Band leader called to apologize by Ham
Baptist Press | Aug 11, 2014



PETERSBURG, Ky. (BP) -- Dove-Award winning artist Michael Gungor needs to apologize for his blogposts criticizing theologians for believing in the literal interpretation of the book of Genesis and its account of Noah's Ark, creationist Ken Ham told Baptist Press.

Gungor's recent statements are particularly damaging because they may mislead youth and discourage them from accepting the Gospel of salvation, said Ham, founder of Answers in Genesis and the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Ky.

"Jesus referred to Noah's day and Noah as a real person. So then he's calling Jesus a liar, because if Genesis is not true, if it's just a myth, if it's not true, then Jesus is a liar, because Jesus quoted about the flood," Ham said, "and Peter is a liar, and Paul is a liar, because they all quoted Genesis."

Gungor, leader of the Christian band Gungor, lost a September booking at a Baptist church after news spread of his February blogpost claiming Genesis is not factual. Gungor wrote follow-up posts August 6 and 8 ***led "I'm With You," calling "crazy" any educated theologian who believes Genesis is literal. Gungor's blogposts are at http://gungormusic.com/category/blog/.

"All this to say, when I say to the fundamentalist, 'I'm with you,' I am not being flip or sarcastic," Gungor wrote in a blog post. "I am saying this because I used to stand as a fundamentalist myself and felt threatened by anything more complex than a simple reading of the biblical text.

"I would be very surprised to find a single respected and educated theologian or biblical scholar that believes that one MUST read Noah's flood completely literally down to the last detail to be 'orthodox,'" he wrote. "That's crazy! So why does this happen? Why do some fundamentalists create this dichotomy where you must either BELIEVE THE BIBLE (meaning that you take everything literally no matter what science says) or say that it's a lie?"

Ham said Gungor should be called to account for his statements.

"This blog is not a respectable discussion," Ham told Baptist Press.

"... He needs to be told that he needs to apologize for the tone of the article and the way he attacked Christians who believe God's word in Genesis and believe in Noah's flood. He needs to apologize for that and he needs to write in a respectable way."