Catastrophic Change
Admittedly, Ken Ham has been one of my heroes for many years. He has taken bold stands upon the Scripture and continued to fight against the false worldviews of our day. His newest, book Divided Nation, is no exception from the norm we have come to expect from this creation apologist. He begins by addressing the way America is greatly divided in our modern-day. He talks about the mass exodus away from the church in both America and the West as a whole. He says:
“It only takes one generation to lose a culture. We’re seeing a once very “Christianized” America on the brink of catastrophic change from a Christian worldview perspective. The younger generations (particularly Generation Y [millennials] and Generation Z) are growing up in a very different culture than the culture my generation (baby boomers) and older generations grew up in. The change in the culture is devastating and catastrophic from a Christian perspective.”1
Here we see a great point made by Ken Ham regarding the fact the world we live in now as Americans is much different than previous generations. Certainly, this truth does not mean America was ever perfect, but the Christian influence has waned in many ways. Secularism has risen, becoming a dominant force in the culture. Those acting like they still live in a society where the Christian worldview is predominately accepted need to wake up, and Ken Ham is blowing the trumpet to call them by the grace of God to arise.
The Myth of Neutrality
Ken Ham outlines several points which the church needs to grasp to be equipped to live in a fallen world. First, of which is the fact there are no neutral positions. This point has been something which has been emphasized in blog posts and podcasts on this site. Ham quotes a string of texts to support this position and then applies this principle to the area of public education. He says:
“So educators and legislators who removed any Christian teaching, the Bible, or prayer from public schools did not make a neutral decision. And if the education system is not for Christ, it is against Him. As we will better understand later, the public education system, by and large, is now an atheistic system, as everything is explained in terms of natural processes (naturalism). Naturalism (no supernatural is involved) is atheism. This is a system of belief based on the idea that man by himself can determine truth. And because the system is not for Christ, it is against Him. Generations of kids (over 90% of those from church homes) have attended the secular education system. Many Christian leaders, even in conservative churches, have encouraged the kids to go to that system where now they’re being trained in an atheistic worldview with the foundation that man determines truth. The justification is often given that children are to be salt and witness in that system. But as I state in my book Will They Stand, they can’t be salt until they have salt in themselves (Mark 9:50), and if the salt is contaminated, it is good for nothing (Matthew 5:13).”2
Here Ken Ham points out a couple of real issues in both America and the American church. First of all, people think the public schools are neutral, and they are not. The goal is to indoctrinate your children in secularism, not to provide a neutral education because that is ultimately impossible. Secondly, American Christians, over 90% by Ham’s research, keep on sending their kids to the secular education system. I am well aware I will make no friends by saying this, but that action has to stop, pull your kids out of the secular education system! Personally, I am a product of the homeschool movement and a passionate supporter of home education (two cheers for Voddie Baucham). So many in our day and age believe the school system just provides a neutral education, it doesn’t, and I would urge parents to consider that fact and to seek to raise their children in the most biblical manner. Give them a Christian education and grow them in the Lord. Ham makes valuable points along these lines, and I am grateful for him pointing out these factors.
Only Two Religions
Continuing to build his case, Ken Ham moves forward and discusses how everyone has a religion. He then states:
“Many people have the false idea that there are hundreds of religions. In an ultimate sense, there are actually only two: God’s Word and man’s word.”3
Once again, this point is incredibly well-made. It may seem as though there are countless different religions in the world, but really there are only two, Christianity which bases itself on the Bible, and everything else which is founded in the word of humanity. He then proceeds to make an interesting point by discussing how music has largely supplanted the teaching of God’s Word in the modern American church. Certainly, Ken Ham is not against music, as he makes clear.4 However, he says this:
“If you analyze many of the songs sung in churches today, you will find one or a combination of these problems: They’re shallow, theologically incorrect, or unclear in what message they’re supposedly conveying.”5
Ken Ham is not trying to say there should not be singing in the church, but that many of the songs we sing right now are not the ones we should be using. He is also arguing the teaching of the Word and not music should have the priority. Congregations need Bible teaching, and a lack of Scriptural knowledge is the reason we see the escalating issues we are facing in our current day. Because we as Christians base our beliefs on God’s Word, we must actually teach it so that the church knows what it believes!
Ready To Answer From The Solid Foundation
Ken Ham now begins to break down the necessity for Christians to give an answer, to defend the faith based upon the exhortation of 1 Peter 3:15. He discusses the lack of apologetical teaching in congregations, a point with which I concur. He then begins to list several of the biggest questions facing the church today and the need to be ready to give an answer. He then proceeds to deal with many worldview issues such as abortion, gender, marriage, and many others in a succinct and solid manner.
While it must be understood Ken Ham is not writing this book to give a full-on explanation of every issue he brings up, I do wish he would have added more to one particular point. He discusses the problem of death, suffering, and disease in his book and says:
“It’s not God’s fault the world is the way it is – It’s our fault. God stepped into history as the babe in a manger to save us from what we did to ourselves and this world.”6
I agree with Ken Ham’s point completely, God is not the author of sin. However, in my estimation, this point would have been one that would have benefited from further elaboration. How does evil in the world relate to God’s sovereignty and predestination? Why did God permit the Fall and not stop it? There are solid answers to these questions, but I wish some of them would have been provided in this book, even if just in a short way. Truthfully, my own desire for the book is that it would have elaborated more on this issue as I know Ken Ham is most definitely ready to provide answers to questions such as these. I also understand one book cannot cover all issues, but it would have been nice to see some of these things touched upon.
Concluding Observations
Divided Nation is certainly a book you should pick up and read through. It is a solid survey of some of the major worldview issues of our day and an explanation as to why our country is in its sad shape currently. Ken Ham gives great answers the church should implement for our faithfulness to Christ, and I wholeheartedly commend the book to you. This book will help you see the mistakes of our past and how we can proactively correct those errors in the future. As many of you know, The Christian Manifesto is affiliated with Answers In Genesis as we believe in the mission of this organization. If you desire to purchase any of their products, including Divided Nation, and want to support The Christian Manifesto, you can do so through this link.
Sources
1 Ken Ham, Divided Nation, p. 8.
2 Ken Ham, Divided Nation, p. 14.
3 Ken Ham, Divided Nation, p. 35.
4 Ken Ham, Divided Nation, p. 38.
5 Ken Ham, Divided Nation, p. 40.
6 Ken Ham, Divided Nation, p. 87.
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