Institution Questionnaire

Institution Questionnaire 

Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI

Biblical Authority Ministries, May , 20, 2025 (Donate) 

In today’s culture, where evolution and millions of years has infiltrated many schools (and churches), it is difficult to even begin looking for a college or university that stands on the authority of the Bible from the very first verse. 

Photo by Bodie Hodge

In an effort to help parents and students find a college or university (or even a Bible-believing church), I put together a short “Institution Questionnaire”.    

The quick 15 question survey can be used to present to a pastor at a church or a Christian college to see if the institution or individual teacher really believes what the Scriptures say whether they admit they adhere to biblical authority or not.  

This questionnaire is written to carefully see what the institution (or individual) believes. This should help you discern if the institution is truly biblical or not. Keep in mind none are perfect, but some are usually much better than others. What follows are merely 15 questions that could be helpful; this is followed by recommended short answers, a couple of references, and brief explanations of what you can learn. Just copy and paste this question as needed.

 

Institution Questionnaire

 

Name:                         _________________________________________

Name of Institution:   _________________________________________

Date:                           _________________________________________

 

1.  Is God triune—one God, three persons of the Godhead (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) or not?

 

2.  When did death and suffering enter into the world (for man and for animals)?

 

3.  Do you believe Jesus Christ is the Creator?

           

4.  Do you believe the days in Genesis during Creation Week are literal, approximate 24-hour days or not?

 

5.  Is it proper to (1) interpret Genesis to conform to what one already believes about the past, or (2) should one adjust their belief to conform to what Genesis says? In other words, should Genesis be interpreted in the style it is written (literal historical narrative) or should it be interpreted in some other fashion (i.e., reinterpreted in light of millions of years and evolution)?

 

6.  Have human male and female (1) been around since the beginning of creation or (2) did they evolve from a lower life form or (3) did God create them in their modern form millions of years after creation?

 

7.  Do you believe there are physical intelligent alien life forms (i.e., “extraterrestrials”; this is not asking about angels or spiritual beings)?

 

8.  Did God use a big bang?

 

9.   Was the Flood of Noah’s day global (entire earth was flooded) or local (regional)?

 

10.  Do you believe Satan/Lucifer rebelled before or after Day 6 of the creation week discussed in Genesis 1 – Genesis 2:3?

 

11.  Why don’t hosts of people today believe the Gospel when we boldly preach it like they did when Peter preached it? 

           

12.  How many races of people did God create? How many races of mankind are there today?  

           

13.  Was the fossil record (1) primarily laid down by Noah’s Flood or (2) laid down slowly over millions of years of annual depositions; and how does this relate to the age of the earth?

 

14.  Is Genesis important when preaching the Gospel in today’s culture? 

           

15.  Are there any legitimate contradictions in the Bible?

 

 

Institution Questionnaire: Answers With References 

(or similar responses to these are acceptable) 

1.  They better say yes! J 

References: God is Triune, Biblical Authority Ministries, by Bodie Hodge, February 20, 2025, https://www.biblicalauthorityministries.org/2025/02/god-is-triune.html. 

      Question 1 helps you realize if a school is mainstream; or if it has been influenced by a cult that may deny the deity of Jesus Christ (John 1, Colossians 1 and Hebrews 1).  Also, this should be an easy question to answer for most Christian institutions.  

2.  When Adam and Eve rebelled resulting in the curse and the sentence to die from Genesis 2:17/Genesis 3:17/Romans 5:12. If they believe death (of either mankind or animals) has been around prior to this, then they have a major problem. Also, animals were vegetarian in the beginning as was man (Genesis 1:29-30), so this points to no animal death prior sin either.  

References: New Answers Book 1, Gen. Ed. Ken Ham, How did defense/attack structures come about? Andy McIntosh & Bodie Hodge, Master Books, Green Forest, AK, 2006; Biblically, Could Death Have Existed before Sin? Biblical Authority Ministries, Bodie Hodge, August 21, 2024,

https://www.biblicalauthorityministries.org/2024/08/could-death-exist-before-sin-biblically.html. 

Question 2 allows you to find out if the institution really believes in a literal curse in Genesis 3 and provides an answer for the common question “why did God make the world like this?” Biblically, God made the world perfect (Genesis 1:31, Deuteronomy 32:4) and due to man’s sin, death and suffering came into the world.  

This is why we need a Savior to save us from sin and death and provide a new heavens and a new earth—and why the curse still needs to be removed in Revelation 22:3. Adam and Eve rebelled resulting in the curse and the sentence to die (Genesis 2:17/Genesis 3:17/Romans 5:12). 

