Standing Firm in Faith Without Dividing the Church

Dear Mr. Ham,

I share your commitment to the authority of Scripture and the gospel, which is why I feel compelled to respond to your post on X/Twitter of Oct 28^th 2024 (see a copy of the text at the end of this letter). While I appreciate your passion for defending biblical truth, I’m concerned that you’ve created a false dichotomy between “biblical authority” and “compromise” that undermines the unity of the Church and our witness to the world.

You state that “Genesis 1-11 is the foundation for everything, for all doctrine, for our Christian worldview, and for the gospel.” I agree these chapters are foundational – but I would argue that their foundation lies in teaching us WHO created (God) and WHY He created (for His glory and our good), not necessarily HOW or WHEN He created in terms of specific mechanisms and timeframes. The gospel rests on the historical reality of our sinful nature and Christ’s redemption, not on a particular interpretation of the days of Genesis 1.

Your use of the term “compromising Christians” for fellow believers who interpret Genesis differently than you do is particularly troubling. Many faithful Christians throughout church history, from Augustine to the present day, have not held to a young-earth interpretation. Were they all “compromising” with secular culture? Or were they honestly wrestling with how to interpret Scripture in light of God’s revelation in both His Word and His world?

You claim this is “not a personal matter” but an authority issue. However, by labeling those who disagree with your interpretation as “compromisers” who are “trusting man’s word over God’s Word,” you make it very personal indeed. This rhetoric divides the body of Christ and, I would argue, does far more damage to our witness than honest disagreement about the age of the earth.

The irony is that your insistence on young-earth creationism as the only acceptable biblical interpretation is driving people away from the faith. When we tell scientifically literate people they must choose between the overwhelming evidence for an old earth and believing the Bible, we create an unnecessary stumbling block to faith.

I believe we can fully affirm biblical authority while acknowledging that Genesis 1-11 may have more interpretive flexibility than you allow. This isn’t “compromise” – it’s careful attention to the text in its ancient Near Eastern context and humble recognition that God’s ways are higher than our ways.

Moreover, asserting that accepting an old earth leads to secularization overlooks the fact that many believers maintain a robust, transformative faith while embracing scientific findings. The challenges facing the church today—such as secularism and skepticism—are complex and cannot be solely attributed to differing views on the age of the earth.

Let’s focus on our unity in the gospel and essential Christian doctrines while extending grace in areas of disagreement about the interpretation of creation. The world will know we are Christians by our love for one another, not by our insistence on a particular view of earth’s age.

In Christ,
Joel Duff

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Ken Ham’s X/Twitter post Oct 28, 2024

There is one thing I really dislike about being in the Answers in Genesis ministry!

What I hate about it is something every Bible-believing Christian should hate. I hate it when we have to publicly oppose, debate, and challenge sincere Christians who, while they believe the gospel (and would even say they believe in biblical inerrancy), compromise God’s Word in Genesis. That is what I’m most saddened and stressed about. And all Christians should be saddened by this as Genesis 1–11 is the foundation for everything, for all doctrine, for our Christian worldview, and for the gospel. I hate it when the world sees this contention among believers. But at the same time, it’s very important for Christians and non-Christians to see us boldly, uncompromisingly, and unashamedly stand on the authority of God’s Word from the very first verse.

As I’ve stated many times, and as we have documented with research published in various books, compromise on Genesis (particularly with Christians who add millions of years into the Bible) has had a devastating impact on how this generation views the Bible. And sadly, this compromise has been a major factor as to why so many people are leaving the church and are now secularized in their thinking. There’s been a catastrophic generational loss in the Western church.

It must be perplexing to many people that Christians with a heart for the gospel, who say they believe in inerrancy, battle each other over their views on Genesis. But it’s our contention that compromising Christians (as I call them) have an inconsistent approach to Scripture that unlocks a door to undermine biblical authority in Genesis—and puts people on a slippery slope toward doubt and unbelief through the rest of Scripture.

Such compromising Christians are trusting man’s word over God’s Word in Genesis. They are doing what I call eisegesis not exegesis. That’s the bottom line. It’s an authority issue. We plead with Christian leaders to apply a consistent hermeneutic to Scripture and reject compromise that undermines the authority of the Word, which has such a negative impact on the people they influence.

When we stand against Christian leaders who compromise, I sometimes get accused of being unloving and have people tell me that I should be going to these leaders personally as per Matthew 18. But it’s not a personal matter. It is not a Matthew 18 situation. When Christian leaders make public statements and teach compromising positions on God’s Word beginning in Genesis publicly, then we need to judge what they teach against God’s Word publicly. We need to warn people. It’s not a personal conflict situation.

Now I’m not saying all those who compromise God’s Word are not Christians. But those who are compromising God’s Word are not only undermining its authority but unlocking a door for a stumbling block to be placed in people’s way in regard to trusting God’s Word.

I believe many in the younger generations have been led astray by Christian leaders who have compromised God’s Word. I have often been reminded of the watchman in Ezekiel: “Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul” (Ezekiel 33:7–9).

When we have the opportunity to do so, we must stand lovingly, graciously, with gentleness, but boldly against compromise to warn people, knowing such compromise can put people on a slippery slide of unbelief.