War of the World Views: Powerful Answers for an "Evolutionized" Culture (17 page)

The author then, mockingly, wrote, “Ah, Genesis. Heaven and earth created in six days, a serpent that talks and a 600-year-old man building an ark. Just the guide we need to set rational policy.”

This secular writer recognized that the literal history of Genesis was the basis for the belief that marriage is one man for one woman. However, by mocking the Genesis account (just as many church leaders effectively do when they reinterpret Genesis 1–11 on the basis of man’s fallible ideas), the writer removed the foundations upon which the institution of marriage stands. This opens the door to gay marriage or anything else one might determine about marriage.

Were Homosexuals Created that Way?

Human sexuality is very complex, and the arguments will long rage as to the causes of homosexual behavior. In this fallen world, most behaviors are a complex mix of one’s personal choices superimposed on a platform of predisposition. This can come both from one’s genetic makeup and one’s environment (for example, one’s upbringing). Few students of human nature would doubt the proposition that some personalities are much more predisposed to alcoholism and/or wife-beating, for instance. But would anyone argue that this would make wife-beating acceptable?

The case for a “homosexual gene” has evaporated, but let’s say that researchers really were able to identify such a gene. After all, mutations in a cursed, fallen world can cause all sorts of abnormalities and malfunctions. For one thing, that would be a result of the Curse, not creation. And would knowledge of such a gene make right what Scripture clearly says is wrong? Absolute right and wrong exist independent of any secondary causative agencies.

In fact, it is quite possible that a contributing factor to at least some cases of homosexuality is a dysfunctional upbringing right at the time when the child is gaining crucial environmental input regarding their own sexual identity. (Notice the importance the Bible places on bringing up children, the family unit and so on.) But if anything, this highlights one of the huge risks of “married” gay people bringing up adopted children, namely the vulnerability of the children to confused messages about their own sexual identity. To put it simply, if one’s environment contributes to homosexuality, gay marriage will tend to increase the likelihood of the next generation being gay.
⁹

Gay Marriage—What is the Answer?

In the Bible’s book of Judges 17:6, we read this statement: “When they had no king to tell them what to do, they all did what was right in their own eyes.” In other words, when there’s no absolute authority to decide right and wrong, everyone has their own opinion as to what they should do.

So how could the Christian leader whose interviews were quoted earlier in this chapter have responded differently? Well, consider this answer:

First of all, Jesus (who created us and therefore owns us and has the authority to determine right and wrong), as the God-man,
did
deal directly with the gay marriage issue, in the Bible’s New Testament, in Matthew 19:4–6:

“And He answered and said to them, ‘Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning “made them male and female,” and said, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?” So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.’ ”

He could have continued:

Christ quoted directly from the book of Genesis (and its account of the creation of Adam and Eve as the first man and woman—the first marriage) as literal history, to explain the doctrine of marriage as being one man for one woman. Thus marriage cannot be a man and a man, or a woman and a woman.

Because Genesis is real history (as can be confirmed by observational science, incidentally), Jesus dealt quite directly with the gay marriage issue when he explained the doctrine of marriage.

Not only this, but in John 1, we read:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

Jesus, the Creator, is the Word. The Bible is the written Word. Every word in the Bible is really the Word of the Creator—Jesus Christ.
¹⁰

Therefore, in Leviticus 18:22, Jesus deals directly with the homosexual issue, and thus the gay marriage issue. This is also true of Romans 1:26–27 and 1 Timothy 1:9–10.

Because Jesus in a real sense wrote all of the Bible, whenever Scripture deals with marriage and/or the homosexual issue, Jesus Himself is directly dealing with these issues.

Even in a secular context, the only answer a Christian should offer is this:

The Bible is the Word of our Creator, and Genesis is literal history. Its science and history can be trusted. Therefore, we have an absolute authority that determines marriage.

God made the first man and woman—the first marriage. Thus, marriage can only be a man and a woman because we are accountable to the One who made marriage in the first place.

And don’t forget—according to Scripture, one of the primary reasons for marriage is to produce godly offspring.
¹¹
Adam and Eve were told to be fruitful and multiply, but there’s no way a gay marriage can fulfill this command!

The battle against gay marriage will ultimately be lost (like the battle against abortion)
unless
the church and the culture return to the absolute authority beginning in Genesis. Then and only then will there be a true foundation for the correct doctrine of marriage—one man for one woman for life.

