The Missing Ingredient in History

In the debate about the creation model, much attention is given to the sciences—irreducible complexity in organisms, radiometric dating, the distant starlight “problem,” etc. These are important issues to discuss with young people so that they are equipped with answers, to be sure. But just as important, and often overlooked, is history.

Good education involves much more than avoiding false, unbiblical claims about religion, science, or history.

The Creator has revealed Himself in both science and history, and the two subjects are intertwined. It is just as wrong to leave God out of the study of bacteria and volcanoes as it is to leave Him out of the rise and fall of nations or the extinction of dinosaurs. God made everything, He sustains everything, and He supervises events for His glory.

“Leaving God out” is probably the most serious error in education today. Doing so gives the impression that the world can run by itself and we do not need the Bible or God to understand the world, how it operates, or where it came from.

Good education involves much more than avoiding false, unbiblical claims about religion, science, or history. Real education will always point students to the source of all truth—the Creator.

This should be the criterion of every parent and every church leader when choosing educational materials for children. Many history timelines, for example, show ancient civilizations flourishing long before a biblical chronology allows. Children will often spot the contradiction if a textbook or Sunday school program says Egyptian history begins around 3000 BC, while elsewhere they see that the Bible puts Noah’s Flood around 2350 BC and Babel even later.

Thankfully, good materials are now available. With the right materials, it is relatively easy to teach students the simple truth that ancient dates are based on assumptions. Actual, verifiable, written history can be traced back only to about 2000 BC. Not surprisingly, the more archaeologists discover, the more biblical scholars are able to verify the facts of the biblical record.

For answers to frequently asked questions about the Bible and secular history, see www.answersingenesis.org/go/history.