In any case, I think that a lot of what Hanegraaff writes in Has God Spoken? is sound Biblical exegesis. In the process of showing believers how to defend the veracity of the Bible via his standard method of memorable acrostics, he demonstrates why such critics as Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Bill Maher, Paul Ehrman and President Barack Obama (who apparently gets his information about the Bible from viewing the West Wing [Chapter 22]) are just wrong when they attempt to criticize the Bible without truly understanding it in context. Throughout the book, he offers sound evidence from manuscript evidence, archaeology and predictive prophecy to support the Bible’s claim of being God’s inspired Word.
Unfortunately, the Bible Answer Man ultimately leaves a wedge of doubt in the Biblical foundation he sets out to support.

Firstly, he holds to an extraBiblical “Two Books” approach to revelation [p. 97]. Basically, this is the idea that we can know God through both Nature [natural revelation] and the Bible [supernatural revelation], which is true at face value. The error comes in thinking that Nature and the Bible are equal authorities. Jesus correctly noted that no man can serve two masters [authorities] and in the end he will ultimately prefer one over the other. Hanegraaff forgets that nature requires interpretation and that in modern times it is largely being interpreted by men who are statistically speaking at enmity with God and suppressing the truth in unrighteousness by insisting that science operate by pure naturalism. Since supernatural explanations are precluded from all consideration, science then becomes not a search for truth but a search for all-natural answers, whether true or not [and which are most certainly false where supernatural agency was actually responsible]. The consistent Christian must hold the Bible as a superior revelation to natural revelation and must say, “Let God be true and every man a liar,” where the “Two Books” differ in their interpretation. Otherwise, our worldview and our interpretation of the Bible is arbitrary, for we will reinterpret the Bible where it speaks of a young Earth because of uniformitarian interpretations of natural revelation, but will affirm miracles and the Resurrection despite the protests of that same naturalistic science! Worse still, as our ultimate authority is neither naturalistic science nor Biblical revelation, we reduce Biblical interpretation to relativism; that is, we become the ultimate authority since we decide when one authority is true or false when it speaks of Creation, miracles, the Flood, the Resurrection, etc.

Hanegraaff comes close to affirming Stephen Jay Gould’s non-overlapping magisteria, or NOMA: the idea that science and religion operate in separate but equal domains (science dealing with fact, and religion with spiritual and moral matters). It is purest dissemblance. Jesus refuted this concept in John 3:12 when he asked Nicodemus, “If I tell you of earthly things and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of spiritual things?” The moral and spiritual claims of Biblical Christianity are intimately tied to its earthly, historical claims (e.g., our Blessed Hope is tied to the historical veracity of the Resurrection). Hanegraaff must know this because he makes the following statement with little modification at least three times in this discourse:

“…miracles are not only possible but necessary in order to make sense of the universe in which we live. According to modern science, the universe not only had a beginning but is unfathomably fine-tuned to support life. Not only so, but the origin of life, information in the genetic code, irreducible complexity in biological systems, and the phenomenon of the human mind pose intractable difficulties for merely natural explanations. Thus, reason forces us to look beyond the natural world to a supernatural Designer who not only sustains the world but intervenes in the affairs of his created handiwork” [p. 97, see also 135 & 288].

At first glance, Hanegraaff’s statement would find acceptance within Biblical [young earth] Creationists circles, for what he states here is true. Furthermore, I cannot imagine a Biblical Creationist disagreeing with Hanegraaff’s observation that:

“If we are willing to believe that God created the heavens and the earth – as opposed to the untenable notion that nothing created everything – there is little difficulty respecting the Flood account” [p. 97].

He seems to be speaking the language, but we need to ask ourselves: How does Hanegraaff believe God created the heavens and the earth? Does he believe that God created the cosmos in 6 literal 24-hour days according to Genesis and Exodus 20:11? In answering that question, he warns that “the language of Scripture is a heavenly condescension so that we might comprehend both the nature and purposes of an infinite God” [p. 216] and then complains that Genesis is “difficult to categorize,” being “largely a historical narrative interlaced with symbolism and repetitive poetic structure” [p. 217]. After this dissemblance, concludes that:

“[Genesis] Chapter 1 presents a hierarchy of creation memorably associated with days of the week. Chapter 2 focuses on the crowning jewels of God’s creation mandated to be in a right relationship with their Creator as well as the whole of creation… In both chapters, the depiction of a chronological order of creation events is merely a literary device employed to facilitate the author’s primary concern, which is to reveal God’s purposes in creation” [p. 216].

One is tempted to ask Hanegraaff the question God asked in Job: “Were you there?” You see, that’s a fair question, for – unless the Bible Answer Man has a time machine – by what authority does he claim the Creation Week was merely a literary construct or that a hierarchy of creation was associated with days of the week, as opposed to the Creation Week being, well, an actual 6-day period of 24-hour days?? If he says by the authority of science, he is speaking of science chained to naturalism which precludes supernatural agency or revelation from all consideration. In other words, if he appeals to science ala’ naturalism, he has a problem for such science denies the possibility of a personal Creator as the Bible describes. In attempting to accommodate millions of years insisted upon by evolutionists, Hanegraaff is forced to allegorize Genesis in broad strokes; but in doing so he cannot appeal to the Bible he wishes to defend, for the Bible speaks again of a personal Creator and a plain sense reading of Genesis 1 and 2 reveals a cosmos created in six consecutive 24-hour days (which further serve as the basis of God’s 4th Commandment). Holding neither as an absolute authority, he has made himself the ultimate authority over the Bible and science!

