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.

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.