If an institution or teacher believes death has been around prior to this, then they have a major problem of death before sin. Also, animals were originally vegetarian in the beginning as was man (Genesis 1:29-30), so this points to no animal death prior sin either. After sin, we find the first recorded of death of an animal (Genesis 3:21) and from here, we find a relationship between human sin and animal death.    

3.  Yes! 

References: John 1, Colossians 1, Hebrews 1. (See also the references from Question 1) 

Question 3 reiterates question one but more directly. With these questions up front, the institution should feel welcome to the survey questions. So at this point, we can start getting into the some of the meat of the subject.  

References The Nature Of The Punishment Of Sin, Bodie Hodge, Biblical Authority Ministries, May 12, 2025, https://www.biblicalauthorityministries.org/2025/05/the-nature-of-punishment-of-sin.html. 

4.  Yes! This is confirmed by Exodus 20:11, Exodus 31:17, also, Mark 10:6 (marriage came at the beginning of creation, thus only 5 days before, not millions of years otherwise it would be the “end” of creation.  

References:  New Answers Book 1, Gen. Ed. Ken Ham, Chapter: Could God Really Have Created Everything in Six Days?, Master Books, Green Forest, AK, 2006, http://www.answersingenesis.org/Home/Area/answersbook/sixdays2.asp; And the technical article, The days of creation: A semantic approach, James Stambaugh, first published in the TJ 5(1):70–78, April 1991, (there is a later revision with slight modification published at the Evangelical Theological Society), http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs/4204tj_v5n1.asp 

Question 4 allows you to really start testing to see if the institution believes the Bible as the authority, or if man’s ideas about millions of years has begun to creep in. The Bible is clear that it was six days, not millions of years (Exodus 20:11; Exodus 31:17). Otherwise, our basis for a “week” makes no sense. 

5.  No.  2 Corinthians 4:2 and Proverbs 8:8-9 make it clear the Scriptures should be interpreted plainly/straightforward. This means metaphors are metaphors, literal history is literal history, poetry is poetry, parables are parables, etc.  Thus, we should learn about history from a perfect, all-knowing God who has always been there, instead of trying to reinterpret what God says to conform to current imperfect and fallible beliefs about the past, who weren’t there.  

References: New Answers Book 1, Gen. Ed. Ken Ham, Chapter: Don’t Creationists Believe Some “Wacky” Things?, Master Books, Green Forest, AK, 2006, https://www.biblicalauthorityministries.org/2025/05/dont-creationists-believe-some-wacky.html.  

Question 5 is important because you can determine how the institution thinks—whether biblically or if they are being infiltrated by “humanistic” thinking in certain areas.  

Humanism is a religion that has humans as the ultimate authority. 2 Corinthians 4:2 and Proverbs 8:8-9 point out that the Scriptures should be interpreted plainly/straightforward, hence using Scripture to interpret Scripture. This means metaphors are metaphors, literal history is literal history, poetry is poetry, parables are parables, etc.  This is called the historical-grammatical method.  

Thus, we should learn about history from a perfect, all-knowing God who has always been there, instead of trying to reinterpret what God says to conform to imperfect and fallible mankind’s beliefs about the past.  If the Bible is the authority, then we as fallible sinful human beings should change our views to conform to what God says in the Bible.  But if one can simply reinterpret the Bible because of one’s own thinking (e.g., the days in Genesis can’t be ordinary because other humans say it was millions of years), then what is the real authority? 

It would be that person or humans in general. So, humans would be sitting in authority over God and His Word in this case. This is one way to see if humanism, even if subtly, has crept into their thinking. 

6.  Human male and female (Adam and Eve) have been around since the beginning of creation on Day 6 specifically. This is confirmed by Mark 10:6 and Mathew 19:4. This means it cannot be billions of years after creation. 

References: But from the beginning of … the institution of marriage? Answers in Genesis website, Dr. Terry Mortenson, November 1, 2004,      http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2004/1101ankerberg_response.asp. 

Question 6 reveals if the institution believes in long ages of some sort. If one answers that humans evolved, then they obviously don’t believe the Bible in Genesis. But many say they believe Genesis literally but are really tacking on man’s ideas about millions of years by reinterpreting Genesis. 

But Jesus reveals the glitch from His own words in Mark 10:6. The context of Jesus’ response is about divorce which concerns marriage. Jesus referred back to Genesis 1 and 2 and even quoted them in the parallel passage in Matthew 19 and stated that at the beginning of creation God made them male and female. 

If Jesus was speaking about 4000 years [according to genealogies] after creation week of 6 approximately 24-hour days then, Day 6 and even soon after would be the “beginning of creation”.  If one has long ages, then human male and female came about 13-15 billion years after the creation, which is the end of creation, thereby making Jesus out to be speaking a falsehood. So with this verse, Jesus is affirming a relatively young age of the earth.     

