There is science, and then there is science. One type claims to be enlightening but keeps people in the dark, the other is full of the light of eternity. Which one is influencing your kids?

This is more than slightly important. This one element may just make or break the faith of your children.

Consider this from the CreationScience4Kids website:

If you’ve been paying any attention to what’s happening to young church goers, you know the generation coming into adulthood is flooding out of the church. Naturally, there are a host of reasons why they are rejecting the faith of their parents, but one of the major ones is a lack of confidence in the Bible.

If God can’t be trusted to tell the truth about how we got here, why should we trust Him when He says where we’re going?

In fact, many kids realize that if God isn’t necessary to create life, He’s not necessary for anything. Atheism is a growing plague among young people starting years before college. And there are many forces bombarding our kids with atheistic thinking.

My own life is an example of this. I gave my heart to Jesus when I was 12, but I didn’t fully understand the implications of a surrendered life until I was 16. From that time on I spent every spare moment learning more about Him, studying His word, reading good books, listening to good sermons.

When I was in high school there were many questions swirling around in my mind. It was the science taught at school that confused me the most. Yes, I believed in the creation account just as it was written, but what I was being taught seemed to put the volume of evidence on the side of a materialistic-evolutionist view of reality.

A friend of mine who was also grappling with this conflict of ideas said she believed evolution and the Bible were compatible. The idea was that God could have meant that the six days were six billion years; that He actually used evolution to bring up His creation slowly and incrementally.

I listened politely, but had an inner witness that this was bunk. Still, how could I ever defend my position? Wasn’t it true that if God truly did make the world in six literal days there should be obvious, irrefutable evidence?

I don’t believe I was alone in my questions. There are generations of people whose child-like faith has been challenged by what is being called “science.” Young hearts are pliable in the Master’s hand and reach out for His love, but when they are constantly bombarded with what is deemed irrefutable evidence to the contrary, the conflict in their minds begins to diminish their faith. They want to completely trust, but there is always that nagging doubt running in the background.

Darwin and his cohorts understood this problem well.

Thomas Huxley has been called the “bulldog” of Darwin because he was instrumental in popularizing the ideas of evolution. He was convinced this materialistic theory nullified faith in Christ. He stated this clearly in his essay Lights of the Church and Science:

I am fairly at a loss to comprehend how any one, for a moment, can doubt that Christian theology must stand or fall with the historical trustworthiness of the Jewish Scriptures. The very conception of the Messiah, or Christ, is inextricably interwoven with Jewish history; the identification of Jesus of Nazareth with that Messiah rests upon the interpretation of the passages of the Hebrew Scriptures which have no evidential value unless they possess the historical character assigned to them. If the covenant with Abraham was not made; if circumcision and sacrifices were not ordained by Jahveh; if the “ten words” were not written by God’s hand on the stone tables; if Abraham is more or less a mythical hero, such as Theseus; the Story of the Deluge a fiction; that of the Fall a legend; and that of the Creation the dream of a seer; if all these definite and detailed narratives of apparently real events have no more value as history than have the stories of the regal period of Rome — what is to be said about the Messianic doctrine, which is so much less clearly enunciated: And what about the authority of the writers of the books of the New Testament, who, on this theory, have not merely accepted flimsy fictions for solid truths, but have built the very foundations of Christian dogma upon legendary quicksands?

Sadly, believers have been way-laid by this mistaken scientific consensus. As each piece of evidence of our ancient origins has been uncovered, evolutionists have snatched it up and claimed it supported their theories.

Thankfully, some courageous, smart scientists have been fighting back. Little by little they are reclaiming all of the evidence and then sharing their work with the rest of the world.

The truth is setting us free.

One of the reasons we began homeschooling our children was so we could present this more truthful portrayal of history and science. As believers, we believe that God was the Creator, that Jesus is the Author and Finisher, and so all of creation, from the beginning through the middle and on to the end, will reflect His plans and purposes. Every piece of evidence ever collected only confirms this, it simply takes the right lens in order to see it.

