Creation Ministries International

Video Review: Is Creation A Secondary Issue?

Wes Bredenhof

The following review is by Walter Walraven.  It originally appeared in the February 2018 issue of Faith in Focus, the official magazine of the Reformed Churches of New Zealand.  It is published here with the author’s permission. 

Is Creation a Secondary Issue?

by Dr Martin Williams and Creation Ministries International

Is creation a secondary issue? That is the question that Dr Martin Williams presents to the viewer in this excellent video produced by Creation Ministries International. Dr Williams has served as a pastor and missionary and is currently Head of Theology and Lecturer in New Testament and Greek at the Reformed Theological College in Melbourne, Australia.

As a pastor, missionary and lecturer, Williams has often heard the comment that “the doctrine of creation is only of secondary importance, and that Christianity is really about salvation through the cross of Jesus Christ”. Because of such sentiments, creation is often de-emphasized in the creation/evolution debate and relegated to the status of secondary importance. Some say “it is an issue that does not relate to how one is made right through faith in Jesus Christ, so why get all hung up on it?”

In this video, Williams contends that the creation account is the TRUE story of history which is proclaimed in the Scriptures. He gives a clear, systematic, logical and easy to understand explanation of the implications of holding to theistic evolution or long age thinking, and explains quite clearly what effect it has on the gospel. He comments further that not many people have thought of creation from the perspective of the cross. He then answers the question of why people die, progressing through to the explanation of why Jesus died, moving through to a logical conclusion.

Williams also brings into play the views of prominent evolutionists such as Darwin, Sagan and Alexander, who promote the view that death is a permanent part of this earth’s history over millions of years. Denis Alexander, who seems to hold to theistic evolution, states, “Nowhere in the Old Testament is there the slightest suggestion that the physical death of either animals or humans, after a reasonable span of years, is anything other than the normal pattern ordained by God for this earth.” Williams correctly asserts that such an idea is clearly contrary to the teaching of Scripture, which teaches that death is actually the result of sin. (Gen 3:17-19)

Maintaining our confidence in the historical narrative of the creation account as presented in Genesis, and understanding why Jesus died according to the Scriptures, is of first importance. It means rejecting evolution or long age thinking, which destroys the gospel.

In closing, I would like to point out, that this is a theological defence of the creation account as it presents itself in the early chapters of Genesis. Williams does not deal with the so-called science of evolution, but with the false view that God as the creator allowed or caused the creation to evolve. I do believe it would be a useful tool for members in our churches in the defence of the gospel when it is attacked at the foundations. The section containing questions and answers is most edifying and worthwhile to view. I wholeheartedly recommend and endorse this video to our readers.

This video can be obtained from Creation Ministries International as a DVD or MP4.

Brief Review: Evolution’s Achilles’ Heels

Rev. Jim Witteveen

eahEvolution’s Achilles’ Heels
Creation Book Publishers, 2014
Edited by Robert Carter
Price $18.00

Several months ago, Jon Dykstra reviewed the documentary that was developed in conjunction with the book Evolution’s Achilles’ Heels. I recently had the opportunity to attend a presentation by Richard Fangrad, CEO of Creation Ministries International’s Canadian branch. There was a book table at the event (which is always a draw for me), and this was one of many very worthwhile resources on offer. In his review, Jon gave the documentary a 10/10 rating, and I can only concur that the book is every bit as valuable in its own way as the documentary is.

There are eight “fatal flaws” to the theory of evolution that are addressed in depth by nine Ph.D. Scientists, including Dr. Jonathan Sarfati, Dr. Emil Silvestru, and others. As in the documentary video, the flaws dealt with are:

  • Natural selection
  • Genetics and DNA
  • The origin of life
  • The fossil record
  • The geologic record
  • Radiometric dating
  • Cosmology
  • Ethics and morality

In his foreword, Dr. Carl Wieland reminds us that the issue of origins is predicated on interpretation of the available evidence, and not on the evidence itself. His insights on this issue are important and worth citing:

“This whole controversy, incidentally, has never been about unearthing ‘facts for creation’ vs ‘facts for evolution’. When it comes to matters of history (as opposed to experimental or operational science, the science that concerns itself with how the world works), the issue has never been the facts so much as their interpretation. We all have the same world – the same ‘facts’… And philosophers of science have long reminded us… that raw, uninterpreted facts never speak for themselves. As the late Harvard professor, Stephen Jay Gould, once wrote, ‘Facts do not “speak for themselves”;  they are read in the light of theory.’”

The nine scientists who contributed to this book begin with the following presuppositional framework, in the words of Dr. Wieland: “the straightforward truth of the Bible, in particular the Genesis record, affirmed and taught by the Lord Jesus Christ and authenticated by His rising from the dead.” This starting point, even more than the PhD’s piled up behind the names of the authors of this volume, makes Evolution’s Achilles’ Heels a very worthwhile resource.

This is particularly true for Christian students who will certainly have to wrestle with these issues as they prepare to engage in post-secondary science studies, and deal with them on a foundational level, not merely on an issue-by-issue basis. Given the often technical content of the eight chapters in this book, the material is well-presented, neatly laid-out, and accompanied by a number of helpful graphs, charts, and illustrations. Highly recommended without reservation!