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Guardian newspaper mocks Creation Museum

In what we have found to be rather typical British secular media fashion, the Creation Museum was mocked in an article that appeared Monday, November 13. Last week we had two reporters from different secular media. After spending considerable time with the reporter from England’s Guardian newspaper, I told the staff the next day, “This was one of those reporters who, in my opinion, basically had ‘written’ his article before he came, he just wanted to say he had been at AiG so he could then claim he had researched his article that he wanted to write for his own anti-Christian agenda.” (By the way, the other reporter was from a secular USA magazine—and he seemed more interested in understanding our position and why we believe what we do. I expect a more balanced article from this person.)

The Guardian article made some rather silly and blatantly false claims such as:

    The Creation Museum - motto: “Prepare to Believe!” - will be the first institution in the world whose contents, with the exception of a few turtles swimming in an artificial pond, are entirely fake.

Actually, this reporter knows we have quite an extensive collection of real fossils—world class fossils—that will be on exhibit in the museum, and none of which are “fake”! And the planetarium program, while containing some mild critiques of evolution and “millions of years,” teaches real astronomy and was prepared by Dr. Jason Lisle (who has a Ph.D. in astrophysics from Boulder, Co)—so there is no FAKE astronomy! Such claims about the contents of the Creation Museum being “entirely fake” are ridiculous.

The reporter also stated: “Theological scholars may have noticed that there are, in fact, no dinosaurs mentioned in the Bible—and here lies the Creationists’ first problem.” Actually, the reporter needs to do some research concerning one of his own countrymen, Sir Richard Owen, the famous anatomist who actually invented the word dinosaur in 1841! The word “dinosaur” did not exist before that time. The Bible talks generally about land animals created on Day Six at the same time as Adam and Eve—it does not specifically list each kind.

The reporter likes to fluff up his story with stuff like this:

    Ham is a large man [well I guess I’m 6 feet tall] with a chin-hugging beard like an Old Testament prophet or an old-fashioned preacher [it’s not that long!], both of which he is, in a way. He lectures all over the world and spent a month in Britain earlier in the summer spreading the message to the faithful in parish halls from Cornwall to Scotland. “We want to try to convince people using observational science,” he says. “It’s done very gently but forthrightly. We give both sides, which is more than the Science Museum in London does.”

    This is true in that the Creation museum does include an animatronic evolutionist archaeologist, sitting beside a creationist, at one point. But there’s no space for an animatronic Charles Darwin to fit alongside King David and his harp.

I’m not sure what Charles Darwin has to do with King David—but then again, this is just part of this reporter’s mocking approach.

Well, it’s all publicity and the Lord can use even this anti-Christian, agenda-driven piece (with its misinformation and usual types of misquotes) to get people thinking about His Word.

You can read the entire article at: Guardian Unlimited—So what’s with all the dinosaurs? But don’t believe everything he claims we said just as he’s written it!! (http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,,1946370,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=1)

A DAY IN BIRMINGHAM

This morning (Monday) I flew to Birmingham, Alabama to give a lecture to over 1,000 pastors. After I speak, I have to rush to the airport to get the only direct flight home tonight. I’ll include a report on this meeting in tomorrow’s blog.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying.

Ken

The Creation Museum and Ken Hovind has been the recipient of a large amount of persecution. Many lawsuits and a lot of personal harassment. Yet the Creation Museum has come out on top each time. In fact the one lawsuit that prevented them building on the first property it was planned for ended up getting them moved to property that was much larger resulting in an even larger museum and in a location more readily accessed from an interstate which has brought even more people to the museum.

I can't wait to view Museum! Also It might be The only second museum of American!
Pastor Roger, is it really big? Because I never see museum or one of temple of humanism in my whole life.

That is about 1.15 Acres, the size of a softball field and about half the size of a football field. There are some museums that are much bigger but I would say it is fairly large. There are plans to enlarge it when money and space becomes available.

