At the International Conference on Creation held in August, the ICR research was prominent, particularly the RATE research on Radioisotopes and the Age of the Earth. I was honored to give the opening plenary session of the conference, in which I reminded the creationists gathered of the remarkable resurgence of Creation thinking in the last forty years and suggested a winning focus for the future.
Creation thinking was essentially dead when the groundbreaking book, The Genesis Flood, was published in 1961. For the very first time, the early chapters of Genesis had a credible, scientific defense. A snowball started rolling, leading to the Creation Research Society and the Bible-Science Association being formed in 1963. Soon ICR was launched as the first organization staffed by professional scientists, whose mandate it was to research and communicate Creation truth. Subsequent years have produced thousands of creation scientists and scores of creation organizations, most of them spawned and staffed by those influenced by ICR writings, and/or graduates of the ICR Graduate School. The Creation movement, especially with the recent effectiveness of Answers in Genesis and Master Books, has fully matured.
Research, too, is so strong. All of the "big-picture" arguments point to Creation, from the fossils, to the laws of science, to the design of living things, to the lack of a mechanism for evolution, to the evidence for catastrophism in geology, etc. In so many ways we are winning! Now we must go on to full victory.
Full victory involves reaching people with the message. Today, many speakers representing many organizations are carrying this message to many different venues. Some focus primarily on churches, some on schools, some on more technical audiences. Home school and Christian schools are clamoring for creation materials, and numerous new books and videos are going to market. More scientists are equipped and willing to accept formal debates. In all this, ICR rejoices.
With the increased availability of creation information I've noticed a shift in those attending ICR seminars. While there will always be the need for basic Creation truth to be covered, attendees desire a higher quality of information—not necessarily more technical, but fresher, more detailed, more reliable, than they may have received elsewhere. With the cutting edge research we are doing here, and our commitment to truth, we can supply those new arguments like no one else.
As the RATE initiative comes to an end with the publication of the second technical book and non-technical summary in 2005, the RATE scientists are looking to "hit the road" with their discoveries. Plans are being made to include them at the non-technical "Back to Genesis" seminars and at "second dose," more technical conferences.
Furthermore, in an ongoing attempt to meet the various demands, ICR is currently planning and developing a new type of family seminar featuring live animals to teach the incredible design God has placed in His creations. We'll be doing videos with this theme too. There's just no end to ways to communicate.
Meanwhile, we continue to schedule a variety of seminars and conferences with a number of speakers. Plenty of dates are still available for the coming school year. The information is fresh and the arguments are strong. There has never been a better time to bring the enlightening and motivational message of Creation to your community.
To schedule a seminar or speaker contact Mr. Hamilton Richardson at 619/448- 0900, ext. 6041.
* Dr. Morris is President of ICR.
