"Answers in Genesis" [AiG] held its biennial Creation Conference in West Harrison, Indiana, May 23-26, 2003. As a pastor, I attended the conference at no charge, though I was responsible for my own transportation, food and lodging. AiG is a nonprofit, independent, nondenominational ministry that seeks to develop and disseminate Christian creation materials. A summary of their mission guidelines is: 1) The Bible is the inspired, inerrant, written Word of God. 2) Scripture is the final guide for the interpretation of Scripture. 3) The book of Genesis presents a factual history of the origin of life, mankind, the earth and the universe. 4) The Flood was an actual historical event, global in its extent and effect. 5) Scientific aspects of creation are secondary to the proclamation of the gospel. [From TJ, The In-depth Journal of Creation, vol. 17, (1), 2003 - inside front cover].

AiG was founded and is led by former Institute for Creation Research (ICR) speaker Ken Ham. He is the driving vision behind their mission to promote salvation through "creation evangelism." The defense and promulgation of the Genesis story of creation and the flood in a seminar evangelism format is the method of ministry. They produce audio and video tapes as well as two journals, "Creation Ex Nihilo," and "TJ". The first is a colorful magazine promoting their values for the average person, with a section for children as well. TJ is their quarterly technical journal with scientific articles and research papers supportive of the biblical account of a short-age creation of life and the universe.

The conference has a campmeeting flair. Many smaller creationist ministries gather from all over the country to learn, share ideas and methodologies and be inspired by the speaking and most recent research done by the AiG scientific team and other scientists who share their vision. Presentations covered the gamut of issues--geology, physics, biology, cosmology, theology, paleontology, Darwin, etc.

Two presentations were worth the long trip from Idaho to Indiana. The first was by a geologist, Steve Austin. He presented his recent [2002-2003] findings on nautaloids [a squid-like spiral shellfish]. They range in length from several inches to two feet in length. These fossils are found in the Mississippian and Madison formations in the Grand Canyon. The characteristics of the nautiloids' orientation, the vast number of specimens, and other aspects of the depositional environment point to a catastrophic event involving huge quantities of water over a short period of time. There are probably millions in these layers that cover thousands of square miles.

What made his report so fascinating is the cooperation of the National Park Service at the Grand Canyon. After he reported findings to the proper administrators, they contracted with him to catalogue and map this feature for the protection of the fossils from poachers. They are also working on an educational film explaining this feature from a catastrophic perspective-which creationists see as supporting evidence for the flood. A leading geological paper will be submitted for peer review. The support of the local park administration has given creationist geology a possible "foot in the door" in a trade journal.

The second presentation was made by an anatomist, David Menton, who received his Ph.D. from Brown University. Menton is a research technician for the Mayo Clinic as well as an associate professor of anatomy at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. His presentation on the "seeing eye and the hearing ear" was exceptional in its scholarship while being understandable in its presentation. I would say that an eighth-grader would have had little trouble following the main points of his presentation. He masterfully explained the anatomical and physiological complexity and the awesome abilities of the eye and the ear. They scream "design," or as he would say, "Designer!" There is no possible way these organs could have ever evolved on their own. There are not enough billions of years for random development of even some of the simpler parts of these magnificent structures. His presentation was the only one that received a standing ovation from all present [about 500-600 people]. It prompted worship from my heart. It becomes very easy to bow down and give homage to a Being of such wisdom and power [not to mention that he is a God of love].

AiG and ICR, though not strangers to many Adventist scientists, may not be as well known by the average pastor or layperson. Steve Austin worked closely with Harold Coffin on study of the Mount St. Helens catastrophe. Ken Ham and others are well acquainted with Robert Gentry's work on pleochroic halos.

When Stan Hudson, pastor of the Spokane Valley, Washington, Adventist church, and I visited with Ken Ham between sessions, Ham acknowledged his acquaintance with Adventist perspectives; however, there was a negative edge to his perception of the church. The rub seems to be over the origin of the universe. AiG holds to a very strict 6,000 years for the age of everything, including the universe. They label Adventists as "long-agers" because our Great Controversy paradigm of Scripture allows for the preexistence of matter-stars as well as other potential worlds.

One thing I found disappointing with AiG is their lack of acknowledgment of other creationists or divine-design scientists and writers who are making great contributions to the debate and the interface of theology and science. They do not speak of Michael Behe [theistic evolutionist with a Roman Catholic faith] or Phillip Johnson or many others who through their work have made more inroads into the scientific evolutionary community than the more parochial ministries like AiG.

This lack of acknowledgment arises from their Scriptural apologetics approach to the issue. AiG members see all who do not think exactly as they do as compromising biblical truth. They also do not tie together eschatology or ultimate destiny to their thinking on origins, for they have vast theological differences within their camp. Menton is a Lutheran, and others come from various fundamentalist and Pentecostal persuasions. Genesis has united many strange bedfellows in the creationist movement.

John Kurlinski, D. Min. is pastor of the Kuna Seventh-day Adventist Church in Kuna, Idaho, and co-hosts with Stan Hudson a lighthearted radio talk show on creation issues called, "Sink the Beagle."