Dinosaurs, humans coexist in U.S. creation museum

By Andrea Hopkins Mon Jan 15, 7:24 AM ET

PETERSBURG, Kentucky (Reuters) - Ken Ham's sprawling creation museum isn't even open yet, but an expansion is already underway in the state-of-the art lobby, where grunting dinosaurs and animatronic humans coexist in a Biblical paradise.

A crush of media attention and packed preview sessions have convinced Ham that nearly half a million people a year will come to Kentucky to see his Biblically correct version of history.

"I think we'll be surprised at how many people come," Ham said as he dodged dozens of designers working to finish exhibits in time for the May 28 opening.

The $27 million project, which also includes a planetarium, a special-effects theater, nature trails and a small lake, is privately funded by people who believe the Bible's first book, Genesis, is literally true.

For them, a museum showing Christian schoolchildren and skeptics alike how the earth, animals, dinosaurs and humans were created in a six-day period about 6,000 years ago -- not over millions of years, as evolutionary science says -- is long overdue.

While foreign media and science critics have mostly come to snigger at exhibits explaining how baby dinosaurs fit on Noah's Ark and Cain married his sister to people the earth, museum spokesman and vice-president Mark Looy said the coverage has done nothing but drum up more interest.

"Mocking publicity is free publicity," Looy said. Besides, U.S. media have been more respectful, mindful perhaps of a 2006 Gallup Poll showing almost half of Americans believe that humans did not evolve, but were created by God in their present form within the last 10,000 years.

Looy said supporters of the museum include evangelical Christians, Orthodox Jews and conservative Catholics, as well as the local Republican congressman, Geoff Davis (news, bio, voting record), and his family, who have toured the site.

FROM 'JAWS' TO EDEN

While the debate between creationists and mainstream scientists has bubbled up periodically in U.S. schools since before the Scopes "monkey trial" in nearby Tennessee 80 years ago, courts have repeatedly ruled that teaching religious theory in public schools is unconstitutional.

Ham, an Australian who moved to America 20 years ago, believes creationists could have presented a better case at the Scopes trail if they'd been better educated -- but he's not among those pushing for creation to be taught in school.

Rather than force skeptical teachers to debate creation, Ham wants kids to come to his museum, where impassioned experts can make their case that apparently ancient fossils and the Grand Canyon were created just a few thousand years ago in a great flood.

"It's not hitting them over the head with a Bible, it's just teaching that we can defend what it says," he said.

Ham, who also runs a Christian broadcasting and publishing venture, said the museum's Hollywood-quality exhibits set the project apart from the many quirky Creation museums sprinkled across America.

The museum's team of Christian designers include theme park art director Patrick Marsh, who designed the "Jaws" and "King Kong" attractions at Universal Studios in Florida, as well as dozens of young artists whose conviction drives their work.

"I think it shows (nonbelievers) the other side of things," said Carolyn Manto, 27, pausing in her work painting Ice Age figures for a display about caves in France.

"I don't think it's going to be forcing any viewpoint on them, but challenging them to think critically about their evolutionary views," said Manto, who studied classical sculpture before joining the museum.

Still, Looy is upfront about the museum's mission: to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with nonbelievers.

"I think a lot of people are going to come out of curiosity ... and we're going to present the Gospel. This is going to be an evangelistic center," Looy said. A chaplain has been hired for museum-goers in need of spiritual guidance.

The museum's rural location near the border of Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana places it well within America's mostly conservative and Christian heartland. But the setting has another strategic purpose: two-thirds of Americans are within a day's drive of the site, and Cincinnati's international airport is minutes away.

The project has not been without opposition. Zoning battles with environmentalists and groups opposed to the museum's message have delayed construction and the museum's opening day has been delayed repeatedly.

The museum has hired extra security and explosives-sniffing dogs to counter anonymous threats of damage to the building. "We've had some opposition," Looy said.

Dinosaurs, humans coexist in U.S. creation museum (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070115/us_nm/usa_religion_museum_dc_2)

Ken A. Ham

President, Answers in Genesis–USA

A founder and president/CEO of Answers in Genesis (the US ministry began in 1994 with the purpose of upholding the authority of the Bible from the very first verse). Ken’s emphasis is on the relevance and authority of the book of Genesis to the life of the average Christian, and how compromise on Genesis has opened a dangerous door regarding how the culture and church view biblical authority.

