Even if you haven’t visited the Science Center
or the St. Louis Zoo lately, the “millions of years”/evolution stories probably
sound familiar — whether you’ve heard them at school, on the news, from your
friends, at a national park, or perhaps even in your local church.
Contrary to what those who wrote the signs
in the museums and zoos (or other places) might lead you to believe, they
have no eyewitnesses to the events they claim took place millions (or even
thousands) of years ago. And the stories about the past are just that — ‘stories.’
You might say, “But hold on — I thought science
has proven that the earth is billions of years old! Can’t we trust the secular
scientists?”
While ‘science’ has done a lot for us — after
all, it has taken men to the moon and provided us with modern medicine, electricity,
computers, and fast cars – it has its limitations. You see, science is limited
when it comes to explaining what happened in the past, for we cannot do experiments
directly on past events … and history cannot be repeated.
Therefore, what may be presented as “science”
regarding the past is usually little more than the scientist’s own personal
beliefs. In reality, the historical aspects of what you may have been taught
are based on lots of guesses and speculation.
The Same…But Different
It may surprise you
to learn that, in addition to over 160 totally unique exhibits, the Creation
Museum will feature some exhibits found in other museums. Dinosaur bones and
a clutch of dinosaur eggs will be showcased in a two-story exhibit on dinosaurs.
The museum also has a state-of-the-art planetarium, life-size dinosaur models
(some are animatronic and move very realistically),
fossils (ammonites, trilobites, etc.), an exhibit
on the Ice Age, and a model of a dinosaur dig-site.
A 200-seat Special Effects Theater – with shaking
seats, mists of water spray, and blowing wind – will be used to introduce
guests to the major themes to be covered in the museum.
The explanation of the exhibits, however, will
reveal a story far different from
what is seen in secular science museums. Same types of exhibits;
yet different explanations. Why?
A Different History
The exhibit pictured
below explores the differing interpretations of the evidence, and will be
the first exhibit after visitors leave the theater and the large main hall
with its waterfall and animatronic dinosaurs.
As the “dig-site”
shows, different interpretations of the evidence result from the different
starting points (presuppositions) people have.
The starting point
of other museums assumes that people today are able to determine the truth
about the distant past without any reference to eyewitness accounts or historical
records. It assumes that the Bible’s
record of the past is not true and that there is no God (or at least none
who performed acts of special creation). Museums then use these assumptions
in developing interpretations for the various physical evidences (dinosaurs,
mammoths, rocks, fossils, etc.) presented in their buildings.
The Creation Museum’s starting point is definitely
unique. The Museum accepts the Bible’s
claims about itself, i.e., that it is the Word
of God. Since it is a record of the Creator’s eyewitness testimony, and
God
cannot lie, it must tell the truth about past events. The Creation Museum
will use the Bible to help interpret
the very same evidences (dinosaurs, mammoths, rocks, fossils, etc.) that other
museums use, but its conclusions will be different because of a different
starting point.
Why Trust the Bible?
In the next major exhibit, the museum presents information
about our admitted starting point in discussing origins and the history of
the world: the Bible.
Only Divine inspiration
can explain the existence of this most remarkable collection of 66 books.
Several unique characteristics point to the Bible’s divine authorship:
The
Bible’s amazing unity. More than 40 men wrote the 66 books of the Bible over a period of 1,600 years, yet
the Bible has the same message from
beginning to end. Some people claim that the Bible contains many irresolvable contradictions, but all these claims have been shown to be
false.
The Bible’s amazing preservation.
In spite of political and religious persecution, the Bible has survived unharmed. The Roman
emperor Diocletian, following an edict in AD 303, thought he had destroyed
every hated Bible. He erected a
column over the ashes of a burnt Bible
to celebrate his victory. Twenty-five years later, the new emperor,
Constantine, commissioned the production of 50 Bibles at the expense of the government!
In the eighteenth century, the noted French
infidel Voltaire forecast that within a century there would be no Bibles left on the earth. Ironically,
50 years after he died, the Geneva Bible Society used his old printing press and his house to produce
stacks of Bibles. The Bible remains the most-read book of all
time.
