Henry M. Morris

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Henry M. Morris

Henry Madison Morris, Ph.D. (October 6, 1918 – February 25, 2006) was an American young earth creationist and Christian apologist, educated primarily in the field of hydraulic engineering. He was one of the founders of the Creation Research Society and the Institute for Creation Research, and is considered by many to be "the father of modern creation science."

1 Biography
2 Beliefs
- 2.1 Theory of Evolution
- 2.2 Philosophy of science
3 Controversy and criticism
4 Quotes
5 Bibliography
- 5.1 Morris' writings
- 5.2 Historical background and assessments
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Biography

Morris grew up in Texas in the 1920s and 1930s. He graduated from Rice University with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering in 1939. Shortly afterwards he became a Christian, affirming the doctrine of Biblical inerrancy.

He married Mary Louise on January 24, 1940, and they later had six children. After his graduation in 1939, and through 1942, he was a hydraulic engineer working with the International Boundary and Water Commission. He returned to Rice, teaching civil engineering from 1942 until 1946. In 1946 he wrote a short book entitled That You Might Believe (1946), in which he made an effort to answer the challenges of evolutionists.

From 1946 through 1951, he worked at the University of Minnesota, where he was awarded a master's degree in hydraulics (1948) and a Ph.D. in hydraulic engineering (1950).

In 1951 he became a professor and chair of civil engineering at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He then served as a professor of applied science at Southern Illinois University, 1956—1957, and subsequently as professor of hydraulic engineering and in civil engineering at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), again serving as the department chair.

In 1961, Morris and John C. Whitcomb wrote The Genesis Flood, which advocated creationism and flood geology. In it he cited an influence by George McCready Price, a Seventh-day Adventist schoolteacher and defender of creationism in the early 20th century. In 1963 Morris and nine others founded the Creation Research Society. After a dispute with the administration of the university, Morris resigned from his position at Virginia Tech in 1969 and In 1970, he was a founder of the Institute for Creation Research (ICR). His son John D. Morris took over the presidency of ICR when his father retired.

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

On February 1, 2006, Morris suffered a minor stroke and was hospitalized. Reports from ICR said that his mind was functioning very well, but he could not stand without getting dizzy. Morris was moved from the hospital to a rehabilitation facility near his son's home (and ICR) in Santee, California where he died.^[1]

[edit] Beliefs

[edit] Theory of Evolution

Morris wrote:

"The fact is that evolutionists believe in evolution because they want to. It is their desire at all costs to explain the origin of everything without a Creator. Evolutionism is thus intrinsically an atheistic religion." ^[2]
"The idea of particles-to-people evolution does not meet the criteria of a scientific theory." ^[3]
"(T)he theory of evolution was devised on top of the tower of Babel by the Babylonian king, Nimrod, and Satan." -- The Remarkable Birth of Planet Earth (1972)

[edit] Philosophy of science

Morris made a distinction between "operational science" and "origins science". He believed that operational science cannot be used to prove or disprove God's creative act, but that evidence of past events must be viewed through an interpretive framework. For example, in his book Scientific Creationism Morris stated:

" ... 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 set himself against many philosophers of science such as Robert Pennock and Michael Ruse. These philosophers see no important distinction between past and present data, but claim to use falsifiability and testability as the demarcation criteria for science. Intelligent design proponent Stephen Meyer agrees with Morris.

Even though Morris claimed that science cannot completely answer the question of whether the Bible's creation story is literally and historically true, he had written several books about scientific evidence that he believed fits better into a creationist framework than the mainstream science framework. Many creationists (for example, Answers in Genesis) have followed Morris' lead.

The mainstream scientific community rejected both his philosophy of science and his evidence in favor of creationism as pseudoscience, and claimed that Morris' representation of evolution as a complete religious system is a straw man. Morris' position had also been the subject of debate among Evangelical scholars of the Old Testament and among Evangelicals working in various fields of science.

