My New Kentucky Home

A blog about faith and family, home and homeschooling.

A Visit to the Creation Museum

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Note:  I was delighted to have Ken Ham refer to and link back to this post from his own blog, Around the World with Ken Ham, just a couple of weeks after I published it. You can read what he had to say here.
 
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When the news first broke of a science museum from a Christian perspective to be built here in Kentucky, there was plenty of controversy surrounding it. 
And even back then I wondered why on earth the construction of one museum was stirring up so much trouble.  As a devout Christian who believes in a literal, 6 day creation, I can’t take my children to a science museum or zoo ANYWHERE that doesn’t try to present the theory of evolution as indisputable fact, when by their own standards it isn’t fact at all!  I couldn’t understand what was so horrible and so threatening about ONE museum that would offer a differing viewpoint.
 
 
In the years since, I’ve come to understand better how much of the secular scientific community has absolutely no tolerance for differing viewpoints, even if there’s evidence for them.  That’s the first mark against the Creation Museum! But now that I’ve also visited the museum for myself, I think I see more clearly why so many are so enraged by its existence.Because it is good.  REALLY good.  In fact, I’ve never visited a museum that was more beautifully designed or more state-of-the-art.  No doubt there are many who would love to laugh off the idea of this Creation Museum, but it’s awfully hard to take it so lightly when it is so unbelievably well done.  

We live a mere two hours from the Creation Museum and somehow had never found time to make a family trip there!  Fortunately for us, just recently a few timing and travel issues fell perfectly into place so that we could stop in for a day.We chose to start off with a show in the Stargazer’s Planetarium before entering the museum itself, so we spent a few minutes looking around in the main hall until start time.  We reclined in our comfy chairs to watch the show “Created Cosmos” overhead and it was amazing.  My kids were so excited to hear “Mr. Whittaker”, (Paul Herlinger,) narrating, and seeing the expanse of our solar system and the universe beyond left me saying along with David,

 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and stars, which thou hast ordained; 
What is man, that thou art mindful of him? –Psalm 8:3-4
 
From there we worked our way through the museum itself and I was awestruck by the beautiful displays and interactive exhibits.  My kids touched fossilized dinosaur eggs, were wowed by animatronic dinosaurs, and walked through creation history.
 

 

 

 

 

 

We got to explore the building site for Noah’s Ark.

 

 

And even ask Noah some questions.  Polly Wolly thought this part of the exhibit was pretty cool!

I was really interested in the Dragon Invasion exhibit.  I’m intrigued by the fact virtually every corner of the world has ancient legends about dragons with eery similarities.  The kids loved Dr. Crawley’s Insectorium. I’ve never seen so many insects in my life!  Thank heavens they were all under GLASS.  And thank heavens I’ve never run into any bugs the size of some of those!

Eventually we stopped for a little snack on the deck outside Noah’s Cafe.  It was a perfect day for a visit!

Later we strolled through the botanical gardens located beside the Creation Museum.  I was thoroughly impressed with the gardens!  I think I could have spent the entire day just wandering through them.  Or maybe tucked away in some shady corner with a good book…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The kids enjoyed camel rides…

 

 

And a visit to the petting zoo.

 

 

Before we headed home we stopped in at the Dragon’s Den Bookstore.  It was the most beautiful bookstore I’ve ever visited.  I could have spent a really long time and a lot of money there.  Fortunately, by that point I was too tired to do either!


 

Truly, I was impressed.  I had heard the Creation Museum was amazing, but it exceeded my expectations by far.

 

The museum is not merely creation-centered, but gospel-centered; aimed at not only offering evidence in support of the Genesis account, but in sharing the salvation message of Jesus Christ.  I’m sure it’s something that makes evolutionary scientists very uncomfortable; this blending of science and faith. But I completely agree with the argument that says it hardly makes sense to separate the two!  As I’ve heard Mr. Ham express before, if the first 11 chapters of Genesis are a lie, then what reason do we have to trust the rest of the Bible?  I appreciate the ministry of Answers in Genesis and their efforts to not only convince people to be creationists, but to be believers in Christ.

