An Irenic Society in a Polemical World

The small arboreal eyelash viper (Bothriechis schlegelii) coiled in a tree or bush might appear relatively harmless. Its venom, though rarely fatal, can cause a lot of pain and discomfort. Our words, though sometimes flowery and eloquent, also can generate a lot of pain. When we use labels to identify others with unbiblical positions or beliefs, the damage we create can cause more than personal pain—a label can spur some people to ostracize the person thus labeled. The best sounding labels might actually be inaccurate, unfair, and maligning. Labels and classifications may be unavoidable, especially in theological circles (consider the labels “Calvinist” and “Arminian,” for example), but the creator or user of a label must make certain the label is not a serious misrepresentation due to a lack of adequate and honest research.

When we think we have accurately and fairly identified someone with regard to their ideas, their interpretations, or their models, the best way to confirm our conclusions involves talking with them personally or engaging in one-on-one email conversations. We might find out that we just plain misunderstood the other person. Or, we might discover that an editor failed to catch a problematic sentence or word that the author had not intended to use. Just consider how often our “smart phones” and our “smart computer programs” alter words that produce ridiculous statements. A word processing program automatically changes “pericope” to “periscope.” A publishing program inverts the Hebrew text so that even a solo word reads backward. A researcher fails to read the context of an excerpt from a book before passing the selection on to someone else out of context and misrepresenting the author’s viewpoint. These things happen. It is one reason professors insist on firsthand sources.

In the Creation Theology Society’s (CTS’s) “Principles and Values” we focus on being a community characterized by Christian ethics and activity. CTS, therefore, purposes to promote “agreement and unity” and to provide “opportunities for irenic discussion in areas of disagreement.” Our “Goals” include:

  • To set a standard for interdisciplinary research, in which collaboration models how the body of Christ operates.
  • To exhibit Christian character by irenic interaction should disagreement arise due to different research findings.

CTS believes A Call to Unity further advances those principles, values, and goals. The statement clarifies what we mean by “irenic interaction.” CTS is not the first to observe the need for the biblical creationist community to renew our commitment to unity, civility, and respect. Dr. Randy Guliuzza, President of the Institute for Creation Research, called all of us to these values in three different issues of Acts & Facts over the past three years. In “The Power of the Next Idea,” Acts & Facts 49, no. 11 (Nov 2020): 5–7, he wrote, “Unfortunately, in our August issue we were harsh in our criticism of several fellow creation scientists and called them some names. I regret that we did that and am truly sorry for the hurt it inflicted. We will endeavor to not engage in those behaviors in the future. Please forgive us” (ibid., 6). Then he published “Unity Worthy of Our Creationist Heritage” in Acts & Facts 50, no. 1 (Jan 2021): 5–7, in which he identified the practice of demeaning someone with whom we have a disagreement:

Academic leaders’ playbook for dispensing professional sorrow includes several effective means. A few actions they regularly attempt are suppressing opposing views by simply ignoring contrary research or killing it through an abusive peer review process; ruining another scientist’s credibility or assassinating their character by public humiliation either in person, in blogs, or in so-called “peer reviewed” papers; and bringing on professional exile by shunning rogue scientists at conferences or in employment. (p. 6)

CTS recommends Dr. Guliuzza’s most recent article, “The ICC and a Covenant for Civility and Respect,” Acts & Facts 52, no. 3 (May-June 2023). The humility and integrity exhibited in these three separate articles over a three-year period stands out particularly in regard to apologizing three times for the publication of an article ICR admits violated the principles of unity, civility, and respect. That remarkable action exemplifies for all of us the way we should be interacting with one another. No other biblical creationist organization or publication has made such an apology in recent memory. It is time for more of us to live up to the biblical instructions God gave us in His Word for our obedience to His standards of unity, civility, and respect.

If you agree with our commitment to unity, civility, and respect, please follow the instructions below the heading Signatories at the end of “A Call to Unity” to become a signatory.

