Readers Respond to Answers, October - December 2009

Featured in Answers Magazine

We love your magazine! It’s completely devoured and savored each time it arrives, and the articles are technical, informative, and theological enough to keep our high schoolers riveted.

CAMILLA C., HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIFORNIA

Teens Are Listening

As a teenager in a world that loves to dish out lies, I enjoy reading a mag that is full of truth! Answers in Genesis always has relevant information that helps me to be confident in what I believe in.

I found the article “Does Church Need Change?” quite challenging. It was hard-hitting, and it showed me what I can do to try to help friends whose faith is shaky.

I help teach a first-grade class at church, so this article also opened my eyes to how important it is to make sure they get solid truth at an early age. I wish everyone in my church could read this article and take up the challenge to provide answers and truth for young and old.

LAUREN H., APPLETON, WISCONSIN

Strong Attraction

[In “Who’s Number One in the Universe?”] Dan Hayden said that what holds protons and neutrons together in the nucleus of an atom is a mystery to physicists. I googled it and found that there is an answer—it is called the “strong force.” Is there such a thing?

PAUL D., REDWOOD CITY, CALIFORNIA

Dr. Jason Lisle, astrophysicist, responds: Some creationists might say that “strong force” is just a name scientists have given to a phenomenon they don’t understand, but I personally think that there is at least some understanding of it. In fact, there is an entire field of science called “quantum chromodynamics” that deals with the properties of the strong force.

The current model involves particles called “quarks” that attract each other by the strong force. My understanding is that there is some good evidence in favor of quark theory, though a small minority of physicists propose alternative models.

Human understanding always breaks down at some level though. For example, we know that mass curves spacetime, but we don’t know why.

“What Would Jesus Eat?” Three Different Responses

Thanks for Dr. Tommy Mitchell’s article on what the Bible says about what we can and cannot eat [“What Would Jesus Eat?”].

First Timothy 4:1–3 suggests some will be led astray by believing that certain things need to be avoided, including eating certain foods.

Both vegetarians and meat eaters are free to follow their consciences and should not claim that one way is more spiritual than the other.

KEN N., ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA

You miss a wonderful opportunity to again prove the validity of the Bible from the very first verse. For thousands of years, many people made meat a major part of their diet but now medical science is realizing that a vegetarian diet is healthier!

Surprise: that is what God told us in the very first chapter of the Bible! Sure, we can eat whatever we want, but some choices are healthier than others.

Christians are instructed to take care of their bodies. You do a disservice by downplaying the Almighty’s original designs.

DAVID S., UKIAH, CALIFORNIA

As a nutrition research scientist, health care practitioner, and Bible student for more than 40 years, I find this article most disturbing! Both good science and Scripture make clear the Creator’s will for human consuming of animal-source foods.

Having seen many vegetarians in my practice when their health failed long term, I find such teaching as that in your article to be very disappointing and unhealthy.

SYLVIA Z., MOBILE, ALABAMA

Is Six Literal Days Really So Important?

I love your magazine, with one exception. One reason I think we are losing our children is that the main theme of Genesis is not when God created everything but Who created it.

[Whether] the earth was created in six literal days or over billions of years is irrelevant to the main idea that God created everything and that it all points to our need of a savior in Jesus Christ. The question of when God created everything is best left up to God.

ROB M., PARMA, OHIO

Editor’s Response: The article, “Does the Church Need Change?” puts into context why Answers magazine puts so much emphasis on the time and manner of creation. The issue is the trustworthiness of the Person who described the creation, not just the account itself. We can’t separate the two, and children recognize that.

If God’s Word speaks plainly in Genesis, and it does, then His character is called into question when Christians dismiss the clear meaning of His words. If we question His first words, what does that do to our respect for the Author and the rest of what He says about His plan of salvation?

Creation is crucial because it is bound up into God’s seamless revelation of His Good News throughout history. As Al Mohler said elsewhere in the article, the Christian faith is about “God’s purpose to bring glory to Himself,” and God wove this purpose into four movements, from Creation to Consummation.

So the magazine’s emphasis is not on creation for creation’s sake but because the Creator’s own glory is at stake.

Answers Magazine

January – March 2010

Fossils are filled with mystery. They are commonly used to attack the biblical worldview, but in reality the Bible gives us the keys to help us solve these mysteries. How could recently discovered dinosaur tissue have survived until today? Why is the first fossil layer filled with such an astonishing variety of life (“the Cambrian Explosion”)? Read this issue to understand these and other mysteries of our world!

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