The New Answers Book 1

New Answers Book #1

by Ken Ham

Christians live in a culture with more questions than ever - questions that affect one's acceptance of the Bible as authoritative and trustworthy. Now, discover easy-to-understand answers that reach core truths of the Christian faith and apply the biblical worldview to a wide variety of subjects

Genres: Christian, Science, Nonfiction, Religion, Theology, Faith, Reference

388 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Dr. Ken Ham is the president of Answers in Genesis USA and is a well-known speaker and author on the subject of Young-Earth Creationism. He received a bachelor degree in applied science (emphasis on environmental biology) from the Queensland Institute of Technology, and a Diploma of Education from the University of Queensland. He has also received two honorary doctorates: a Doctor of Divinity from Temple Baptist College, and a Doctor of Literature from Baptist Liberty University.

He was a director of Creation Science Foundation (CSF) in Australia, an organization which he jointly founded with John Mackay. In 1987 he moved to the United States, still maintaining his links with CSF.

From 1987 to 1993, Ham worked for the Institute for Creation Research, and in 1994 set up what in 1995 became Answers in Genesis (AiG), a creation ministry dedicated to "upholding the authority of the Bible from the very first verse."

In 2008 Ham was described by well known atheist and evolutionary biologist PZ Myers as a "Wackaloon" for carrying out a prayer session with members of the Pentagon. Ham responded regarding the validity of that prayer breakfastand that PZ Myers and other critics were intolerant of his position.

Reviews

[Jimmy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got this book from a student being homeschooled. Once again Ken "The Scam Man" Ham has pulled off an enormous fraud on gullible Christians. The only question that remains is does The Scam Man really believe this nonsense or is he just laughing all the way to the bank. And what about the poor kids that are being forced fed with this stuff at home. How will they ever learn critical thinking skills.

All of the authors of the essays in this collection love to use the letters "Dr." before their names. That means they MUST know what they are talking about. Of course, The Scam Man got his doctorate from Temple Baptist College. They all love bragging about their PhDs.

And did you know that Johannes Kepler and Isaac Newton were "creation scientists?" The rest of them are "secular/uniformitarian scientists."

In a nutshell, the earth and the universe, no less, were created about 6,000 years ago in SIX DAYS! Adam and Eve were the first humans. They sinned, and all living things were punished by death and suffering, which didn't exist before the "fall of man." Dinosaurs lived with humans. More people were formed by incest, which was not yet outlawed. There was only one ice age. A catastrophic flood destroyed all life in the world, except for Noah and his family and the pairs of animals on the Ark, dinosaurs included. The pairs were "by kind," which explains how they all fit! (Don't ask me to explain that one.)

Now still within the 6,000 year time frame, these animals spread over land and produced by natural selection different variations, but not completely different species. The land mass drifted apart and formed continents. WHEW!

How did starlight form which took millions of years to reach earth? Well, it could have been created already across the universe. But also "light was much quicker in the past." And "time does not flow at the same rate in all conditions." And "the Bible may have used cosmic local time when reporting events." And of course, "God is supernatural and is capable of acting outside natural laws." I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

In conclusion, The Scam Man is rich, Christians are being used, and my head is spinning.

[James Piper · Rating 1 out of 5]

Evolution is a fact. It happens. The theory of evolution explains how it happens.

This book is filled with misinformation, distortions and outright lies.

It's not a science book, it's a work of fiction. It's the author's and audience's delusion. It's not an attempt at the truth, but to distort it to protect their fairy tales.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

I already reviewed the first edition (which was excellent), but this version has the added bonus of containing updated material, new chapters not found in the earlier editions, and hugely improved cover art. If you don't believe the Bible is the infallible Word of God, then this book will probably drive you crazy, but it definitely does a great job of showing how science aligns with the Bible so much more than most people suspect.

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book and I found it very informative. Most of the information is easy to understand and made me think about the origins of the world in a way that I had not thought about much before.

As a product of the public schools, I was raised to think that evolution was fact instead of just the THEORY that it is. I think students need to be taught that evolution is a theory and be shown that there are other valid theories out there, too. We need to remember that there is a difference between scientific fact and theory. Facts are verifiable evidence. Theories are ideas that scientists come up with based on those facts. Theories are not proven. If they could be, they would be considered facts.

This book uses scientific facts and shows that they validate the bible - specifically Genesis which includes the creation and the flood. It also shows why evolution theories and the bible are NOT compatible, while at the same time showing that scientific facts do not contradict what the bible says.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This detailed book by Ken Ham offers in-depth discussions and answers to many tough and common questions that even the most faithful Christian will ask.

Through this book Christians will be able to see for themselves that the Word of God, the Bible, is completely accurate in its teachings and be assured of their faith

[Chris · Rating 1 out of 5]

Complete garbage meant to protect a world view that is so silly even a child sees through it as you can tell be the questions they ask.