The second mistake Hanegraaff makes is predictable. Almost all extraBiblical [old earth] creationists make the mistake of conflating nature itself with the interpretations of scientists who study nature. As I’ve mentioned more times than I care to count, the origins argument isn’t about facts. We have the same rocks, fossils, plants, animals, chemistry, planets, universe – the same facts as evolutionists. Yet facts are not self-explanatory. Facts must be interpreted. As explained already, when he accepts the interpretations of folks biased against supernatural agency or revelation, he’s abandoning wisdom. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge. If we begin with a presupposition [pure naturalism] which precludes the fear and knowledge of God, we will not find truth. Since no man can love two masters [authorities], the claims of one authority will have to be re-interpreted [or abandoned] to fit one or the other [naturalism or supernaturalism]. It is impossible to escape bias when it comes to the origins issue, so there’s no use pretended we ought to be neutral. We either believe the Bible is authoritative or we don’t; we either hold it to be the flawed work book of pre-scientific men or we believe it never came at any time by the will of men. There is no neutral ground, and neither science nor nature may make any claim; rather scientists interpret nature and make claims about it. Forgetting the naturalistic bias inherent in old earth dating methods, Hanegraaff does not realize that in trying to appear rational, he’s actually made the foolish mistake of letting Bible-doubters dictate how the Bible is to be interpreted. Professing himself wise, he becomes a fool, simply because he did not remember that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge [Proverbs 9:10].

In short, what Hanegraaff has done is to make the assumption that facts or science speaks for itself, when it is actually interpreted. This allows him to erroneously claim that “those who tenaciously follow evidence wherever it leads will read both the book of Scripture and the book of science with an open mind” [p. 216 & 247]. We can’t follow the evidence wherever it leads because facts do not speak for themselves. We cannot read the book of science because science is an interpretation of nature and, thus, we must take into account the bias and presuppositions of those doing the interpretation before we take their claims as “gospel.” While it is true that God-honoring science and Scripture will never be in opposition, this is because we interpret the evidence in light of the more perfect revelation of Scripture rather than re-interpreting Scripture in light of the naturalistic interpretations of men who are, statistically speaking, at enmity with God.

His credulous and naïve view of nature/science causes him to make the further mistake of advising his readers concerning the age of the Earth, “Those concerned with chronology need look no further than God’s revelation in the book of nature” [p. 216]. In fact, he further claims that “to believe… that the earth is five thousand years old is no doubt related to a miscomprehension of the genres of Genesis… Genesis is not designed to answer the age question – that question is answered in God’s other book, the book of nature” [p. 247].

Where does he get the Mormon-esque idea that God wrote another book in nature? From a misapprehension of the meaning of Romans 1:20, which states that God’s invisible qualities, namely His eternal power and divine Godhead, are clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse for not believing in God. This is why the Bible says it is the fool who convinces himself there is no God. [Psalm 14:1; 53:1]. We could quote other verses that point to the idea that creation testifies of its Creator; however, we must remember at the very least that the Fall has changed God’s original creation. Nature may testify of God’s existence and power, but it relates His nature imperfectly. If we only had the book of nature with all of its death, suffering and disease to tell us of God, we would suspect that He was an ogre! Clearly, we require the more perfect light of Scripture to calibrate our interpretations of nature. Ironically, Hanegraaff notes that reason sans revelation is insufficient [p. 285], but he nonetheless accepts the naturalistic age of the earth with credulity and insists that we must re-interpret Scripture in light of inferior revelation!

Due to this error, he also must re-interpret the Genesis account of the Noachian Flood [an incredible tragedy given the fact that he goes to such great lengths to defend the historicity of the Flood in Chapter 11]:

“In reality the biblical text is not designed to communicate whether the Flood was global with respect to the earth or universal with respect to humanity. That debate is ultimately settled by a proper “reading” of the book of nature. Since civilization was largely confined to the Fertile Crescent, one need not automatically presume that the floodwaters covered the globe” [97].

Why does he dissemble here, when the Bible plainly speaks of an earth-covering flood? How does he even come to entertain the possibility that the Flood was only anthropologically universal, when the Bible states that God’s intent was not only to destroy man, but animals and creeping things from the face of the earth as well [Gen. 6:7]? How could it have only been universal with respect to humanity, when God told Noah He was going to “bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die” [Gen 6:17]? Are we to believe that all air-breathing animal life was likewise contained to the Fertile Crescent?? Of course, the answer to this dissemblance is that he believes that geologists chained to pure naturalism have proven the earth to be millions of years old, so he must diminish the event to something that did not, in fact, cover all the mountains and high hills under the whole heaven, so that everything that moved upon the earth and in whose nostrils was the breath of life died, except Noah and those aboard the Ark [Gen. 7:19-23].

