Pioneering a Global Movement

by Lawrence E. Ford, Sr. *

This month the Institute for Creation Research marks the 40th anniversary of this ministry, looking back with gratitude for four decades of God’s faithfulness and looking forward to the plans and projects that lay ahead according to His will. We’ll come together on October 7 for a joyous celebration of this significant milestone at our banquet in Dallas, featuring special guest Dr. R. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Read his feature article this month on the age of the universe.

In the early 1970s, I lived in San Diego, where our founder Dr. Henry Morris launched ICR along with Dr. Tim LaHaye, who was my pastor at the time. What I didn’t know then was how many years earlier Dr. Morris had begun writing and teaching on the subject of creation science, even back to 1948!

Those today who declare they’ve come up with a “new” way of looking at the Genesis narrative or creation science are really just building on the concepts developed by Henry Morris, John Whitcomb, Duane Gish, and others who pioneered creation science many decades earlier. The Genesis Flood, that seminal work by Whitcomb and Morris, was published in 1961 and has been in continuous publication for nearly 50 years! Dr. Morris, even while serving as chairman of Virginia Tech’s engineering school, continued to teach and write on the issues of science and the Bible, helping Christians understand that Genesis is just as true as the rest of Scripture, and helping scientists understand that they don’t need to compromise their belief in the Bible as professionals. For more than two decades before ICR was founded, Henry Morris pioneered the understanding of modern science and the Bible, for which he is remembered as the father of the modern creation science movement, even by his detractors.

And yet, what did Dr. Morris reveal that was new? King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 1:9 that “there is no new thing under the sun.” I think Dr. Morris would be the first to say “Amen!” to this.

Perhaps we could say that he highlighted recent science data in light of Genesis, helping us all to see 1) that the Bible is true and can be trusted, and 2) that science, studied and interpreted properly, fits the creationist understanding of origins and earth history. He taught us that the Word of God always trumps the words of men, even learned men with Ph.D.'s like himself. He reminded us that despite Darwin’s influence over modern science, God is not an evolutionist and His Word does not contain evolutionary ideas like the Big Bang, millions and billions of years, common ancestry, death before sin, etc.

A pioneer? Absolutely! But I think Dr. Morris would be the first to admit that he was simply pointing us all back to an unshakeable faith in the Word of God.

While we remember the life and legacy of our founder, we honor the object of his affections, our Creator, the Lord Jesus Christ, for whom Dr. Morris spent a lifetime in service.

* Mr. Ford is Executive Editor at the Institute for Creation Research.

Cite this article: Ford, L. 2010. Pioneering a Global Movement. Acts & Facts. 39 (10): 3.