[Peyton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a really great book!!! Stand up for Jesus, Ken Ham!!!! Thank you! Can't wait till you get that ark built!!!

[Jason · Rating 1 out of 5]

Most of the "information" in this book is misinformation. Ken Ham distorts, misquotes and outright lies. Look up his sources and read them for yourself.

[Morgan's Endless Bookshelf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good resource, though I kinda wish there had been less detail on the science stuff. I may have skimmed a bit.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of the 3 Answers in Genesis "Answers" books that help people to understand the real answers behind life's biggest questions. All from a biblical perspective. Wonder where dinosaurs fit in? Evolution? Is there a Heaven/Hell? Look no futher than this 1st book in the series. If you are a Christian, this book helps you with Apologetics, and a way to defend your faith and answer questions from a biblical perspective. If you are not a Christian, if you keep an open mind while reading this, you just may begin to understand some of the biblical truths that exist, but are being distorted by mainstream secular humanist thinking.
Enjoy!

[Caleb Case · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fantastic book! I’ve already known much of the information in this book, but it was great to have a refresher. This book talks about dinosaurs, UFO’s, the Ice Age, and everything in between. Ken Ham and the rest of the authors did a great job, and I can’t wait to read the next one!

[Terry Moffitt]

Essential reference for any Christian's library.

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is aimed at Christians who accept the historicity of the Bible, and wish to understand how modern cosmology, geology, and biology can support a biblical worldview. Not all the chapters deal directly with creation or evolution; some are about biblical historicity, theological implications, and proper translation of Hebrew texts. I don’t think it would be convincing to non-Christians; even though it sometimes uses logical and scientific arguments, it’s full of Bible verses and relies heavily on traditional Christian beliefs.

Despite its title, the book often responds to a question with more than one biblically and scientifically acceptable hypothesis, not an absolute answer. It’s written for common readers, not scientists, but the footnotes contain references to scientific papers and books. I wanted more scientific details, but it provides a good introduction to the topics that spark interest in further reading. I’m neither a scientist nor a theologian, but as far as I can tell, the book is scientifically and theologically sound. Of course, I’ll continue studying alternative perspectives on these topics. My favorite chapters were those on carbon-14 dating, radiometric dating, distant starlight, the origins of defense/attack structures, and archaeological support for the Bible.

There are a few recurring themes. One is that there’s a difference between historical science and observational science. Another is that all scientists are inevitably biased by their pre-existing assumptions about origins (cosmological, geological, biological, etc.) and the rates of natural processes. Another, also concerned with biases, is that Christians often rely on eisegesis (interpreting the Bible according to pre-existing ideas) rather than exegesis (interpreting the Bible critically, based on the text). Another is that there are serious theological implications to denying the truth of select parts of the Bible (e.g., if some parts aren’t true, maybe others aren’t).

Some of the illustrations were helpful, but but most were too cartoony and made the book seem juvenile. I had already read most of this book in article form on the Answers in Genesis website. In fact, you can read the entire book online.

Notes
Quotations in notes below are directly from the book.

Natural selection and mutations
Antibiotics are natural products produced by fungi and bacteria, and modern antibiotics are typically derivatives of those. So, it’s natural that some bacteria are resistant to certain antibiotics. Bacteria can gain resistance by losing genetic information and/or swapping DNA with resistant bacteria. Neither produce a net gain of genetic information. See Antibiotic Resistance of Bacteria: An Example of Evolution in Action?

Carbon-14 dating and radiometric dating
Carbon-14 dating assumes the atmospheric ratio of C-14 to C-12 has remained constant. However, it could have changed due to the Earth’s weakening magnetic field, and/or the Flood burying large amounts of carbon. See Doesn’t Carbon-14 Dating Disprove the Bible?

Radiometric dating assumes radioactive decay rates are constant. However, nuclear decay has been shown to have occurred at grossly accelerated rates when molten rocks were forming, crystallizing, and cooling. Also, decay rates may have been greatly accelerated in the past; the RATE group suggests this occurred early in the creation week and again during the Flood. See Does Radiometric Dating Prove the Earth Is Old?

Ice cores
See Ice Cores and the Age of the Earth.

Distant starlight
The best explanation for distant starlight is that God used a supernatural act to bring distant starlight to Earth, just as He created the universe supernaturally. Perhaps Earth was once in a gravitational well, causing time to flow more slowly here than elsewhere in the universe. Perhaps the Bible uses cosmic local time rather than universal time. Alternative explanations, such as God creating beams of light in-transit, or the speed of light being variable, have problems. See Does Distant Starlight Prove the Universe Is Old?

