Creation Evidence Museum - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Creation Evidence Museum, originally Creation Evidences Museum, is a museum

Creationist museum

A creationist museum is one that uses the traditional natural history museum format to present a young Earth creationist view that Earth and life on Earth were created some 6,000 to 10,000 years ago and that the Earth was created in six days...

in Glen Rose

Glen Rose, Texas

Glen Rose is a city in Somervell County, Texas, United States. It is the county seat of Somervell County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 2,444. Glen Rose is part of the Granbury micropolitan area.-19th century:...

in Somervell County

Somervell County, Texas

There were 2,438 households out of which 37.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.70% were married couples living together, 9.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.50% were non-families. 21.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.20% had...

in central Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, USA

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Founded in 1984 by Carl Baugh

Carl Baugh

Carl Edward Baugh is an American young earth creationist. Along with others, Baugh has said he discovered human alongside dinosaur footprints near the Paluxy River in Texas. Baugh is a national television host, purporting to present science supporting creationism on the program Creation in the...

for the purpose of researching and displaying purported evidence for creationism

Creationism

Creationism is the religious beliefthat humanity, life, the Earth, and the universe are the creation of a supernatural being, most often referring to the Abrahamic god. As science developed from the 18th century onwards, various views developed which aimed to reconcile science with the Genesis...

, the museum purports to show that the Earth is only six thousand years old, and that human beings and dinosaurs coexisted. These views contradict the scientific consensus. The museum exhibits also dispute that the age of the Earth

Age of the Earth

The age of the Earth is 4.54 billion years This age is based on evidence from radiometric age dating of meteorite material and is consistent with the ages of the oldest-known terrestrial and lunar samples...

is approximately 4.5 billion years, and that the dinosaurs became extinct 65.5 million years before human beings arose

Human evolution

Human evolution refers to the evolutionary history of the genus Homo, including the emergence of Homo sapiens as a distinct species and as a unique category of hominids and mammals...

History and projects

The museum was founded by Carl Baugh, a young earth creationist

Young Earth creationism

Young Earth creationism is the religious belief that Heavens, Earth, and all life on Earth were created by direct acts of the Abrahamic God during a relatively short period, sometime between 5,700 and 10,000 years ago...

, after he came to Glen Rose in 1982 to research claims of alleged fossilized human footprints and dinosaur

Dinosaur

Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...

footprints in the limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

banks of the Paluxy River

Paluxy River

The Paluxy River is a river in the U.S. state of Texas. It is a tributary of the Brazos River. It is formed by the convergence of the North Paluxy River and the South Paluxy River near Bluff Dale, Texas in Erath County and flows a distance of before joining the Brazos just to the east of Glen...

, near Dinosaur Valley State Park

Dinosaur Valley State Park

- History :Dinosaur Valley State Park, located just northwest of Glen Rose in Somervell County, is a scenic park set astride the Paluxy River. The land for the park was acquired from private owners under the State Parks Bonds Program during 1968 and opened to the public in 1972...

. He claims to have excavated 475 dinosaur footprints and 86 human footprints, which form the basis of the museum as well as other exhibits. The prints have been examined by scientists who concluded they are a combination of admitted hoaxes and misidentified tracks. Baugh does not have any accredited degrees.

Since 1993 the museum has been housed in a doublewide trailer

Trailer (vehicle)

A trailer is generally an unpowered vehicle pulled by a powered vehicle. Commonly, the term trailer refers to such vehicles used for transport of goods and materials....

, while a new greenhouse

Greenhouse

A greenhouse is a building in which plants are grown. These structures range in size from small sheds to very large buildings...

-like building is being constructed with donations. Baugh remains the director and main speaker for CEM.

The museum sponsors continuing paleontological and archaeological excavations among other research projects, including a hunt for living pterodactyls in Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...

, and expeditions to Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

. Materials from the museum have been recommended by the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools

National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools

The National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools is a nonprofit organization that promotes the use of its 300-page Bible curriculum, The Bible in History and Literature, in schools throughout the United States...

, but the NCBCPS curriculum has been deemed "unfit for use in public school classrooms." A Creation Evidence Museum poster is displayed in the Tehran

Tehran

Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...

museum of natural history

Natural history

Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...

