Tim Martin: Well, Virgil, I’m not really sure. But it does seem strange. I was driving home from work yesterday when I saw it. I brought my camera today. I think you can see from the picture that the sign is a real attention-grabber. I was so surprised to be looking down the barrel of a gun, that I almost missed the ad for answersingenesis.org. But sure enough, there it was.

VV: So AiG bought advertising on the sign? Where is this sign?

TM: Oh, it’s about 3 miles outside of Whitehall. It’s a new sign. Probably the biggest sign in the county now, right on Interstate 90 which runs through Whitehall – where I live.

VV: Why would AiG buy advertising in Montana?

TM: I can only assume to get their message out. What’s weird is that I-90 isn’t all that busy except for the tourist part of the year. Lots of people go this way to Glacier National Park during the summer, but during the winter it dwindles to normal traffic and locals.

VV: So they bought the sign for the travel season?

TM: I don’t know how long they bought it for. I don’t even know who, exactly, bought it, to tell you the truth. What seems strange to me is that they bought the sign 3 miles from Whitehall where I live. I’ve never seen AiG advertise in Montana before. As you know, my writing work has been dedicated to refuting a global flood in Genesis which is a big part of young-earth creationist belief. I think Preterism shows how the biblical flood was local, and that pretty much puts an end to the stuff AiG teaches about flood geology, etc. Maybe it was entirely coincidental. Maybe they just picked an open billboard and it just happened to be the biggest billboard in my county, and just happened to be 3 miles out of Whitehall, where I live. Maybe it is just a most amazing coincidence.

AiG Billboard several miles outside of Whitehall, Montana

VV: Is there any way they would know about your work with your book or articles on PlanetPreterist?

TM: Oh yes, they know. I heard through the grapevine that Ken Ham, their president, read it and was very unhappy with it. He asked one of his old friends (a well-known preterist) if all preterists believe my arguments for a local flood. Ham’s friend is a long-time advocate of YEC, so he wasn’t too thrilled with my stuff. either. I’m quite confident they do know about me and my work. The old book is up on our website, www.truthinliving.org, which tells everyone we live in Whitehall. The timing is amazing, too, because I have a new edition of the book coming out soon with my new co-author, Jeff Vaughn.

VV: Interesting. You haven’t seen any other AiG advertising in Montana?

TM: No, I haven’t, and I travel all over SW Montana for work. I did see this particular ad in World Magazine. AiG must have an advertising campaign going. It was in there with two others – one was about racism and I can’t remember what the other was about. This one was certainly the best.

VV: The gun grabs your attention doesn’t it?

TM: Yeah, that’s why I think it is the best. I love guns, and guns are pretty popular out here. But we don’t have a lot of violence in our sleepy little town of Whitehall. There was a shooting a few years back. It was drug related. Unfortunately, no one got seriously injured. I did think the other advertisement AiG put into World Magazine was odd. It was about racism.

VV: Sort of, without God, then there’s no reason racism is wrong?

TM: That was the gist of it. But what is so strange is that, at one time, the global flood doctrine was used to argue racism from the Bible.

VV: You’re kidding, right?

TM: No. Presbyterians in the South around the time of the Civil War argued that God’s curse of perpetual slavery upon Ham was fulfilled in the perpetual enslavement of black people. They taught that since the flood was global, all races descended from Noah’s three sons – a white son, a yellow son, and a black son. You can guess which one was Ham. So, I found the racism ad by AiG strange, given the history of the global flood doctrine. (And I’m not sure that ad would have the same punch here, anyway. This is Montana).

VV: Yeah, but that doesn’t mean global flood advocates are racists.

TM: That’s true. They aren’t. Though it might surprise you to hear that I do know of some who live here in Whitehall still believe that old argument. They are big YEC fans, too. But my point is that if the flood was a covenant judgment, like the Great Tribulation in the New Testament, and therefore a local event, no one could have argued for racism from that passage in the Bible as they did 150 years ago.

VV: Certainly, Christianity is the answer to racism. It never ceases to amaze me what has gone on in Church history.

TM: Virgil, if I might say so, I think the sign AiG posted is a great sign.

VV: You agree with the sign?

TM: I do. It is very true that without God, the world would degenerate into chaos, violence and death and destruction. So I agree with the sign…

VV: Stop the presses! Tim agrees with AiG!

TM: I’m not done yet. The problem isn’t with the statement the sign makes. The problem is that it sends people to AiG’s website which is filled with a bunch of bizarre science theories, most of which were disproved decades ago. They use these bogus scientific theories as proof that the Bible teaches a young earth and a global flood.

VV: Well, what if they are right?

TM: What if they are wrong? If they are wrong, as virtually every professional geologist and scientist will tell you, then their message is actually making atheists. And causing the very problem their sign is meant to deal with!

VV: Making atheists?

TM: That’s right. By teaching the Bible says, without question, that our earth is around 6000 years old and Noah’s flood was a global event, those who know this isn’t the case can dismiss the Bible as false. I maintain that Young-earth creationism has been instrumental in making atheists since its inception. Just like futurist views of prophecy lead to false predictions of the rapture and end of the world tear down the credibility of the God’s Word on the other end of the Bible. Most people don’t realize that the same people who invented modern futurism also invented modern young-earth creationist theory. They invented both so that their view of the Bible would be compatible. Noah’s global flood would match with their coming global Great Tribulation, etc. We’re suffering from the same people’s silly doctrines in both Genesis and Revelation.

There’s a lot of history there.

VV: I’m sure there is. Do you plan to talk about that history at the Truthvoice Conference this year?

TM: Yes. Jeff Vaughn and I will present a lot of the material in the new book. We’ll show why it is inconsistent to hold to young-earth views of creation (like AiG teaches) and preterist eschatology. Should be fun.

VV: I’m looking forward to it, and to meeting you. Have fun driving past AiG’s sign on your way to work.

TM: Hehe. I’ll get a chuckle every time. Truth is, with the internet these days, the barrel is really pointed the other way – toward the “big guys.” It’s the futurists and young-earth creationists who are the dinosaurs of our age. Here today, gone tomorrow. You watch. And I’m looking forward to meeting you for the first time in person as well. The Great “Virgil Vaduva.”

VV: I guess that’s the word on AiG’s giant billboard sign just outside of Whitehall, Montana, home of Tim Martin, Planetpreterist Columnist and Old-earth author. Seems like an odd story from what I’m hearing. Here’s what we know. A huge AiG billboard has been erected in quiet SW Montana. The rest is still a mystery

If you would like to hear more information, join us during the Truthvoice Conference, April 13-14 in Dayton, Ohio.

Answers in Genesis can be contacted at 1-800-350-3232. or http://www.answersingenesis.org