The Bible’s historical accuracy. In many specific instances, archaeology confirms the
Bible’s accuracy. Often skeptics
have questioned the Bible’s accuracy
by claiming that there is no independent evidence that verifies the
biblical account (the fallacy known as “Arguing
from Silence”). Much to their chagrin,
skeptics continue to hear of further archaeological discoveries in support
of the biblical account.
The Bible’s scientific accuracy. Some examples are presented in the museum: the earth
is round (Isaiah 40:22); the earth
is suspended in space without support (Job
26:7); the stars are countless (Genesis
15:5); the hydrologic cycle; sea currents; living things reproduce after their
kind; many insights into health, hygiene, diet, physiology (such as the importance
of blood, e.g., Leviticus 17:11);
and many other things. The Bible
mentions these things before they were ever “discovered” by science.
The Bible’s prophetic accuracy. The Bible
contains many specific prophecies that have been fulfilled. Dozens
of prophecies came true regarding Jesus alone. Many
of these, such as His place, time and manner of birth, His betrayal, and the
manner of His death, and burial were beyond His “control.” The probability
of all these things coming to pass by chance is effectively zero. Only those
who deliberately choose to do so (2 Peter
3:5) could deny this evidence that God must have inspired these prophecies.
The Bible’s absolute honesty. The Bible’s message
of the Creator who became our Savior (Colossians
chapter 1) has transformed countless lives. It is completely honest about
the sinfulness of man (including those that we might see as “heroes of the
faith”) and gives all honor and glory to the holy and faithful Creator God.
The 7 C’s of History
The Bible
records at least seven major events that have affected (or will affect)
the universe in a dramatic way. The “walk through history” portion of the
museum – which takes up the largest section in the Creation Museum -- begins
at the descending walkway, and will showcase scenes from the “7 C’s of History”:
Creation, Corruption, Catastrophe, Confusion, Christ,
Cross, Consummation.
1. Creation
The Bible
teaches that God created in six normal-length days (approximately 24 hours
long) around 6,000 years ago.
The Bible also tells us in
Genesis chapter 1 that God created
plants (on the third day) to produce seeds “after their kind” (verses 11–12),
and the animals (on the fifth and sixth days) to reproduce “after their kind”
(verses 20, 24–25). The words “after their/its kind” are repeated ten times
in Genesis 1, emphasizing the same
principle.
We take it for granted, that when we plant
a tomato seed, we don’t expect to see a geranium pop out of the ground. Nor
do we expect that our dog will give birth to kittens or that Aunt Betty, who
is expecting, will bring home a chimpanzee baby from the hospital! Our everyday
experience confirms the truth of the Bible
that things produce offspring true to their kind.
God created all kinds, or basic types, of creatures
and plants with the ability to produce variety in their offspring. The many
varieties around today come from re-combinations of the existing genetic information
created in the beginning, through the marvelous reproductive method created
by God.
On the same day (Day 6) that God created the
land animals (including dinosaurs), He also created
the first man — and in His own image. From the man’s rib, He created the first
woman. He planted a garden for them and gave them dominion over His creation.
The completed creation was “very good” (Genesis 1:31), and all the original animals
and the first two humans (Adam and Eve) ate only plants (Genesis 1:29–30).
2. Corruption
God told Adam that he could eat from any tree
in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:8)
except one: the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. And He warned Adam
that death was the punishment for disobedience (Genesis 2:17). Instead of following these directions, Adam chose to
disobey his Creator’s command, and ate the fruit from the tree (Genesis 3:6).
God had to judge Adam’s sin (rebellion against
the Creator’s command) with death. Adam (and all his descendants) had forfeited
the right to live. Because the Lord is without sin and must punish sin, there
had to be a penalty for rebellion. Death is the penalty for choosing life
without God, the giver of life.
The first death in the newly created world
occurred when God killed animal(s) to make coverings for Adam and Eve. He
then banished the first couple from the Garden.
