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Revision as of 20:44, 23 January 2015 by Cpsoper (talk | contribs) (→Position on age of the Earth: ref added)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) For the American astronaut, see Kenneth Ham.

Ken Ham
Ken Ham in 2012
BornKenneth Alfred Ham
(1951-10-20) 20 October 1951 (age 73)
Cairns, Queensland, Australia
Alma materQueensland Institute of Technology (B.AS.)
University of Queensland
Occupation(s)Young Earth creationist, Christian apologist,
Evangelist
OrganizationAnswers in Genesis
TitleFounder, President, CEO
SpouseMarylin "Mally" Ham
Children5
Websitewww.answersingenesis.org

Kenneth Alfred "Ken" Ham (born 20 October 1951) is an Australian-born young Earth creationist, fundamentalist, and the president of Answers in Genesis (AiG), a Creationist apologetics ministry which operates the Creation Museum. Ham is a former high school science teacher who currently lives in the Cincinnati metropolitan area, USA.

Ham advocates a literal interpretation of the Book of Genesis. His claim that the universe is approximately 6,000 years old, based on his interpretation of the Bible, is contradicted by evidence from astronomy and from the Earth's fossil and geological records

Early life

Ham was born on October 20, 1951 in Cairns, Australia. His father was a Christian educator who settled his family in Brisbane as a school principal. According to Ham:

was always very adamant about one thing - if you can't trust the Book of Genesis as literal history, then you can't trust the rest of the Bible. After all, every single doctrine of biblical theology is founded in the history of Genesis 1-11. My father had not developed his thinking in this area as much as we have today at Answers in Genesis, but he clearly understood that if Adam wasn't created from dust, and that if he didn't fall into sin as Genesis states, then the gospel message of the New Testament can't be true either.

— Ken Ham (2008)

Ham first rejected what he termed "molecules-to-man evolution" during high school, and became influenced by John C. Whitcomb and Henry M. Morris's The Genesis Flood in 1974 during college. Ham earned a Bachelor of Applied Science, with an emphasis in Environmental Biology, at Queensland Institute of Technology, and a diploma in Education from the University of Queensland.

Career

See also: Answers in Genesis and Creation Museum

Ham taught high school biology in Queensland, Australia for five years using his diploma in Education. He left his position in 1979 and co-founded what was to be later known as the Creation Science Foundation (CSF) with John Mackay.

Ham worked for the Institute for Creation Research (ICR), a young Earth creationist organization. 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. The Christian ministry specializes in young Earth creationism and promotes the belief that the initial chapters in Genesis should be taken as literally true and historically accurate. He then began raising funds to build the ministry. Ham promotes evolution denial and equates the principles of Darwinian theory with Nazism, a theory researched and expounded by historian Richard Weikart.

Ham speaking at the Creation Museum in 2014

On 28 May 2007 the Answers in Genesis Creation Museum opened in Petersburg, Kentucky, a project which cost $27 million. The necessary funds were donated throughout the 1990s. It is about 70,000 sq ft (6,500 m).

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 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." According to the CMI website, this dispute was amicably settled in April 2009. In 2008, Ham appeared in Bill Maher's comedy-documentary Religulous. 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."

In March 2011, the Board of Great Homeschool Conventions, Inc. voted to "disinvite" Ham and AiG from "all future conventions," saying that Ham's words about other Christians were "unnecessary, ungodly, and mean-spirited statements that are divisive at best and defamatory at worst." AiG responded: "It is sad that a speaker and ministry, which stand boldly and uncompromisingly on the authority of God’s Word, are eliminated from a homeschool convention." Ham hosts Answers. . . with Ken Ham, a 60-second program broadcast daily on radio stations and the Internet featuring Ham's commentary on issues.

Bill Nye–Ken Ham debate

Main article: Bill Nye–Ken Ham debate

In February 2014, Ham debated American science educator and engineer Bill Nye (popularly known as "Bill Nye the Science Guy") on the topic of whether creation is a viable model of origins in the contemporary scientific era. Critics expressed concern that the debate lent the appearance of scientific legitimacy to creationism while also stimulating Ham's fundraising. Nye said the debate was "an opportunity to expose the well-intending Ken Ham and the support he receives from his followers as being bad for Kentucky, bad for science education, bad for the U.S., and thereby bad for humankind." Ham said that financial support he received because of the visibility of the debate would allow him to begin construction of the Ark Encounter theme park, which had been stalled for lack of funds.

