“Were You There?”

In a presentation I give to children about dinosaurs, one of the fun things I do to teach them how to think in regard to origins is to teach them to ask, “Were you there?” when anyone talks about millions of years.

Now, if you listen to my presentation, I do say to ask very politely and not in an insolent way. It’s really one of those fun times during my talk that the kids, and adults too, love. I’ve had people come to me and introduce their children and say they remember going to one of my teaching sessions when they were a child and that they’ve never forgotten many of the things I taught them, like asking, “Were you there?”

I’ve even met many people and children over the years who will come up to me at the Ark or Creation Museum or in a church and look at me with a big smile on their face and ask me, “Were you there?”

Hitting a Nerve

Over the years, evolutionists have mocked me for teaching children to ask this question. In fact, many blogs and even news items have referenced my teaching children this and used it to malign me.

Actually, I have been sort of surprised by the amount of attention this has received from atheists/evolutionists. But I think the main reason they mock at it is that it really is teaching children how to think correctly about science and origins. Sadly, much of the education system today doesn’t teach children how to think. But these evolutionists know that if children are taught how to think, they will start to recognize how they are being indoctrinated in evolutionary/millions-of-years beliefs.

Where Does It Come From?

Let me tell you where I got this idea, why I teach children this, and why it’s such a powerful question for them to learn to ask.

After Job’s complaints and the dialogue with his friends, God spoke to Job:

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me.” (Job 38:1–3)

God was now going to help Job understand who God is. The first thing God said to teach Job was this:

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? (Job 38:4–7)

God was making it clear to Job that he wasn’t there when God made the earth. God asked, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?” It’s significant that God began by speaking about the fact he created the earth.

All the way through Scripture when God, through his Word, tells people who he is, we read statements like,

Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created. (Revelation 4:11)

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. (Isaiah 40:28)

Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! (Psalm 95:6)

Job needed to be reminded that God is Creator. Also, God was teaching that Job wasn’t there when God created, only God was. And then God goes on through the next chapters to ask Job lots of questions to help him understand that only God knows everything and man knows nothing compared to God. Job recognized this when he said later on,

I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. “Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?” Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. “Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me.” I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes. (Job 42:2–6)

Only God

Only God knows everything. So we need to believe God’s Word about the past, not fallible man’s word.

I base the question I teach people to ask, “Were you there?” on Job 38:4. The children and adults I teach understand that when it comes to origins, we weren’t there—no scientist was there, no human was there, but God has always been there. Only God knows everything. So we need to believe God’s Word about the past, not fallible man’s word.

Really, what I’m teaching them is that man’s teaching about origins, concerning evolution and millions of years, are just beliefs (what we call historical science—beliefs about the past). And those beliefs aren’t true. Only God’s Word is without error. We can trust God because he’s always been there and is infinite in knowledge.

Sadly, secularists teach children that they, instead of God, know for sure what happened in the past concerning the origin of the universe and life. But now there are thousands upon thousands of children who know to ask the question God asked Job, “Were you there?”

I have had children come back to me and say, “We asked that question, ‘Were you there?’ and the person replied, ‘No, but you weren’t either.’ What should we say then?” I said to them, “You would answer this way. ‘No, I wasn’t there, but I know someone who was, and I have his Word, are you interested?’ And then proceed to tell them about God’s Word giving us the history of what happened when none of us were there.”

That’s what it’s all about. Understanding that the Bible is the Word of the One who has always been there and knows everything.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.