Just What Does AOI Do?
by Dave Nutting

People ask us at AOI, “What do
you do?” Before I answer this question, it would be good to answer another question first:

Why Do We Do What We Do?
1. The theory of evolution doesn’t hold up to scientific investigation, yet we and our children are being taught it is a “fact.”

2. Evolutionary ideas impact all of our society, affecting the way people think about God, themselves, and issues facing society – and consequently, how they live their lives.

3. A high percentage of youth from evangelical homes and churches reject their faith or are seriously weakened because of evolutionary indoctrination and other anti-God philosophies taught throughout our society.

4. Evolution keeps many people from responding to the Gospel. According to Mark Cahill, one of the most active evangelists on the university and high school scene today, “The #1 reason young people give for rejecting the Gospel message is Evolution!”

Now, back to the original question: What Does AOI Do? Alpha Omega Institute encourages people of all ages to grow in their relationship with God as they Discover Creation and walk confidently in the Truth of His Word. That means we exist to do much more than just argue scientific facts. Yes, we expose the fallacies of evolution, but we also exist to help people come to the Lord and to grow with Him! We are also fighting to keep those in the church from becoming casualties in the battle for their minds and hearts that is raging all around them.

How Do We Accomplish These Objectives? Since evolution is the #1 reason that many people reject the Gospel and also a major reason why young people drop out of the church, we start there. AOI presents the positive evidence that Creation and God’s Word is true. At the same time, we show the multitude of problems with evolution. In essence, we cut out the rotten foundation of evolution and replace it with the solid foundation of the truth of God’s Word. From that new foundation, we encourage people to respond to the claims of Jesus Christ for salvation and to grow with Him and in His Word.

Where Do We Teach? AOI speakers present exciting, illustrated seminars for churches, schools, and universities across the States and abroad. We also do specialized programs for children’s groups, Vacation Bible Schools, camps, field trips, etc. Our Creation Mountain Adventures have been an especially popular way for children and adults alike to learn the truth of creation and God’s Word. In addition, AOI publishes this newsletter, provides quality creation teaching resources, and offers training for people interested in teaching others.

We believe God has called us at AOI to take a stand in this crucial battle. You can join us by equipping yourself and your family; hosting a seminar; teaching a class; talking with your neighbors; providing creation resources for your church, school, and public library; and most importantly, by praying for people everywhere to realize and submit to the truth of God’s Word.

What Is Really True?
by Rich Stepanek

On a recent creation tour, I had the opportunity to teach at two public schools. Although we are often able to teach the scientific information about creation, we usually can’t include the Bible or mention God. We can, however, respond to questions from the students even if those happen to be of a religious nature.

After presenting the scientific problems of evolution to an all-school assembly, a science teacher wanted more! So, we scheduled a full day of teaching for what ended up being three science teachers and their classes. I gave my presentation in one room as these science classes rotated in and out throughout the day. In each session, time was left for questions and answers.
The day began with the kids asking questions about science but shortly the questions changed to the Bible. As the day wore on, and more information was presented, interest in the Bible increased. At the end of the day, the focus of the questions was totally on the Bible!

In each of the schools the most commonly asked question was, “How do we know what is really true?” It was obvious that many of these students were seeking after truth and their spiritual hunger was evident. It is encouraging to see that many students really want to know, but sad that they are denied access to the truth by being given only select information. Some of the teachers we spoke to related the dilemma they were in. They did not really want to teach the material, but state mandates required them to. We need to pray for these students, teachers, and administrators that Christians would be bold witnesses and the light of Jesus Christ would shine.

Education or Indoctrination?
by Hank Giesecke

Have you looked at the science textbooks your children or grandchildren are using? The evolutionary/humanistic worldview is certainly on the attack. In years past, the issue of special creation was largely ignored. Now, many of the texts refer to the creation position as myth and imply anyone who believes in it is ignorant, extreme, or even intolerant.

