by Rodney Kennedy

Answers in Genesis (AiG). The name of the organization says it all. But as Dr. Kennedy argues below, AiG has it all wrong.

When Ken Ham claims that all the answers are in Genesis 1-11, and when Christians line up behind such a claim, we are in for a long ride that takes us further and further from the Gospel.

There’s no Jesus in Genesis. There’s no church in Genesis. There’s no cross in Genesis. There’s no resurrection in Genesis.

More than this, when someone thinks we can just read a few verses from Genesis 1-11 and make all things righteous, we are in grave trouble. When someone thinks the answer is to call for a full-scale culture war, the righteous v. the unrighteous, we are in grave trouble.

There are none who are righteous. Instead what we have in America are two groups of sinners shouting at one another and blaming one another and drawing even more lines in the sand. Until we get down to the repenting, the forgiving, the reconciling, the confessing, we will remain in the throes of hatred and violence that grips all of us in guilt and fear.

The answers are not found in a fog-induced craving for an age of innocence back in the Garden of Eden. The Christian gospel is that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Something has been done for us, something undeserved and unearned. The answers are among us and within us as we respond to the call of the Gospel on our lives.

The answers are not in Genesis.

Rodney Kennedy has a Ph.D. in Rhetoric from Louisiana State University and 45 years of preaching experience. Among other publications, he is co-author of Will Campbell: Preacher of Reconciliation (Cascade, 2015) and co-editor of Baptists Gathering for the Work of Worship (Pickwick, 2013).