What Evolves at AiG?

Now, I’m using the word evolve in the manner it’s used when someone says something like, “His company evolved from starting in his garage as a small business to a major corporation today.”

Before I explain how AiG is evolving, let me state some things very clearly.

God’s Word never changes. Consider the following verses:

“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” (Isaiah 40:8)

“Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.” (Psalm 119:89)

The whole of Psalm 119 is a great chapter that talks about the Word of God. It’s a good reminder for us to read from time to time.

And in the New Testament, Jesus said,

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” (Matthew 24:35)

AiG’s mission doesn’t change. In summary, our mission has always been to proclaim biblical authority and the gospel, beginning with Genesis, and to equip people with answers to the attacks of our day that undermine the authority of God’s Word and the saving gospel message.

The main method of the devil’s attack will not change.

In Genesis 3, God’s Word tells us how the devil launched his attack at Adam and Eve.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say . . . ?” (Genesis 3:1)

Note that the first attack was on God’s word. The devil tempted Adam and Eve to doubt God’s word, knowing that doubt can lead to unbelief. The point is the devil’s attack was on the authority of the word of God. In 2 Corinthians, God, through the Apostle Paul, warns us that the devil is going to use the same attack to lead us away from believing God’s Word.

But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:3)

God’s Word tells us clearly that the devil’s attack of Genesis 3:1—“Did God actually say . . . ?”—is the attack the devil will use on us.

God’s Word tells us clearly that the devil’s attack of Genesis 3:1—“Did God actually say . . .?”—is the attack the devil will use on us. But even though the nature of the attack will not change, we can see through history that the way in which the attack is manifested does change. We can see that, in different eras, God’s people had to deal with different types of attacks on God’s Word, whether attacks on the deity of Christ, the bodily resurrection, the miracles recorded in Scripture, salvation by faith alone, the book of Genesis as literal history (particularly in our time), and so on. But all those attacks were attacks on the authority of God’s Word.

In our Western world, we’ve seen dramatic changes in our culture where a dominant Judeo-Christian worldview has been by and large replaced by a dominant atheistic worldview. A big part of the problem is that much of the church succumbed to the Genesis 3 attack on Genesis 1–11 and therefore allowed generations to be brainwashed by the religion of evolution/millions of years and a secular worldview.

Here is an observation I’ve made: The culture’s worldview has predominantly become one of moral relativism, pushing such issues as abortion, gay “marriage,” transgenderism, abortion, euthanasia, pedophilia, and, from a Christian worldview, many other moral evils. At the same time, many Christian leaders (in churches, academic institutions, etc.) who have allowed man’s fallible ideas about evolution/millions of years to reinterpret God’s Word in Genesis have begun to reinterpret God’s Word in other areas. We’ve seen an increasing number of churches and Christian colleges impacted by the LGBTQ worldview and becoming soft on gay “marriage,” transgenderism, and other issues.

However, as our supporters know, we have a very strict and detailed statement of faith at AiG (as all churches/Christian institutions should have), and we know God’s Word doesn’t change. We don’t change our stand on Scripture because the culture changes. If anything, our stand is bolder than ever as we see a lukewarm church with so much compromise and a culture diving into depths of depravity we’ve never experienced before.

This now brings me to the “evolving” nature of the AiG ministry.

When I and another teacher ran the first-ever creation apologetics conference in Australia in 1977, we gave talks dealing with the age of the earth, fossils, and the so-called ape-men. People needed and wanted answers to these topics. As time went on though, I found many Christians claiming that one could say God used evolution or it didn’t matter about the age of the earth anyway. I developed talks on the relevance of Genesis—that Genesis 1–11 was foundational to all doctrine, the gospel, the rest of the Bible, and our worldview. Over the years, as we made these presentations, people then wanted answers to other questions, like, “Where did Cain get his wife?” “How do you explain the ‘races’ of people?” “How do Christians understand dinosaurs?” We developed answers to these and many more questions, and you can access these answers in our books, magazines, presentations on our streaming platform Answers TV, websites, and exhibits at the Ark and Creation Museum.

In recent times, we’ve seen a dramatic change in our culture. Actually, back in the ’80s, I warned that if God’s people didn’t take the stand on Genesis as they should—if they compromised his Word and didn’t raise up generations to stand on the infallibility of God’s Word beginning in Genesis and who were equipped with answers to defend the Christian faith—we would see moral relativism take over. And this is what we have seen happen in a very short period of time.

We are now finding a lot of the questions people ask are: “How do I talk to a family member who says they are gay?” “How do I get my pastor to stand against the LGBTQ movement?” “What do we say to people who claim abortion is a woman’s right as what is in their womb is part of their body?” “Should churches be splitting over the issue of gay ‘marriage’?” and many more.

There is now a shift where these worldview moral issues are dominating the news and greatly impacting the culture.

Yes, people still have many of the same questions about Genesis we’ve been asked over the years, and we have provided answers to hundreds of them. But there is now a shift where these worldview moral issues are dominating the news and greatly impacting the culture. That is why, as I prepare my talks for churches and conferences, I now present on how to deal with these moral issues of our day. We are now producing books, giving presentations, and writing articles to provide answers regarding topics dominating the news, such as abortion, marriage, gender, racism, euthanasia, climate change, the family, and the list goes on.