Position on age of the Earth

Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky

Ham believes the age of the universe to be about 6,000 years, and states that Noah's flood occurred about 4,500 years ago in the year 2348 BC. He says that the animals carried on Noah's ark produced the biological diversity documented by "observational science" (a term coined by Ham) on earth today. Ham also believes that dinosaurs co-existed with genetically modern humans. He supports his view with biblical scripture, a selection of mainstream scientific findings, such as dinosaur soft tissue, cellular structures, various proteins and evidence of DNA fragments, that he reinterprets to fit his worldview and claims of catastrophic inundation tied to his belief that the flood myth found in the Book of Genesis actually occurred. Ham accepts that natural selection can give rise to a number of species from an original population.

As radiometric dating measures the ages of many terrestrial artifacts to be far in excess of thousands of years, Ham does not believe the technique is reliable. Since 1989 Ham has supported the asking of the rhetorical question "Were you there?" to scientists and science educators when discussing the origins of life and of biological evolution, stating that knowledge of events such as evolution and the Big Bang requires direct observation rather than inference. The Talk.origins archive lists the most common debunking rejoinder of this rhetorical question, that the evidence for evolution "was there" and serves as a reliable means to conclude what events occurred in the past and when. "If this response were a valid challenge to evolution, it would equally invalidate creationism and Christianity, since they are based on events that nobody alive today has witnessed".

Ham says that there is a difference between facts themselves and their interpretation, writing that:

Creationists and evolutionists, Christians and non-Christians, all have the same evidence—the same facts. Think about it: we all have the same earth, the same fossil layers, the same animals and plants, the same stars—the facts are all the same. The difference is in the way we all interpret the facts. And why do we interpret facts differently? Because we start with different presuppositions; these are things that are assumed to be true without being able to prove them. These then become the basis for other conclusions. All reasoning is based on presuppositions (also called axioms). This becomes especially relevant when dealing with past events.

Reception

Other Christians, old Earth creationists, and the scientific community at large have criticized Ham's statements and tactics. Answers in Creation, an old Earth creationist website, 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. Astronomer Hugh Ross, an old earth creationist, has debated Ham and other Answers In Genesis staff regarding the compatibility of an old Earth with the Bible. BioLogos has also responded to Ken Ham's criticisms of its viewpoint. Chris Mooney, of Slate magazine, sees Ham's advocacy of Young Earth Creation as an effort that will "undermine science education and U.S. science literacy." According to Andrew O'Hehir of Salon, the "liberal intelligentsia" have grossly overstated the influence of Ken Ham and those espousing similar views.

Personal life

On 30 December 1972, Ham married Marilyn ("Mally"). The Ham couple have five children and twelve grandchildren.

Ham has been awarded honorary degrees four times: from Temple Baptist College (Cincinnati, Ohio) in 1997, Liberty University in 2004, Tennessee Temple University in 2010, and from Mid-Continent University in 2012.

Bibliography

  • Ham, Ken (1987). The Lie: Evolution. Green Forest, AR: Master Books. ISBN 0890511586. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
  • Ham, Ken; Beemer, Britt; Hillard, Todd (2009). Already Gone: Why Your Kids Will Quit Church and What You Can Do To Stop It. Green Forest, AR: New Leaf / Master. ISBN 0890515298. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask1= ignored (|author-mask1= suggested) (help)
  • Ham, Ken; Ware, Charles (2010). One Race One Blood. Green Forest, AR: Master. ISBN 0890516014. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask1= ignored (|author-mask1= suggested) (help)
  • Ham, Ken; Hall, Greg; Hillard, Todd (2011). Already Compromised. Green Forest, AR: New Leaf / Master. ISBN 0890516073. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |authormask1= ignored (|author-mask1= suggested) (help)

