Answers in Genesis founder Ken Ham has responded to Pat Robertson's mockery of "deaf, dumb and blind" young earth creationists.
"Pat Robertson illustrates one of the biggest problems we have today in the church-people like Robertson compromise the Word of God with the pagan ideas of fallible men!" Ham posted on his Facebook page on Tuesday.
"That's why a big part of the AiG ministry is to call the church and culture back to the authority of the Word. Pat Robertson is not upholding the Word of God with his ridiculous statements -- he is undermining the authority of the Word."
Robertson, who is the host of CBN and a former GOP candidate, commented on his show that "You have to be deaf, dumb and blind to think that this Earth that we live in only has 6,000 years of existence. It just doesn't - I'm sorry."
He cited oil samples as an example of the Earth's age, saying, "There's no way that all this that you have here took place in 6,000 years. It just couldn't have been done, couldn't possibly have been done."
In response, Ham, who is the CEO of the Creation Museum, posted that Robertson "uses his position on a major Christian TV program to help the atheists mock God's Word."
"Really Pat Robertson? You mean there is no way God, the infinite Creator, could not have created the universe in six days just six thousand years ago? God could have created everything in six seconds if He wanted too! And it's not a matter of what you think anyway--it's a matter of what God has clearly told us in His infallible WORD!" he argued.
This is not the first time the two have publically disagreed about the origin of the earth. In February, Robertson stated,"So there was a Big Bang. So? That doesn't mean it came spontaneously. Nobody knows what caused it, the Big Bang. But I say God did it. God caused all of this. He is the author of all life."
"I don't believe in so-called evolution as non-theistic. I believe that God started it all and He's in charge of all of it. The fact that you have progressive evolution under His control, that doesn't hurt my faith at all."
In response, Ham called Robertson's views "misinformed and deceived," expressing sorrow that many will buy the televangelist's views "rather than open their Bibles and see that evolution and millions of years are totally incompatible with the first 11 chapters of Genesis and rather than think for themselves and check out creationist web sites like Answers in Genesis."
Pastor Eric Wildhern of Northview Baptist in Chattanooga, TN, says it is a shame that Christians attack each other over non-essential matters, calling such disputes "a very poor example for non-believers."
"As brothers and sisters in Christ, we should be encouraging one another in our faith-not calling one another out for things that truly aren't salvation issues," he stated, referencing the Bible verse Romans 14, where the Apostle Paul urges Christians to not "quarrel over disputable matters."
"The church needs to be united, not divided. How can we expect to be witnesses to the world when we publicly shame one another? That is not representative of the love of Jesus Christ," he continued.
According to a 2011 LifeWay Research poll, Protestant pastors are split on the age of the Earth, with 46 percent saying they believe the earth is approximately 6,000 years old, and 43 percent disagreeing.