7.  No.  

References: Should Intelligent Extraterrestrials Exist In Light Of The 66 Books Of The Scripture?, Bodie  Hodge, Biblical Authority Ministries, May 7, 2025, https://www.biblicalauthorityministries.org/2025/05/aliens-and-extraterrestrials.html; New Answers Book 1, Gen. Ed. Ken Ham, Chapter: Are ETs & UFOs Real?, Dr. Jason Lisle, Master Books, Green Forest, AK, 2006, http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab/are-ets-and-ufos-real. 

Question 7 reveals how much evolutionary thinking may have infiltrated. 

      8.  No. 

Reference: New Answers Book 2, Gen. Ed., Ken Ham, Does the Big Bang fit with the Bible? Dr. Jason Lisle, Master Books, Green Forest, AK, 2008, http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab2/does-big-bang-fit-with-bible. 

Question 8 exposes progressive creation, theistic evolution, and other compromised views. If an institution believes in big bang, then they are holding to the atheistic view over God’s view given in Scripture (astronomical evolution). 

Big bang simply doesn’t mesh with Scripture [i.e., see a few inconsistencies in the chart.] And big bang starts itself, God is unnecessary, so when Christian try to add the idea that God started the big bang, they basically say God didn’t really do anything. 

	Big Bang/Millions of Years	Genesis
	Sun before Earth	Earth before Sun
	Dry land before sea	Sea before dry land
	Atmosphere before sea	Sea before atmosphere
	Sun before light on Earth	Light on Earth before Sun
	Stars before Earth	Earth before stars
	Earth at same time as planets	Earth before all planets
	Death before man	Death after man
	Sun before plants	Plants before the sun

 

9.  Global—it is clearly stating that it was a worldwide event by the universal language in Genesis 6-8 (specifically Genesis 7:19-20).  

Reference: A Flood of Evidence, Ken Ham and Bodie Hodge, Master Books, Green Forest, AR, 2016; New Answers Book 1, Gen. Ed., Ken Ham and Bodie Hodge, Chapter: Was There Really a Noah’s Ark & Flood? Master Books, Green Forest, AK, 2006, http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab/really-a-flood-and-ark. and New Answers Book 3, Gen. Ed., Ken Ham and Bodie Hodge, Chapter: Was the Flood of Noah global or local? Ken Ham and Dr. Andrew Snelling, Master Books, Green Forest, AK, 2010. 

Question 9 also reveals if one believes in long ages but from a different perspective. If the bulk of the fossil layers represent long ages, then a global Flood is impossible because it would have ripped up the layers and redeposited them. 

A local flood also makes a mockery of the promise God made after the Flood to not send another Flood like this. It was clearly a global Flood as Genesis 6-8 teaches, because we have numerous local floods all the time.  

10.  Satan had to rebel after day 6 (probably not day 7 because God sanctified that day and made it holy). Otherwise, rebellion from God (sin) would have been declared ‘very good’ in Genesis 1:31.

References: New Answers Book 1, Gen. Ed. Ken Ham, Chapter: What About the Gap & Ruin-Reconstruction Theories? Master Books, Green Forest, AK, 2006, http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab/gap-ruin-reconstruction-theories. 

And When did Adam and Eve rebel? Bodie Hodge, Biblical Authority Ministries,

Bodie Hodge, May 10, 2025, https://www.biblicalauthorityministries.org/2025/05/when-did-adam-and-eve-rebel.html. 

Question 10 reveals if the compromised view of gap theory is being held at the institution. Gap theorists have millions of years thrown in between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. As Gap goes, the fossils layers are primarily from an alleged Luciferian Flood when Satan fell.  

This is strange since the bulk of the fossil layers would no longer be representative of atheism’s long ages, which was what this alleged gap was trying to mix with Scripture in the first place! 

Also, if this were the case, then Lucifer’s actions of rebellion would be very good because God declared all things very good at the end of Day 6 (Genesis 1:31). So, Satan had to have fallen after Day 6, and likely not on Day 7 which was holy, but soon after. 

      11.  People today have the wrong foundational beliefs (an “evolutionary/millions of years” foundation) that teaches the Bible is wrong. We need to teach them the true history in the Bible so they will have a foundation for understanding why they need Jesus Christ as their Savior.  

Reference: New Answers Book 1, Gen. Ed. Ken Ham, Chapter: How Can I Use This Information to Witness?  Master Books, Green Forest, AK, 2006, http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab/how-use-information-to-witness. 

Question 11 reveals if the institution really understands why people are walking away from the church at an alarming rate, or if they even realize the gravity of the problem. If people don’t believe Genesis is true, then why would they believe the Gospels (John 3:12)?  