He does so because he has accepted “another gospel,” the book of nature, which he arbitrarily holds as his ultimate authority concerning the age of the earth, forcing him to re-interpret and allegorize any Scripture that contradicts a timeline designed to explain the universe as if came to be by purely natural processes; which is to say, without God. He does not hold the book of nature as his ultimate authority when it comes to the historicity of Adam’s Fall or the Resurrection. In fact, he reveals himself to be rather double-minded about the whole thing, for while he says the age of the Earth is determined by science, he also notes that “the panoply of Scripture makes plain [that] Jesus is the eternal Creator, who spoke and limitless galaxies leaped into existence” [p. 237].

As an antidote to the Bible Answer Man’s apparent double-mindedness, I recommend the following:

“If we are willing to believe the Biblical account that God created the heavens and the earth in six literal, consecutive 24-hour days – as opposed to the untenable notion that nothing created everything over millions of years – there is little difficulty respecting the world-covering Flood account.”

Yet in all fairness, I suspect that Hanegraaff realizes he’s gone too far. Note for example his thoughts on Genesis chapter 3:

“If Genesis were reduced to an allegory conveying merely abstract ideas about temptation, sin, and redemption, devoid of any correlation with actual events in history, the very foundation of Christianity would be destroyed. If the historical Adam and Eve did not eat the forbidden fruit and descend into a life of habitual sin resulting in death, there is no need for redemption” [217].

Hanegraaff is referring here to the connection between Creation and the Cross, a chain that is plainly evident even to atheists like Frank Zindler. Bottom line: If a literal Adam did not Fall, there is no need for a literal Savior to literally die for our sin and literally rise again to give us the promise of eternal life. As Zindler so crassly put it, allegorizing Genesis puts Christ out of a job.

Yet when the Bible Answer Man denigrates Genesis 1 and 2 to mere “literary devices,” he’s definitely allegorizing Scripture! Yet both the Matthew 6:24 principle and the law of noncontradiction require that Hanegraaff deny or re-interpret either Scripture or the book of nature when they are found in conflict. I find it disappointing that a man who has dedicated his ministry to the defense of the Bible nonetheless chooses to re-interpret the revealed Word of a perfect creator God who knows everything, never lies and was there rather than the error-prone, ever-changing graspings of men who weren’t there, don’t know everything and interpret nature by a methodology that precludes supernatural agency or revelation from all consideration!

In the end, Has God Spoken? is a disappointing but illuminating example of how attempting to defend the Bible’s inspiration without holding it as your ultimate authority over extraBiblical sources is arbitrary and ultimately self-defeating. Hanegraaff’s “two books” approach is iron mixed with baked clay, partly strong and partly brittle. If you’re looking for a book to defend the Bible, I recommend you look elsewhere. I personally recommend How Do We Know the Bible Is True? (edited by Ken Ham and Bodie Hodge) if you’re looking for a book that faithfully defends the Bible as our ultimate authority.

Rev. Tony Breeden

From the Bookwyrm’s Lair

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Fortunately, God wasn’t ready to give up on me just yet. Fast forward a couple decades, and you’re looking at a Gospel preacher and Creation speaker, the founder of DefGen.org, CreationLetter.com and CreationSundays.com. But when I look back on a decade wasted to unbelief, I wish I had something like the Answers Book 4 Teens back then. Something to answer the questions I had. Something to answer the challenges my science teacher threw at me. Something to give me reason to stand firm. Something to give to my friends to help them stay the course. You see, I wasn’t the only one shaken loose from the faith by the wedge of evolution and millions of years. Few of us eventually returned to the fold. Most graduated from church when they graduated high school, never to return.

The Answers Book 4 Teens [AB4T], the newest addition to Answers in Genesis’ popular Answer Book series, does an admirable job of answering 15 relevant questions that teens of this decade [or any other] are asking about the Bible, God, the origins debate and morality:

1. How can anyone believe that the Bible is true since it was written so long ago when people didn’t know stuff?
2. If God’s really so great, why does He let so much pain and bad stuff happen in the world, like earthquakes, floods, and wars?
3. I believe God created the earth, but does it really matter how old the earth is?
4. Who has the most evidence – creationists or evolutionists?
5. With everything I hear about God not existing… how can we even know that He does exist?
6. Come on, why would God punish the whole world for one guy’s mistake?
7. If God really loved the world, why would He make a flood to kill everyone off?
8. How could God populate the world with just two people a few thousand years ago?
9. Should people from different races marry each other, or is that wrong?
10. Why should I listen to what the Bible says about sex?
11. If Christians are supposed to love everybody, why do they always seem to hate gay people?
12. How are we supposed to talk about God and the Bible in school when it’s illegal?
13. How can we be sure Jesus is the only way to get to God?
14. The Bible… and dinosaurs… and dragons?
15. Why would God ever want to save someone as messed up as me?

The AB4T doesn’t dumb the material down like so many other well-meaning resources. The Introduction provides a definition of terms and the rest of the book is given in an understandable, conversational manner than doesn’t condescend or insult a teen’s intelligence. We have a Biblical obligation to teach our children about God and His Word. We should thank our Creator for such resources as this in our day and age! I urge churches to buy this book in bulk for their teens. I urge fathers and mothers to buy this book both as a personal reference for how to answer their children’s burning questions and to give to their children so they can read these answers for themselves. Armed with such truth, perhaps this next generation can avoid the unbelief that prevailed in mine.

