Henry M. Morris

File:Henry M Morris.jpg

Henry M. Morris

Henry Madison Morris (born 6 October 1918) is an American young earth creationist, apologist and hydraulic engineer, considered the father of the creation science movement.

Biography

Morris grew up in Texas in the 1920s and 1930s and was a religiously indifferent youth. Morris graduated from Rice University with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering in 1939. Shortly afterwards he became a Christian and adopted Biblical inerrancy.

On January 24 1940 he married Mary Louise ..?.. and they later had six children. From his graduation to 1942 he was a hydraulic engineer working with the International Boundary and Water Commission, El Paso, Texas. He then returned to Rice University to teach civil engineering from 1942 until 1946. Between 1946 and 1951 he worked at the University of Minnesota, where he was awarded a master's degree in hydraulics in 1948 and a PhD in hydraulic engineering (with a minor in geology and mathematics) in 1950. In 1951 he became professor and head of civil engineering at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette until 1956. He was then professor of applied science at Southern Illinois University 1956–1957. Following that he was professor of hydraulic engineering and chairman in civil engineering at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

In 1961 Morris, with Bible scholar John C. Whitcomb, wrote a book entitled The Genesis Flood that brought to widespread attention the concepts of creation science and flood geology. In this book he acknowledged that his position was strongly influenced by George McCready Price. Price was a Seventh-day Adventist school teacher who wrote in defence of creation over against evolution in the early part of the twentieth century. In 1963 Morris founded the Creation Research Society with nine other like-minded individuals. In 1970, he founded the Institute for Creation Research (ICR).

While the greater bulk of his published writings address creation science and evolution themes, he has also written Many Infallible Proofs, and The Bible Has The Answer, which are both works of general Christian apologetics.

His son John D. Morris (born 1946) took over presidency of ICR when his father retired.

Beliefs

Morris believes that science cannot be used to study God's creative act. Instead, he believes that any evidence of past events must be interpreted through a non-scientific framework. For example, in his book Scientific Creationism he states:

. . . it must also be emphasized that it is impossible to prove scientifically any particular concept of origins to be true. This is obvious from the fact that the essence of the scientific method is experimental observation and repeatability. A scientific investigator, be he ever so resourceful and brilliant, can neither observe nor repeat origins!

This means that, though it is important to have a philosophy of origins, it can only be achieved by faith, not by sight.

In this, Morris sets himself against many philosophers of science, who see no important distinction between past and present data, but instead use falsifiability and testability as the demarcation criteria for science.

Also, even though Morris claims that science can't answer the question of whether the Bible's creation story is literally and historically true, he has written several books about scientific evidence that he believes fits better into a creation framework than the mainstream science framework. Many creationists (for example, Answers in Genesis) have followed Morris' lead and now make a distinction between what they call operational science and origins science.

The mainstream scientific community rejects both his philosophy of science and his creation evidence as pseudoscience, and claim that Morris' representation of evolution as a complete religious system is a strawman. Morris' position has also been the subject of debate among Evangelical scholars of the Old Testament and among Evangelicals working in various fields of science.

Quotes

Unknown chemicals in the primordial past ... through ...

Unknown processes which no longer exist ... produced ...

Unknown life forms which are not to be found ... but could through ...

Unknown reproduction methods spawn new life ... in an ...

Unknown atmospheric composition ... in an ...

Unknown oceanic soup complex ... at an ...

Unknown time and place.[1]

Bibliography

Morris' Writings

Morris has written or edited some forty books, including:

• (with co-author John C. Whitcomb) The Genesis Flood, Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing, Philadelphia, 1961.
• Applied Hydraulics in Engineering, Ronald Press, New York, 1963.
• Biblical Cosmology and Modern Science, Craig Press, Nutley, New Jersey, 1970.
• The Remarkable Birth of Planet Earth, Dimension Books, Minneapolis, 1972.
• Many Infallible Proofs, Creation-Life Publishers, San Diego, 1974.
• (ed) Scientific Creationism, Creation-Life Publishers, San Diego, 1974.
• The Genesis Record, A scientific and devotional commentary on the book of beginnings, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, 1976.
• and Martin E. Clark, The Bible Has The Answer, revised edition, Creation-Life Publishers, San Diego, 1976.
• and Duane T. Gish (eds) The Battle for Creation, Creation-Life Publishers, San Diego, 1976.
• The Scientific Case for Creation, Creation-Life Publishers, San Diego, 1977.
• The Troubled Waters of Evolution, Creation-Life Publishers, San Diego, 1982.
• and Donald H. Rohrer (eds) Creation, the cutting edge, Creation Life Publishers, San Diego, 1982.
• History of Modern Creationism, Master Books, San Diego, 1984.
• and Gary E. Parker, What is Creation Science?, revised edition, Master Books, El Cajon, 1987.
• The Long War Against God: the history and impact of the creation/evolution conflict, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, 1989.
• God and the Nations, Master Books, Green Forest, 2002.
• The Biblical Basis for Modern Science, Master Books, Green Forest, 2002.

Historical Background and Assessments

• Ken Campbell, "Some Problems with Creation Science," St. Mark's Review 137 (Autumn 1989)pp. 12-19.
• Livingstone, David N., Darwin's Forgotten Defenders: The Encounter Between Evangelical Theology and Evolutionary Thought, William B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1987.
• Moore, James R., The Post-Darwinian Controversies: A Study of the Protestant Struggle to Come to Terms with Darwin in Great Britain and America 1870-1900, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1979.
• Numbers, Ronald L., The Creationists: The Evolution of Scientific Creationism, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1993.
• Numbers, Ronald L., Darwinism Comes To America, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1998.
• Stempien, Richard., and Sarah Coleman, "Processes of Persuasion: The Case of Creation Science," Review of Religious Research 27 (2) (1985) pp. 169-177.
• Van de Fliert, J. R., "Fundamentalism and Fundamentals of Geology," International Reformed Review 32/33 (April 1968), pp. 5-27.
• Young, Davis A., "Some Practical Geological Problems in the Application of the Mature Creation Doctrine," Westminster Theological Journal 35 (1972-73) pp. 268-280.
• Young, Davis A., "Another Look at Mature Creationism," Westminster Theological Journal 37 (3) (1975) pp. 384-389.
• Youngblood, Ronald F. (ed) The Genesis Debate: Persistent Questions about Creation and the Flood, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, 1990.

External links

• Institute for Creation Research
  • CV
• Answers In Creation Rebuttals to the Work of ICR
• Biography of Henry M. Morris (from UMKC School of Law)