Notes

  1. Ham wrote in 2007, "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)."
  2. Ham and Hodge wrote in their book How Do We Know the Bible is True?, "The biblical age of the earth is determined by adding up the genealogies from Adam ...to Christ. This is about 4000 years...Christ lived about 2000 years ago, so this gives us about 6000 years as the biblical age of the earth." (p. 110). "I hold to that belief because I trust the Bible over the reasoning of man." (p. 109). "Some mainstream scientists have calculated the age of the earth at approximately 4.5 billion years... Rejecting literal days of creation naturally leads to the acceptance of the supposed big bang as the evolutionary method God used to create the universe. Although we can simply add up the ages of the patriarch mentioned in the Genesis 5 and 11 genealogies to arrive at a date after creation for Abraham who lived about 4000 years ago, many reject this as a reasonable way of determining the timing of creation." (p. 110).

References

  1. ^ Communications, Emmis (October 1998). Cincinnati Magazine. Emmis Communications. pp. 80–. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  2. ^ "Ken Ham". answersingensis.org. Answers in Genesis.
  3. Ham, Ken (16 April 2007). "How could a loving God ... ? More school violence in America". answersingenesis.org. Answers in Genesis.
  4. "Age of the Universe". astro.ucla.edu. 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  5. Ham, Ken; Hodge, Bodie (2012). How Do We Know the Bible is True?. Green Forest, AR: New Leaf. pp. 108–10. ISBN 9780890516614.
  6. ^ Ham, K. & Ham, S. (2008), Raising Godly Children in an Ungodly World: Leaving a Lasting Legacy, New Leaf Publishing Group
  7. ^ Stephens, Randall J.; Giberson, Karl (2011). The Anointed: Evangelical Truth in a Secular Age. Harvard University Press. p. 11. See also listing at Google Books.
  8. ^ McKenna, Michael (4 June 2007). "Biblical battle of creation groups". The Australian. Archived from the original on 28 July 2007.
  9. Ham, Ken. "The History of AiG to the End of 2007". answersingenesis.org. Answers in Genesis. Archived from the original on 17 January 2008.
  10. Hopkins, Michael (9 October 2006). "Creation/Evolution Organizations: Creationist and Anti-Evolutionist Organizations". talkorigins.org. TalkOrigins Archive.
  11. Ham, Ken. "The History of AiG through mid 2009". answersingenesis.org. Archived from the original on 1 September 2009.
  12. Ham, Ken. "Genesis: Key to Reaching Today's World". (TV Broadcast). WVCY-TV. Retrieved 15 April 2011. {{cite episode}}: Missing or empty |series= (help)
  13. Simkin, Mark (9 November 2005). "The great debate". Lateline. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 17 March 2011.
  14. Ham, Ken (January 1, 1987). "Chapter 8: The Evils of Evolution." Answers in Genesis; Richard Weikart, From Darwin to Hitler: Evolutionary Ethics, Eugenics, and Racism in Germany (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004).
  15. Lovan, Dylan (10 October 2008). "A year later, Creation Museum claiming big crowds". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 16 October 2008.
  16. "About the museum". creationmuseum.org. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  17. "Dispute Settled". creation.com. Creation Ministries International. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  18. Cusey, Rebecca (1 October 2008). "Maher takes on religion, but some interviewees cry foul". Charlotte Observer. Retrieved 4 October 2008.
  19. Ethridge, Melany (2 October 2008). "A Religulous Movie: Opens on 500 Screens Friday—Creation Museum mocked". answersingenesis.org. Answers in Genesis. Retrieved 4 October 2008.
  20. Blackford, Linda B. (24 March 2011). "Founder of Creation Museum banned from convention". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  21. ^ "Kicked Out of Two Homeschool Conferences". answersingenesis.org. Answers in Genesis. 22 March 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
  22. Riley, Jennifer (22 March 2011). "Ken Ham Disinvited from Homeschooling Events over 'Ungodly' Remarks". Christian Post. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
  23. "Answers in Genesis to receive NRB best use of short form video award" (Press release). National Religious Broadcasters. 2 February 2011.
  24. Radio Station Information, Answers in Genesis, 2009
