Visiting The Creation Museum
Robert “Bobby” Jennings
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). When the Lord’s instruction to train children, parents and Bible class teachers are continually challenged to keep up and educate themselves. As a preacher who also has a degree in education, I’m constantly working with fellow Christian educators to prepare themselves for the task at hand.
For the last three years I’ve been taking groups of teachers, parents, and youth from Wilson Ridge to the Creation Museum located in Petersburg, Kentucky. This museum justly claims to be a “state-of-the-art 70,000 square foot museum” that “brings the pages of the Bible to life, casting its characters and animals, in dynamic form and placing them in familiar settings.” There is no doubt that this is a very well-organized and developed facility that can be used as a tool by Christians to help educate themselves in the area of creation versus evolution.
An enthusiastic staff quickly greets visitors to a facility that sets forth a quality visual effect presentation that anyone who has ever visited amusement parks like Disney or MGM would appreciate. Inside the museum, visitors are on a self-guided, self-paced tour that can provide information that will gain the attention of the youth, while filling the adults with ideas on how they can adapt their teaching styles to present messages they may have once avoided, feeling insecure or unprepared.
Upon entering the museum, many will visit the free “Men in White” presentation. Although not appropriate, nor designed for worship, this theater sets forth an introduction to the museum and the reason for its design. I found it very interesting that some of the exact things that our youth heard being said in the film as it mimicked the modern classroom were factual and what they were facing daily. At the same time our youth agreed with what this film was saying. Parents and teachers present were found to be alarmed at the abuse that our children have been receiving because of their belief in God.
Upon departing the theater, visitors begin their tour. The museum has very open walking paths with multiple areas available for those needing to sit and take a break. It does a very good job of setting forth how archeology, geology, and science, when used properly, actually help authenticate the Bible. There is, however, a large section of the museum that deals with religious history and how man has departed from God and religion. Without question, this portion of the museum has a very “world-view” of religion (teaching, falsely, that anyone who believe that there is a God who had a Son named Jesus, is a Christian), and, thus, brethren must use extra caution and be like the Bereans who “searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11).
Visitors seeking information on the creation are soon filled with wonder and amazement with some of the sites and productions that are just ahead. Another large portion of the museum is dedicated to Noah’s ark and the flood. The museum currently has a project underway in which they hope to have constructed by 2014 an ark that fits the proportions of Noah’s ark. This is certainly going to be a site to behold.
In order to be politically correct for all “Christian religions,” the museum once again falls short in a film entitled “The Last Adam.” The film starts with a powerful lesson to which they take liberty in talking about Jesus from the viewpoint of Mary and the centurion. This film had great potential in catching the minds of many and maybe even initiating within them a desire to study God’s word about His Son and salvation. What is sad is that, instead of actually carrying through and giving the Biblical plan of salvation, they stop before ever mentioning baptism. Please note that the visual and sound qualities of such productions throughout the museum are equivalent to that of Hollywood productions.
One of our youth’s favorite sections of the museum was that of the dinosaurs. Not only have I found that our youth were intrigued, but, because of our visits to the museum and the way that they handled dinosaurs in the Bible, our Bible class teachers are looking forward to teaching about that subject during Vacation Bible School this year in the series by Apologetics Press.
Even though there is an additional charge for this portion of the tour, my personal favorite at the museum has to be the planetarium. In this exhibit you are seated in a room looking at a large domed ceiling. They begin taking you on a journey through space to the furthest star we can see through a telescope. Once at that star, they turn you around facing earth, and while bringing you home – all the way down to the roof of the museum – they are reminding you that with all that is out there that we can see, God knows, loves, and cares about you. What an amazing message and way to present it!
If you are looking for something to do with your family this summer, the Creation Museum is a unique alternative. Ticket prices are pretty close to that of any local amusement park, while the intellectual discussions you will have upon leaving the museum will far surpass that of any you may have from an amusement park. Although you will be blessed by a more Godly adventure at the Creation Museum over any amusement park, please let me caution you once again about the theology of this facility. –Route 2, Box 337, Grafton, WV 26354. oletimepreacher@aol.com