Ken Ham

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For the American astronaut, see Kenneth Ham.
Kenneth Ham
Born (1951-10-20) October 20, 1951 (age 72)
Queensland, Australia
Occupation(s)Evangelist, broadcaster
SpouseMally Ham

Kenneth Alfred Ham (born October 20, 1951) is the Australian president of Answers in Genesis USA.[1] He is a vocal advocate for a young Earth and a literal interpretation of the Book of Genesis,[2] and his cross-country speaking tours and many books make him one of the better known young-Earth creationists.[3]

Biography

See also: Answers in Genesis and Creation Museum

Ham was born in Queensland, Australia, but moved to the United States of America in 1987. He has a bachelor's degree in applied science (with an emphasis on environmental biology) from the Queensland Institute of Technology and also holds a Diploma of Education from the University of Queensland.[4] On December 30, 1972, he married Marilyn ("Mally")[5], whom he describes as a "very, very submissive, supportive wife" who has "always supported me five million percent".[6] The couple have five children—two are married and two live with them in the Cincinnati area—and have five grandchildren.[4]

In 1979, Ham co-founded what was to be later known as the Creation Science Foundation (CSF) in Queensland, Australia with John Mackay.[7][8] .[9]

Answers in Genesis' Creation Museum.

Between 1987 and 1993, Ham worked for the Institute for Creation Research (ICR),[chronology citation needed] one of the oldest[10] American Creationist organisations, and a leading young-Earth organisation.[11] In 1994, with the assistance of what is now Creation Ministries International (Australia), Ham and colleagues Mark Looy and Mike Zovath set up Creation Science Ministries, later renamed Answers in Genesis.[12] The Christian ministry specialises in Young Earth Creationism, and is primarily devoted to convincing people that the initial chapters in Genesis should be taken as literally true and historically accurate. For his contributions to evangelism, he has been granted two honorary degrees (by Temple Baptist College in 1997[13] and by Liberty University in 2004[14]). Answers in Genesis opened its $27 million,[15] 70,000 sq ft (6,500 m2)[16] Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, on May 28, 2007.

Also in May 2007, Creation Ministries International (CMI) filed a lawsuit against Ham and AiG in the Supreme Court of Queensland seeking damages and accusing him of deceptive conduct in his dealings with the Australian organization. Members of the ministry were "concern[ed] over Mr Ham's domination of the ministries, the amount of money being spent on his fellow executives and a shift away from delivering the creationist message to raising donations."[9] According to the CMI website, this dispute was amicably settled in April 2009.[17]

In 2008, Ham appeared in Bill Maher's comedy Religulous.[18] In a press release AiG criticized the movie for what it called Maher's "dishonesty last year in gaining access to the Creation Museum and AiG President Ken Ham."[19]

Ham hosts Answers. . . with Ken Ham, an internet and radio program broadcasting daily on over nine hundred radio stations worldwide[20] and featuring Ham's commentary on issues.[21]

Beliefs

As a young Earth creationist, Ham believes that the entire universe was created about 6,000 years ago and that Noah's flood occurred about 4,500 years ago. He believes that this explains how a small number of animals carried on Noah's ark could produce the biological diversity observed on Earth. Ham also believes that dinosaurs co-existed with modern humans. He supports this claim with both scripture and with the same evidence that secular scientists use. [22] Ham is known for interpreting available evidence against his minority opinion of the book of Genesis. He once said to a Christian audience, "If you disagree with what I'm going to say, please do not give me your opinion, because I'm not interested...I want to know what the Bible says."[23]

Ham accepts that natural selection can give rise to a number of species from an original population, by Mendelian recombination of already existing genes. He believes that new genes cannot arise from mutations, because this would be "adding information" (he claims that only intelligence can cause a beneficial mutation); instead, mutations and natural selection can only "remove preexisting information."[24] Furthermore, all of these species are of the same kind and no new kind can arise from this process.

Since 1989, Ham has frequently made the comment, "Were you there?" regarding the origins of life and evolution,[25] seeming to imply that knowledge of unwitnessed events is inferential and not observational. Responses to this have been made by scientific database Talk.origins, which responds that the evidence for evolution "was there."[26] In 2005, The Daily Show poked fun at Ham's question.[27]

Ham's beliefs and tactics have also been criticized by other Christians and Old earth creationists. Answers in Creation, an Old Earth creationist web site, has called Ham willfully ignorant of evidence for an old earth and said that he "deliberately misleads" his audiences on matters of both science and theology.[28] Astronomer Hugh Ross, a progressive creationist, has publicly debated Ham on the age of the Earth and the compatibility of an old Earth with the Bible,[29] as well as other Answers In Genesis staff.[30]

