Creation science controversy: a tale of two museums

by Jim Coggins

Portrait of a young Charles Darwin, by G. Richmond

Canada's Creation Science Museum is in a 900-square-foot one-storey building, which opened June 5 in the small town of Big Valley (population 400).

In contrast, the Creation Museum opened May 28 in Petersburg, Kentucky with music concerts, balloon rides, and a fireworks display. The first day, the museum attracted more than 4,000 visitors, a variety of international media -- and some 50 protestors holding a "rally for reason" outside.

The museum is operated by the Answers in Genesis (AiG) organization. The high-tech, 60,000 square-foot facility includes a 200-seat special-effects theater, a 30-foot-tall depiction of a section of Noah's Ark, and animatronic figures -- such as Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden with dinosaurs -- created by the man who designed the Jaws and King Kong attractions at Universal Studios in Florida.

AiG founder Ken Ham welcomed the first patrons by emphasizing the museum's over-riding purpose: to help beleaguered Christians defend scripture in an era of increasing skepticism toward the veracity of the biblical text.

"The purpose of the museum is to use observational science to show that the Bible is true, its history is true and therefore the gospel is true," he said. "There are a lot of PhD scientists who believe what the Bible teaches. Both creationists and evolutionists use the same science, and the same evidence; the difference is our pre-existing beliefs."

The museum is not far from the location of the 1925 Scopes trial, which established the teaching of evolution in American schools and set off an ideological battle that continues to this day. In a recent debate, Republican presidential candidates were asked if they believed in creation or evolution -- and three candidates stated support for creation. "Just as Dayton, Tennessee, was ground zero for the defense of evolution in 1925," Ham declared, "so Petersburg, Kentucky, will become ground zero for the defense of creation in 2007."

The founder of the Canadian museum is Harry Nibourg, an engineer who divides his time between setting up the museum and working in the oil fields in northern Alberta. He has put about $300,000 of his own money into establishing the museum. It is stocked with fossils, DVDs, books and various displays.

While he is not a scientist, Nibourg told CC.com the museum is "based on the work of hundreds of scientists around the world." He said he received help from other creationism promoters such as Nelson Vance and Ian Juby. Nibourg noted there is an informal network of people promoting creation science views. He said his museum has no direct links with the U.S. museum, but he has agreed to distribute pamphlets for the U.S. museum at his Canadian one.

Nibourg was far more interested in talking about the evidence for creation than about his museum. He admitted his facility is not as well organized as the U.S. one. Hours of operation are not entirely set as of yet, because the museum is operated by volunteers. He said that in Alberta's overheated economy, "It is easier to get volunteers than good paid help."

Still, his little museum has attracted the attention of national media and has been hotly debated in the Edmonton Journal.

Moreover, the museum is not as isolated as it first seems. As the last stop on the Alberta Prairie Steam Train ride, Big Valley is "a tourist town." With attractions such as a boardwalk, a restored Anglican church, a railway roundhouse, a railroad museum and a grain museum, the town draws thousands of visitors every year.

Big Valley is also only a half hour from Drumheller, home of the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology, which presents a standard evolutionary view based on the discovery of dinosaur fossils in Alberta. Another Alberta creationist, Margaret Helder of the Creation Science Association of Alberta, has written a Royal Tyrrell Museum Guide, which provides a different interpretation to the museum's exhibits.

Nibourg described himself as "a hard-core party animal" before he was converted and became an evangelical Christian. Compared to what he believed before, he said, "This makes a lot more sense."

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Nibourg further asserted: "Christianity and evolution are both faiths. The question is which faith fits the facts, and which faith fails the facts. Evolution is not a science. Evolutionists have tried and failed for 150 years to prove evolution by science."

Nibourg said he sees his work as providing information. "People should see both sides of the story." He said he had been asked if his presentations should be available in public schools. He said, "That's up to the people involved, not up to us." However, he added, "I don't believe public money should be put into something people don't believe," adding that he thinks the Tyrrell museum should also "show both sides."

Not all Christians are enthusiastic about the Big Valley museum.

Denis Lamoureux is both a Pentecostal Christian and an "evolutionary creationist" who teaches at St. Joseph's College, a Roman Catholic institution affiliated with the University of Alberta. He told CC.com that Nibourg and his colleagues are "wonderful Christians," and that their museum "will serve certain people." He noted that such museums are usually built and supported by "people in love with the word of God."

Lamoureux said the media focus on the struggle between atheistic evolutionists and 'young earth' creationists presented a false dichotomy to the public. The young earth view is promoted by the two museums, which affirm the concept that God created the world about 6,000 years ago. Lamoureux noted there are a range of other views -- from people such as himself who believe God guided human evolution, to people such as Hugh Ross who believes in cosmological but not biological evolution, i.e. that the earth is old, but that the creation of animal and human life is recent.

Lamoureux said he is concerned about the "pastoral implications" for university students who study the sciences -- who see the overwhelming evidence for evolution, and lose their faith. He said he is convinced someone can believe in evolution but also in the resurrection of Jesus. He said evangelical schools and public schools should teach all sides and clearly distinguish between the scientific evidence and the philosophical issues sometimes associated with them.

For instance, he said the "public preaching of dogmatic atheism" in the name of science by people such as renowned evolutionist Richard Dawkins "does a disservice to science."

Asked why the U.S. creation science museum is much larger, Nibourg said, "Americans are more passionate about God. We're liberals up here."

A recent ABC news poll showed that, in spite of the teaching of evolution in schools, 60 percent of Americans still believe the world was created in six days.

Lamoureux said the percentage is lower in Canada, but noted polls indicate that around half of Canadians still believe in creation.

Related stories:

The birthplace of the Christian resistance
On a steamy southern spring day this week, Robin Cooper watched a steady stream of cars drive through the fancy dinosaur-decorated gates of this city's newly-opened Creation Museum, and worried about his future students.
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Canada's man against Darwin
Refuting more than 100 years of received evolutionary science is no easy task. It is especially challenging when all you've got is a 900-square-foot creationist museum in the Alberta countryside to prove that the Book of Genesis better explains our origins than the Darwinian model generally accepted as fact by the world's scientific community. But Harry Nibourg, the man behind Canada's first creationist museum, insists he has enough proof collected in this small house, in this town of 400, to do it.
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The Creation Museum in Petersburg, Ky., features a "walk through history" based on the "7 Cs of History."
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Answers in Genesis, the group behind the Creation Museum in Kentucky, lists a number of questions on its Web site and then provides answers.
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New creation museum sparks debate in Alberta
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Debunking evolution in dinosaur land
'Which faith fits the facts?' asks devout Christian oil worker who founded museum
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June 7/2007