If you have been keeping up with my blog, you have obviously noticed my numerous posts on Ken Ham, his organization Answers in Genesis, and young earth creationism in general. This whole topic of “creation or evolution” garners much heated debate and attention. Ken Ham has his organization promoting young earth creationism, Hugh Ross has his organization promoting progressive creationism, Francis Collins has BioLogos promoting theistic evolution, Richard Dawkins uses evolution to attack religion…the list can go on. And now I am writing posts on it, and am even writing a book on what I feel is Ken Ham’s heretical views.
…but in many ways, I actually don’t like the topic. My love is poetry, literature, music, and biblical studies. Seeking how to “reconcile modern science and the Bible” is about as much fun for me as trying to “reconcile Webster’s dictionary with the music of Erik Satie.” Does that not make sense? That’s the point: why do we need to “reconcile” two things that are addressing completely different areas of knowledge?
But given the fact that we do live in a modern “scientifically-minded” culture, it is inevitable that issues like this come up, and therefore have to be addressed. The fact is, modern scientific discoveries do impact how we read the Bible, particularly Genesis 1-11. But Ken Ham is wrong to claim, though, that people who are convinced of evolution are putting modern science above the Bible and letting science change the meaning of the Bible.
Rather, we need to realize that ever since the rise of modern science and Enlightenment thinking, our tendency has been to read the Bible through that modern, Enlightenment worldview, and therefore we make assumptions regarding what Genesis 1-11 is about. Modern scientific discoveries, particularly that of evolutionary theory, are showing us that our Enlightenment assumptions about Genesis 1-11 are wrong—Genesis 1-11 is true as ever, but we have to admit that we, by assuming it was “doing science,” have been reading it wrong for the past few hundred years.
Fortunately, right alongside the rise of evolutionary theory, we have made other discoveries in the area of ancient Near Eastern literature that have made it possible for us to read Genesis 1-11 through the eyes of the original audience once again. Now that is what interests me. It is in the wrestling with Scripture, and then seeking ways to creatively relate it to our lives today—that is what makes me come alive.
Understanding the original, inspired message of any given biblical text opens my eyes to see biblical themes that run throughout so much literature, poetry, art and music, whether it is Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, T.S. Eliot’s The Wasteland, ancient icons, the music of U2, or movies like The Matrix, The Spitfire Grill, or The Mission. The inspired truth that we find in the pages of Scripture also confronts us in so many other creative arts.
God is the Creator God, and he has revealed himself creatively in the pages of Scripture, in the history of Israel, in the life of Christ and the Church, and in a multitude of creative ways to this day. When Paul says the Word of God is living and active…yes indeed—and you see that everywhere.
My Frustration with Ken Ham
Unfortunately, though, I feel that Ken Ham and Answers in Genesis, being beholden to the Enlightenment worldview as they are, have strangled the beauty and artistry of God’s creative Word, ironically by trying to argue that the creation account is “scientific.” To them, literature, artistry, metaphor, be it in Genesis 1-11, Jonah, or Job, are all deemed deceptive and “threats” to the faith. They don’t “get” art—and God at heart is the ultimate Creative Artist, painting his salvation throughout the canvas of history.
Now of course, the Bible is full of history—but even the history parts are creatively and artistically presented. Simply put, that’s what makes the Bible inspiring, challenging, and just downright fun to explore.
Consequently, by reading the Bible through the Enlightenment worldview, and by setting the Bible up as an authoritarian idol, Ken Ham sincerely believes he is doing God’s work by “defending” the scientific truth of the Bible. The authority of the Bible he claims is really his authority that he so vigorously defends. And the result of it all is just nonsensical claims regarding both science and the Bible.
And not to sound mean, but that kind of approach makes you dumber, because, as the prophets repeat time and time again, worshipping an idol makes you blind, deaf, and dumb…just like the lifeless idol you bow down to. And Ken Ham’s claims are lifeless, with no correspondence to the reality that God has created.
That is what frustrates me. I want to explore and write about the creativity and inspired message found throughout the Bible, and how it can be seen in all types of art, literature and poetry. Instead, I find myself having to address truly lifeless nonsense because, sadly, a whole lot of Evangelicals in America have unknowingly bought into what Ken Ham is saying, and the “young creationist crowd” of which he is a part is actively hurting countless of thoughtful, sincere Christians.
I guess what we are experiencing today is something we see throughout the Old Testament. Sometimes idols need to be torn down and exposed for what they are before God’s Spirit can breathe through us again. To be blunt, Ken Ham’s young creationist theology is idolatrous, pure and simple.
Authority and the Church, A Scepter and the Bible
Let me end by going back to the question of authority. We need to view the Bible as God’s inspired instrument by which the Church exercises the authority Christ bestowed on it. Think of the Church, as Christ’s body, together reflecting God’s image, as a king on a throne; and think of the Bible as the royal scepter. It is the Church who has been given authority by Christ, and the Bible is the inspired tool, “useful for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness” (II Timothy 3:16). The Church is to use the Bible and exercise that authority as a shepherd uses his staff to guide the sheep. When that is done, then Christians can also use the Bible in creative ways, as an artist paints a masterpiece with his brush, or a poet writes poetry with his pen.
What Ken Ham is saying, though, is the authority lies in the scepter, not in the one sitting on the throne; it lies in the Bible, not in the Church community. When that happens, when you take the Bible out of the context of Christ’s body, it no longer is that scepter wielded by the king bearing God’s image, and therefore cannot be used creatively as a painter’s brush or poet’s pen. It becomes a tyrannical rod with which an individual beats his fellow subjects. Authority is always in the hand of the one who holds the scepter; it can never be in the scepter itself. There will always be someone who wields it.
We need to be, as a Church, as Christ’s body, the ones who wield the scepter in creative image-bearing ways to paint salvation in the world. We cannot allow individuals to use it as a weapon to judge and condemn fellow servants of Christ.