.

One of the museum's research projects is a "hyperbaric biosphere

Biosphere

The biosphere is the global sum of all ecosystems. It can also be called the zone of life on Earth, a closed and self-regulating system...

", a sealed chamber designed to reproduce the ostensible atmosphere of the Earth before the Flood

Noah's Ark

Noah's Ark is a vessel appearing in the Book of Genesis and the Quran . These narratives describe the construction of the ark by Noah at God's command to save himself, his family, and the world's animals from the worldwide deluge of the Great Flood.In the narrative of the ark, God sees the...

, which will allegedly allow extended lifespans, and larger physical sizes. It is claimed to have tripled the lifespan of fruit-flies, and detoxified copperhead snakes. A much larger version is under construction in the new building.

In 2001 Baugh and Creation Evidence Museum were featured on The Daily Show
The Daily Show
The Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998...

where Baugh likened human history to The Flintstones
The Flintstones
The Flintstones is an animated, prime-time American television sitcom that screened from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966, on ABC. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Flintstones was about a working class Stone Age man's life with his family and his next-door neighbor and best friend. It...

and the show poked fun at his claims about the hyperbaric biosphere, pterodactyl expeditions, and dinosaurs. On March 11, 2006, KDFW

KDFW

KDFW, virtual channel 4 , is the Fox owned-and-operated television station in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex designated market area....

, a local affiliate of Fox TV, in Dallas Fort Worth aired a news report on Baugh's museum and claims.

Exhibits

Displays in the museum include:

The "London Artifact", also known as the "London hammer", an alleged out of place artifact. This is a hammer "of recent American historical style" alleged to have been found in Ordovician period
Ordovician
The Ordovician is a geologic period and system, the second of six of the Paleozoic Era, and covers the time between 488.3±1.7 to 443.7±1.5 million years ago . It follows the Cambrian Period and is followed by the Silurian Period...

rock (Baugh has also claimed it is in Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...

rock) in 1934 in London, Texas
London, Texas
London is an unincorporated community in Kimble County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had an estimated population of 180 in 2000.-Geography:...

. It was examined by scientists who concluded: "The stone is real, and it looks impressive to someone unfamiliar with geological processes. ... Minerals in solution can harden around an intrusive object dropped in a crack or simply left on the ground if the source rock (in this case, reportedly Ordovician) is chemically soluble."
The "Burdick Track", allegedly a human footprint in Cretaceous rock. Glen J. Kuban and Geologist Gregg Wilkerson wrote that anatomic errors on it indicate that is was carve
Stone carving
Stone carving is an ancient activity where pieces of rough natural stone are shaped by the controlled removal of stone. Owing to the permanence of the material, evidence can be found that even the earliest societies indulged in some form of stone work....

d from limestone, similar to other tracks that were carved in Glen Rose.
The "Fossilized Human Finger", allegedly a finger with tissues replaced by Cretaceous stone. There is doubt about its authenticity since it was not found in situ
In situ
In situ is a Latin phrase which translated literally as 'In position'. It is used in many different contexts.-Aerospace:In the aerospace industry, equipment on board aircraft must be tested in situ, or in place, to confirm everything functions properly as a system. Individually, each piece may...

, and cannot be conclusively associated with Cretaceous formations. Even if it were real, it does not provide evidence for creation or against evolution.
The "Meister Print", allegedly a human sandal print crushing two trilobites in slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...

. The print is "questionable on several accounts" such as the shallowness of the print, spall patterns, striding sequence, and similarities to the Wheeler formation.
The "Hand Print in Stone", allegedly a hand print in Cretaceous rock. Baugh has provided no evidence it was in situ
In situ
In situ is a Latin phrase which translated literally as 'In position'. It is used in many different contexts.-Aerospace:In the aerospace industry, equipment on board aircraft must be tested in situ, or in place, to confirm everything functions properly as a system. Individually, each piece may...

