“Shopping for God”

Last year,a national newspaper in Australia (The Weekend Australian) ran a series of editorials/letters/interviews concerning God, Christianity, the church, and religion in general under a number of headings, including one saying: “Shopping for God.”

My heart ached as I read through these pages that millions would also read. I also realized that these articles represented the general state of those nations once influenced by Christianity—whether it be the UK, USA, Australia, etc. I must admit: it only further increased my fervor to see the messages proclaimed through AiG spread more actively through our literature, future Creation Museum, seminars, and other vehicles.

Let me quote from these articles to show you the recurring theme spelled out loud and clear:

• “Young people in general have abandoned the mainstream churches.”
• “There are voices, however, that attribute our lack of values to a lowering of respect for our institutions, including the churches.”
• “For it is increasingly evident that the old and frequent appeal to what we have termed the Judeo-Christian ethic exercises little or no power over most of us.”
• “Meanwhile, with fewer marriages, baptisms and even funerals conducted by the clergy, secularism has become a religion.”
• “Religion has become a commodity on the shelves, just like any other.”

The recurring theme: Christianity has lost its hold on the culture—and the church is by and large irrelevant. What, then, is seen as the reason for the declining influence of the church?

In a very telling editorial by the paper’s religious affairs editor, it is stated that “ … the basic reason for the church’s existence, the proclamation of a saving faith, falls on increasingly deaf ears because there seems a tenuous touch with reality, a reality vastly affected by advances in science.” (emphasis ours)

Further on, this same author—in referring to the church and obviously the account of Creation in the Bible—refers to a “discredited cosmology.” And in the same section of the newspaper, there is an article that attempts to glorify science, as if to say that man is well on the way to discovering everything there is to know:

“This year mankind pushed the envelope in its understanding of both the entirety of our universe and the minute interiors of our bodies, gaining unprecedented insight into the genes that provide the template for who we are and the proteins that play the key role in making us.”

It is so obvious from these printed pages that the world sees what they define as “science” (which includes a collage of real scientific discoveries and evolutionary beliefs) as supposedly discrediting the Bible. As a result, people are “shopping” for their religious experiences in all sorts of “alternative” areas, including New Age mysticism and the like.

To me, the climax of man’s attempt to deify “science” in these articles is summed up in the statement from the editorial referred to above: “The cloning of a perfect human being is now easier to believe than a perfect baby in a manger in Bethlehem. The virginal conception of Jesus pales into insignificance in the face of in-vitro fertilization [IVF] interventions … ”

At the same time, this same writer makes a fascinating statement. Do you know what topic (and who) gets specific mention in regard to this battle raging as we start the 21st century? The creation/evolution issue and those in the creation movement!

The writer states: “If Charles Darwin and his On the Origin of Species confronted a church unready for the challenge in the mid 19^th century, the same struggle between science and Christianity—indeed, all religions—is under way at the start of the 21^st. The battle with Darwin was led by biblical literalists who believed On the Origin of Species denied God and put biblical revelation under suspicion … Creationism, which is hydra headed, continues to defend literal interpretations of the Book of Genesis and the story of creation.”

The very reason for the continuing erosion of Biblical Christianity in the Western world is that Biblical revelation has been undermined.

And sadly, the influence of Darwin and the popularization of the belief in billions of years has put “biblical revelation under suspicion.” The very reason for the continuing erosion of Biblical Christianity in the Western world is that Biblical revelation has been undermined. Thus, the absolute authority necessary for the Christian morality that once pervaded these nations has been all but removed as trustworthy and infallible.

That’s why this editor can write: “‘The churches’ response [to ethical issues associated with such things as IVF] is usually prohibitive, negative and justified by an appeal to an unchanging morality derived from a divine authority few people still recognize.”

Thus, one of the writers in this series of articles states, “Relativism—choosing our own individual values without much reference to others—is a current philosophy.” This author goes on: “We sense a crisis in our society but have no idea how to meet it.” There is a crisis, and there is a way to meet it!

The church needs to proclaim the authority of God’s Word—present it as REAL history and show it doesn’t contradict REAL science. The world needs to learn of the bankruptcy of evolutionary ideas and the belief in billions of years of history.

In “shopping for God,” man wants to make himself god. This is nothing new—this was the temptation given in the Garden at the beginning. But to do this, man has to discredit God’s Word in his own eyes.

Answers in Genesis, through its various vehicles and soon-to-be-built-Creation Museum, upholds the authority of the Word of God and proclaims the message of the only true God -the Creator God of the Bible. We will increasingly be on the cutting edge in the 21st century battle against the forces of evolutionary humanism that have falsely indoctrinated so many today for whom “the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it” (Jeremiah 6:10).

To be a part of this God-honoring mission, please pray for us and consider supporting AiG and its many outreaches, including the Creation Museum.