Ken’s emphasis is on the relevance and authority of the book of Genesis to the life of the average Christian, and how compromise on Genesis has opened a dangerous door regarding how the culture and church view biblical authority.

Answers in Genesis is building a large Creation Museum and education center in the Cincinnati, Ohio, area (on 50 scenic acres), in which dozens of world-class exhibits—including impressive dinosaur models—will be on display when the 50,000-sq-ft museum opens, currently set for June, 2007.

You know for a while I didn't believe there were really dinosaurs.

Inquiring minds lead to saved souls at Creation Museum

Workers at a museum that will focus on the biblical account of creation say the facility is changing lives, even though it has not yet officially opened. Most recently, a 28-year-old construction worker accepted Christ as Savior and Lord after working at the Creation Museum site for a few months.

Ken Ham is president of Answers in Genesis (AIG), the biblical creationist and Christian apologetics group that is opening the Creation Museum, its $27-million project in northern Kentucky near Cincinnati. So far, he says, ten contractors have been saved while working at the museum, where many of the workers hear the gospel as they inquire about the museum.

Ministry staff and volunteers have been working on the Creation Museum for several years, Ham says; however, he notes, "You also hire people from temp agencies and also have outside contractors that come in, and they start asking about the museum." And for many of these outside workers, he explains, "we find that they have no background understanding of the Bible at all, and they say things like, 'Oh, I didn't know the Bible taught about that.'"

At that point, these curious workers "hear about the flood, and then they hear about the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, and the Tower of Babel, and so on," the AIG spokesman notes. Then, he says, "what really happens is, as they're asking about the museum, they actually hear what the Bible is teaching, and they hear the gospel -- and then they start to ask more questions."

That is because, for many of these people, "they just have a lack of knowledge. They've just never heard," Ham asserts. That is why the Bible instructs Christians to "go out into all the world and preach the gospel," he points out. "If they haven't heard, we need to go out and tell them."

All this is "exciting too," the biblical creationist says, "because when they come to the museum here, they recognize [that] we're not just saying, 'Here's what the Bible says.' We're also saying, 'And we have this evidence to back it up.'"

The Answers in Genesis Creation Museum is set to open Memorial Day, May 28. The attraction will feature more than 80 animatronic dinosaurs, a room housing a replica of Noah's Ark, and rooms portraying Babylon and Eden.

Protests Planned for Grand Opening of Creation Museum

A nearly-completed $27 million museum that will showcase the literal biblical account of creation has been drawing enough criticism to spur several opponents into slating protests against the museum on the day of its opening.

Set to open on Memorial Day, the Creation Museum, built just outside Cincinnati, is trying to give an alternative to evolutionary models of science. Challengers are calling the museum “fantasy,” however, and have expressed fear that their children may be influenced by what the museum teaches.

"Many educated humans realize this is a myth," said Edwin Kagin, a Union attorney and the national legal director of American Atheists, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. "Myths aren't necessarily untrue, but they aren't literal, either."

The protestors, who are made up of non-Christians as well as mis-led Christians who do not favor literal interpretations of Genesis, have dubbed themselves Rally for Reason, and they feel that the new exhibit will create an unhealthy environment for children. The belief that evolution never existed and that the earth was made in six 24-hour days is not something they feel should be taught to children.

According to the group organizers, hundreds are expected to protest.

"My brothers and sisters in the faith who embrace [the creationist] understanding call into question the whole Christian concept," expressed the Rev. Mendle Adams, pastor of St. Peter's United Church of Christ in Cincinnati, according to the Enquirer. "They make us a laughingstock.”

Contrary to the protesters, many groups have continued to show support for the new Creation Museum, which was created by Answers in Genesis (AiG) – an apologetics ministry that focuses particularly on providing answers to questions surrounding the book of Genesis.