Bibliography

  • 101 Signs of Design: Timeless Truths from Genesis Master Books (2002, ISBN 0-89051-365-1)
  • A is for Adam Master Books (1995, ISBN 0-89051-207-8) (Children's book)
  • Foreword to All-In-One Curriculum for The Pilgrim's Progress (published by Answers in Genesis, USA)
  • Already Gone: Why your kids will quit church and what you can do to stop it Master Books (co-author Britt Beemer, with Todd Hillard, 2009, ISBN 0-89051-529-8)
  • Creation Evangelism for the New Millennium, retitled Why Won't They Listen, Master Books (2002, ISBN 0-89051-378-3) (Online chapters)
  • Did Adam Have a Belly Button? and other tough questions about the Bible Master Books (2000, ISBN 0890512833)
  • Did Eve Really Have an Extra Rib? and other tough questions about the Bible Master Books (2002, ISBN 0890513708)
  • D is for Dinosaur Master Books. (1991, ISBN 0-89051-193-4) (Children's book)
  • Dinosaurs of Eden Master Books. (2000, ISBN 0-89051-340-6) (Children's book)
  • Genesis and the Decay of the Nations Institute for Creation Research (1996, ISBN 0932766234)
  • The Great Dinosaur Mystery Solved! A Biblical View of These Amazing Creatures Master books (2000, ISBN 0890512825)
  • The Lie: Evolution Master Books. (July 1987, ISBN 0-89051-158-6)
  • One Blood—the Biblical Answer to Racism Master Books (with Don Batten and Carl Wieland, 1999, ISBN 0-89051-276-0)
  • Foreword to Refuting Evolution by Jonathan Sarfati (1999, ISBN 0-89051-258-2)
  • The Revised & Expanded Answers Book (ed. Don Batten; co-authors Jonathan Sarfati and Carl Wieland, ISBN 0890511616)
  • Walking through Shadows—Finding Hope in a World of Pain Master Books (with Carl Wieland, 2002, ISBN 0-89051-381-3)
  • Foreword to Welcome to Life Welcome to Life After Eden Genesis Publishing. (2003, ISBN 1893345157) (Children's book)
  • What Really Happened to the Dinosaurs? (with John Morris) (1990, ISBN 0890511594)

References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ "There’s an inconsistency here in taking Genesis literally to accept sin to explain moral evil, such as the shootings at Virginia Tech, but not taking Genesis literally in their acceptance of millions of years of “natural evil” before man (e.g., death, violence, catastrophe, and extinction of animals)." From Ken Ham, President, AiG-US April 16, 2007
  3. ^ "Ken Ham: Biblical Literalist". PBS. 2001. Retrieved 2008-12-17.
  4. ^ a b Ken A. Ham, Answers in Genesis
  5. ^ Ham, Ken; Ham, Steve; A. Hillard, Todd. Genesis of a Legacy: Raising Godly Children in a Ungodly World. Master Books. p. 78. ISBN 0-89051-481-X. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ Interview with Ken Ham, Ron Cooper, ARK Foundation
  7. ^ The History of AiG to the End of 2007, Ken Ham, Answers in Genesis
  8. ^ What we are, Creation Ministries International
  9. ^ a b McKenna, Michael (June 4, 2007). "Biblical battle of creation groups". The Australian. Retrieved 2007-07-17.
  10. ^ A Brief History of the Modern American Creation Movement, Jerry Bergman, Contra Mundum No. 7 Spring 1993
  11. ^ Creationist and Anti-Evolutionist Organizations, TalkOrigins Archive
  12. ^ The History of AiG through mid 2009
  13. ^ Ken A. Ham
  14. ^ Liberty University honors AiG speaker with doctorate, Answers in Genesis
  15. ^ Dylan Lovan, "A year later, Creation Museum claiming big crowds," Associated Press, October 10, 2008.
  16. ^ "About us - Creation Museum," Creation Museum, accessed January 14, 2009.
  17. ^ "Creation Ministries International," (accessed April 6, 2010).
  18. ^ "Maher takes on religion, but some interviewees cry foul". Charlotte Observer. October 1, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-31. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  19. ^ "A Religulous Movie: Opens on 500 Screens Friday—Creation Museum mocked". Answers in Genesis. October 2, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-31. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  20. ^ http://www.answersingenesis.org/media/radio
  21. ^ Radio Station Information, Answers in Genesis
  22. ^ "What Really Happened to the Dinosaurs" by Ken Ham url=http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab/what-happened-to-the-dinosaurs
  23. ^ Barry, Yeoman (February 22, 2006). "Biblical battle of creation groups". The Independent. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
  24. ^ From the series "Answers with Ken Ham"- episode "Do the Animals "Evolve"?"
  25. ^ Were You There?, Kenneth Ham, Institute for Creation Research
  26. ^ "Claim CA221: Were you there?". talk.origins. May 2004. Retrieved 2007-07-17.
  27. ^ "Moment of Zen - God or the Scientists". The Daily Show. September 14, 2005. Retrieved 2007-02-19.
  28. ^ Greg Neyman. Ham Can't Tell the Simple Truth!. Answers in Creation. Sept. 12, 2005
  29. ^ Fair and balanced?, Steven McConaughy, Answers in Genesis
  30. ^ Jason Lisle vs. Hugh Ross debate: annotated transcript, Jonathan Sarfati, Answers in Genesis Australia

External links

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