Also, please consider becoming a member of CTS to help us continue

  • To publish the Journal of the Creation Theology Society
  • To organize the annual Origins Conference Interdisciplinary Sessions
  • To provide opportunities for member interaction through occasional online symposiums
  • To encourage interdisciplinary research cooperation

Signatory Alert!

Urgent Message regarding Signatories for “A Call to Unity”: Due to a website glitch, all messages through the Signatory link were going to a two-year old page link that is not viable. If you do not see your name in the list of signatories, it is most likely due to not receiving your request because of that issue.

Please accept our apology and go back to our Contact page to resubmit your request. On the current Contact page you should see  cts@creationtheologysociety.org as our email address. If you see a gmail address, you know it is the non-viable Contact page from two years ago. In that case, please refresh your page to see the correct address and you will know that your request will be received.

Please note: We will respond to every request within 48 hours. If you do not hear from us in 48 hours, please let us know at cts@creationtheologysociety.org.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation in getting this situation corrected.

A Call to Unity

Today (April 30, 2023) the board of the Creation Theology Society finalized a statement calling for unity and civility in our interactions with one another as fellow young age creationists.[1] We ask that you read the statement and consider becoming a signatory by requesting that we add your name to the list of signatories at the end of the document. You can access the statement here, or by means of the link in the banner at the top of the website page, or by going to the statement by means of the drop-down menu under About at the top of the home page.

Our founding documents call for us to be a society committed to biblically based theology and irenic engagement with fellow members and all other persons pursuing the study of the events recorded in Genesis 1–11. It is our hope that many individuals will commit themselves to the principles enunciated in “A Call to Unity.” Our prayer is that it will encourage us to model a Christlike behavior in all of our interactions formally and informally, personally and publicly.

Endnotes:

[1] We are using “age” in place of “earth” because we believe the universe is also young, not just the earth.

Dr. John D. Morris (1946–2023)

Former president of the Institute for Creation Research (1996–2020) John David Morris entered his Savior’s presence on January 29, 2023 at the age of 76. Dr. Morris championed biblical young-earth creation and followed ably in the footsteps of his father, Henry M. Morris, in his love for the Lord, His inerrant Word, biblical creationism, and the Institute for Creation Research.

Dr. Morris earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech University in 1969, then his M.S. in 1977 and Ph.D. in 1980 from the University of Oklahoma. His doctoral studies were in the field of Geological Engineering. He joined ICR in 1984.

Again and again Dr. Morris returned to Mt. Ararat in search of any remaining evidence for Noah’s ark. During one of those expeditions he was struck by lightning and nearly died. In the creation community he has become our own Indiana Jones. His life and career overlapped with those of the two most highly regarded founders of the modern creation science movement, his father and John C. Whitcomb.

John D. Morris together with John C. Whitcomb and Henry M. Morris

The ICR website lists a number of books written by John D. Morris well worth reading and recommending to others. Here is a brief listing:

  • The Global Flood
  • The Young Earth
  • The Fossil Record
  • Searching for Noah’s Ark
  • Noah’s Ark: Adventures on Ararat

Dr. Morris leaves a legacy for all of us in the young-earth creationist community of a life of Christian humility, devotion to Scripture, irenic discourse among ourselves, and a determined dedication to investigate the evidence in the Bible and the world. May we each do our part to advance that same cause with the same humble, irenic, and gracious spirit.

A video of the March 3 memorial service for Dr. Morris held at First Baptist Church, Dallas, TX is available on Vimeo. Watch it and praise God for what the Lord has accomplished through him. Keep on praying for his wife Dalta and the whole family as they continue on without him.

JCTS Issue 1 in Mail

Issue 1 of the Journal of the Creation Theology Society has been printed and is in the mail to all our members! Click this link to go to the Journal page for the latest information and for a free download of a sample article.

Soon we will announce a Members Only page where members can access the digital version.

