After high school, I went to Ohio State University as a physics major (following in my father’s footsteps). I loved science, and that was what I knew. That same year, I decided to switch to geological sciences. I found that this was a better fit for me, since I enjoyed all of the various earth sciences.
In my junior year, God saved me. He truly became my Savior, and my life and friends started to change. However, I still did not view evolution-based geology as being a “threat” to my Christianity. I managed to keep my faith and my studies separate. (In fact, I didn’t even realize that I was doing this—I just listened as my teachers lectured.) So, I was quite fortunate, for I have heard of so many young adults who considered themselves Christians but who “gave up” on the Christian faith because of evolutionary teaching. God’s grace prevented me from going through that in college.
At the same time, I had the Bible questioned in school. In one of my classes, the professor was “diverse.” He even had us read some “creationism material,” but it was written in such a poor way that it made creationism sound unscientific and phony. It made creationists sound like they were wacky and not real scientists. And so that was my view of creationism until after I graduated with a B.S. in Geological Sciences.
It was soon after graduation that a friend of mine really challenged what I was taught in school about evolution and geology. She made me realize that although I believed what the Bible said, I was ignoring the very first chapter of the Bible. How could I believe the rest of the Bible was true but gloss over the first few chapters as being a “nice story”? She challenged me to go to this Answers in Genesis website (which was quite new at the time).
I was excited to find that creationism could be scientific, and that it really made much more sense than the evolutionism that I had learned for four years. After studying several creationist books and scientific magazines, I went back to some of my university books and saw how I had been fooled!
In my new studies into the question of origins, I came across so many things that were confusing to the evolutionary scientists, such as “older” aged rock layers being on top of the “younger” layers. They couldn’t explain it easily, but creationist research could.We studied entropy (the steady tendency of disorder through time), but never made the connection with evolution. How could things become more complex in a system that is becoming more and more disordered?
What else was exciting was that my faith, my scientific passion, and my life were now all under God’s authority. There was no longer a disconnect in my life; my faith was now becoming more full and rich as I studied God’s creation.
Since then, I have seen God use both what I learned in college and what I learned through AiG and its website. I have tutored children in home-schooling, giving them both sides of the scientific world—but explaining why the creation belief made sense of the world. I am also now able to equip my own children, defending God’s Word against what the world says. What a blessing to be a witness to the next generation!
I thank God for AiG, their materials, and this website. They equip people whether they have a scientific background or not. In my own experience, it was so nice to read publications at a scientific level that fully answered the questions that I had. They made a real difference in my spiritual life and continue to be a blessing both to me and my entire family!