"I think people will enjoy . . . being able to see a different side from what some scientific findings have shown," said the Rev. Bill Henard, senior pastor of Lexington's Porter Memorial Baptist Church, according to the Philadelphia Enquirer. He has even noted that his Sunday School classes will probably visit the display.

From a recent Gallup Poll that was done in March, it seems that many agree with at least part of the museum. 47 percent of the polled Americans responded that God created humans similar to their current form within the last 10,000 years.

The museum has been having a positive impact for its workers as well. One of the carpenters who has been doing work for the preparation, Jeremy Huff, even admitted to being “saved” while on the job.

“eing around everybody, I've started to get closer to the Lord,” explained Huff in the Courier-Journal. "I guess I was always on my way. I used to go to church, but I got away from it. And I wanted to accept the Lord into my heart, but I didn't really have anyone to help me. Now I think God put me here for a reason, and I'm working for God."

He added, “I didn't know enough before I came here. I realized I needed more, and I've learned a lot. And I think a lot of other people are going to learn too."

Mark Looy, vice president of outreach for AiG, has said that he will accommodate all protesters, and that they have a right to be outside, as long as they do not break any laws. He also said that families need not worry about opening day in that it will be secure. He has already hired a security staff to man the museum.

Actually it is quite the opposite. Those that question the Creation and attempt to change the Bible in this manner are the ones that call into question the whole concept of Christianity and Salvation as both find their complete foundation in Genesis and is supported in full in the New Testament by Jesus Christ and the apostles.

I strongly recommend the AIG Museum for all Christians, especially those that have children that are being indoctrinated by worldly ways.

Museum opens to defend biblical creation account

A museum defending the Biblical account of creation has opened in Northern Kentucky. The Creation Museum , a project of the apologetics ministry, Answers in Genesis, opened with a special sneak preview for media, charter members and invited guests.



Gary Moore is Judge Executive of Boone County . He said the museum will impact much more than just the local area.

"We know that the message that you will promote here and that you will teach here is a message that our world needs to hear today," Moore said. "And I thank you for that."

The 60 thousand square foot museum features a walk-through exhibit of Biblical history, including a model of a portion of Noah's Ark, animatronic dinosaurs and a planetarium.

Answers in Genesis co founder Ken Ham told the overflow crowd that the opening of the museum is the culmination of a 20 year dream. He described the opening day as a historic event in Christendom.

"A facility like this, right now, with the technology, to take on a particular paradigm that's permeating the world, and to do it with a foundational level, and to do it in a gracious way, but to do it in a way to challenge people concerning the truth of God's Word and the Gospel," Ham said. "That's what the museum is all about."

Crowds wowed by Creation Museum grand opening

First time visitors to Creation Museum say they're impressed with the attention to detail and God-honoring exhibits. The 60,000 square foot museum features animatronic displays, a replica of a portion of Noah's Ark and a planetarium, all designed to bring the Bible to life.



Ohio resident Nancy Mary said the museum exceeded her expectations. "I like the way they wove the quotes from the Bible through the exhibits. And the exhibits just illustrate what is stated so plainly in Scripture. That's what really stood out to me," she said.

Michigan residents Ray Ogden and his son Alex were also impressed. "Mainly I think what was impressive was the extreme focus on the Gospel message as the core meaning of the whole operation and not just meant to wow you with special effects, but to get across the message that the Bible is God's Word and there's a purpose for existence."

"It's probably the best place I've been to in my entire life," 10-year-old Alex Ogden said. "The animatronic dinosaurs looked really real."

Ministry officials expect more than 250 thousand visitors annually to the Creation Museum.

Naturally when something good comes out there will always be those that oppose it.

Protestors turn out for opening of Creation Museum

The president of Answers in Genesis says he's not surprised that protestors turned out for the opening of the Creation Museum. But Ken Ham finds it ironic that one group claiming to be defending constitutional freedom wants to silence the creation story.

Thousands of people visited the Creation Museum in northern Kentucky for its opening weekend. While overflow crowds toured the apologetics museum, a handful of protestors stood outside the gates. At one point, a group called DEFCON ("DEFend the CONstitution") flew a plane overhead, quoting the Ninth Commandment: "Thou shalt not lie."

