Apologetics Conference Wraps Up; Creation 'Mega-Conference' on Horizon
by Allie Martin
February 3, 2005
(AgapePress) - A conference that focused on equipping Christians to defend their faith has wrapped up in Florida. Christians activists who attended the conference say they now feel better equipped to give a solid defense of the biblical view of creationism.The "Defending the Faith" conference in Fort Lauderdale featured a variety of Christian apologetics speakers who spoke on topics such as "The Crumbling of Evolution," "Genesis: The Key to Reclaiming Culture," and "How to Defend the Christian Faith in Today's World." The conference, which took place at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, was sponsored by the Christian apologetics ministry Answers in Genesis (AIG).
AIG president Dr. Ken Ham says his organization's theme for 2005 is "Rebuilding the Foundation" -- and that that was exactly the conference's intent. Ham kicked off the three-day conference by challenging churches to reclaim their role in educating young people with the truth of God's Word. He said generations have been taught in public education that the history of the Bible is not true, and have relegated to schools the teaching of historical subjects like geology, biology, and anthropology.
To remedy that, Ham called for a radical change in Sunday school curriculum as well as appropriate teaching from pulpits on the historical accuracy of the Bible.
The key to defending a Christian faith, Ham said later during the conference, is a biblical worldview -- an understanding of the world and life that is based on scripture. It is absolutely essential, he said, for Christians to take as literal truth God's account of creation as revealed in Genesis. Otherwise there is no basis for right and wrong, Ham said, and it is inevitable that the moral foundations of human existence will crumble.
As the conference progressed, featured speakers such as Dr. D. James Kennedy, senior pastor at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church and founder of the Center for Reclaiming America, addressed the subject of evolution -- and the danger Christians face in embracing the humanistic theory. But despite that theory's worldwide acceptance over the last several generations, Kennedy told conference attendees it is losing favor with many people as scientists cannot explain the complexity of the human body.
Christian author Dr. R.C. Sproul, Jr., also spoke at the "Defending the Faith" conference. Sproul reminded his listeners that the vastness of the universe points to a creator as well as to that creator's sovereignty. Men, he said, are foolish to deny that fact and are making a mistake to "elevate" their own dignity and importance.
Bob Mulima, a Dallas-area pastor who attended the conference, says the conference gave him a deeper appreciation of the Bible's first book. "I just feel empowered and strengthened to stand for the faith that I believe, that the Word of God is infallible [and] inerrant," the pastor says. "It's true from Genesis to Revelation."
And 15-year-old Roberto De La Noval says he will take what he learned at the conference back to his Christian school in Miami. "The more I've been here, the more I realize apologetics is ... geared toward evangelism and not just study," the teenager says.
Answers in Genesis will be hosting the "2005 Creation Mega-Conference" in late July at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