A garden plaque and one of my favorite scriptures

If I was trying to find any fault with the museum it would be just these things: Sometimes I found the transition from one exhibit area to another to be a little… awkward.  Maybe I was looking for a flow when a flow wasn’t necessary or intended.  Or maybe a second trip would clear things up for me. There is certainly A LOT to take in and especially with children in tow, it’s impossible to grasp it all. Also, the museum stays busy, (we were there on a Monday–probably not their busiest day of the week,) and there were several areas along the way where the pathways narrowed and the crowd would tend to bottleneck. It was a convenience issue, not a safety one, but sometimes there was no easy movement forward or backward and I kept thinking how grateful I was to have children fully potty-trained!  I can’t imagine being caught in one of those spots in an emergency!

Without question, however, our first visit to the Creation Museum was a delight! It was so refreshing to finally be able to walk through a science museum with our children and not have to offer constant disclaimers for the things we saw and heard.  There is remarkable evidence for a young earth, a worldwide flood, and intelligent design, but it’s generally ignored and even mocked by modern science. Yet these same mainstream scientists gloss over or explain away some of the serious problems with the fossil record and evolutionary theory.

 

 And they call us the narrow-minded ones.  Go figure.

Museums promoting faith in evolution are a dime a dozen.  What a pleasure to finally visit one promoting faith in something far greater!

 
**For more information on the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, check out creationmuseum.org. 
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Comments

    • kentuckysketches says

      I'm sure Ken Ham would love to see one like it in his native country! I hope you can get something like it in Australia very soon!

      Thank you for stopping in today!

  8. Gail @ http://biblelovenotes.com says

    So glad this museum is well done. These type of museums are so needed to offer another point of view to the public-education mandated theory of evolution.

    I have also been surprised that there is so much opposition to presenting a view other than evolution, even when it is presented on its scientific evidence alone. I wrote a post about it a few years back. It's here in case you're interested: http://biblelovenotes.blogspot.com/2001/01/we-cant-shut-up.html
    Thanks for giving a review of this museum.
    Have a blessed week.

  9. kentuckysketches says

    I was so pleased to find the museum so beautiful and so state-of-the-art. Skeptics who attend may not agree with everything they see, but they won't be able to deny that the museum is very well done.

    I will be sure to read! Thanks so much for stopping in!

  10. Meghan Carver says

    We LOVE the Creation Museum. We live only an hour and a half away and have a five-year membership, so we go all the time. It truly is impossible (at least for us, with six children in tow) to see every little detail in one day. Wonderful photos, Tanya!

    • kentuckysketches says

      I have a friend who insists it took her NINE trips to the Creation Museum to take it all in, and I believe it! We would love to have a membership and it's something we hope to do soon so we can go as often as we like.

      It was a wonderful experience for us! So glad you stopped by today, Meghan!

  11. Nici @ Posed Perfection says

    What a neat place! I think we have a creation museum here in Texas, but haven't been there yet. Sounds like need to make that trip a priority 😉 Thanks so much for linking this up to our All Things Thursday Blog Hop. I hope you'll be back tomorrow night to link up again.
    Blessings,
    Nici

  14. Wholesome Womanhood says

    I've heard such good things about the creation museum. It's been on my list of places I want to see for quite some time. I'm hoping my family and I can make it out sometime in the near future.

  15. heather says

    Please don't confuse the scientific term "theory" with the meaning of the word in other contexts. In other places it means an idea or a guess but in science it means an explanation for events in nature that is supported by many, many facts. Hypotheses have to undergo years of in depth study to be elevated to the level of "theory."

    So when scientists say that evolution is a theory they aren't saying that "by their own standards it isn't fact at all." They are saying the exact opposite. Other theories include "cell theory" which says that organisms are made up of cells and "heliocentric theory" which says that the Earth orbits the sun.

    • kentuckysketches says

      Actually, when I made the statement, “by their own standards it isn’t a fact at all,” I wasn’t referring to use of the word THEORY in classifying evolution, though I see where that may have been unclear. I understand completely that in science the word carries greater weight than in common conversation, though the truth still holds that scientific theory is not irrefutable fact.

      But that really wasn’t my point. The “standard” I was referring to was the scientific method, the "in depth study" of which you spoke, which fails to classify evolution as good THEORY, let alone law! While natural selection and adaptation is observable, change between species is not, which should pose an incredible problem for evolution if scientists are seriously adhering to the scientific method. Instead it appears science often bends the rules where necessary to support a belief system that seems bound and determined to reject any notion of a Designer, no matter the evidence in its favor.