Ham found DEFCON's protest ironic. "There's an atheist group, a humanist group and a group called DEFCON, which supposedly are a group to defend the Constitution," Ham noted. "But all they're doing is defending their liberal agenda."

The Creation Museum has its own uniformed security team, to keep protestors at bay.

"Here they are protesting the opening of a creation museum. In fact, they're saying things like we shouldn't be allowed to present the science we're presenting. They're scared of us," Ham charged. "[Do you] know why they're scared? Because for the first time we've built a major facility where we're using real observational science to confirm the Bible's history.

"They don't like that at all," Ham concluded. "They don't want people to hear this information."

I'll definitely have to put this museum on my to-do list.  It sounds like a wonderful place to visit.  It's interesting that those who reject God, always seem threatened by anything pertaining to Him.   Why feel threatened by something or someone you believe to be nonexistent?  It makes as much sense as us as believers feeling threatened by talking trees.

Creation Museum planetarium shows young universe

The newly opened Creation Museum in Boone County, Kentucky, features a planetarium that refutes the science taught in secular humanist museums.



One of the most popular attractions during the Creation Museum's opening weekend was the Stargazer's Room, a planetarium that shows how the scale of the universe declares God's glory.

Dr. Jason Lisle is a speaker and researcher with Answers in Genesis (AIG) who designed the planetarium. He says the Stargazer's Room makes the case for a young universe.

"We start from the Bible, and that's what makes it a little bit different than so many other planetarium shows that you've seen before," Lisle explains. "And we're going to deal with age indicators, things like blue stars, which even my secular colleagues say can't last billions of years," he says.

The museum features indoor waterfalls, a special effects theater, and a miniature Grand Canyon exhibit.

May have to pack the family up and make an overnight trip up there.  Should take me about 5-6 hrs. 

Creation Museum attracts better than expected crowds

Tens of thousands of visitors flocked to the new Creation Museum during its first month of operation in Kentucky. The president of Answers in Genesis, the creation ministry that built the museum, says overall attendance is better than expected.



Since its opening at the end of May, more than 40,000 people have taken part in the high-tech walk-through history of the Bible. The 60,000-square-foot facility features animatronic displays, computer-generated visual effects, a special-effects theater -- and the recently opened "Dinosaur Den." Ken Ham, president of Answers in Genesis, says the facility has attracted a wide range of guests.

"Not all those coming are Christians," he notes. "We're getting non-Christians as well. And it just tells you that there's a tremendous interest out there in this whole topic .... it just tells you that there is much, much more interest out there than what some people have been saying."

Those visiting the Creation Museum, he believes, are eager for the truth about creation, evolution, and dinosaurs. He explains that the museum is not something "that bashes you on the head with the Bible."

"It actually takes you through very graciously and gently, and challenges you to think -- and that's getting around out there as well," he shares. "And so, even more non-Christians come because they are interested to find out what we believe and why we believe what we do."

Museum officials originally projected a yearly attendance of 250,000. Ham points out that the museum is booked for groups on Saturdays throughout the entire summer.

Creation Museum reaches 100-thousand visitors

PETERSBURG, Ky. - Less than two months after opening, a northern Kentucky museum dedicated to promoting creationism has drawn 100,000 visitors, causing some growing pains, museum officials said.



The milestone visit - the honor went to a Buffalo, N.Y., family - means the $27 million museum is on pace to easily shatter the first-year attendance projection of 250,000 visits, officials said.

"We're pretty pleased with the response," said Mike Zovath, vice president of museum operations.

The 60,000-square foot museum's first weeks have been highlighted by packed parking lots, long lines to get in and - from critics - skepticism about the museum's claims about science, faith and the origins of the earth.

Evolution is debunked at the museum, which is packed with high-tech exhibits designed by an acclaimed theme-park artist, animatronic dinosaurs and a huge wooden ark. In this Old Testament version of history, dinosaurs appeared on the same day God created other land animals.

