Winner of the 2018 Creation Apologetics Teachers College scholarship essay contest
Rachel McBride- Winning 2018 Essay
We live in a day when Christian young people are being bombarded by messages that contradict the Bible. Statistics show that a majority of young people raised in the church walk away from Christianity after leaving home. Evolutionary brainwashing appears to be a significant reason for this tragedy. Because our educational system and mainstream media present evolution as fact, and the Bible as an outdated collection of myths and legends, Christian parents, teachers, and church leaders have a serious responsibility of countering these lies with the truth of Scripture. In light of the war being waged for the hearts and minds of young people, what should Christian high school students be taught about creation?
First of all, they need to know that the Bible is true, and that it stands alone as a standard of truth. God cannot lie (Titus 1:2), and the absolute truth of His Word has been confirmed over and over. Human writers are not the authors of Scripture; the Bible clearly explains that it is inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16). Rather than doubt what the Bible teaches about Creation, believers can trust that God, the only eyewitness at the beginning of time, has provided an accurate account of the beginning in Genesis. He would not deceive us by having it be written in a way that appears to say one thing (that the Creation week consisted of six, literal 24-hour days) if He meant something different (that the “days” were really long ages of evolution). Students must use discernment, and test what they are told by God’s infallible Word. There is no good reason to attempt to harmonize the Biblical creation account with evolutionary ideas that seek to explain the origin of life without a Creator.
Secondly, scientific observation confirms the accuracy of the Biblical account of Creation. For example, a well-proven law of science, the law of biogenesis, states that “life can only come from other life.” This poses no problem for believers, since they recognize God as the source of life (John 1:3-4). However, evolution contradicts this law, since it relies upon the idea that, at some point in the past, life arose from non-living matter (spontaneous generation).
Finally, Christian young people need to understand the significance of being created in God’s image (Genesis 1:26-27). In our world today, human life is frequently devalued (abortion, euthanasia, homicide, suicide, etc). In contrast, Scripture shows people that human beings are not highly-evolved animals here by an accident of evolution. When people truly realize the significance of being made in the image of God and of their value in His eyes, it changes the way that they live and act.