As a result of the Curse God placed on the
world (Genesis 3), God has given
us a taste of life without Him: a world that is running down — a world full
of death and suffering. As Romans
8:22 declares, “the whole creation groans and labors
with birth pangs” because God Himself subjected the creation to processes
of decay (verse 20).
The world that we now live in is merely a decaying remnant — and a corruption — of the beautiful,
righteous world that Adam and Eve originally called home. Now many of the
dinosaurs, originally created to be vegetarian, were eventually to be feared.
The good news is that, rather than leave His
precious handiwork without hope, God graciously promised to one day send a
Redeemer who would buy back His people from the curse of sin (Genesis 3:15).
3. Catastrophe (about 2500 BC)
As the descendants of Adam and Eve married
and filled the earth with offspring, they continued to do things their own
way (Genesis 6:5). God judged their
rebellion by sending a global Flood to destroy all 
men,
animals, creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air (Genesis 6:7).
God chose a man named Noah to build an Ark
that would provide safety for those God chose to enter the Ark (Noah and his
family and two [seven of some] of every kind of land-dwelling representatives
of the animal kingdom). These were saved from the watery catastrophe.
This globe-covering
Flood has left its mark even today, from the thousands of feet of sedimentary
rock found around the world, to the billions of dead things buried in rock
layers (known as “fossils”). The Flood reminds us even today that our righteous
God cannot — and will not — tolerate sin, while the Ark reminds us that He
provides a way of salvation from sin’s punishment. The beautiful rainbows
we experience today remind us of God’s promise never again to destroy the
earth with water (Genesis 9:9–11).
From the various animal kinds (e.g., dogs) represented on
the Ark came many “daughter species” (e.g., dachshunds and coyotes). These
descendants display high levels of specialization that was built into the
original genes of the parent population on the Ark.
The process of new species arising has never
been observed to add any real new information. The information was already
in the parents’ genes and has just been revealed. Molecules-to-man evolution
requires that genetic information increase tremendously over time. So, although
we have observed natural selection for centuries, we have never observed real
increases in genetic information.
4. Confusion (about 2400 BC)
After the
Flood, God commanded Noah and his family — the only humans left in the world
— and the animals to fill the earth (Genesis
8:17). However, the human race once again disobeyed God’s command and built
a tall tower, which they hoped would help keep them together (Genesis 11:3–4). So, around 100 years after
the Flood waters retreated, God brought a confusion
(a multiplicity) of languages in place of the common language the people had
shared, causing them to spread out over the earth. From these various groups
are descended all the tribes and nations in the world today. Despite what
you may have been led to believe about our seeming superficial differences,
we really are all “one blood” (Acts
17:26) — descendants of Adam and Eve through Noah and his family.
The Tower of Bable exhibit will present the solution to the problem of
racism. (One of the consultants for this part of the museum, by the way, is
Dr. David Menton, long-time associate professor
of 
anatomy
at the Washington University School of medicine in St. Louis; he holds a Ph.D.
in biology from Brown University.)
5. Christ
Adam’s
sin left mankind in a terrible predicament. Even though our bodies die, we
are made in the image of God, and thus we have souls that are immortal. Our
conscious being is going to live forever. Unless God intervened, Adam’s sin
meant that we would spend an eternity of suffering and separation from Him.
The only way to restore our life with God is
for the “penalty” to be paid for our sin. Leviticus
17:11 helps us to understand how this can be done: “The life of the flesh
is in the blood.” Blood represents life. The New
Testament explains that “without the shedding of blood there is no remission
[of sins]” (Hebrews 9:22). God makes
it clear that, because we are creatures of flesh and blood, the only way to
pay the penalty for our sin is for blood to be shed to take away our sin.
In the Garden of Eden, God killed at least
one animal and clothed Adam and Eve with the animal’s skin; this act served
as a picture of a covering for our sin. Mankind needs a blood sacrifice because
of our sin (Hebrews 9:26). The Israelites
sacrificed animals over and over again; however, because Adam’s blood does
not flow in animals, animal blood, though it could temporarily cover our sin,
could never take it away (Hebrews
10:3–4).