  25. Boyle, Alan (5 February 2014). "Bill Nye Wins Over the Science Crowd at Evolution Debate". NBC News. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  26. Etchells, Pete (5 February 2014). "Bill Nye v Ken Ham: Should scientists bother to debate creationism? The public debate between Bill Nye and the president of a US creationist museum gives creationism a scientific legitimacy that it isn't entitled to". Science. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  27. Cesca, Bob (25 March 2014). "'Creation Museum' Demands Equal Airtime to Refute Scientific Facts in Cosmos Series". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  28. Freedman, David (14 April 2013). "Bill Nye Explains Why He Agreed To Debate Creationist Ken Ham". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  29. "Creation Museum's $73m Noah's Ark park to begin construction in Kentucky". World news. The Guardian. Associated Press. 28 February 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  30. "Evidence for a young age". answersingenesis.org. Answers in Genesis. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  31. Wright, David. "Feedback: Timeline for the Flood". answersingenesis.org. Answers in Genesis. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  32. Ham, Ken. "What Really Happened to the Dinosaurs". answersingenesis.org. Answers in Genesis.
  33. Fields H (May 2006). "Dinosaur Shocker - Probing a 68-million-year-old T. rex, Mary Schweitzer stumbled upon astonishing signs of life that may radically change our view of the ancient beasts". Smithsonian Magazine. Archived from the original on 17 January 2015.
  34. Armitage MH, Anderson KL (December 2009). "Soft sheets of fibrillar bone from a fossil of the supraorbital horn of the dinosaur Triceratops horridus". Acta Histochem. 55 (12): 1209–12. doi:10.1016/j.acthis.2013.01.001. PMID 23414624.
  35. Schweitzer M H, Zheng W, Cleland T P, Bern M (January 2013). "Molecular analyses of dinosaur osteocytes support the presence of endogenous molecules". Bone. 52 (1): 414–23. doi:10.1016/j.bone.2012.10.010. PMID 23085295. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  36. Embery G, Milner A C, Waddington R J, Hall R C, Langley M L, Milan A M (2003). "Identification of Proteinaceous Material in the Bone of the Dinosaur Iguanodon" (PDF). Connective Tissue Research. 44(S1): 41–6. doi:10.1080/03008200390152070. PMID 12952172.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  37. "Iron Key to Preserving Dinosaur Soft Tissue, alluded to by Ken Ham on facebook post 2013-12-06". answersingenesis.org. Answers in Genesis. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  38. "Canyon Rapids and Rapid Formations". answersingenesis.org. Answers in Genesis. 9 September 2010. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  39. "Do the Animals 'Evolve'?". Answers with Ken Ham.
  40. Riddle, Mike (4 October 2007). "Ch. 9: Does radiometric dating prove the earth is old?". In Ham, K.A. (ed.). The New Answers Book (online ed.). Answers in Genesis. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
  41. Ham, Kenneth. "Were You There?". icr.org. Institute for Creation Research.
  42. "Claim CA221: Were you there?". talkorigins.org. TalkOrigins Archive. 10 May 2004. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  43. Ham, Ken. "Ch. 2: What's the best 'proof' of creation?". The New Answers Book 2 (online ed.). Answers in Genesis. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
  44. Neyman, Greg (12 September 2005). "Ham Can't Tell the Simple Truth!". answersincreation.org. Answers in Creation.
  45. Sarfati, Jonathan. "Jason Lisle vs. Hugh Ross debate". answersingenesis.org (annotated transcript). Answers in Genesis Australia.
  46. McConaughy, Steven. "Fair and balanced?". answersingenesis.org. Answers in Genesis.
  47. Falk, Darrel. "A Response to Mr. Ham's Video: The Anti-biblical Teachings of BioLogos". biologos.org (blog). BioLogos Foundation.
  48. Mooney, Chris (12 April 2014). "Your Inner Fish: Book and PBS documentary on Tiktaalik and Neil Shubin". Slate. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  49. O'Hehir, Andrew (12 April 2014). "America: Stupidly stuck between religion and science". Salon (website). Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  50. Ham, Ken; Ham, Steve; Todd, A. Hillard (2008). Genesis of a Legacy: Raising Godly Children in an Ungodly World. Green Forest, AR: Master. p. 78. ISBN 9780890515426..

External links

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