This book is available at Amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/Answer-Book-Teens-Bodie-Hodge/dp/0890516227/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321331442&sr=8-1

-Rev Tony Breeden, from the Bookwyrm’s Lair

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the New Leaf Publishing Group Book review program on CreationConversations.com <http://www.creationconversations.com/group/bookreviewersfornewleafpublishinggroup>. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Pieces of Light

Julie Cave reminds me a little of fellow Christian authors Frank Peretti or Ted Dekker in that she doesn’t pull any punches whilst delivering a riveting, yet relevant story. Her characters are flawed and deal with real-world problems. When I was a kid, I used to dread Christian film and fiction precisely because the characters, especially the protagonists, were so perfect and super spiritual once they got saved (which they inevitably did within the first few chapters or scenes). Cave’s protagonist, ex-FBI agent Dinah Harris, deals with lingering alcoholism, dating as a Christian, and guilt over past sins while trying to solve the identity and motives of a church bomber. Cave also tackles uncomfortable issues like domestic violence and church hypocrisy with unflinching honesty.

This book is part page-turning thriller and part mystery with dashes of drama and thought-provoking dialogue thrown in for good measure. It is so well-written that, even though I figured out who the bomber was before the protagonist, I was still very much interested in why they resorted to terrorism.  

As a Biblical Creationist, I was bemused to discover a further reason why Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis calls Julie Cave his favorite mystery writer. On page 188, I discovered Andy and Sandra Coleman of Genesis Legacy ( an apologetics ministry based out of Cincinnati, Ohio… I’m smiling!), who are experiencing the same sort of misinformation campaign and legal opposition from humanists and atheists to their proposed Ark Experience attraction in Kentucky that the real-world Ark Encounter has been subjected to. As you might expect, this book contains an excellent refutation of the false charges leveled against the Ark Encounter and reminds us that our Founding fathers fought for freedom of religion, not freedom from it.  

Bottom line: It’s an entertaining read with a solid Biblical worldview. Well worth picking up.

From the Bookwyrm’s Lair,

Rev Tony Breeden

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the New Leaf Publishing Group Book review program on CreationConversations.com <http://www.creationconversations.com/group/bookreviewersfornewleafpublishinggroup>. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

To remedy this situation, Ken Ham and Bodie Hodge set out to create a “simple road map to follow that sets the stage, creates the context, and helps you effectively navigate the scope and relevance of God’s Word.” Or to put it more simply, Begin wants to give you the Big Picture of what the Bible’s about, from beginning to end. Since they’ve tailored this work for new believers and seekers who often have a hard time with the Middle English wording of the beloved King James, they chose the English Standard Version (ESV) of the Scriptures for readability’s sake.

Their road map consists of five sections of the Bible:

• Genesis 1-11 (The Foundation)
• Exodus 20:1-17 (The Ten Commandments)
• John (The Gospel)
• Romans (An Epistle or Letter from Paul to Christians)
• Revelation 21-22 (The Fulfillment in Heaven)

Begin isn’t just a Bible; it’s also filled with commentary that fills the reader in on the relevant history that occured between each section, short articles on basics every Christian needs to know, what it means to be saved, why we can trust our Bible, and more. Within the Scripture sections themselves are questions for the reader to ponder, Biblical cross-references and quick facts to give the reader perspective.

Better still, the seeker or new believer can use Begin as a Bible study. You see, in addition to lined space in the margins of each page for personal thoughts and notes, there are reflective questions and ample note space at the end of passages of Scripture. For example, after reading John 1-3, the reader is given the following challenge:

“Notice the big picture. God made a perfect world and we messed it up. In the same way the Lord sought after Adam and Eve in Genesis 3, so the Lord sought after us. God is indeed a loving, merciful, and gracious God. How much more should we love God?”

I would definitely recommend this resource to seekers and new believers. I might even suggest that Christians who’ve been in the church a bit longer also go through as a Bible study. It makes an excellent refresher course on the big picture of the Bible.

From the Bookwyrm’s Lair,

Rev Tony Breeden

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the New Leaf Publishing Group Book review program on CreationConversations.com <http://www.creationconversations.com/group/bookreviewersfornewleafpublishinggroup>. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

In all honesty, I actually learned a few things from this resource – and I’m quite nearly a lifelong Bible scholar and preacher of the Gospel. No apologist should be without this handy reference, which in light of 2 Peter 3:15 is to say that no Bible-affirming Christian should neglect to read this material.

One of the things Demolishing Contradictions indirectly highlights is the bankruptcy of the King James Only movement. Like a lot of preachers I know, I’m King James – just not King James Only. As Bodie Hodge and Stacia McKeever note “the idea that one inerrant copy lineage has been passed along is a relatively new idea that, sadly, doesn’t take into account the past” (p. 82 emphasis in original). Even the translators of the King James Version noted that translation was necessary, for “without translation into the vulgar tongue, the unlearned are but like children at Jacob’s well (which is deep) [John 4:11] without a bucket or something to draw with” [http://www.ccel.org/bible/kjv/preface/pref4.htm]. It is an unfortunate and stubborn fact that the Authorized Version is written in Early Modern English and, as a consequence, the language is becoming increasingly anachronistic. For example, as Demolishing Contradictions alludes to, the KJV translators rendered the word owph in Leviticus 11:13 as “fowls,” which makes it seem as if Moses is calling a bat a bird in Leviticus 11:19; as Bodie Hodge notes “owph simply means “to fly” or “has a wing.” So the word includes birds, bats, and even flying insects’” (p. 56). One also has to caution modern readers that the word “replenish” in Genesis 1:22 doesn’t mean “refill,” but rather to “fill.” “The English word has changed meaning over the centuries so that the word replenish today generally means ‘refill’” (p. 33). By insisting that the Living Word be arbitrarily preserved in an increasingly dead language, the King James Only movement repeats the historical error of the Catholic Church who tried to have the Bible arbitrarily preserved in Latin and forbade translation into “vulgar tongues;” both commit the error of “burying their talent in the sand” when they ought to be multiplying what the Master has given them [Matthew 25]. They also make the Bible increasingly inaccessible to those who need it; it is not those who are well who need a healer but the sick [Mark 2:17] – church folk need to sort out their priorities. The King James needs a faithful update. The Great Commission requires it.

