Creation Science Issues

The 'Real' Reason behind Answers in Genesis' New Year's Campaigns

First Published 12 January 2015 Answers In Genesis New Year's Ad

For the past several years, we have become accustomed to hearing Answers in Genesis proudly proclaim their ad campaign that will be displayed in Times Square on New Year's Eve. As we all know, if they are trying to reach atheists with the Gospel, AiG's tactic of calling people 'insensitive' and 'wrong' will certainly push them further away from the Gospel, not nearer.

On January 1st, the website AllMyRoads.com posted an open letter to AiG regarding their campaign. If you have not read it, I encourage everyone to do so. I cannot improve upon the words in this letter. Biblical creationists of all types...young earth, progressive creationists, theistic evolutionists, gap believers, and others, should be disappointed in the un-biblical methods Answers in Genesis uses in these campaigns. It is hard for many to understand how AiG can claim that these are effective evangelism tools. I'm pretty certain that not a single atheist has seen AiG's messages in Times Square, and decided to become a Christian. Spending millions of dollars (according to AiG) on these billboards seems over the top for zero results in evangelism.

Through Old Earth Ministries, I have been monitering young earth creationist ministries for the past 12 years, so I can shed some light on the real motivation behind these campaigns. For many years now, the young earth community has been decreasing in number, as more and more people abandon it for a position that agrees with science. Unfortunately, many of the people who abandon YEC fall away from the faith, but fortunately, many now call themselves old earth creationists. (Part of the goal of Old Earth Ministries is to let these people know that you can believe in an old earth and the Bible).

In creating the ad campaign, I believe Answers in Genesis is not actively trying to convert atheists to young earth creationism...the billboards are not an evangelism tool at all. The message of the billboards is not meant for atheists, but for people who are already young earth creationists ("Look! We are confronting those evil atheists!"). By actively trying to drive a clearly defined wedge between atheists and their own believers, the hope is that they will help their followers see themselves as distinct, set apart from worldly beliefs. In short, the campaign is meant to keep their own YEC followers from jumping ship. Let's face it, when they lose a YEC believer, they lose a potential source of income.

To support this claim, consider this. Answers in Genesis, and the other young earth ministries, publish thousands of articles every year, in an attempt to persuade the reader that a young earth is correct. In monitering these articles, I can say that in most cases, YEC ministries are 'preaching to the choir.' They are addressing people who are already YEC's. While there are some people who convert to YEC every year (mostly because they grew up YEC, so they already have that foundation in their thinking), for the most part, YEC ministries are 95 percent damage control, and 5 percent evangelism.

Let's face it...no scientists are going to visit the Answers in Genesis website because they have such good scientific data and conclusions! So who is reading this material? People who already believe in a young earth, or who have young earth leanings due to their being raised young earth in their youth.

I challenge Answers in Genesis...produce all of the atheist converts that you have helped become Christian as a result of you calling them "wrong" and "insensitive" on a billboard in Times Square. You have spent millions of dollars, so there should be at least one convert. Yet, after several years of these campaigns, AiG has not produced a single atheist that has become a Christian.

Answers in Genesis...your efforts are embarrassing to Christians, and the church as a whole. It's time to stop these fruitless ads. After all, didn't Jesus say of Christians that we will know them by their fruits? These ads have no fruits, other than to keep your supporters faithful to the young earth cause, and donating to AiG.

If you are not a Christian, and you have been holding out on making a decision for Christ because the Church always preached a message that was contrary to what you saw in the scientific world, then rest assured that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, and you can believe in Christ and receive salvation, while still believing in an old earth. Click here for more.

Are you a Christian who believes in young earth creationism? Now that we have shown the many difficulties of the young earth creation science model in this and many other articles, how does this impact your Christian life? If you are a young earth creationism believer, click here.

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To learn more about old earth creationism, see Old Earth Belief, or check out the article Can You Be A Christian and Believe in an Old Earth?

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