Institute for Creation Research
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The Institute for Creation Research (ICR) is a San Diego, California based Young Earth Creationist "Christ-Focused Creation Ministry" that promotes "creation science". The organization was established in 1970 as a part of the Christian Heritage College. In 1972, it was reorganized as an independent entity. Its president is John Morris, son of its founder, the late Henry M. Morris.
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[edit] Background
"Young-Earth Creationism" (YEC) refers to the belief that the Bible is an accurate record of history, and the earth is 6 to 10 thousand years old, rather than billions of years old, as claimed by scientists. Therefore they reject the conclusions of mainstream physics, chemistry, and geology concerning the age of the earth, and they deny biological descent with modification.
In 1961 Henry Morris and John C. Whitcomb published The Genesis Flood, a seminal work that claimed to provide the scientific rationale for YEC. As the title suggests, the authors accept Genesis literally, including not only the special, separate creation of humans and all other species, but also the historicity of Noah´s Flood. The Genesis Flood was the first significant 20th century effort to present a scientific rationale for special creationism. Creation Science was fleshed out by subsequent books and pamphlets by Morris and those inspired by him.
ICR was started in 1970 by Morris and Whitcomb, but was reorganized with its present name in 1972 devoted to research, publication, and teaching in those fields of creation science. Initially it was originally formed as the research division of Christian Heritage College (also established in 1970), but became separate and autonomous in 1981.[1]
[edit] School and accreditation
ICR offers courses leading to master's degrees in the sciences, which are exempted by California for religious reasons.[1] They have an on-campus program and a distance education program via the internet. In 1981 the first courses were taught, and all degree programs were then examined by the Office of Private Postsecondary Education of the State of California receiving an "approved" rating in June 1981.[1] However, in 1989 the Office of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction sought to "withdraw" the rating and close the school, but the ICR took legal action so that the "approval" was reconfirmed early in 1992.[1]
In 1991, the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS) granted the Institute for Creation Research school accreditation. This created controversy because at the time Henry Morris, the founder of the ICR, was on TRACS' board of directors. Timothy Sandefur, a critic of TRACS, has called Morris's position "highly questionable".[2] Four years later, TRACS' government recognition was on probation due to questionable practices.[3] However, they met the government's requirements and today, TRACS is recognized by US Department of Education to accredit schools.
Most recently in 1995 the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education gave the ICR religious exemption from postsecondary school requirements in California.[4][1] The ICR notes the "exemption from the approval process is presently a result of ICR/GS's national accreditation under TRACS."[1]
[edit] Controversy and criticism
The ICR has received harsh criticism from some scientific and religious leaders. The ICR has no collaboration with the mainstream scientific community. Some Biblical scholars accuse them of regarding Genesis as a 20th century history book instead of an ancient book of primarily spiritual meaning.[citation needed]
Fundamentalist Christians such as the ICR identify the six yom of Creation in Genesis 1 as 24-hour days versus ages. Geologist Bill Hoesch of the ICR claimed this has been the unaminous view of Christians and Jews until modern cosmology indicated an old earth and universe. However, even before the Enlightenment, some Jews and Christians (for example Saint Augustine) have believed that Genesis did not describe six literal days.[citation needed]
[edit] Penn and Teller
In 2004, the Institute for Creation Research was represented by Duane Gish on Penn and Teller's Showtime television show Bullshit! on the episode "Creationism." On the show Gish explained that "neither creation nor evolution are scientific theories. Evolution is no more scientific than creation." Standing behind the Grand Canyon display of the ICR musuem, Gish claimed, the Grand Canyon was created in one day during the Biblical flood that involved Noah's Ark. Dr Eugenie Scott of the National Center for Science Education responded, "the Grand Canyon consists of granite and shale and really hard stuff about 5,000 feet of it. You're not going to cut this very hard rock with just a bunch of water flowing through it at one time." She further noted that "a lot of the time the creationists... they'll search through scientific journals and try to pull out something they think demonstrates evolution doesn't work and there is a kind of interesting rationale behind it. Their theology is such that if one thing is wrong with the Bible you have to throw it all out so that's why Gensis has to be interpreted literally. They look at science the same way. If one little piece of the evolutionary puzzle doesn't fit the whole thing has to go." Scott then explained "that's not the way science is done."
