An Interview with Dr. Woodrow Kroll—Bible Literacy Begins in Genesis

Dr. Woodrow Kroll promotes Bible literacy and trains pastors around the world. He spent 23 years as president and senior Bible teacher of Back to the Bible, a worldwide radio ministry, and was dean of the religion department at Liberty University. He has also served as a pastor and has written more than 50 books.

How did you come to hold to biblical creation?

In my home we took the Bible seriously. When Genesis 1 talked about the first day, we understood it to mean what you normally would—a 24-hour period of time.

How is Genesis related to major doctrines of the faith—especially the gospel?

The Genesis account of Creation and the Fall is necessary for the gospel. The first six verses of Genesis 3 describe how sin entered our perfect environment. But Adam’s sin did not catch God off guard. God had a plan for our salvation even before we needed it. And I think that’s the importance of Genesis 3:15. Since the Cross is the crux of history and of our faith, that makes the Genesis account the foundation for the unveiling of God’s love and salvation at Calvary. All the major doctrines of the faith find their root in the Cross. The first promise of the Cross is found in Genesis.

You are known as a champion of Bible literacy. How does this relate to creation?

Bible illiteracy is the problem in the church. Christians are woefully ignorant of God’s Word. The Christian’s knowledge of creation has even wider gaps. Bible illiteracy is one reason Christian kids lose their faith in college. They did not know much about the faith to begin with.

How is the creation message accepted among international pastors you teach?

Most untrained pastors around the world have not been affected by the poison that comes from the university classroom. We do not have to mount much of a defense for the Genesis account of creation. But they also do not know much about that account. Christians all over the world need to know what the Bible says, what it means, and how it applies to life. That starts at the very beginning with creation.

Give some practical ways to help train the next generation to develop a passion for biblical truth, beginning in Genesis.

Christian parents have to be convinced they have a basic responsibility for shaping the minds of their children. We need to see the urgency of building a right foundation for our families, beginning with a right understanding of Genesis. Answers to the rest of the book are buried within those first 11 chapters of Genesis.

—interview by Paul J. Scharf