Some like to call this lens one’s “worldview.” The most prevalent worldviews in this modern day are

• Materialistic. This one is based on the idea there is only a material world, that there is nothing beyond what we can experience via our five senses
• Spiritualistic. There is something beyond this material world, but it is not connected to the God of the Bible. The universe could be created and ruled by “energy,” or Allah, or fairies and unicorns.
• Judeo-Christian. This is the literal belief the Bible is filled with accounts of actual history, not stories or allegories, and that there is a real heaven and a real hell, and there are spirit beings and everything else the Bible teaches.

When our children are released from our homes they are going to come face-to-face with sincere people who are convinced their worldview is the correct one, and these people are going to be able to present compelling evidence from their particular perspectives. If our children are not fully convinced, if they are not well versed in the reasons why they believe, their naïveté will be used against them and they will fall as easy prey to the enemy.

We need to equip them.

Yes, there is a place to learn about simple machines and chemical bonds. It may help them pass tests to know about mitosis and and mitochondria. But if all this knowledge is not presented within the matrix of a Creator God who loves mankind, there is no purpose or reason for it.

If all we are is a collective mass of matter that is being recycled over and over again, there is no reason for love or kindness or self-sacrifice. There isn’t even a reason to get up in the morning, save to please ourselves at the expense of others. Science cannot save us, it can only plunge us deeper into darkness.

However, science can come alive when approached from the perspective of Johannes Kepler (the scientist who discovered the three mathematical laws of planetary motion):

O God, I am thinking Thy thoughts after Thee.

To Kepler, the study of the observable universe was not a clinical look at the arrangement of matter. It was another form of discourse with his Creator.

The chief aim of all investigations of the external world should be to discover the rational order and harmony which has been imposed on it by God and which He revealed to us in the language of mathematics.

As we discover the genius of our Lord, we can’t help but praise Him. This is when science turns into worship.

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.

There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.

Psalm 19:1-3

O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.

Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:

All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;

The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.

O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!

Psalm 8:1-9

So, what can we do?

We can have lots of fun educating ourselves and our children, and we can do it mostly for FREE!

Here are some awesome links you and your children can explore that can help get you started:

Answers in Genesis

You could spend a year or two and never exhaust all of the resources found there. For the younger ones, try the Kids section. Our little girls love going here to do research for notebooking pages (the animal videos are their favorites). There is also a list of science experiments, online books, crafts, and even quizzes.

The older children can enjoy the section filled with free online books (the left sidebar will lead you on a marvelous rabbit trail). There is enough material here to fill up volumes of notebooking binders!

While you’re there, be sure and check out the homeschool science curriculum. The multi-level God’s Design for Science series is perfect for large families.

AiG also offers online courses (for a fee) which will earn actual college credit.

Make sure and take advantage of the numerous articles–most are written in common vernacular and are immensely interesting.

YouTube

The list here is endless; all you have to do is plug in the search words “creation science” and click enter! One good one is a movie that exposes the flimsy evidence for evolution, Evolution vs. God with Ray Comfort.

God of Wonders is one of our family favorites:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvVt4lDSPeY

 

Wikipedia list of scientist who were Christians.

This is a great jumping-off point to find out more. What a game-changer to realize most of the scientific information we take for granted was discovered by men and women who were committed believers.

The Institute for Creation Research

This site is full of interesting articles and books and DVD’s for purchase.

Creation.com

Loads to unload here–make sure and check out the excellent media section.

Creation Science 4 Kids

This is a great place to turn your kids loose in! So much information, so many different ways to follow one thought after another. And, it is so full of scripture!

The Evolution Handbook

This site is another one of those that is quite extensive. If you don’t already own the paperback book, you really should! It is quite affordable and is one of those that’s hard to put down (I’ve found our copy all around the house where our teens have been reading it). It is actually set up as a sort of textbook, with suggested activities and questions for different levels at the end of each chapter.

Well, I hope I have started you on a family adventure, one that will be reaping benefits for you and your family well into eternity!

If you have discovered any other interesting links or resources, be sure and share them below.

P.S. Don’t forget, The Record Book is a great way to keep track of all the scientific exploring you do together!