Having said this, I do not want to give the impression that Demolishing Contradictions is an attack on the King James. It is not. As I said, in answering some of these alleged Bible contradictions, the contributors have unavoidably highlighted the issue.

As the back cover reminds us, “With nearly two-thirds of young people leaving the church when they move from home, there has never been a more important time to have reasoned response for those who desire only to undermine your faith… It is imperative that believers are able to stand firm in their faith, and have answers to the culture’s attacks on the Bible.” Here’s a list of the questions this resource answers:

• Was Abel eating meat soon after the Curse when he wasn’t supposed to be (Genesis 1:29), since he kept the flocks and sacrificed an animal in Genesis 4:2-4?
• Why didn’t Adam and Eve die the moment they ate, as Genesis 2:17 implies?
• Does Genesis 1 teach the sky was solid?
• Why would God tell Adam and Eve to “replenish” the earth in Genesis 1:22 if they were the first humans?
• Were Noah’s sons born when he was 500 as Genesis 5:32 says or not as stated in Genesis 7:6 and Genesis 11:10?
• Why do names of places appear in both the pre-Flood and post-Flood world? Does this refute a global Flood that should have destroyed such places?
• Do Genesis 10 and 11 contradict each other about the origins of nations and people groups?
• Is Lot Abraham’s nephew or his brother?
• Do snakes really eat dust like Genesis says?
• Do Genesis 1 and 2 give different accounts?
• Does Genesis 1:15 say the moon emits its own light?
• Is it okay to kill, like David killing Goliath or Joshua eliminating Canaanites? Or is killing forbidden?
• Did Moses make an error when he called a bat a bird?
• Did Moses say that insects have only four legs?
• How could Moses be the author of Deuteronomy when his obituary is listed as the last chapter?
• Does God both bless and condemn marriages between close relations?
• Can God be seen face to face (Genesis 32:30; Exodus 33:11) or not (Exodus 33:20; John 1:18; 1 John 4:12)?
• Does God change His mind?
• Could the loving God of the Old Testament order the complete destruction of the inhabitants of Jericho found in the Old Testament?
• Was Solomon really going to cut a baby in half?
• Does God condone polygamy?
• How could Ahaziah be both 22 years old and 42 years old when he started to reign?
• Was Jehoiachin set free from prison on the 25^th day (Jeremiah 52:31) of the month or the 27^th day of the month (2 Kings 25:27)?
• Did Matthew (27:9) falsely attribute a prophecy to Jeremiah that came from Zechariah (11:12-13)?
• How could the young Samuel have been sleeping in the temple when the temple was not built until much later?
• Does the Bible make a mistake in claiming that pi equals 3?
• Was Matthew incapable of basic math in his genealogy?
• Was Jesus wrong in Matthew 13:31-32 when He said that the mustard seed was the “least of all the seeds”?
• Doesn’t Jesus contradict Old Testament teachings by not stoning the adulteress, which was commanded?
• If Jesus is God’s “only begotten Son,” then how can angels and Christians also be God’s sons?
• Did Jesus tell His disciples to take a staff?
• Why does Joseph (Jesus’ supposed father) have two different fathers listed in Matthew 1:16 and Luke 3:23?
• If Jesus is God (John 1; Colossians 1; Hebrews 1; Philippians 2:5-8), then why was the Father greater than Jesus in John 14:28?
• Why do the inscriptions on Jesus’ Cross differ among the four gospels?
• Does the genealogy in Luke 3:36 give an extra Cainan not found in similar genealogies, such as Genesis 11:12?
• If Jesus was to be in the grave three days and three nights, how do we fit those between Good Friday and Easter Sunday?
• Why was Rahab praised for lying in James 2:25 when lying is forbidden in the Ten Commandments?
• Did Judas Iscariot die by hanging (Matthew 27:5) or did he die by falling and bursting open (Acts 1:18)?
• Can all sins be forgiven (Acts 13:39; Titus 2:14; 1 John 1:9) or not (Matthew 12:31; Mark 3:29; Luke 12:10)?
• How could Jesus be the Creator (John 1:1-3) if He was the firstborn of all creation (Colossians 1:15)?
• Can man be held accountable for his sinful actions, and yet have Christ act as a substitute for his sins?

