Readers Respond to Answers April - June 2010

Featured in Answers Magazine

I read Answers cover to cover. My 8- and 12-year-olds read the magazine and they love the Kids Section too! My older one plastered the inserts on his wall. We absolutely love reading Answers!

JESSICA S., DIMMITT, TEXAS

What If Nobody Will Listen?

Thank you for giving us a taste of the truth. As I have been reading these magazines, I have found myself second-guessing what my pastors say. It is harder for me to take them at their word knowing that they probably don’t believe everything the Bible tells them.

How do I respectfully ask my elders to pay attention to a subject they have no interest in? How do I help convince them to become so radical as to actually take the Word at its word? How do I spark interest in creation?

HOLLY H., HASTINGS, MINNESOTA

Editor’s Response: Thank you for the sobering reminder. All Christians have a duty to stand up for the truth, hard as it might seem at times, but we must always treat our church leaders with respect, as instructed in Scripture. It is not our responsibility to sell anyone on creation, but to share the truth in love. God will use our efforts as He chooses.

Tripped Up

I was disappointed to notice you are now including a parenting column (“Parent’s Corner”) written by Tedd Tripp.

I read your magazine to receive education about creation science, not to read parenting advice—especially not parenting advice from someone as adversarial as Tedd Tripp.

I expected a ministry such as yours to show more discernment in choosing a parenting column.

BRENDA K., UNIONTOWN, OHIO

Editor’s Response: Answers is not simply a creation science magazine, but a family-oriented biblical worldview magazine. As such, we include articles on a variety of worldview questions, and how to live to please our Creator.

The “Parent’s Corner” section includes practical advice by various Christian writers. Dr. Tripp, author of Shepherding a Child’s Heart, agrees fully with the magazine’s doctrinal positions and is widely respected for his discernment on parenting.

“Ants” a Hit in Kids Answers

I read it to my 3-year-old daughter for the first time this month. I asked her the checklist questions at the end, and she answered honestly, not what she thought I wanted to hear. Now I can remind her to be like an ant and it works sometimes!

BECKY C., KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI

The honeypot ants captured our attention. Everyone wanted to know how they fed the other ants. Did they put a straw in the ant’s abdomen? Did the ant die after feeding all the other ants? So we did more research until we found all the answers we were looking for.

Thanks for the ant guide. It was a great science lesson and look at how God provides for the “least” of His creation.

ERIKA R., MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA

Editor’s Response: By the way, honeypot ants share their stored food by regurgitating it for others to eat.

Distant Starlight

Answers magazine recently had an article in “10 Basics Every Creationist Should Know” [about] distant starlight. Quite frankly the theories about this issue are beyond my comprehension and, I suspect, 99% of the population. Thus, how would I or any Christian be able to explain this to a nonbeliever and convince him?

LARRY A., SOPHIA, NORTH CAROLINA

Editor’s Response: Admittedly, this is a difficult topic. That’s the reason we provided links to more in-depth discussions at www.answersmagazine.com/go/10basics. Creationists have developed several scientific models of distant starlight that are consistent with Genesis, whereas evolutionists have their own major difficulties explaining it. As the article mentioned in a footnote, the author plans to publish the details of his own theory later this summer.

Quote or Misquote?

In his article “Order in the Fossil Record” (Answers, Jan–Mar, 2010, p. 64), Dr. Snelling cites one of my editorials in the Creation Research Society Quarterly as a prime example of creationists denying the existence of the geologic column.

Actually, I never suggested there was not some form of column or that sites such as Grand Canyon or Zion Canyon do not have a distinct stratigraphy. My argument was strictly that the standard ages for these stratigraphies were assigned and correlated by use of fossils (i.e., biostratrigraphy).

Kevin Anderson, Editor, Creation Research Society Quarterly

Dr. Andrew Snelling, director of research at Answers in Genesis, responds: At issue here is the validity of the geologic record whose rock layers can be correlated worldwide, and that was the whole point of the article.

Your choice of words above, that there is “some form of column” at Grand Canyon and Zion Canyon, seems to indicate that you reject the concept of this worldwide correlation of the geologic record.

The reality is that fossils, like any other property such as rock types, can be legitimately used to correlate rock units across continents. Furthermore, there is an observable order of occurrence of the fossils which cannot be denied, even though evolutionists claim that it is an evolutionary order, instead of the order of burial during the Flood.

If I misstated your position, I apologize; but I believe I have simply stated your expressed view and have given a differing interpretation of the observable evidence.

Answers Magazine

July – September 2010

From subtropical Madagascar to Antarctica, from frozen deserts to poisonous submarine volcanoes, creatures seem to inhabit every corner of the globe. How can they survive so well under so many different conditions? This issue includes a special section that examines life at the extremes, where God’s creative power continues to astound and delight us!

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