The passing of a hero

He followed God's decrees to the end from Answers in Genesis

Memorial Service held for Dr. Morris from ICR

Henry M. Morris, the "father of modern Creationism", has died. He was 87.

He is arguably the most significant individual in defending Christianity in the 20th century. Dr. Morris founded the Institute for Creation Research (ICR) and Christian Heritage College (Now called San Diego Christian College). He has authored numerous tracts and pamphlets as well as over thirty books, including The Genesis Flood, The Long War Against God, Many Infallible Proofs, The Biblical Basis for Modern Science, Scientific Creationism, and the Defender’s Study Bible. Dr. Morris has done more to defend the book of Genesis than anyone else, not only in his own works and writings, but in the way he influenced others, like Ken Ham, President of Answers in Genesis, the largest Apologetics organization in the world.

Before Dr. Morris, Creationism as we know it today didn’t exist. When Darwin, Lyell, and Huxley came in the 1800s with their millions of years and evolution, Christians used no truly Biblical arguments against him. That the earth was millions of years old was treated as such an undisputable fact that Christians were afraid to deny it, and therefore introduced unbiblical compromises to “fit” long ages into the Bible, such as the Gap theory and Day-age theory. Henry Morris was the first to come up with a truly Biblical model of Scientific Creationism, explaining with his expertise in hydraulics that the power of water in the Genesis flood that God send accounted for most of the fossil record, sedimentary rock and erosion we see today. He also explained some of the scientific evidence for a young earth, and the impossibilities of evolution.

He brought to light the fact that true science does not contradict the Bible, but confirms it in every possible aspect. He formulated scientific models for the ancient events described in Bible with expert authority and research. He exposed the falsehoods of evolutionary philosophy and the danger of compromise of evolution and the Bible. We owe a lot to the work of Henry Morris and what he has done for Christianity and our security that the Bible is the inerrant, authoritative Word of God.

My dad met him once at a seminar. He was very impressed with Dr. Morris as a speaker and writer in the ways God used him, but was even more impressed when he met him. My dad found him to be a gracious, humble, unassuming man. Conversing with him you wouldn’t find him much different from the average Grandfather. How I wish I could have met him! I guess I just have to wait until I get to heaven to shake his hand.

Farewell, Dr. Morris. You leave behind you millions of grateful Christians, who will see you again when the time comes for that great marriage supper with the King. Amen.