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Creation Museum and Family Discovery Center

From CreationWiki, the encyclopedia of creation science

Museum front entrance

The Creation Museum and Family Discovery Center is an outreach of the Answers in Genesis ministry (AiG). It is located in Petersburg, Kentucky, USA, near the Cincinnati International Airport.

1 Overview
2 Museum features
3 Accommodations
4 Protests
5 Museum mission statement
6 Internal review
7 Photo Gallery
8 More Information
9 News
10 References
11 External links
12 See Also

Overview

The museum, which opened to the public May 28, 2007, occupies a 60,000 square foot facility and cost over 27 million dollars to complete, all of which was donated. The curators had expected to see 250,000 visitors in the first year of operation. In fact, as of the end of February, 2008 (eight months in operation), it had seen 300,000 visitors and was beginning to see the first heavy crowds of spring vacationers.^[1] These visitors have included Christian schoolchildren (including members of nearby Mennonite communities), skeptical antagonists, curious individuals, and sympathetic creationists.^[2]

Museum features

The walk-through

The key feature of the museum is its "walk through history" display. It begins with a description of the techniques of paleontology, and a contrast of the two differing worldviews that inform the evaluation of paleontological evidence. This is one of the most important displays that the museum has, for it delivers a key corrective to the worldview that evolutionary natural history museums commonly represent and expound. That corrective is AiG's constant message: that we all see the same evidence, but we interpret it differently, entirely on account of different worldviews.

Further elements of the walk-through display include:

The authority of Scripture, from the writing of it to Martin Luther nailing his precepts to the cathedral door.
The falling-away: from Tennessee vs. John Scopes (with details about John Scopes and Clarence Darrow) to Christopher Templeton's loss of faith.
Graffiti Alley: a sobering demonstration of the consequences of the abandonment of Scriptural authority, both at home and in the church.
An explicit affirmation of the Creation story.
Depictions of the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, the Fall of Man, and the dire consequences of that fall--including Cain's murder of Abel.
The story of Noah and the global flood, including a simulation of the building of Noah's ark. The life-sized display of one percent of the ark's hull, covered with scaffolding, with hired workers applying the pitch, gives visitors an appreciation of the sheer size of the ark. From that display the visitor proceeds to a room having a demonstration of the magnitude and rapidity of the flood, and the likely appearance of the ark.
Dinosaur Den, featuring life-sized animatronic dinosaurs. In fact, the museum features more than fifty models of exotic animals, and does not hesitate to depict dinosaurs and people living side-by-side.

The walk-through ends with a presentation of a video feature, The Last Adam, that explicitly affirms the gospel of Jesus Christ and the overriding importance of His Mission to earth.

Bookstore

After completing the "walk through history," the visitor emerges inside the museum's bookstore, which also has a lobby entrance. The Dragon Hall Bookstore could easily be a stand-alone specialty bookstore devoted to the Bible and creation, were it not located in the museum. The bookstore does sell a line of museum-themed merchandise, but that is only a small part of its business. The bulk of its wares consists of books, magazines, and DVD videos having an explicit creationist theme. Some of the titles, like James Ussher's The Annals of the World and Floyd Nolen Jones' The Chronology of the Old Testament, are highly valuable research aids.

Special-effects theater

The special-effects theater takes MCA Corporation's "Sensurround" technique a step further, by simulating mist and breezes in addition to vibration, as it offers a feature presentation that includes a depiction of a raging storm at sea. This feature, titled Men in White, is a contemporary-themed docu-drama meant to illustrate the shaky foundations of the uniformitarianism/abiogenesis/common-descent paradigm that most young people learn in school, and the harmful effects of that paradigm in making one feel that no-Body cares whether one lives or dies. (The Men in White title is also available for separate resale in the bookstore.)^[3]

In addition to the regular feature that plays in this theater every hour, the theater is open for special lectures at 1:00 p.m. each day. Admission is free-of-charge, but a visitor must arrange for this early in the day upon arrival. Seating is limited and often "fully booked" as early as an hour after opening. Reservations are not honored. (The staff state that honoring reservations would make the lectures virtually off-limits to walk-in attendees; such is their high popularity.)^[1]

Stargazers Room

This is a planetarium with a modern 360-degree projector. By contrast, as a visitor stands in line to enter the planetarium, he or she can view the original planetarium projector used and operated by NASA to train the astronauts of Project Mercury in celestial navigation.

Inside the planetarium, a visitor can recline to a near-horizontal position and view a presentation (The Created Cosmos) that offers a much-needed perspective on the relative size of the universe and many of its objects (including blue super-giant stars) in comparison to earth. The message of this feature evokes King David's awestruck exclamation:

What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? Psalms 8:4

Botanical gardens

Currently an extensive botanical garden is under construction on the museum grounds. This garden currently includes a pond, several walking paths, a suspension bridge, and several sculpted hedges in the shape of dinosaurs.

Headquarters

The museum complex is also the headquarters for AiG and houses the ministry offices, recording studio and resource distribution center. The museum also has classrooms for use by school groups, pastors and others. On any given day, AiG might be hosting a number of guest speakers delivering lectures to museum staff, guests, or both.

Accommodations

The museum has two eating places: Noah's Cafe and Grill, which offers full meals, and the Plaza Cafe on the lower level, which offers snack foods and drinks, including drinks made from fresh-frozen fruit. The sheer size of the crowds that the museum has so far seen has prompted AiG to build another, larger eating facility.

As mentioned above, the museum is surprisingly well attended and in fact is surpassing multiple records for attendance at museums of natural history in the United States and elsewhere. To accommodate these crowds, the museum is also building an additional exhibit hall that will devote itself entirely to the story of Noah and the Global Flood.

Protests

Prior to its opening and continuing today, the museum has provoked a firestorm of protest from evolutionary organizations (such as the NCSE) and secular media. Protesters were present on opening day and online petitions have circulated.^[4] In response, the museum has its own special security force, with both regular and occasional K-9 patrols.^[5]

Museum mission statement

Exalt Jesus Christ as Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer through a safe, wholesome, family-friendly center for learning and discovery that clearly presents major biblical themes from Genesis to Revelation.

This center will equip Christians to better evangelize the lost with a sense of urgency, through a combination of exhibits, research and educational presentations that uphold the inerrancy of the Bible.

This center will also challenge visitors to receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and to accept the authority of the Bible by providing culturally relevant biblical and scientific answers from a biblical worldview.

Creation Museum and Family Discovery Center
2800 Bullittsburg Church Rd.
Petersburg, KY 41080

Phone: (859) 727-2222

URL: http://www.creationmuseum.org/

Est. May 28, 200728 May 2007
11 Sivan 5767 H
12 Sivan 6165 AM

Internal review

For a detailed internal review by a museum visitor, see Essay:A Godly Museum of Natural History.

Photo Gallery

Museum entrance	Back-side view of museum and pond	Gift shop entrance	Animatronic dinosaur and person in main hall
Display on the flood	Plaza	Animatronic dinosaur	Pentaceratop on display
Display of Adam and Eve	The construction of Noah's ark	Model of Noah's Ark with the animals loading aboard	Model of Noah's Ark and the receding flood waters
Time line display of Genesis	Museum lobby	Culture in Crisis