If you don’t know the Bible-affirming answers to these questions, you should by this book, because there are answers to all of these alleged Bible contradictions. Bodie Hodge sums it up nicely: “I suggest that many non-Christians want the Bible to be full of contradictions so that it gives them a form of justification for rejecting God. In short, they don’t want God to be God, so they don’t have to be accountable to Him… [I]n trying to justify themselves, they try to attack God and His Word with alleged contradictions…, [yet] such allegations seem to ‘evaporate into thin air ‘ when one looks at the text logically, in context, and so on” (p. 132-33). We need to get these answers to an unbelieving world because as Jesus warned, if we can’t trust His Word when it speaks of earthly things, how could we trust it when it speaks of spiritual things [John 3:12]? Fortunately, as Demolishing Contradictions demonstrates, “the Bible stands solidly when faced with alleged Bible contradictions, and then logically it stands solidly in its pronouncement of the Gospel.”  

Pick up a copy today.

Rev Tony Breeden, from the Bookwyrm’s Lair

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the New Leaf Publishing Group Book review program on CreationConversations.com <http://www.creationconversations.com/group/bookreviewersfornewleafpublishinggroup>. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

This volume touches upon 28 relevant apologetics issues providing Biblical answers to questions such as:

• Was Genesis derived from ancient myths? Did Moses write Genesis? Is the age of the earth a salvation issue?
• Are the Old and New Testament Scriptures reliable? How did we get the Bible in English?
• What about the “factual” claims of The DaVinci Code? Did the Resurrection really happen? What about miracles?
• How do we make sense of the Trinity and does the really Bible teach this doctrine concerning God? Does the Bible teach the perpetual Virginity of Mary? Does it condone polygamy?
• Is the Bible inerrant? Do the Scriptures contain contradictions? What about other religious writings?

Contributors to this volume include Ken Ham, Bodie Hodge, Jason Lisle, Brian Edwards, Tommy Mitchell, Steve Ham, Jobe Martin, Steve Fazekas, Terry Mortenson, Paul Taylor, Tim Chaffey, Herb Samworth, Roger Patterson, Bob McCabe, Georgia Purdom, Jim Gardner and John MacArthur (who delivers a truly inspirational Afterword). I also enjoyed Dr. Purdom’s discussion of laminin and her warning against seeking after signs; her thoughts meshed well with Ken Ham’s discussion on how we ought to use evidence and how we ought to avoid continuing to use once-cherished evidences that have proven to be false. I could not in good conscience end this review without recommending Tim Chaffey’s assessment of the “factual” claims of The da Vinci Code, and Chaffey and McCabe’s excellent analysis of Framework Hypothesis. Lisle also provides some bite-sized excerpts of his arguments on from The Ultimate Proof of Creation.

We need to arm ourselves with good apologetic resources like this one because, as Jim Gardner notes, “This [culture] war is really about the authority of Scripture. Either God meant exactly what He said and said exactly what He meant regarding the creation account, or He didn’t” [p. 210 - brackets mine]

-Rev Tony Breeden, from the Bookwyrm’s Lair

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the New Leaf Publishing Group Book review program on CreationConversations.com <http://www.creationconversations.com/group/bookreviewersfornewleafpublishinggroup>. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Having reviewed Carl Werner’s Evolution: The Grand Experiment – Volume 1 a few months back, I eagerly awaited the opportunity to crack open Volume 2: Living Fossils. Like the first volume, Living Fossils

While Volume 1 tackled several lines of evidence used to support evolution at once, this volume deals with one specific issue.

Basically, Dr. Carl Werner set out to test the evolutionary model in the following manner:

“I predicted that if evolution was not true, then animals and plants would not change significantly over time. Accordingly, I predicted I should find fossils of modern animal and plant species in the “older” fossil layers” [p. 10].

He notes that “the naming of species is subjective and, at times, I find species and genus names unreliable” [p. 23]. As an example, he notes that scientists once mistakenly believed different “races” of humans represented more than 15 different species, while modern genetics have proven we are but one species. He also notes wide variations in dogs, in a single species of oysters and in sassafras leaves [even from the same tree]. He further noted that while he and his wife photographed many modern-appearing plants and animals in the fossil record, not one fossil was assigned a modern species name. He became convinced that evolutionist were playing what he calls the Naming Game.

As he puts it:

“If a paleontologist was unfamiliar with the variations within living species, it is possible  he or she could misinterpret differences and mistakenly give each fossil a new, erroneous species name, based on minor changes only. Taking it one step further, this name change could give the false impression that evolution, or dramatic change, has occured over time. The only way this can be sorted out is to look at the fossils and living forms” [p. 18]. 

This is exactly what Dr. Werner has set out to do in this volume; He painstakingly takes us through the plant and animal kingdoms, showing us modern-looking dinosaur era fossils and their probable living counterparts. It is an amazing book of which Dr. Werner should be proud.

I can’t wait to check out the next book in the series.

You can find out more about the book and follow a link to purchase it at http://thegrandexperiment.com.

-Rev Tony Breeden
From the Bookwyrm’s Lair

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the New Leaf Publishing Group Book review program on CreationConversations.com <http://www.creationconversations.com/group/bookreviewersfornewleafpublishinggroup>. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Of course, the book is something of a riff off Paul’s Letter to American Christians, November 4, 1956 by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The most oft-quoted section of this letter stands as a undeniable indictment of the modern church – as much as it did more than 50 years ago:

“There is another thing that disturbs me to no end about the American church. You have a white church and you have a Negro church. You have allowed segregation to creep into the doors of the church.  How can such a division exist in the true Body of Christ? You must face the tragoc fact that when you stand at 11:00 on Sunday morning to sing ‘All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name’ and ‘Dear Lord and Father of Mankind,’ you stand in the most segregated hour of Christian America.”

