Apologist: Christianity Losing Out to Secular Humanism?
America once stood on the foundation of God's Word. But that foundation is crumbling – even in the church – and being replaced by man's word, observed one Christian apologist.
"Whatever we (America) once were, we are no longer. We have changed," said Ken Ham, president of Answers in Genesis, in his second State of the Nation address on Tuesday.
The Young Earth creationist was citing President Obama's well-known mantra that America is no longer just a Christian nation as he delivered an hour-long speech outlining where America and Christianity stand today – just weeks after Obama's State of the Union address.
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He sees Christianity being thrown out of the public sector and mocked and generations of Americans building their worldview on secular humanism.
"Most of the founding fathers of this nation ... built the worldview of this nation on the authority of the Word of God," he said. "Because of that, there have been reminders in this culture concerning God's Word, the God of creation."
Prayer in schools, Scripture passages carved on government buildings, traditional marriage, the sanctity of life and the teaching of creation in public schools served as some of those reminders, he noted.
But those reminders have been and are progressively being removed, said Ham, who leads the Creation Museum near Cincinnati. And with that, younger generations are increasingly abandoning God's Word and making "man's word" their foundation.
Part of the problem stems from what students are learning in science class, Ham believes.
Students are being told that science can only explain things and events using natural causes and that supernatural explanations of natural events "are simply outside the bounds of science," as one science textbook reads.
"Do you realize what they're saying to the students in this nation?" Ham posed to a live audience at the Creation Museum and to webcast viewers. "They're saying 'when you look at the universe, life, mankind, all of reality, the supernatural has nothing to do with it. Everything is explained by natural processes.'"
"That's the religion of atheism, naturalism," he pointed out. "They've actually thrown out Christianity and replaced it with a different religion."
"In all sorts of ways the Bible is being thrown out and replaced with what, some neutral position? No, with man's ideas that everything has to be explained by natural processes."
The foundations in America are shifting from moral absolutes (the Word of God) to moral relativism (man's word), Ham indicated.
The shift was recently typified by a GAP Christmas commercial, he noted. In the brief ad, consumers chant, "You 86 the rules. You do what just feels right. You do whatever you wanna-kah and to all a cheery night."
That's the philosophy of the age, Ham lamented: "You do whatever you wanna-kah."
The apologist pointed to the cover of the latest edition of Free Inquiry, a magazine for secular humanism, that reads: "Fading Faith: new trends show secularism is booming, even in the seemingly pious United States."
He quoted one article as stating: "A historic transition is occurring, barely noticed. Slowly, quietly, imperceptibly, religion is shriveling in America, as it already has in Europe, Canada, Australia, Japan – across the developed world. Increasingly, supernatural faith belongs to the third world. The first world is entering the long-predicted Secular Age, when science and knowledge dominate."
With that transition, Ham predicts the secular humanist will become much more aggressive because now they have a foundation – one of naturalism and man's word – to build upon. And it's already happening as atheists and humanists press forward with advertising campaigns, public speaking events and books.
Where is the church in all of this? Apparently, not standing on the right foundation, according to Ham.
Christians are slowly shrinking back and compromising the Word of God, Ham lamented.
There's an "incredible spiritual battle" between Christianity and secular humanism, he noted. "Unfortunately, the church by and large is on the side of secular humanism."
"The church needs to repent," he said.
Churches have undermined biblical authority by rejecting the inerrancy of Scripture and compromising the account of creation with belief in evolution.
"We're taking man's ideas from outside the Bible and imposing compromised positions on the Bible," Ham pointed out.
Many believers have also set the Bible aside to try to meet secularists on "neutral ground." But there is no neutral ground, Ham stressed. You're either for or against Christ, he said, citing Jesus' words.
Meanwhile, younger generations are not being taught the Word of God or being equipped to be ready to give a defense for their faith. As a result, droves of young people are leaving the church.
Challenging Christians, Ham asked, "Who is on the Lord's side? Who is prepared to stand unashamedly on God's Word in this nation?"
"We need generations of God's people to start standing unashamedly on God's Word," he said, as he called Christians to restore the foundation of biblical authority.
Ham's latest formal address echoes a similar message he presented last summer during his first State of the Nation speech where he stood firmly on the literal interpretation of the Bible, including the six-day creation account in Genesis, and the inerrancy of Scripture. Answers in Genesis is a biblical apologetics ministry and a nonprofit Christian organization dedicated to confirming the validity of the Bible from the very first verse.
