Readers Respond AIG

Thanks for Todd Friel’s article “Talking on a Watermelon.” As a teenager, it gave me a look at how delusional some people can be. Sadly, this [postmodernism] is nothing modern, just reinventing the wheel. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle believed that “man is the measure of all things” and truth was a matter of individual opinion. Our sense of reality should be based on the Scriptures, not whatever we feel like thinking today.

REBEKAH H., ANTIOCH, CALIFORNIA

 

Judge Not

You imply that Dan Brown [author of The Da Vinci Code, who gave up on religion after a pastor was unable to answer his questions about Genesis] is lost because of the failure of a Christian pastor to correctly answer his questions. I find this unfair and incorrect. Dan Brown is lost because he is a sinner in rebellion against God.

We should be reaching out in love and faith as much as possible and stop condemning our allies for their ignorance.

PAUL T., GALLATIN GATEWAY, MONTANA

Editor’s Response: Yes, Dan Brown is ultimately responsible for his spiritual condition, but Peter tells Christians to “always be ready to give a defense” of the gospel (1 Peter 3:15). A pastor, of all people, should be equipped to do that and not simply dismiss the questions of those under his care—particularly on such a fundamental issue as the authority of God’s Word.

New Zealand Closing on Australia?

[Concerning the “Perspective” news item “Getting Closer to Down Under”] Plate tectonics is only one view and has many problems associated with it and certainly should not be touted as fact. Science is always changing, especially in the areas of the historical sciences, and I think at least a two-model approach would be better suited.

MARK E., MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE

 

Dr. Andrew Snelling, director of research at Answers in Genesis, responds: Actually, the catastrophic plate tectonics model has only a few minor remaining problems. However, we recognize that it is a model, and subject to revision or complete replacement. We do not tout CPT as fact, but it is by far the most viable Flood model at the moment, and thus to follow a two-model approach would be inappropriate and misleading.

Sexual Orientation

The article, “More than a Revolution” by Al Mohler, Jr., was very well written, giving honor to Scripture and God’s sovereignty and also very loving towards the homosexual to show them the love of Christ.

Tell Al thank you very much for his article, and thank you for your unashamed stance on the authority of the Bible.

RANDY B, GARFIELD, NEW JERSEY

 

I am absolutely horrified at what has been published. I’d always thought AiG aimed to be scientifically accurate, but this article suggests that the author isn’t even remotely familiar with the current literature, leaving me no conclusion but that he’s writing what he wants to be true.

With power comes responsibility, and the responsibility to be factually accurate is vital, especially when dealing with tinderbox issues like homosexuality. Just how much fact-checking goes into AiG’s articles?

DONALD W., STIRLING, SCOTLAND

 

Editor’s Response: We agree that personal opinion is not the focus, and that homosexuality needs to be examined with the greatest care. That is why the magazine looked for an author whom we believed would be most suited to speak from a biblical perspective on this central cultural issue. Dr. Mohler is the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and has worked for years with his best faculty and others to refine a biblical understanding of many high-profile cultural issues, such as homosexuality.

The article you refer to is an excerpt from Dr. Mohler’s book, Desire and Deceit, which goes into much more detail. It is, of course, impossible to include all the details in a short article. Dr. Mohler’s work was subjected to expert review before publication.

Pre-Flood Fossils?

In the Jan.–Mar. issue, in “Life’s Unexpected Explosion,” the destruction of “pre-Flood fossils” is addressed. If fossils are created because of quick burial due to a flood, where would pre-Flood fossils have come from and would they even have been of any significant number?

DON L., NORTH ROYALTON, OHIO

 

Dr. Andrew Snelling, director of research at Answers in Genesis, responds: Before the Flood the earth would have been fairly stable with ideal conditions for life, except for minor occurrences, such as where algal mats were building mounds (called stromatolites) around hydrothermal vents. All pre-Flood fossils found in what is understood to be pre-Flood strata are either algae/bacteria or invertebrate metazoans (the Ediacara “fauna”), which had no “nephesh” (life in a biblical, Hebrew sense).

Relatively few fossils formed prior to the Flood, because conditions for fossilization were very rare. Even if some rain, volcanic eruptions, or localized flooding occurred, these events were nothing compared to the scale of the Flood. Apart from occasional stromatolites, Precambrian sedimentary rocks are largely devoid of any fossils visible to the eye, as you would expect if they were pre-Flood.

(For greater detail on this subject, see Dr. Snelling’s new book set, Earth’s Catastrophic Past.)