[edit] Museum
ICR maintains the Museum of Creation and Earth History at its headquarters in Santee, California, USA. The museum is free and open to the public. It features exhibits such as:
- An interpreted walk through the Garden of Eden, with descriptions of what happened on each of the six days in the Genesis accounts of creation.
- Scale models of Noah's Ark and the Tower of Babel.
- An Ice Age room explaining how Ice Ages could have occurred after the Flood, just a few thousand years ago.
- The Canyon Wall, describing how the Grand Canyon was formed in a matter of weeks or months, rather than the millions of years posited by mainstream geologists.
- A Mt St Helens exhibit, which explains why the catastrophic events at this volcano support a young-earth interpretation of earth history.
- The Hall of Scholars, with pictures and biographies of famous scientists who believed in creationism on one side and scientists who accepted evolution on the other.
The museum also has a gift shop with books, magazines, videos, and other items supporting the YEC worldview.
[edit] Publications
ICR has produced a substantial amount of literature since its creation, including:
- Acts & Facts. This is the ICR's monthly newsletter. Each issue tends to be about 7 pages long and contains news along with scientific, theological and legal articles. The ICR's website has online archives going back to 1999.
- Impact Articles. Impact Articles are semi-technical, in-depth discussions about scientific, philosophical or historical issues. Impacts are arguably the most famous of the ICR's publications and are often cited in online debates and by other creation ministries such as Answers in Genesis. The ICR's website has online archives of over 400 Impact Articles.
- Back to Genesis. This is a non-technical series of articles intended to demonstrate a need for Christians (and everyone else) to accept the Bible as an authority in every area of life, particularly science. They appear as part of the Acts & Facts magazine as well as in an independent section of the website. Over 190 such articles are currently available at the ICR's website.
- Dr. John's Question & Answers. This is a non-technical series of short articles in a question-and-answer format. The purpose is to answer simple questions about Creation, Evolution and Theology. These articles are generally shorter than almost any of the other ICR works, and are almost all written by John Morris (as the name implies). They appear as part of the Acts & Facts magazine as well as in an independent section of the website. Over 190 such articles are currently available at the ICR's website.
- Days of Praise. This is a set of primarily theological writings. Every day of every month has a bible verse and moral lesson associated with it. Each day's entry is fairly short (three or four paragraphs). Archives on the ICR's website extend back to early 1992.
- President's Column. This is a set of news articles and miscellaneous writings by John Morris. The articles are meant to be very non-technical, and often act as a sort of pep talk, where Morris discusses recent creationist victories and the need for more active involvement in the evolution-creation debate. The archives on the website go back to early 1999.
- Origins Issues. This set of short non-technical articles focuses almost exclusively on Creation and Evolution as historical sciences. Each is about a page long. The archives on the ICR's website go back to 2003.
- Research Papers. Currently, over 30 research papers are available on the ICR's website. While the topics vary, most of these papers are technical criticisms of radiometric dating or mainstream geology. Most of these papers are written by prominent creationists like Steven A. Austin, Andrew Snelling, John R. Baumgardner, and Russell Humphreys.
- Tracts and Pamphlets. These publications are meant to be in-depth, but non-technical explanations of the ICR's scientific and theological positions. Most of these were written by former ICR president Henry Morris himself.
The ICR also has an online store with many books, DVDs, and other items that attempt to support creationism. The store sells ICR materials as well as products by other Creationists and Intelligent Design proponents.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f "Institute for Creation Research-History". Institute for Creation Research. Retrieved on Sep 17, 2006.
- ^ Sandefur, Timothy, The Panda's Thumb, Posted March 29, 2004; URL accessed April 25, 2006.
- ^ Steve Levicoff. When the TRACS Stop Short: An Evaluation and Critique of the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (Institute on Religion and Law, 1993).
- ^ [1]
[edit] External links
[edit] Official
- Institute for Creation Research
- ICR Adventures -- An ICR site meant for children.
[edit] Critical
- Answers In Creation Old earth creationist website alleging numerous errors in the works of the Institute for Creation Research
- The Creation/Evolution Continuum From the pro-evolution National Center for Science Education
- Young Earth Evidence and Rebuttals
- Review of ICR video "Radioisotopes & the Age of The Earth"
- Talk Origins This site examines many of ICR's claims in detail