Having generations of people brought up with the teachings of long ages and evolution, nations like England have hardly any semblance of Christianity left. The same is now happening to the US. Yet people toss out many ideas why the Church is dying but they rarely get to the root of the problem.  

Basically, the Church as a whole let the world train its children to believe humanism (i.e., evolution and millions of years are subsets of the religion of humanism). Thus, the next generation has been taught the Bible is not true and is walking away. See Proverbs 22:6.    

12.  There is one race, the human race, where each person is a descendant of Noah and ultimately Adam and Eve. 

Reference: New Answers Book 1, Gen. Ed. Ken Ham, Chapter: Are There Really Different Races?  Master Books, Green Forest, AK, 2006, http://www.answersingenesis.org/Home/Area/AnswersBook/races18.asp. 

Question 12 allows you to see if the institution really believes that all people came from Adam and Eve or if they have worldly racist ideas that have crept in.  Evolutionary thinking has infiltrated the church in many areas and on the issue of racism it has contributed significantly over the years. Christians should be leading the fight against racism. 

13.  The global Flood of Noah would have laid down billions of dead things buried in sedimentary rock layers. Of course, there have been some changes since then that will add and remove some sediment (places affected by the post Flood Ice Age, volcanoes, earthquakes, etc.) 

Reference: New Answers Book 2, Gen. Ed., Ken Ham, How old is the earth? Bodie Hodge, Master Books, Green Forest, AK, 2008, https://www.biblicalauthorityministries.org/2024/05/how-old-is-earth.html. 

Question 13 is a reiteration of Question 9 but focuses on the age of the earth, to see if they are consistent with a global Flood or not.  So be sure to compare their answers to Question 9 with this answer.  

According to the genealogies, from Adam to Christ is about 4,000 years by most chronologists. This would give an age of the earth at about 6,000 years. Any long age view however, adopts man’s ideas OVER God’s Word in Genesis.  

14.  Yes. How can people fully understand the good news of being saved, if they don’t understand the bad news in Genesis of why we are lost in the first place? 

Reference: What Does It Mean to Be “Saved”? Bodie Hodge, Biblical Authority Ministries, July 18, 2024, https://www.biblicalauthorityministries.org/2024/07/being-saved.html. 

Question 14: Not everyone will get this correct but if they do, then they’ve been listening to creation ministries—which is a good sign! In today’s culture where basic Bible knowledge has severely suffered, how can people fully understand the good news of being saved, if they don’t understand the bad news in Genesis of why we are lost in the first place?  Don’t be hard on a church or institution if they get this wrong.

This is like a “bonus question” to see if they really get the message. But also note that this is not saying if one does not see the importance of Genesis, it does not mean they are not saved. 

It simply means they fail to realize the importance of the foundation of the Gospel. One can believe in an old earth, for example, and be saved, but they are inconsistent in their treatment of the word of God.  

15.  No.  

References: Contradictions: Introduction, Dr. Jason Lisle, Answers in Genesis Website, September 29, 2008, http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2008/09/29/contradictions-introduction. See also Demolishing Supposed Bible Contradictions, Gen. Ed. Ken Ham, Master Books, Green Forest, AK, 2010. 

Question 15 gives you an understanding of how they view the Bible. Hopefully, they answer that the Bible is inerrant in the original autographs and that no legitimate contradictions exist, since God cannot contradict Himself (2 Timothy 2:13). But some Christians have a very low view of Scripture due to evolutionary influence, whether they realize it or not.  

Originally here: https://assets.answersingenesis.org/doc/articles/books/already_compromised-appendix_d.pdf; Updated; Republished by permission.

Don’t Creationists Believe Some “Wacky” Things?

Don’t Creationists Believe Some “Wacky” Things?

9 Misconceptions About Biblical Creationists

Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI

Biblical Authority Ministries, May 19, 2025 

While doing apologetics for many years, I heard some pretty outrageous things! Besides the foul language used by some, I was often told that I believe some strange things like a flat earth or that animals don’t change or that I believe the earth literally sits on a few pillars, etc. 

When I tell these people I don’t believe these things, they are sometimes shocked! I suspect these rumors exist to confuse unsuspecting people to convince them the Bible isn’t true. With a little research, we can easily debunk these myths.    

Claim: Biblical Creationists Believe In A Flat Earth. 