Call for Papers: Origins Conference 2022

Now that Origins Conference 2021 has wrapped up, we invite all CTS members to look forward to Origins Conference 2022. For everyone who attended the recent conference in person or online, the various presentations stir our enthusiasm for research and writing in the field of creation science. What topic would you like to pursue with a view to presenting a paper for the general sessions of the next Origins Conference? We have set no specific theme for the general sessions, so you have a great deal of freedom in choice of topic.  Any topics dealing with the text, philology, hermeneutics, theology, and apologetics of Genesis 1–11 and any other texts dealing with primeval history will be gladly accepted for consideration.

To submit your proposal, follow Guidelines for a Paper Proposal (click on link to download this one-page aid).

Deadline for Proposal: September 1, 2021

Deadline for Paper Submission: January 31, 2022

Submit to: Dr. Steven Boyd at sboyd@creationtheologysociety.org

Why so early? Since CTS papers that go through the full approval process will be published in our Journal of the Creation Theology Society, we must have time for

  1. our consideration of your proposal and response to you,
  2. your research and writing,
  3. our submitting your paper for peer review (minimum of 3 peer reviewers),
  4. peer reviewers’ return of their comments,
  5. your completion of necessary revisions, and
  6. our approval for your final paper to be presented and published.

CTS’s inaugural issue of the Journal of the Creation Theology Society (JCTS) will feature this year’s Interdisciplinary Session papers and edited transcription of the panel discussion. We will also publish Origins Conference 2021 general session abstracts from our sister societies (Creation Biology Society and Creation Geology Society). The journal plans to include CTS papers from general sessions only after those papers have undergone full peer review and editing procedures. Simply presenting a paper in the general session does not guarantee publication in the journal.  

We will publish our inaugural volume in both hard and digital copies around year’s end or early in 2022. Watch the website for its announcement.

4 Weeks until Origins Conference

Soon the 2021 Origins Conference will be taking place in three physical locations, as well as online. All three Creation societies (Creation Theology Society, Creation Biology Society, and Creation Geology Society) will participate and welcome attendees in St. Louis MO, Dayton TN, and Santa Clarita CA starting at 4:00 PM PDT (7:00 PM EDT) on Wednesday, July 28. The conference will adjourn at 2:30 PM PDT (5:30 PM EDT), Saturday, July 31. If you have not yet registered, please go to this registration link to do so. 

During the conference a number of the attendees will present papers on a variety of topics and conduct a Q&A following each paper. A special Interdisciplinary Session will feature three papers and a panel discussion on The Fountains of the Great Deep and the Windows of the Heavens in the Genesis Flood Narrative.

The full schedule of the sessions and locations for the physical meetings will be published soon online — watch for it on our CTS website, as well as on the Creation Biology Society website.

Last Chance for Founding Membership

Our special price for a Founding Membership ($100) that lasts for two full years saves members $50. However, that money-saving opportunity comes to an end at midnight, June 30, 2021. If you have not yet joined the Creation Theology Society, we encourage you to do so this month. Please go to our Membership page now and join us in our mission of promoting the role of Theology (the “Queen of Sciences”) in Creation Science. 

Memberships Available

As of Saturday, December 19, 2020 CTS website visitors are finding a fully activated Membership page. Four different paid memberships are available: Founding Membership, Full Membership, Student Membership, and Associate Membership. Memberships are already coming in!

Before registering and paying, please read the Membership Standard and the Membership Termination descriptions at the bottom of the Membership page. Please note that Founding and Full Memberships require affirmation of the CTS Doctrinal Statement. This requirement does not apply to either Associate or Student Memberships.

Please feel free to send family, friends, colleagues, and various Christian organizations links to the CTS website. This is just the beginning — watch for many more posts and opportunities to come.

Registration Completed

As of November 2020 the Creation Theology Society is officially registered with the state of Georgia as a non-profit organization. As a result we have been able to establish a bank account and we should be ready to receive membership payments and donations in the next few weeks. Please feel free to check out our Membership page, which has all the information you need for membership. As soon as we can, we will make the links active so anyone can register.

We are excited how God is blessing the society in moving forward with these developments.