Homologous biological structures
“Structures that appear homologous often develop under the control of genes that are not homologous.” See Hasn’t Evolution Been Proven True?

Jesus believed in the historicity of Creation and Old Testament miracles
Jesus didn’t allegorize Creation and other Old Testament miracles, but treated them as historical accounts (e.g., creation of Adam, Noah and the Flood, Lot in Sodom, Moses and the manna, Jonah in the fish or whale). See Matthew 10:15, Matthew 12:40-41, Matthew 15:1-9, Matthew 19:3-6, Matthew 24:38-39, Mark 10:3-9, Mark 13:19, Luke 4:25-27, Luke 11:50-51, Luke 17:28-32, John 3:14, John 5:45-47, John 6:32-33 & 49. See Did Jesus Say He Created in Six Literal Days?

Other verses that teach creation: Exodus 20:11, Psalm 33:6 & 9, Colossians 1:16-17, John 1:1-3.

Jesus and Peter believed in a historical Noah’s Flood. See Matthew 24:37-39, 2 Peter 3:3-7.

Death prior to the Fall
Millions of years of biological evolution prior to homo sapiens is incompatible with the Bible, which teaches that the death of animals and humans is a result of the Fall. See Romans 5:12, 1 Corinthians 15:45-49. Genesis 1:29-30 teaches that animals and humans were originally vegetarian. “The Bible speaks of animals and humans having or being nephesh (Hebrew), or soul-life, in various contexts suggesting conscious life.” The Hebrew phrase nephesh chayyah literally means “in which there is life” and is used in Genesis 1:20-21 and Genesis 2:7 to refer to humans and animals. “...this phrase is never used in reference to plants (or invertebrates), thus highlighting the difference between plant life and human and animal life.” “Plants do not possess this nephesh quality and so cannot die in the scriptural sense.” See Why Does God’s Creation Include Death and Suffering?

The Bible and science
“God’s Word must be the final authority on all matters about which it speaks - not just the moral and spiritual matters, but also its teachings that bear on history, archaeology, and science. What is at stake here is the authority of Scripture, the character of God, the doctrine of death, and the very foundation of the gospel. If the early chapters of Genesis are not true literal history, then faith in the rest of the Bible is undermined, including its teaching about salvation and morality.”

The Bible isn’t a science textbook, but it “can be relied upon when it touches on every scientific issue, including ecology. It is the Bible that gives us the big picture. Within this big picture, we can build scientific models that help us explain how past events may have come about.”

“We cannot assume that past acts of God are necessarily understandable in terms of a current scientific mechanism, because science can only probe the way in which God sustains the universe today. It is irrational to argue that a supernatural act cannot be true on the basis that it cannot be explained by natural processes observed today.”

[Todd Stockslager · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review title: Facts, filters, and worldviews

Answers in Genesis is an organization dedicated to support and search for scientific evidence in support of the Biblical Genesis account of

creation in a literal six days
A "young earth" 6 to 10 thousand years old
a catastrophic global flood
creation of species with natural selection driving only evolution within kind, not generating new species

Ken Ham is the editor for this collection, the first of three, of questions and answers about creation, evolution, and the Bible. Ham and the authors of all the articles are transparent and open about their worldview. All of the writers are credentialed scientists in their fields, so while some may question their worldview, their scientific abilities should be beyond gainsaying. And the point is repeated several times throughout the book that when it comes to evidence of origins, all scientists are working from the same evidence, the only difference is in the theories that interpret the evidence, and while all the theories strive to fit the evidence to a reasonable explanation of origins, worldview will make a difference in the theories.

I am a Christian who believes that the Bible is the word of God and Genesis 1 should be taken literally. I am intelligent and well read, and I'm not a nut case. There are millions like me, including the scientists writing these articles. The creationist arguments are logically sound, especially strong on DNA as evidence against molecules-to-man evolution--mutations in the DNA may decrease the information encoded in the DNA, it can never increase it.

The weakest link is the young-earth argument against radiometric dating that shows the earth to be millions of years old. A study is cited that shows that radiometric data is inaccurate and can reasonably be interpreted to show a young earth. My curiosity piqued, I googled the study, and found a sharp attack that criticized the author's techniques and accused the study of several faults that invalidated the results, but I also found the author's rebuttal that verified the original young-earth findings and counter-accused the accuser of failing to address the key scientific findings of the original article. While both the study's author and his attacker used logical arguments, as I'm not a scientist I couldn't vouch for the accuracy of either position, so it boils down to a he-said, she-said argument.

The question and answer format is easy to read and follow, but isn't arranged in any kind of topical sequence. And while many of the articles are illustrated with photographs, diagrams, or data that are useful, many others have cartoonish line drawings that seem targeted to young readers, not adults. I think that AIG would be well served to lose the cartoons and rewrite the answers into a single topical narrative documenting the evidence of origins in a logical presentation of the data.