As far as I’m aware, there are no biblical creationists that believe this. This charge is often leveled towards biblical creationists the moment the Bible is brought up. The Bible doesn’t teach a flat earth nor does historical or modern scholarship indicate that this belief was widespread. The Bible, though, makes it clear that the earth isn’t flat in plain language so it shouldn’t be an issue: 

It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. Isaiah 40:22, NKJV 

Another verse that teaches a circular or round earth is Job 26:10: 

"He has inscribed a circle on the surface of the waters At the boundary of light and darkness. Job 26:10, NKJV 

The earth is circular, not flat as indicated by the Bible; Image from Presentation Library 

Flat earth believers might have been common in ancient Greece before 500 BC. This belief resurfaced as a rare view held by Lactantius in the early AD 300’s and few others throughout history. It was humanists that later revived this strange belief of a flat earth during the renaissance and tried to indicate that Christians, for the most part, believed this view, which wasn’t the case.[1]     

This was derived by taking some passages out of context. One such example is Revelation 7:1, which prophetically refers to the 4 corners of the earth. The verse is taken out of context by making the verse a strict literal sense meaning and ignoring any figurative speech. Expositor John Gill comments on this verse saying: 

“Four angels are mentioned, in allusion to the four spirits of the heavens, in #Zec 6:5; and though the earth is not a plain square with angles, but round and globular, yet it is said to have four corners, with respect to the four points of the heavens; and though there is but one wind, which blows sometimes one way, and sometimes another, yet four are named with regard to the above points, east, west, north, and south, from whence it blows.”[2] 

It was obviously referring to the directions of North, South, East, and West. Other passages used to derive the false view of a flat earth by using poetic passages such as Psalms 75:3 which refer to the “pillars” of the earth. Commentators such as John Gill[3] and Matthew Henry[4] etc. rightly point out that this is figurative for a firm foundation set by Christ.  

The modern flat earth movement has both theological and scientific problems with influential roots from secularists. For more details, I suggest reading: Dr Jason Lisle’s book, Taking Astronomy Back, Chapter 2 and Dr. Danny Faulkner’s book, Falling Flat. 

Claim: Biblical Creationists Don’t Believe In Natural Selection. 

First, “natural selection” is not molecules-to-man evolution, even though many people wrongly interchange these phrases. Nor is natural selection the idea that nature has a mind and controls and selects things. It is simply the name of an observable process. In the same way, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was a name, not the actual source or basis for knowledge. 

The concept of natural selection was widely articulated by Ed Blyth, a creationist about 25 years before Darwin.[5] It explains variations within the original created kinds of life. Most of the changes we observe in life forms in nature are due to selection (natural or artificial) and the rest are due to mutations and other genetic factors based on created genetic diversity. 

Natural selection was proposed as a partial mechanism for molecules-to-man evolution originally by theologian, Charles Darwin. Yes, Mr. Darwin’s schooling was theology, not science. 

However, the variations we observe confirm that animals change but they have limited changes—they don’t change from one kind of life form into another. In other words, dogs change but give rise to dogs, salmon change but give rise to variations in salmon, etc. but they don’t give rise to other kinds of life like dogs giving rise to elephants! Variation in the dog kind still produces dogs, not elephants! 

Image from Presentation Library 

Natural selection supports the biblical model that there will be variation within the created kinds but not the evolutionary model of one kind changing into another.   

Image from Presentation Library 

Recommended reading: Dr Georgia Purdom’s chapter in the New Answers Book 1, Is Natural Selection Evolution?, Master Books, Green Forest, AR, 2006.   

Claim: Biblical Creationists Believe Life Forms Were Created Exactly As They Are Today And Therefore Reject Speciation. 

Since creationists believe in natural selection and mutations, it should be obvious that animals have changed since creation. There were two major events in history that caused rapid major changes in many of the original created kinds of life forms. 

First, God created everything perfect/very good as indicated in Genesis 1:31 and Deuteronomy 32:4. Then in Genesis 3, due to rebellion against God or “sin”, God cursed the ground and the animals. Both plants and animals were affected in a physical way. The serpent, for example, physically changed form and some vegetation began growing thorns and thistles. In other words, things weren’t perfect anymore and we would expect some other negative changes too, like mutations. 

Second, about 1600 years after creation, there was a global Flood that demolished the earth and caused a bottleneck of land-dwelling air-breathing animals, and perhaps other animals like sea life, plants, etc. The land-dwelling air-breathing animals that were on the Ark were saved and the others died (many that died became fossils in sedimentary layers).[6]  

As these land-dwelling animals spread across the globe, the descendants of these animals would take different portions of the gene pool with them causing rapid speciation. We would also expect that natural selection would cause animals to adapt to the different environments throughout the globe. These changes though, do not go beyond the boundaries for the created kinds.  

Claim: Biblical Creationists Don’t Believe There Are “Beneficial” Mutations. 

Mutations in and of themselves are usually harmful and we would expect this because of the curse. Most of the other mutations are static, meaning they don’t really affect the organism as a whole. However, there are a few cases of beneficial mutations that have been observed—these are different than mutations that cause the alleged gain of new information. In fact, I prefer to call them mutations with beneficial outcomes—you’ll see why in a moment.  