    • kentuckysketches says

      I will indeed, sir! We enjoyed ourselves so much and feel incredibly blessed to live so close to such an amazing museum.

      Thank you for taking the time to stop by!

  18. ashley says

    "There is remarkable evidence for a young earth…".

    Why not tell us what it is? And why all the evidence for an ancient earth should be dismissed.

    • kentuckysketches says

      I apologize for taking so long to respond to your comment, Ashley, but I wanted to wait until I had the time to give a proper and relatively thorough response.

      First of all, if you’re asking me to write an entire blog post about evidences for a young earth, I can certainly do so, though I can also direct you to the Answers in Genesis website where, if you’re truly seeking information with an open mind, you will find answers to your questions. The point of this particular post, however, was not to offer arguments in support of a young earth, but to tell about my first visit to the Creation Museum and give my opinion of it. That was it.

      But that said, you should know that though I have always believed in creation and a Creator, I once sided more with those who suggest the “gap theory”, which is just the idea that there was a gap, of possibly millions of years, between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. To me it seemed a reasonable explanation for the claims of modern science that say the world is millions of years old.

      But the more I studied the issue, the more I began to see that “modern science” doesn’t always get it right! In the public schools where I was educated as a child, radiometric dating was touted as undeniable evidence of an ancient earth. Then I learned lava rock known to be DECADES old sometimes dates MILLIONS of years old with these methods. How on earth can radiometric dating then be considered reliable? I remember visiting Mammoth Cave on a field trip as a kid and being told the stalactites and stalagmites we saw took millions of years to form. Now scientists have to concede that, under the right conditions, they can form in a matter of decades.

      And that’s another issue that’s a convincer for me. Under the right conditions, dramatic change can take place in an incredibly short amount of time. I’ve heard all my life that canyons form over millions of years of erosion, though the RIGHT CONDITIONS, such as a volcanic eruption, can produce one in a matter of HOURS! Fossils supposedly take millions of years to form, yet in the RIGHT CONDITIONS, such as floods and mud slides, a fossil can form at an unbelievably rapid pace. All of it was enough to make me question the millions of years argument and the more study I do, the more issue I have with ideas that seem more focused on doing away with any possible accountability to a God than providing good, consistent explanation for the origin of earth and life

      That’s as “brief” a response as I can give you at the moment, Ashley! Obviously I should have made this its own post! But I certainly hope you’ll look into the evidence objectively.

      Thanks so much for reading!

  19. Elisheba says

    Tanya, I just found your blog today and am loving it! I just moved to TX from CA with my hubby and family and recently heard Ken Ham speak. I, like you, thought the gap theory made sense because it explained away what the current scientists say. However, now I see how God was literal in His accounts in Genesis about each day including an evening and a day. It was written for every one of the days that include our first week of time. I am so thankful for Answers in Genesis and Ham for his contribution to Christianity. I feel like my foundation was more firmly established after listening to him speak.

    • kentuckysketches says

      I'm so glad you found me, Elisheba! I've been familiar with Answers in Genesis for quite some time, but was so glad to finally get to hear Ken Ham in person for the first time back in May. It's like you said–I just felt further grounded in my faith by the time it was over! And it made me more anxious than ever to visit the Creation Museum and to continue studying the evidence.

      I'm so glad you stopped in today!

  20. Anonymous says

    We need to go back to the museum, we were there a few years ago with a 4year old, 3 year old, 2 year old, and 3 months old. I really don't remember much, except that the 2 year old was terrified of the dinosaurs and the 3 month old made a mess in her diaper while in the sling. OH, and the 3 oldest were scared of all the animals in the petting zoo, and it was the hottest day of the year!! 🙂 So we really need to go again! We might wait a few more years they are now 8, 7, 6, and 4 but we also have a 2 year old and 8month old!
    Valerie

    • kentuckysketches says

      I can definitely see how it would be a real challenge to take everything in with very small children in tow. My youngest is 5 and I still wasn't able to absorb it all the way I wanted to. But fortunately they weren't scared of any part of it!

      I hope you can plan a return trip soon! Thanks for stopping by!

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