1
. For a more detailed answer to this question, see www.AnswersInGenesis.org/Cains_wife.

2
. See Man marries dog for luck—then dies, www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/02/04/1075853937098.html?from=storyrhs and Bates, M., Marriage in the new millennium: love, honor and scratch between the ears, Oak Lawn (Illinois) Reporter, April 5, 2001, as referenced at www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3ac9e00d0a87.htm. There are many articles online that discuss the possibility of a man marrying his dog if the sanctity of marriage is not upheld; search for words like marriage, man and dog.

3
. Cited by Doolan, R., The baby-killers, Creation 18(1):4, December 1995–February 1996. Also found online at www.AnswersInGenesis.org/docs/1186.asp.

4
. Sorotzkin, B., The denial of child abuse: the Rind, et al. controversy, NARTH.com; Nicolosi, L., The pedophilia debate continues—and DSM is changed again, NARTH.com; and Russian region wants to allow men up to four wives, CNN.com, July 21, 1999.

5
. Episcopal Church consecrates openly gay bishop, CNN.com, November 3, 2003.

6
. Read the church proceedings for and against the Rev. Karen Dammann at www.pnwumc.org/Dammann.htm.

7
. For more information on this important point, see chapter 7: “Where did the idea of ‘millions of years’ come from?”

8
. Gill, J., Times-Picayune, New Orleans, March 5, 2004.

9
. Two things to note in this section: (1) The idea is already with us that gay “couples” should be freely able to donate their sperm to surrogate mothers or to clone their DNA to perpetuate their own genes. So if there is any genetic basis to homosexuality (i.e., “made that way”), then this too will increase the frequency of homosexuality in future generations. (2) Regarding the capacity of an individual to stop his or her homosexual behavior, we wish to observe that even with what sin has done in this fallen world, the Bible promises that we will not be tested beyond what we can endure (1 Corinthians 10:13) because the power of God is available to all believers.

10
. See Colossians 1:15–20 as well.

11
. Malachi 2:15: “Has not the Lord made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth.”

12

What’s the Best “Proof” of Creation?

Ken Ham

If the Bible’s account of creation is true, you may ask, then what’s the best proof I can give to someone? Why doesn’t all the evidence for creation convince scientists that evolution is wrong? Well, it’s not that simple. In this chapter, we will examine the presuppositions that all people have and how this affects their interpretation of the evidence. We need to help evolutionists understand their own naturalistic presuppositions and see that the same “evidence” fits very nicely—in fact, even better—within a biblical worldview.

In this ongoing war between creation and evolution, Christians are always looking for the strongest evidence for creation. They are looking for the “magic bullet” that will prove to their evolutionist friends that creation is true and evolution is false. This craving for evidence has led some Christians to be drawn to what we might call “flaky evidence.” Over the past several years, some so-called “evidence” for creation has been shown not to be reliable. Some of these are

• supposed human and dinosaur footprints found together at the Paluxy River in Texas.
  
• the small accumulation of moon dust found by the Apollo astronauts.
  
• a boat-like structure in the Ararat region as evidence of Noah’s Ark.
  
• a supposed human hand print found in “dinosaur-age rock.”
  
• a dead “plesiosaur” caught near New Zealand.
  

Most well-meaning, informed creationists would agree in principle that things which are not carefully documented and researched should not be used. But in practice, many of them are very quick to accept the sorts of evidences mentioned here, without asking too many questions. They are less cautious than they might otherwise be, because they are so keen to have “our” facts/evidences to counter “theirs.” What they really don’t understand, however, is that it’s not a matter of “their evidence vs. ours.”
All
evidence is actually interpreted, and
all
scientists actually have the
same
observations—the same data—available to them.

Evidence

Creationists and evolutionists, Christians and non-Christians, all have the
same
evidence—the same facts. Think about it: we all have the same earth, the same fossil layers, the same animals and plants, the same stars—the facts are all the same.

The difference is in the way we all
interpret
the facts. And why do we interpret facts differently? Because we start with different
presuppositions
; these are things that are assumed to be true without being able to prove them. These then become the basis for other conclusions.
All
reasoning is based on presuppositions (also called
axioms
). This becomes especially relevant when dealing with past events.