dave Coppedge worked for many years at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory on their Cassini Program (studying Saturn, its moons and its rings), until he was unjustly and unconstitutionally removed from his job because of talking to some of his fellow employees about intelligent design and evolution. Dave gives very informative short summaries, along with insightful analysis, of recently published science articles relevant to the origins debate.

The Creation Research Society is the oldest professional association of young-earth creation scientists. It publishes a quarterly journal of peer-reviewed papers and occasional technical monographs and books. Many key creationist scientific research papers have been published in the Creation Research Society Quarterly. The society also holds an annual conference. One of their funded research projects involves analysis of soft-tissue and other organic material in dinosaur bones.

The Institute for Creation Research () was founded by Dr. Henry Morris and Dr. Duane Gish, originally in San Diego, but now is based in Dallas. The Institute was established to promote scientific research, and to teach the sciences from a young-earth creationist position, for many years operating a graduate school that issued MS degrees in various fields of hard science before the evolutionists shut it down by preventing continuing accreditation. Much groundbreaking research has been done by ICR scientists, including research in genetics (especially related to human-chimp DNA similarities), at Mount St Helens and in the Grand Canyon, and on the subject of radioisotopes and the age of the earth. Much of the research has been published in monographs.

The Creation Science Fellowship of Pittsburgh has focused its efforts in organizing and running the series of professional conferences called the International Conference on Creationism, every 4-5 years since 1986. Seven such conferences have been held as of 2013, and the peer-reviewed papers presented at each of these conferences were published in a Proceedings volume after each event. Many of these research papers have made key contributions to the building of a sophisticated creationist scientific model of origins.

Canyon Ministries is the place to go for people who want a trip of a lifetime down the Colorado River through Grand Canyon, or a ½-day or full-day rim tour of the South Rim of the Canyon, as it is explained from a young-earth creationist perspective.

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