• Know the Antievolutionists
  • Institute for Creation Research
  • Background on Intelligent Design
• Know their Strategies
  • Diluting evolution education
  • Providing equal time
  • Direct interference

The Institute for Creation Research

Henry Morris defined anti-evolutionism in its modern form. In 1963, he and John C. Whitcomb published The Genesis Flood, outlining a purported scientific rationale for Young Earth Creationism (YEC). As the title suggests, the authors accept Genesis literally, including not just the special, separate creation of humans and all other species, but also the literal truth of Noah’s Flood. Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries there had been sporadic efforts to make a literal interpretation of the Bible compatible with science, especially geology, but The Genesis Flood was the first significant twentieth-century effort. Religious anti-evolutionists relied on the book to argue that evolution was not only religiously objectionable, but also scientifically flawed. Having created the notion of “Creation Science,” Morris and his followers fleshed out their claims in subsequent books and pamphlets.

The Institute for Creation Research (ICR) was founded by Henry Morris and others in the early 1970s to promote scholarship in YEC science (especially Flood Geology) and to train students. It remains the flagship creationist institution to which other YEC organizations look. It has a large publishing arm, a graduate school offering masters degrees in science and science education, and a public museum. Most other YEC organizations sell and otherwise distribute ICR books, pamphlets, filmstrips, videos, movies and other materials through their newsletters, and the movement leans heavily on Morris’ writings and perspectives. The ICR also organizes Back to Genesis revivals sponsored by local churches, during which ICR faculty lecture for one to three days, promoting both the theology and the “science” of creation science.

In addition to the Institute for Creation Research, there are several other regional and national YEC organizations. Australian evangelist Ken Ham, a former ICR employee, formed his own Answers in Genesis ministry, located in Florence, Kentucky. Ham is currently planning to establish a Genesis theme park and museum in Kentucky that will present the Flood, the creation of Adam and Eve, and other elements of Genesis as historical fact.

	Background on Intelligent Design