A mutation that causes a beetle to lose its wings would be considered beneficial if the beetle lived on a windy island. It would be beneficial so they don’t blow out to sea and die. However, this mutation caused a loss of information since the beetle no longer has the information to make wings and can’t get away as easily from predators. 

The mutation that causes sickle cell anemia could be considered beneficial because it protects against malaria. However, the person has lost the information to make proper, efficient blood cells and sickle blood cells cause many problems. 

Both of these mutations were beneficial to the beetle/person but were the result of a loss of information. This means mutations, even beneficial ones, are going in the opposite direction for molecules-to-man evolution which requires a gain of new information, even though there was a beneficial outcome.  

Consider the chickens that lost the information to produce feathers.[7] This can be considered “beneficial” because we no longer have to pluck them! But the chickens can’t fly and have trouble keeping warm! Often, people confuse gains of new information with beneficial mutations but they are different. For molecules-to-man evolutionary changes, the mutation needs to be beneficial and cause a gain of new information.   

Recommended reading: War of the Worldviews, Chapter 3 Are mutations part of the “engine” of evolution?, Online here: https://www.biblicalauthorityministries.org/2025/03/are-mutations-engine-of-evolution.html. 

Claim: You Can’t Be A Christian If You Don’t Believe In A Young Earth. 

I’ve consistently maintained that one can be a Christian regardless of their stance on the age of the earth. Even evolutionists can be Christian, but their positions are inconsistent.  

Believing in a younger age of the earth (about 6000 years) is a corollary of trusting the Bible first.  If you start with the first 5 days of creation, then Adam was made on the sixth, then adding the genealogies from Adam to Abraham you get about 2000 years.[8] Both secular historians and scholarly Christians place Abraham at about 2000 BC, so it would be about 6000 years ago. So, the earth is about 6000 years old—which is old—but much younger than billions of years that are commonly touted! 

	Time	Total Time
First 5 days of creation	5 days	5 days
Adam on Day 6 to Abraham	~2000 years	Still ~2000 years
Abraham to Christ	~2000 years	~4000 years
Christ until today	~2000 years	~6000 years

Believing in an approximately 6000-year-old earth is consistent with setting a proper foundation for believing Jesus Christ because you are letting God speak through His Word, without taking ideas to the Bible. In the same way, by trusting the Bible first, we realize that sin and death is an intrusion in the world that goes back to Genesis 3—which is the foundation for the Gospel. Jesus came to save us from sin and death. 

If you give up this foundation of starting with the Bible and insert evolutionary ideas for the past history of the world over the Bible’s teachings in Genesis (like millions of years), it is inconsistent to believe the rest of the Bible—particularly the Gospel. Sadly, people do it, and it is wrong, but it won’t negate their salvation. Here’s an analogy to put it into perspective:    

Imagine Joe walking onto a road. Then someone else comes rushing out and pushes Joe out of the way of a car and accordingly saves his life. 

If Joe trusts that his life was just saved by this other person but believes that cars don't exist and don’t drive on roads, does that change the fact that his life was saved? No. However, Joe would understand it better if he trusts that cars do exist and drive on roads. It works similarly with salvation in the Bible. 

Thus, someone who doesn’t trust what God plainly says in Genesis and believes millions of years can be saved as long as they place their faith in Christ. But really, it is their witness that it becomes a hindrance.  Imagine Joe witnessing: 

Joe: I want to encourage you to accept Jesus as your savior.

Bill the non Christian:  Jesus who?

Joe: The son of God who came to save us that you can read about in the Bible.

Bill the non Christian: Oh yeah, I started to read that book one time. Do you believe Genesis then that teaches the age of the earth is only a few thousand years ago if you add up the genealogies? 

Joe: Well…you don’t have to believe what it says in that part of the Bible but can reinterpret that part.

Bill the non Christian: If I can’t trust that part, why should I trust the part about Jesus saving me then?  Why can’t I just reinterpret the part about being saved by Jesus and say that everyone will be saved anyway?    

See the problem? Recommended reading: Do I have to believe in a literal Genesis to be saved? 

Claim: Biblical Creationists Take The Whole Bible Literally. 

This all hinges on the meaning of literal—then and now. Traditionally literal meant that “of the clearest sense” which means the plain or straightforward meaning. Anymore in a secularized culture, “literal” has taken the meaning that there can be no poetic, figurative meanings, etc. This is more of a strict sense and why this gets confusing to the next generation.  

As biblical creationists, we don’t take the whole Bible literally in the strict sense but in the clearest sense and understand that there are other literary devices applied throughout the Bible.  