Morris also strongly defended the use of the King James Bible but he was not a member of the King-James-Only Movement ^[4]

[edit] Controversy and criticism

The work The Genesis Flood by John C. Whitcomb and Henry M. Morris has been criticized for taking quotes out of context and misquoting sources.^[5] For example, in one instance, a source which read "the sea which vanished so many million years ago" was quoted as "the sea which vanished so many years ago."^[5]

John G. Solum has criticized the work for being inaccurate.^[6] Solum noted "Whitcomb and Morris are mistaken about the nature of the rocks associated with thrust faults. Their claim about fossils is based on a YEC misunderstanding of how rocks are dated relative to each other, and how the geologic column was constructed."^[6] In fact Solum noted, "Morris' explanation of relative dating is not "somewhat oversimplified" it is entirely incorrect."^[6]

Morris theorized in his book The Remarkable Birth of Planet Earth (1972) that the craters of the moon were caused by a cosmic battle between the forces of Satan and the armies of the archangel Michael. From the biblical point of view, this is speculative.

When bringing up Morris' claims of racism in evolutionary thinking, it has been questioned if Morris himself showed racism for asserting that the descendants of Ham "were marked especially for secular service to mankind".^[7]

In 1991, Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS) granted the Institute for Creation Research accreditation. This created controversy because the chairman of TRACS' board of directors was Henry Morris, the founder of ICR."^[8] Four years later, TRACS' government recognition was put on probation for 18 months until it complied with staff and accreditation changes.

Massimo Pigliucci criticized Morris for heading the ICR, and for allowing it to leave out and ignore material from its self-published works that interferes with its "mission" and "beliefs".^[9] Pigliucci also criticized Morris' intrepretation of thermodynamics.^[10]

[edit] Quotes

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Henry M. Morris

"The only way we can determine the true age of the earth is for God to tell us what it is. And since he has told us, very plainly, in the Holy Scriptures that it is several thousand years of age, and no more, that ought to settle all basic questions of terrestrial chronology." (Remarkable Birth, p. 94)
"When science and the Bible differ, science has obviously misinterpreted its data."

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Morris' writings

Morris wrote or edited some forty books, including:

That You Might Believe, self published, 1946
(with co-author John C. Whitcomb) The Genesis Flood: The Biblical Record and Its Scientific Implications, Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing, Philadelphia, 1961. (ISBN 0-8010-6004-4)
Applied Hydraulics in Engineering, Ronald Press, New York, 1963.
Biblical Cosmology and Modern Science, Craig Press, Nutley, New Jersey, 1970. (ISBN 0-8010-5906-2)
The Remarkable Birth of Planet Earth, Dimension Books, Minneapolis, 1972. (ISBN 0-87123-485-8)
Many Infallible Proofs, Creation-Life Publishers, San Diego, 1974. (ISBN 0-89051-005-9)
(ed) Scientific Creationism, Creation-Life Publishers, San Diego, 1974. (ISBN 0-89051-003-2)
The Genesis Record, A scientific and devotional commentary on the book of beginnings, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, 1976. (ISBN 0-8010-6004-4)
and Martin E. Clark, The Bible Has The Answer, revised edition, Creation-Life Publishers, San Diego, 1976. (ISBN 0-89051-018-0)
and Duane Gish (eds) The Battle for Creation, Creation-Life Publishers, San Diego, 1976.
The Scientific Case for Creation, Creation-Life Publishers, San Diego, 1977. (ISBN 0-89051-037-7)
The Troubled Waters of Evolution, Creation-Life Publishers, San Diego, 1982. (ISBN 0-89051-087-3)
and Donald H. Rohrer (eds) Creation, the cutting edge, Creation Life Publishers, San Diego, 1982.
History of Modern Creationism, Master Books, San Diego, 1984. (ISBN 0-89051-102-0)
and Gary E. Parker, What is Creation Science?, revised edition, Master Books, El Cajon, 1987. (ISBN 0-89051-081-4)
The Long War Against God: the history and impact of the creation/evolution conflict, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, 1989. (ISBN 0-89051-291-4)
God and the Nations, Master Books, Green Forest, 2002. (ISBN 0-89051-389-9)
The Biblical Basis for Modern Science, Master Books, Green Forest, 2002. (ISBN 0-89051-369-4)

[edit] 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.