At the same time, we realize the need to produce and upgrade exhibits at the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum that provide answers for these areas too. At the Ark, for instance, we have exhibits dealing with topics like race and racism, climate change, and others.

As we observed abortion becoming a major public issue in the US, we recognized the need to deal with this topic biblically and scientifically. Not only have we produced powerful books and presentations on this issue, but we built the most powerful pro-life exhibit in the world, called Fearfully & Wonderfully Made, at the Creation Museum.

Fearfully & Wonderfully Made, Creation Museum

I want to share just one example with you of the impact of the Fearfully & Wonderfully Made exhibit, which is a reminder that as the culture changes, AiG as a ministry also needs to change (or “evolve”) to make sure that we battle the current method in which the Genesis 3 attack is manifesting to destroy lives. A mother wrote to us,

Hi! I just wanted to share my daughter’s story with you and say thank you! Our family visited the Creation Museum in October (2022). My 14-year-old was profoundly touched by the Fearfully & Wonderfully Made exhibit. There was a quote on the wall at the end from a girl with a heart defect whose parents chose life and she said, “I am not a defect.” My daughter and I walked out in tears. She was born with three critical heart defects. We have prayed since then that God would use it to his glory. When we walked out, she told me that she wants to be more involved in the pro-life movement. She made it her New Year’s resolution. Yesterday, she was asked to speak at the Minnesota capitol. She will address a house committee on a horrendous abortion bill that will make MN an abortion destination and legalize partial birth abortion, among other things. The bill is expected to pass, but we are praying that her testimony softens hearts. I wanted to share her speech that she wrote and thank you for your exhibit!

Now that’s a WOW! And to excite you further, here is the speech this 14-year-old wrote (you can actually watch a video of her giving the testimony on January 18 at the following link: GetAnswers.org/abby).

Thank you, Madam Chair and members of the committee.

Hi, my name is Abby and I’m 14 years old. I was born with three critical congenital heart defects. I was rushed into surgery when I was just five hours old. Doctors told my parents I had only a 40% chance of making it through surgery. This is what I looked like after surgery.

Doctors expected my recovery to take one to two months. I was in the cardiac ICU for just 12 days. The doctors told my parents that I would be small, possibly have hearing and vision problems, learning disabilities, and would not be able to play sports. I’m in the 86th percentile for my height and have perfect vision and hearing. I’m a straight-A student. I love sports. I play basketball, AAU basketball, volleyball, off-season volleyball, run the 400 meter (which we all know is the hardest track event), I pole vault, and run the 100 and 200 meter dashes. I think adults often focus on what medical doctors say and believe them to be 100% accurate. These are the things the medical doctors said about me, but here I stand, healthy and thriving. Please don’t forget about the people like me. In 2021, at least 183 babies just like me were aborted in Minnesota. We have the right to live. I’m not a statistic or defined by my heart defect. I am NOT a defect. My life verse is Psalm 139:14, “I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” This verse is super impactful to me because I AM fearfully and wonderfully made, heart defects and all! It’s a great reminder every day that I was created on purpose for a purpose.

Abby’s mother shared that “the whole mood of the room shifted as she spoke. Afterwards, [they] got to tour the capitol and she had senators, representatives, and even the head MN Supreme Court Justice thank her for speaking.”

That’s another WOW!

This testimony is a reminder to us of the phenomenal impact the AiG ministry and attractions have, and it’s a reminder of how important it is for AiG’s mission to be monitoring the culture and providing ammunition to deal with the way the Genesis 3 attack is manifested.

AiG will continue to proclaim the truth of God’s Word and the gospel . . . and at the same time we will continue to “evolve” as the culture changes and the devil changes the way he attacks God’s Word.

So AiG will continue to proclaim the truth of God’s Word and the gospel (as we do in many ways, including the biblical teaching and apologetics answers we give through the Ark and Creation Museum), and at the same time we will continue to “evolve” as the culture changes and the devil changes the way he attacks God’s Word.

And it is through the prayers and financial support of willing partners like you that the ministry of Answers in Genesis is enabled to have the impact for Christ that we are having in today’s culture. I urge you to prayerfully consider sending a generous gift of any size today to support our many outreaches and programs funded through our core ministry.

As the Lord leads, please also consider an added gift to complete the funding for the Jerusalem model building and Welcome Center through AnswersDonate.com.

Thank you for standing with us as we continue to proclaim the truth of God’s infallible Word boldly and uncompromisingly and help people be equipped with answers to ward off these attacks that can cause doubt leading to unbelief. And, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, as the culture becomes darker, those who truly stand on God’s Word shine the light even brighter.

P.S. Please join us in impacting the younger generation for Christ—those like Abby, who was strengthened and encouraged to take a stand because of what she experienced at the Creation Museum’s Fearfully & Wonderfully Made exhibit. Your gift sent today will be a great blessing!