The museum also contains fossils, hung in large glass cases in a room visitors spill into after taking a tour of Old Testament history. Museum officials said most fossils were created by the massive flood detailed in the book of Genesis.

The museum is petitioning to add 650 spaces to the parking lot, which currently has about 500 spaces available. The museum would also like to add a canopy over the entrance to protect people waiting in line from the weather.

God's word getting out to the people.

Creation Museum wants more parking

Attendance at the new Answers in Genesis museum has exceeded staff projections, prompting a proposal to expand the facility's parking lot.

As of Wednesday, about 140,000 people had visited the Boone County tourist attraction, which opened on May 28, spokesman Giles Hudson said.

That puts it on pace to receive more than 700,000 during its first year. Museum staff had projected 250,000 visitors in that period.

The museum has had to turn away visitors some days because there was no room in the parking lot for more vehicles, Hudson said.

The museum has increased staff to accommodate all the visitors and those new workers need parking, too, Hudson said. The museum also wants room for future growth.

"We are grateful for the tremendous support people have shown since our opening just 2½ months ago," he said. "At this rate, we should easily surpass the projections for a quarter million visitors for the first year," he said.

Answers in Genesis has asked the Boone County Planning Commission for permission to amend the development plan for its property off Bullittsburg Church Road.

Answers wants to add 663 more parking spaces at the rear of the property and build a second entrance, onto Deck Lane, commission Executive Director Kevin Costello said.

The organization also wants to build a new grounds maintenance building, install awnings in front of the building and on the side overlooking the lake, and build a road on the south side of the lake for service vehicles, he said.

The commission plans to hold a public hearing on the request at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Boone County Fiscal Court meeting room.

When it first proposed building the museum, Answers in Genesis originally proposed for visitors to access the property from Deck Lane, but moved the entrance to Bullittsburg Church Road because of opposition from neighbors.

The $27 million museum, more than 10 years in the planning and construction, is a monument to the belief that God created everything directly about 6,000 years ago, not through billions of years of evolution.

The Lord is indeed using this museum.

Creation Museum surpasses first-year attendance outlook

The Creation Museum has met and exceeded its inaugural year attendance goal, less than six months after it opened its doors.

Officials at Answers in Genesis, the apologetics ministry that opened the museum in May, anticipated 250,000 visitors the first year. However, the northern Kentucky-based museum met that goal last week. Melany Ethridge, a spokesperson for the museum, says the big crowds indicate that many are interested in the biblical explanation of creation.

"The museum is drawing not only Christians who already believe in the biblical view of Creation, but it's drawing those who are just more curious to learn more. It's drawing those who have a theoretical belief in God and his involvement in Creation, but haven't ever studied it literally before, and so they're getting to go and learn more about that," she explains.

Ethridge points out that the 60,000-square-foot museum is still attracting large numbers of foreign media representatives as the creation-versus-evolution debate continues.

God's message getting out.

That's great!  I have one of Ken Ham's (Answers in Genesis) videos.  He is wonderful about explaining creation and answering questions so that the layman can understand it.  He's from Australia and now lives in the U.S.  I would love to see his Museum sometime!
I am glad to hear that so many curious have gotten to see it!
Grammyluv

I don't have any of his videos but I have used his web site extensively. He provides an abundant amount of information from many scientists that is simply the best there is for anyone that is into furthering their education in the word of God.

Creation Museum expands

Northern Kentucky's Creation Museum is expanding again.

The museum south of Cincinnati is adding 663 parking spaces to accommodate throngs of visitors that have forced staff to park miles away.

The museum, which uses literal interpretations of the Bible to tell the earth's history, has welcomed 265,000 visitors since opening on Memorial Day.

Many of those visitors then visited Kentucky state parks, where they've challenged official claims that the earth and living things evolved over millions of years. This month, 16 state naturalists visited the Creation Museum to better understand those objections.

Museum co-founder Mark Looy says the museum may not have converted the state naturalists, but at least they've now seen "the other side of a controversial topic."

What a cool, hands-on way to get the Truth across!  Wish I could see it myself!