To avoid confusion, the Bible gives us some principles of interpretation in 2 Corinthians 4:2 and Proverbs 8:8–9: 

But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. 2 Corinthians 4:2, NKJV 

All the utterances of my mouth are in righteousness; There is nothing crooked or perverted in them. They are all straightforward to him who understands, And right to those who find knowledge. Proverbs 8:8–9, NKJV 

In other words, we read and understand the Bible in a plain or straightforward manner. This is usually what people mean when they say “literal interpretation of the Bible”. I try to use the term “plainly” so I don’t confuse people. 

Reading the Bible “plainly” means understanding that literal history is literal history, metaphors are metaphors, poetry is poetry, etc. The Bible is written in many different literary styles and should be read accordingly. This is why we understand that Genesis records actual historical events. It was written as historical narrative and there is no reason to read it as any other literary style like allegory or poetry.  

Reading the Bible plainly/straightforwardly (taking into account literary style, context, authorship, etc.) is the basis for what is called the historical-grammatical method of interpretation which has been used by theologians since the church fathers. This method helps to eliminate improper interpretations of the Bible and taking things out of context. 

For example, I once had someone who was not a Christian say to me that the Bible clearly says “there is no God’ in Psalms 14:1.”  When you look up the verse and read it in context, it says: 

«To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.» The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good. Psalm 14:1, NKJV

So, the context helps determine the proper interpretation—that a fool was saying this. 

I also once had someone tell me, “to interpret the days in Genesis, you need to read 2 Peter 3:8, which indicates the days are each a thousand years.” Many people try to use this passage to support the idea that the earth is millions/billions of years old, but let’s read it in context: 

But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:8-9, NKJV

This passage employs a literary device called a simile. Here, God compares a day to a thousand years in order to make the point that time doesn’t bind Him, in this case specifically regarding His patience. God is not limited to the time He created—that would be illogical. 

Also, this verse gives no reference to the days in Genesis, so it is not warranted to apply this to the days in Genesis 1. On top of this, the verse also points out that a thousand years is like a day, so it wouldn’t support millions/billions of years anyway.  When read plainly, these verses indicate that God is patient when keeping His promises. The gent that spoke to me had preconceived beliefs based on man’s ideas that the earth was millions of years old and it was those beliefs that lead him to interpret this strangely as opposed the using the historical-grammatical method.  

Image from Presentation Library 

So biblical Christians read the Bible plainly or straightforwardly, and are not reading things out of context. Accordingly, we are learning from what God says and means and don’t apply strange literalistic (in the strict sense) meanings on metaphorical or allegorical language or vice versa.   

Claim: Biblical Creationists Don’t Have Any Evidence. 

Do we all live on the same earth? Yes. Do we all look at the same dinosaur fossils? Yes. Do we all look at the same rocks? Yes. Etc.  

Then yes, we have evidence. In fact, we have the exact same evidence that everyone else has—whether bones, fossils, rocks, etc. The difference is the interpretation of the evidence. We have two different starting points to look at evidence, which is why we arrive at two different conclusions. 

Image from Presentation Library 

As biblical Christians, we trust, as our presupposition or starting point, that God exists and that His Word is truth.  From there, we use the Bible to explain the evidence. 

Evolutionists commonly use their inconsistent materialistic presupposition (that the only things that exist is matter in motion thus millions of years and molecules-to-man evolution is true) to interpret evidence. When carefully analyzing the two positions interpretations, the biblical interpretation is vastly superior. The materialistic evolutionist cannot account truth, presuppositions, or the concept of conclusions since they are not material! 

Recommended reading: War of the Worldviews, Chapter 12 What’s the best ‘proof’ of creation? 

Claim: Biblical Creationists Believe The Earth Is The Same Now As It Was At The Beginning Of Creation. 

Biblical creationists believe that significant changes have happened in earth history—some very catastrophic ones! Take for example a couple of major events in history: 

The Fall was when Adam and Eve disobeyed God. Prior to this, the earth and all of creation was perfect/very good (Deuteronomy 32:4; Genesis 1:31). Adam was given precious few commands in this perfect world but one was not to eat from the fruit the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. If he ate, then the punishment was death (Genesis 2:17). 

Thorns; Photo by Bodie Hodge 

But he ate, and he died and now we die because we too sin (disobedience to God) but there were also other curses that happened in Genesis 3 as a result of Adam’s disobedience. One was that the ground was cursed. Another was that thorns and thistles would come. In essence, this was a significant event for when bad things came about. Death and suffering also entered the creation as an intrusion. So things changed. In fact, we still see these effects today.  

The Flood was a judgment on the people of the world who had turned their back on God. They were wicked, likely murdering, raping, sacrificing their own children, etc. God said He would destroy them with a Flood and He did.  