In the end, what you believe will probably depend on well, what you believe. While Ham and AIG state that one of their purposes is to convince non-Christians of the truth of the Bible and the need for redemption, it is unlikely that the answers provided here will convert anyone's soul or mind. This is an unfortunate fact of human nature that no amount of logic or evidence will change.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciated the scientific information provided to support the authors' views, especially when sources were provided so that I could look them up. They point out some valid flaws in current scientific theories, but sometimes an author will take a more extreme interpretation of a modern scientific theory than is the common view or focus on miniscule issues in a theory. Information was generally presented logically, although one might not agree with their starting assumptions. Many of the authors claimed that scientists have presuppositions, but so do these authors. Of course, no one wants to present the problems with their own theories.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Acceptable introduction to Biblical worldview apologetics. If you already have read or seen some of AIG or ICR's materials, half of this book you already know. But it was scheduled reading for my daughter's 9th grade homeschool curriculum- just because much of it was review for us, it may be new to others!
One flaw I see in much of Ken Ham's work is using the Bible as foundation in his arguments- this is fine if you have already answered any and all doubting questions or refuted claims of the Bible not being authoritative. This book doesn't clear that path so would not be good to give to someone searching or questioning who would doubt the Bible's validity.

[Rachel Grepke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes questions are asked of us as Christians that we just don't always know how to answer them. But with the Bible and this book, you will feel more confident to do so. From the flood, to creation week, and dinosaurs to evolution, this book guides you through the Biblical focus and realities of them all. It was extremely well written (although some of the science stuff was a bit over my head!) We as Christians need to be prepared to give answers when asked. I encourage you to pick up this book an others like it to encourage your own walk of faith and prepare you to defend it.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

We really like this book and the New Answer Book 2 by Ken Ham. Amazing refutation of evolution and million-years age theories. Some answers are incredibly technical and may cause your brain to explode. Some answers seem to require a degree in physics. But there are plenty of other answers for the rest of us to go around.

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear, concise, scientific answers to questions about dinosaurs, the flood, ice age, and more. Any good scientist ("a person learned in science and especially natural science : a scientific investigator") should read this... if they truly are an "investigator" of science that is.

[Kory Monk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book that answers such as Why Shouldn't Christians Accept Millions of Years, Hasn't Evolution been proven true, Does radiometric dating prove the earth is old, Doesn't carbon dating disprove the Bible, Don't creationist deny the laws of nature, was there really a Noah's Ark and Flood, etc.

[Sierra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent resource from Answers in Genesis giving scientific evidence for creation and answering many common questions of the day. Highly recommended, as well as the other books in the series.

[Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good 4.5. Explores questions concerning creation, evolution, and the Bible. Good for children or the common lay person.

[Δx Δp ≥ ½ ħ · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Principia of Blasphemy. The worst fiction book I've ever read in 20 years.

[Kos Ivantsov · Rating 1 out of 5]

Somehow the arrogant and mentoring spirit in which the book is written really negates anything the author had to say.

[Jane Hong · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this annually I love

[Jeffrey McDowell · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent resource for families, Christian schools, and churches.

[Isaiah the Ox · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book, I was hoping to see the "young-earth creationist" (YEC) view of each topic brought up. However, The authors decided to prove that evolution has many holes in it and that YE creationists have discovered other ways to explain science rather than evolution.
I have several problems with the theology and understanding of the Bible in this book, but I won't mention them here.
I found the book not to be written boringly, however, some of the chapters were disorganized, which sometimes lead to confusion.
If you are looking for other oppinions about science and the Bible other than the evoltuion answer, I recommend this book. If you are interested in both sides of this topic, I would recommend reading this book with The Language of Science and Faith: Straight Answers to Genuine Questions. The Answers Book poses problems with evolution, while The Language answers some of these problems.

[L8blmr · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found much of this book, that offers alternatives to evolution and old earth theories, fascinating. Some of it I felt was "glossed over" to add credence to the author's beliefs without being more than his own interpretation of the Bible.

Everyone is, of course, entitled to their own opinion and I have found that one can debate much more intelligently if armed with as much information as possible on BOTH sides of an issue. This book contains a lot of ammunition.

[AH]

I want my time back however I would recommend this book to all gullible and Stupid people out there.If you hate your kids and/or you hate yourself, this can be a book that is an "Essential catalyst of blissful Ignorance".
who would even consider such an absurd ...yeah I'm done spending time on this.

[Jack Relue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this approach to apologetics and evangelism can be very effective, especially in our post-modern times (age of the earth, credibility of the Bible and its history, creation, etc.) However, I did find chunks of this book to be repetitive in nature. Overall enjoyed it and took some good bits away.