in any Cretaceous bed, nor allowed experts to inspect it. Creationists have been critical of it too.
The "Alvis Delk Cretaceous Footprint", allegedly a human footprint partially overlapped by an Acrocanthosaurus
Acrocanthosaurus
Acrocanthosaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaur that existed in what is now North America during the Aptian and early Albian stages of the Early Cretaceous. Like most dinosaur genera, Acrocanthosaurus contains only a single species, A. atokensis. Its fossil remains are found mainly in the U.S...

dinosaur footprint in Glen Rose limestone. This was deemed "not a convincing human footprint in ancient rock" by biologist Glen J. Kuban and called a "blatant fake" by biologist PZ Myers
PZ Myers
Paul Zachary "PZ" Myers is an American biology professor at the University of Minnesota Morris and the author of the Pharyngula science blog. He is currently an associate professor of biology at UMM, works with zebrafish in the field of evolutionary developmental biology , and also cultivates an...

.

The "Burdick track" and "fossilized finger" were featured on the controversial NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

program "The Mysterious Origins of Man

The Mysterious Origins of Man

The Mysterious Origins of Man was a television special that originally aired on NBC on February 25, 1996. Hosted by Charlton Heston, the program argued that mankind has lived on the Earth for tens of millions of years, and that mainstream scientists have suppressed the fossil evidence for this...

", aired in 1996 and hosted by Charlton Heston

Charlton Heston

Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...

. Creationist Ken Ham

Ken Ham

Kenneth Alfred Ham is the Australian President/CEO of Answers in Genesis USA. He is a vocal advocate for a young Earth and a literal interpretation of the Book of Genesis, and his cross-country speaking tours and many books make him one of the better known young-Earth...

criticized the production in the February 1996 Answers in Genesis

Answers in Genesis

Answers in Genesis is a non-profit Christian apologetics ministry with a particular focus on supporting Young Earth creationism and a literal interpretation of the Book of Genesis. The organization has offices in the United Kingdom and the United States...

newsletter in a review titled "Hollywood's 'Moses' Undermines Genesis." Ham attacked fellow creationist Baugh's claims, saying, "According to leading creationist researchers, this evidence is open to much debate and needs much more intensive research. One wonders how much of the information in the program can really be trusted!"

Criticism

All of the museum exhibits have been strongly criticized as incorrectly identified dinosaur prints, other fossils, or outright forgeries.
In 2008, a descendant of a family that found many original Paluxy River dinosaur tracks in the 1930s claimed that her grandfather had faked many of them, including the "Alvis Delk Cretaceous Footprint".

Both scientists and creationists have criticized Baugh's claims. In 1982–1984, several scientists, including J.R. Cole, L.R. Godfrey, R.J. Hastings, and S.D. Schafersman, examined Baugh's purported "mantracks" as well as others provided by creationists in Glen Rose. In the course of the examination "Baugh contradicted his own earlier reports of the locations of key discoveries" and many of the supposed prints "lacked characteristics of human footprints." After a three-year investigation of the tracks and Baugh's specimens, the scientists concluded there was no evidence of any of Baugh's claims or any "dinosaur-man tracks".

Creationist organizations such as Answers in Genesis

Answers in Genesis

and Creation Ministries International

Creation Ministries International

Creation Ministries International is a non-profit young Earth creationist organisation of autonomous Christian apologetics ministries that promote a literal interpretation of the Book of Genesis...

have criticized Baugh's claims saying he "muddied the water for many Christians ... People are being misled." Don Batten, of Creation Ministries International

Creation Ministries International

Creation Ministries International is a non-profit young Earth creationist organisation of autonomous Christian apologetics ministries that promote a literal interpretation of the Book of Genesis...

wrote: "Some Christians will try to use Baugh's 'evidences' in witnessing and get 'shot down' by someone who is scientifically literate. The ones witnessed to will thereafter be wary of all creation evidences and even more inclined to dismiss Christians as nut cases not worth listening to." Answers in Genesis lists the "Paluxy tracks" as arguments "we think creationists should NOT use" [emphasis in original].Answers In Creation also reviewed Baugh's museum and concluded "the main artifacts they claim show a young earth reveal that they are deceptions, and in many cases, not even clever ones."

External links

Creation Evidence Museum Online — official site.

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

History and projects

Exhibits

Criticism

See also

External links