But Noah, a man of righteousness among that generation, and his family were saved on an Ark that they built as per God’s instructions. They also saved two of every land-dwelling air-breathing animal (seven of the clean animals).  

This Flood was a global Flood that demolished everything. Many biblical creationists believe the initial land mass(es) have broken apart catastrophically during the Flood and finally arrived close to what we have today.  

This massive Flood buried many animals, plants and marine life and many became fossils. Some though, rotted and decayed and were never fossilized. A vast proportion of the sedimentary rock layers we find throughout the world, are a testimony to this global Flood. 

Image from Presentation Library 

The Flood also caused ocean basins to sink down, mountains to be pushed up, etc. So, major geological features were the results. In fact, some of these after effects are a result of the Flood—such as the Ice Age, plate fault lines, etc. Even these play a role in shaping the world we have today.  

So biblical creationists believe the world has changed, the real question is in what way. This is an exciting part of creationist research today.     

Claim: Biblical Creationists Are Anti-Science And Anti-Logic? 

Biblical creationists love science! In fact, most fields of science were developed by Bible-believing Christians such as Isaac Newton (dynamics, gravitation, calculus), Michael Faraday (electromagnetics, field theory), Robert Boyle (chemistry), Johann Kepler (scientific astronomy), Louis Pasteur (bacteriology, immunization), etc. 

It was Francis Bacon who developed the scientific method! The reason for such fields of science to develop under a biblical worldview was due to their belief that God created the universe and had created laws in the universe that we could investigate. This is why repeatability, observation and testing were important to biblical creationists. Even today many great scientists believe the Bible and use good observational science in the present on a daily basis.[9]    

Even logic flows naturally from a biblical worldview. From a Christian perspective, logic exists because we start with the axiom that a logical God exists and His Word is truth. Since we are created in His image, logic exists and we can use logic. 

Logic is not a material entity so it becomes a problem for materialist/atheistic thinking, not biblical creationists since we believe in an immaterial realm. From a materialistic perspective, a logical thought is the same as an illogical thought—merely a chemical reaction in the brain. From a materialistic point of view then, the perception of logic is due to random processes and has nothing to do with absolute truth, which is also immaterial but can only induce an alleged survival advantage.  

So in a biblical worldview, logic exists and so does truth, both of which are immaterial.  But in a materialistic worldview, there is no basis for logic or truth to exist, since they are immaterial.   

To make the statement that logic can yield a truthful result, means that absolute truth must exist, hence God. This is not to say that atheists and molecules-to-man evolutionists cannot use logic or do science. But when they do, they must borrow from the above Christian principles which are not consistent with their professed worldview.  

Recommended reading: War of the Worldviews, Chapter 10 Can Creationists Be Real Scientists? Dr Jason Lisle’s chapter in the New Answers Book 1, Master Books, Green Forest, AR, 2006, Do Christians Deny The Laws Of Nature?. 

Originally here: http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab/creationists-believe-wacky-things; Edited; Republished by permission. 

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[1] Who invented a flat earth? Creation 16(2):48-49, March 1994 Found online here: http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v16/i2/flatearth.asp Download date: July 11, 2006.

[2] Exposition of the Old Testament, Commentary by John Gill, Expositor, Notes on Revelation 7:1, 1748-1763, Found online here:  http://eword.gospelcom.net/comments/revelation/gill/revelation7.htm Download date: July 11, 2006.

[3] Exposition of the Old Testament, Commentary by John Gill, Expositor, Notes on Psalm 75:3, 1748-1763, Found online here:  http://eword.gospelcom.net/comments/psalm/gill/psalm75.htm Download date: July 11, 2006.

[4] Matthew Henry Bible Complete Commentary; Matthew Henry, notes on Psalms 75:3, Found online here: http://eword.gospelcom.net/comments/psalm/mh/psalm75.htm Download date: July 11, 2006.

[5] Ed Blyth’s scientific papers can be found on the internet at the following address:

http://www.bradburyac.mistral.co.uk/dar0.html. 

[6] Determining Ark Kinds, Dr. Jean Lightner, Tom Hennigan, Dr. Georgia Purdom, and Bodie Hodge, Answers Research Journal 4 (2011): 195–201, November 16, 2011.

[7] Featherless chicken creates a flat, Emma Young, May 21, 2002, Found online here: http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn2307 Download date: July 17, 2006.

[8] Ancient Patriarchs in Genesis, Bodie Hodge, Biblical Authority Ministries, April 3, 2025, https://www.biblicalauthorityministries.org/2025/04/ancient-patriarchs-in-genesis.html.   

[9] Creation Scientists, https://creation.com/en-us/pages/creation-scientists.