Not much has changed in nearly 55 years! There are a variety of reasons why, ranging from base racism and hatred to apathy and Biblical ignorance. Some folks still try to justify segregation by twisting God’s Word. Dr. King himself mentioned that some “argue that the Negro is inferior by nature because of Noah’s curse upon the children of Ham.” Many cults have tried to say that the so-called “curse of Ham” was the beginning of the “Negroid race,” but this is nonsense. First of all, the curse was upon Canaan (Ham’s son) who fathered the Mediterranean Canaanite peoples who settled in modern-day Israel, Lebanoon and Syria; in other words, olive-skinned people groups. Oops.

Second and most importantly of all, God is for diversity. No, don’t shake your head, because He is. Consider the following. The Bible reminds us that He has made “of one blood all nations of men” [Acts 17:26], which means that He packed all of the genetic potential for every shade from black to white into Adam and Eve. Consider also, the birth of the Church. We know of course that “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” [Galatians 3:28], but have you really thought out what occured at Pentecost? In Acts chapter 2, the Holy Spirit is poured out upon the church. The Bible records that there were in Jerusalem “Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven” (verse 5). It started with every nation, and in fact each person present heard the Spirit-filled disciples speak in their own language (verse 6).  And after Peter’s sermon, we find that about 3,000 souls (verse 41) were added to the Church… from every nation under heaven! Why should this surprise us? Doesn’t our Great Commission tell us to make disciples of all nations [Matthew 28:19, Mark 16:15, Acts 1:8] and that we are to be witnesses to the uttermost ends of the earth? Doesn’t the Word record that God pulled Philip out of a revival in Samaria so that he might bring the Gospel to an Ethiopian eunuch? God cares about diversity. It’s in the origins of mankind, the birth of the church, in our commission… and Bible fortells that God will have His perfect way. The Book of Revelation records that John saw “a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands” (Rev.7:9) as a fulfillment of the Great Comission that He charged us with!

So why shouldn’t our churches reflect the kind of diversity God intended from the beginning of the Church and certainly intends as its end result? That’s right; there is no reason why not.

Williams invites us throughout this book to assess ourselves and our churches, to believe in our potential for the kind of Biblical diversity God desires and to change the church for the better. On purpose. In other words, he provokes us to build God’s Kingdom rather than little clubs for those who match our shade of melanin.

Diversity takes intentionality.

Learn more about this book and how you can get involved in the We Are Church Diversity movement at ChurchDiversity.com.

From the Bookwyrm’s Lair,
Rev Tony Breeden

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the New Leaf Publishing Group Book review program on CreationConversations.com <http://www.creationconversations.com/group/bookreviewersfornewleafpublishinggroup>. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Already Compromised is something of a sequel to Already Gone: Why Your Kids Will Quit Church & What You Can Do About It. Both books are based on research conducted by America’s Research Group. Both also statistically verify a trend toward compromise with evolution and millions of years, which results in a large number of people abandoning the faith.

Since the information in Already Gone is applicable to Already Comprised, you should definitely read both books. I even recommend that you read them in order to get the full effect. Already Gone documents the effect that teaching kids evolution and millions of years has on their faith. It statistically demonstrates that most kids begin questioning the Bible in middle school when evolution and millions of years are actively pushed in science classrooms. It explains why a lot of our churched youth graduate from church when they graduate from high school. And, most disturbingly, it demonstrated that those who attended Sunday School regularly were actually more likely to question the Bible, hold unBiblical views and ultimately abandon the faith than those who did not attend Sunday School regularly [Yeah... we're doing it wrong]. Already Gone called for churches to begin critically evaluating their Sunday School curriculum, the quality of their teachers [train them, for crying out loud!] and their commitment to doctrine and apologetics [over Bible stories and arts and crafts time].

One of the reasons that kids who regularly attended Sunday School were more likely to doubt the Bible and begin their slippery slide out the church door was because those kids were more likely to hear a Sunday School teacher or pastor tell them that they could believe in the Bible and millions of years of microbes-to-man evolution.

Already Compromised picks up the question where it concerns Christian colleges and universities. What the researchers found is that the science department tends to have a more Biblical view of origins than the theology/Bible department. Um, what?

Let me just take a moment to state the obvious: That’s just messed up. Why should the theologians be more inclined to hold an extraBiblical view of origins than the science department?

As crazy as this sounds, 77.8% of the Religion departments of the Christian colleges and universities polled considered themselves Old Earth Creationists (with only 14.8% calling themselves Young Earth Creationists) compared to only 34.9% of the Science departments (who weighed in at 57.1% Young Earth). It appears that theologians have abdicated the battle for the mind and now defer authority to the expertise of secular scientists who are, by and large, opposed to God, supernatural agency and supernatural revelation; on the other hand, Christian scientists have been forced to evaluate the limits of science, the meaning of naturalism and the effect of evolution and millions of years on the Bible.

I’ve been seeing this for a while.