Human Antiquity—a beginning level anthropology text says, "In its attempt to attribute scientific accuracy to the Bible, scientific creationism is no less than a clever and insidious device for injecting a partisan religious view into public education."
Yet, these authors have no problem injecting their bias and atheistic views.

Human Antiquity also says that "not one shred of scientific evidence supports scientific creationism." This is particularly disturbing since the opposite true. It is appalling—although not surprising, to see how evolutionists totally ignore actual facts and research that confirm scientific creationism and establish that the Bible is scientifically and historically accurate.
Christians need to investigate what the textbooks in our school system are presenting. We need to acquire relevant information to evaluate both models and show that Biblical creation best fits the physical laws of the earth and universe as we observe them.

The bottom line is that Christians need to engage the culture of secular humanism and bring the truth and glory of scripture to a fallen world. Let’s challenge these wrong and ungodly textbooks for, as Abraham Lincoln observed, what we teach our children in this generation, becomes the culture of the next.

Time’s November 11, 2002 article chronicles the complexity of human fetal development, conditions that can affect it, and advancements made in medical research. Throughout the article, revolutionary MRI and sonogram images from the book From Conception to Birth show the amazing transformation that takes place inside the womb. The author even quotes the book by including this wonderful analogy: “Imagine yourself as the world’s tallest skyscraper, built in nine months and germinating from a single brick...As that brick divides, it gives rise to every other type of material needed to construct and operate the finished tower—a million tons of steel, concrete, mortar, insulation, tile wood, granite, solvents, carpet, cable, pipe and glass as well as all furniture, phone systems, heating and cooling units, plumbing, electrical wiring, artwork and computer networks, including software.”

Ironically, the author still minimizes the miracle of birth and states that at 40 days of development, “...a human embryo looks no different from that of a pig, chick or elephant. All have a tail, a yolk sac and rudimentary gills.”
Even though these lies were refuted long ago, they continue to be repeated by evolutionists. That is why we decided to “recapitulate” some truth and reprint what Dave and Mary Jo wrote on this subject 15 years ago in Think and Believe:

Biology texts often contain an illustration showing an array of various types of animals in the early stages of development. The lineup might include a fish, a salamander, a tortoise, a chick, a rabbit (or some other kind of mammal) and a human. The text then goes on to use the similarities between the various embryos as “evidence of evolution.” Is it really?

In the 1860s, Ernst Haeckel, a staunch supporter of Darwin, advanced the idea that “ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny;” that is, the development of an individual animal repeats, in abbreviated form, the evolutionary history of its species. Although this idea was widely accepted in the past, today it has been rejected by almost all. Modern embryological studies have shown that the similarities are not nearly so great as the schematized drawings make them appear. From the very beginning at the one-cell, fertilized egg stage there are marked differences, and these differences increase with the advancing stages.

However, many biologists still cling to a loose interpretation of the recapitulation theory. While rejecting the idea that individuals actually repeat their evolutionary history, they suggest that similarities in development do indicate common ancestry.
For example, at about the one month stage in human development, there are structures that are often labeled “gill slits,” “yolk sac,” and “tail.” These structures supposedly show how closely linked we are with so called “lower animals” like fish and amphibians. However, upon further study you find that the “gill slits” never develop into anything like gills. Instead they develop into the middle ear, the parathyroid glands, and other structures in the neck and jaw region of humans. The “yolk sac” in humans never contains yolk. It functions to produce blood cells for the tiny embryo until the other blood-producing systems develop. The “tail” turns out to be simply the end of the human backbone, the coccyx. Although often called our “tailbone,” it is not a tail at all but a very important point for muscle attachment for upright stance. Thus, all these parts are extremely important points for proper human development, not just leftovers from evolutionary development. This extra piece of information is exactly what creation scientists would like to see included in the textbook so that students are exposed to “all the evidence” and not merely indoctrinated with the proevolution side.

Human development, like the complex development of so many other creatures, points to the creative handiwork of an intelligent Designer. Just as human engineers invent variations upon a basic design to fit specialized needs, so the Creator has used basic themes, varying them to fit individual needs as He sees fit.