The solution was God’s plan to send His Son
(the One He had promised earlier in the Garden of Eden) to become a man —
a perfect Man — to be a sacrifice for sin. In the person of Jesus Christ,
our Creator God stepped into history (John
1:1–14) as a physical descendant of Adam. Born of a virgin (Luke 1:35), He was without sin. Though
He was tempted in every way that we are, He resisted every temptation (Hebrews 4:15) and thus could shed His blood
on a cross for our sin.
Mankind’s first representative head — Adam
— was responsible for bringing sin and death into the world. No sinner could
pay for the sins of others, but the “last Adam” (1 Corinthians 15:45) — Jesus Christ — was a perfect Man. The human
race’s new representative (Jesus Christ) paid the penalty for sin. God in
human flesh was able to bear the sins and sorrows of the world.
6. Cross
After Christ’s suffering and death on the Cross,
He rose from the dead, showing He had ultimate power — power over death. He
can now give eternal life to anyone who receives it by faith (John 1:12; 
Ephesians
2:8–9). The Bible teaches us that
those who repent from their sins and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and
believe that God has raised Him from the dead, and receive Him as Lord and
Savior, will spend eternity with God (1 Corinthians 15:1–4).
Christ’s suffering and death mean that God
Himself can personally empathize with our suffering, because He has experienced
it. God’s followers have a High Priest — Jesus Christ — who can be “touched
with the feeling of our infirmities.…Let us therefore come boldly unto the
throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time
of need” (Hebrews 4:15–16).
7. Consummation
Those who have received the free gift of eternal
life look forward to the consummation of all things in the future, when the
Curse will be removed and God will provide the new heavens and the new Earth
for His children. There will be no death or mourning or crying or pain (Revelation 21:4).
Truth & Reflection
After taking a walk through history according to the Bible, museum visitors enter a striking
plaza area, which has an Egyptian feel to it. Side rooms 
will
highlight AiG's excellent fossil and mineral collections (among other
exhibits). On the other side of the
plaza, a major dinosaur exhibit (with theater) promises to be a very popular
destination (especially for young people). This Palm Plaza is an additional
place to explore the scientific confirmations that the Bible is true.
Near the Palm Plaza is
what might be called the eighth “C” of the museum: the chapel. In this quiet
chapel, visitors can sit and think about what they’ve seen throughout the
museum. Or they can talk to staff nearby about what they have just seen in
the museum. In many ways, the chapel
is the most important “C” in the museum, because people can make decisions
that will make a difference for eternity.
According to recent research, nearly 70% of churchgoing young people
will eventually leave the church. What’s happening?
Every day the Bible’s history
is being challenged: in schools, in the media, in science museums, etc. Students
are bombarded with the “fact” of evolution, and supposed death over millions
of years; but at church and Sunday school, they mostly hear stories about
religion and morality. Our young people rarely see how the Bible connects to the real world of geology,
biology, and astronomy. Now Christians are doing something about it!
God has brought together a talented staff of writers, artists, and
designers at the Creation Museum, who are now finishing a series of powerful,
one-of-a-kind exhibits that will confront our techno-savvy culture where the
battle is hottest: the history of Genesis.
And the center – presented on 49 scenic acres (two miles of nature trails,
a lake, and picnic pavilions)--opens May 28.
The Creation Museum is a unique place. In fact,
it’s the only one like it in the world! To find out more, visit the website:
www.CreationMuseum.org or call (859) 727-2222. The museum address is 2800
Bullittsburg Church Road in Petersburg, Kentucky
(near Cincinnati – and just two exits west of the Cincinnati Airport. Plan
to make the short drive when it opens, and bring your friends.
Ken
Ham and Mark Looy are co-founders of the Answers
in Genesis ministry, and co-host the daily radio
program “Answers.” Ken is the author of the bestselling book The Lie.
The high-tech, 60,000 square-foot Creation Museum near the Cincinnati
Airport (and just a half-day drive from St. Louis) is a one-of-a-kind “walk
through the history of the world.” It’s unique as a museum in that it presents
history according to the Bible.