| Testimony from NAMI's opponents
Greetings,
Though NAMI has made no recent public announcements, there has occurred a seismic change in opposition to their discovery. These moves by opponents are all the more revealing in that they occur at a time when NAMI is silent. Ken Ham, President of America's largest Creationist organization Answers in Genesis (AIG), has weighed in against NAMI's discovery (click to read), while a major source of online information for the Ark searching community has dropped all pretense of neutrality. Thus far, the skepticism of Creationist leaders, John Morris, Carl Wieland, and Ken Ham has been hesitant and gentle. Some have met members of NAMI and acknowledge their sincerity. Though skeptics of NAMI's discovery, they have not joined those in the Ark searching community who have made charges of fraud based on anonymous sources. In challenging their skepticism, I mean these leaders no disrespect.
Opposition is greatest within the Chinese Christian community where some have joined Randall Price in accusing NAMI of promoting a fraudulent discovery for the purpose of taking money from simple and unsuspecting Christians. The only "identified" source of these charges has been the forged "affidavit" from the brothers Davut and Ergan that Price posted on his website, which he withdrew as soon as the brothers showed the signatures on their Turkish identification cards to demonstrate the document's forgery. It is understandable that the Creationist organizations keep their distance from Price and his charges.
Astute observers understand that the growing opposition to NAMI's discovery is testimony for rather than against the authenticity of their discovery. Creationist leaders may be concerned about loosing control over the public discussion of Noah's Ark, Noah's Flood, and perhaps even about Creation. They can see that NAMI is gaining the attention of those interested in Noah's Ark. Who will be interested in AIG's $172 million Ark Encounter whose construction has already begun in northern Kentucky when they discover that it is not built like what has been discovered on Mt. Ararat. But there may still be time for modifications.
As believers, these Creationists leaders should rejoice in being forerunners of something far more important than what they have been doing. They should remember that Deists including the notorious Voltaire were Creationists and keen on intelligent design. Voltaire was himself a young-earth Creationist. Of course that doesn't mean that his view on the age of the earth corrupted his faith. I would love to see AIG build a museum in northern Kentucky that teaches Creation in the light of the Bible instead of teaching Christians how to interpret the Bible in the light of Creationist theology and science.
There is a good reason for greater opposition from within the Chinese Christian community. Here is where NAMI's documentary is being shown. The film has impacted that community because what one sees in these caves on Mt. Ararat is deeply moving and clearly impossible to fabricate. Comprehending that the Ark is real affects one's heart and mind. Many of us merely suppose that we are believers until we see evidence of some great miracle. It changes personal lives and expectations as to what Christians and their leaders should be doing. All revivals create opposition from those enjoying the status quo. Attacks are aimed at what is seen as the source of the revival.
Those who see NAMI's evidence and make charges that it is fabricated do so with an opposition agenda or else lack ordinary intelligence (probably not the latter). Because these remains are massive, frozen, and protected by thousands of tons of rock and ice, they are not going away. Because they look like a maritime vessel and appear to have been a vessel for carrying animals, it is going to be difficult for scientists not to conclude that has been discovered has some connection with the ancient and worldwide traditions of a great Flood. For believers in the Bible that ought to be great news. Why such intense opposition from those who have most famously contended that Noah's Ark and Flood are not myth?
For good reason, the Ark searching community is losing interest in their own searches. Some of them are spending most of their time and resources trying to defame NAMI's discovery. They say it is because fraudulent claims exploit Christians and become the source of skepticism about the Ark. Indeed they do, but there have been a number of competing claims before NAMI's discovery. All were greeted with various degrees of skepticism, but none resulted in the Creationist and Ark searching communities uniting in opposition.
It is clear that skepticism is not in fact the source of NAMI's opposition within the Creationist, Ark searching, and Chinese Christian communities. It is rather because people are believing. Were the leaders of the Creationist, Ark searching, and Chinese Christian communities honestly skeptical, they would either ignore the issue or seek more information from NAMI than the scant information upon which they base their judgments. NAMI does answer relevant and sincere questions. In every forum that I have sponsored, they allow and answer public questions following their presentation.
The notion of cross examination may not have occurred to these Creationist leaders, because it is not something that you often see in the Creationist and Ark searching communities. There is a good reason. I doubt that Ken Ham wants to be asked why he should be trusted for understanding the evidence of Noah's Ark when he is unable to offer any archaeological evidence for Noah's Flood. Considering that the entire antediluvian world drowned in that event, should there not be a lot of evidence? The biblical account of that doesn't mention dinosaurs, coal, oil, and gas, but does mention a world of wicked and violent people. How can one judge the evidence of Noah's Ark when he admits to having no archaeological knowledge of the world of Noah? Please note that I make this comment not because I lack respect for Ham, but rather because I do. Unlike the irresponsible Ark searchers that I discuss below, the Creationist leaders are admirably serious.
Those who have nothing to hide welcome cross examination because the more that something authentic is tested, the better it looks. Cross examination does expose the claims of those who have been defending something other than truth. It is Randall Price rather than NAMI who is hiding from a joint forum and public scrutiny. If one is afraid of being exposed by the truth, they will attempt to keep their followers from being exposed to the evidence. This does not just pertain to the Creationist organizations and the Ark searching communities, some of whom (including the heads of some of these ministries that have been carrying the flag of a worldwide Flood when it has been so unpopular to do so) may yet change their mind in the light of new evidence. Due to growing interest and the momentous importance this subject has for our present world, I suspect that every church, ministry, and believer will eventually be forced take a stand as is now occurring among the Chinese Christians and those American ministries that have already been exposed to this discovery. Welcome to the testing fire that can never destroy that which is righteous and true.
Best regards,
Philip Williams
|