One of the other things of note that this book uncovers is a difference in perception between college presidents [who must market and fund-raise for their schools] and vice-presidents [who deal with inter-departmental issues]. Presidents tend to have a rosier view of the situation than the fellow just below them in the trenches. This is nothing more than a lack of intercommunication [and honest introspection] that Christian colleges must address.

Another, deeper issue uncovered is that those with extraBiblical, compromise views of origins tended to give the “right” answers until they were asked questions with more specificity. As the authors note, a new sort of evangelical Newspeak has crept in that uses the same language but means something completely different. This is especially troublesome where it concerns the authority of the Bible and the issue of origins!

Already Compromised contains several good appendices, including a questionaire for a prospective college [one you might pose to your pastor and Sunday School teachers as well!]. If you’re considering a Christian college, you should definitely pick up this book. You should especially consider one of the colleges listed at

http://creationcolleges.org, which list includes my alma mater, Appalachian Bible College.

This book has but one flaw: It does not spell out what this means for clergy. Make no mistake, and I say this as a member of clergy, the biggest issue here is that these compromising theology/Bible departments are training our ministers, missionaries, etc. These clergy then come to your church, my church, the church around the corner, and begin to tell their congregations and Sunday School teachers that you can believe the Bible and millions of years of microbes-to-man evolution. This leads to the predicament discussed in Already Gone of kids doubting the authority of God’s Word and abandoning the Church. Those who survive go on to attend Christian Colleges, many of which compromise where it concerns origins and, therefore Biblical authority as well. If their fate is anywhere similar to students who attend public universities, 52% of them will no longer identify themselves as born-again Christians after four years; those that do will not have attended a church service in over a year! Some of those who remain will be taught that they can accept extraBiblical views of origins, and among those will be future clergy, Sunday School teachers and missionaries… ready to propogate the ver-widening circle of apostasty and compromise.

On a personal note, this book more than any other finally sheds much-needed insight into why atheist Dr Michael Zimmerman’s pro-evolution Clergy Letter Project currently boasts the signatures of more than 12,700 signatures while the response letter at CreationLetter.com affirming the historical veracity of a literal Creation Week and a worldwide Noachian Flood has only been signed by a little more than 80 clergy. Our theology departments are simply training our clergy to believe evolution and millions of years as facts! [I realize there are other factors involved, chiefly apathy/complacency and the fragmented nature of the Creation movement itself (you know what I mean: you only meet 999, 998 of my personal 1,000,000-item critieria for a Biblical Christian, so we can't work together, amen?)]

What can we do? Is it enough to send our kids to Bible-affirming colleges? Is it enough to hold our professors accountable? No. We need to begin examining our clergy and, as much as I hate to say this as a preacher, we need to rid our pulpits and lecterns of pastors and teachers who hold compromise positions. Appendix D provides a rather handy questionaire which might be used. In any case, one must remember to be as specific as possible in order get past the evangelical Newspeak some utilize to mask their true position!

I definitely recommend this book. Purchase your copy of Already Compromised here.

Rev Tony Breeden
From the Bookwyrm’s Lair

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the New Leaf Publishing Group Book review program on CreationConversations.com <http://www.creationconversations.com/group/bookreviewersfornewleafpublishinggroup>. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The Curiosity Files™ is actually one of a series. With the aid and guidance of Professor Ana Lyze, expert in outlandish oddities, these units cover things like cicada-killing wasps, MRSA, the blue-footed booby, the dung beetle, the platypus, zombie fire ants and more! If that doesn’t peak your kid’s interest, turn off the video games, make sure you have his full attention this time and tell him again! Each E-book is about 80 to 100 pages and reasonably priced at $6.95-$7.95 apiece. Or you can simply buy the entire set of 9 E-books  for $46.00. (If you don’t know what an issue shelf space is, you haven’t been a homeschooler very long, right?) There’s also a CD version if you prefer to have your resources in a more tangible form  for $49.00.

If the Quicksand unit is any indication, you’ll want this series. While it’s aimed at children ages 8-13 years, you can adapt it to younger ones as well. It’s that versatile. It’s also pretty comprehensive and has lots of drawing and coloring pages, lapbook/notebook pages, crossword puzzles, review sheets, Bible study lessons and copywork activities. This unit follows an integrated learning model, so you literally have resources at your fingertips to cover not only science, but also math, history, geography, Bible, writing, spelling, vocabulary and arts and crafts. In addition to a really cool lesson on how quicksand works and (for the budding Indiana Jones-type explorers in your home) how to survive if you get caught in it, there’s some great hands-on experiments and internet resources to help you expand and enhance your lesson even further. The labs explore two properties of water: surface tension and viscosity. Unlike some science lessons that claim to utilize “household items,” this one really does make use of simple things we all have hanging about the joint. That’s a definite plus! We haven’t had a chance to try the edible quicksand recipe yet, but there’s gonna be some very unlucky gummy bears in this house pretty soon!

I did think the math on this unit was a bit above my child’s level. Of course, this is primarily an integrated science unit and I do have a math curriculum already. In any case, I hope future editions provide some math on some of the lower levels of the 8-to-13-year old spectrum, because the rest of the material was spot on.

Be sure to check it out The Curiosity Files™: Quicksand at TheHomeschoolMagazine.com.

From the Bookwyrm’s Lair,
Rev Tony Breeden

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through The Old Schoolhouse magazine’s book/curriculum review program <http://thehomeschoolmagazine.com>. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”