It's a Great Day to Be a Creationist
by Dave & Mary Jo Nutting

"It's a Great Day to Be a Creationist!” That was Dr. John Morris’ topic at the keynote address for AOI’s Creation Celebration 2004. The regional event celebrating AOI’s 20th anniversary was held in Grand Junction, CO, in September. It featured Institute for Creation Research president, Dr. John Morris, a concert and teaching by Michael Card, and teaching by AOI staff and volunteers. Over 500 people attended the event which spotlighted field trips to the Colorado National Monument and a local dinosaur museum. Various hands-on workshops, and a full children’s program were also included. All of us at AOI are grateful for the Lord’s blessing on this event — and the evident interest among those who came.


Dr. John Morris signing books at
Creation Celebration 2004

Indeed, it is a “great day to be a creationist!” Never before has there been so much research demonstrating the reliability and accuracy of the Bible. New research continues to affirm and support the truths found in Genesis and elsewhere in Scripture, and new finds help us to have a better understanding of the Biblical record.

Throughout the 3-Day event, Dr. Morris and other speakers demonstrated how God’s Word and His World “fit” together. Evidence was presented from geology, biology, astronomy, archaeology, and physics, in topics like: The Amazing Human Body, Dinosaurs and the Bible, Discovering Design in Creation, and A Creationist View of the Grand Canyon.

Dr. Morris shared some of the fascinating evidence coming out of ICR’s “RATE” (Radioisotopes and the Age of the Earth) Project. This 8-year project of a combined research team of highly-qualified scientists is demonstrating fatal flaws in radiometric dating techniques used as “evidence” of an ancient earth. The study shows the failure of these methods to give accurate dates on rocks of known age. That leaves very little confidence in using them to date things of unknown age. It is also demonstrating major flaws in the assumptions which must be made if these methods are to be accurate. One of these assumptions is that the rate of change has been constant throughout the lifetime of the object being studied. The RATE Project is demonstrating that this assumption is not necessarily true – that there are conditions under which the rate of change is not constant.


Dave Nutting speaking to a large
crowd at the Creation Celebration.

Another area of ongoing research with exciting implications for young-age creationists is the work at Mount St. Helens. Findings there have had widespread impact on the way in which geologists interpret rock strata and erosional features. What would look like millions of years of slow, gradual deposition and erosion can be explained as
the result of one catastrophic event and subsequent happenings. With Mt. St. Helens puffing again, this research could get really exciting.

A third area of very recent discoveries is in the area of astronomy. Researchers are finding an ordered, concentric arrangement of galaxies, spreading out from our galaxy. If these findingss bear up under further research, it will be a “nail in the coffin” for the Big Bang theory since it would predict a much more random distribution of galaxies.

All of these, and many more areas of research, point to the truth of God’s Word. Truly, “The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork.” Everywhere we look we see evidence of God’s wisdom, power, and might. His Word and His world agree. We encourage you to celebrate with us, as we celebrate our wonderful Creator: God.

To me, the most phenomenal points are numbers four and five which
demonstrate the nearly universal belief of a global catastrophe which was a flood. When one considers that any number of common disasters could have been listed, such as an earthquake, a hurricane, a tsunami, a volcanic eruption, or even fire, the idea of a flood catastrophe becomes even more compelling!

Dr. Morris states from the above study: “One of the strongest evidences for the global flood which annihilated all people on Earth except for Noah and his family has been the ubiquitous [universal] presence of flood legends in the folklore of people groups from around the world… Local geography and cultural aspects may be present but they all seem to be telling the same story.” In addition, Dr. Morris contends that myth research conducted by anthropologists is often “…the faded memory of a real event. Details may have been added, lost, or obscured in the telling and retelling, but the kernel of truth remains. When two separate cultures have the same “myth” in their body of folklore, their ancestors must have either experienced the same event, or they both descended from a common ancestral source which itself experienced the event. The only credible way to understand the widespread, similar flood legends is to recognize that all people living today...have descended from the few real people who survived a real global flood...Their descendants now fill the globe, never to forget the real event.”

Nautiloids: An Amazing Discovery in the Grand Canyon
by Dave & Mary Jo Nutting

What in the world are nautiloids, and what do they have to do with the layers of the Grand Canyon? It’s an amazing story of an amazing discovery with startling implications in the debate over the age of the earth.

Nautiloids were extinct marine creatures that resembled squids living in hard, chambered shells. Paleontologists have known about nautiloids for a long time but, until the past decade, these fossils have been thought to be extremely rare in the Grand Canyon. However, research by Dr. Steven Austin from the Institute for Creation Research has revealed an extensive nautiloid bed running the whole length of the Canyon and extending all the way to Las Vegas, NV. It is now estimated that there are millions of nautiloid fossils in the Grand Canyon itself.



How could such an extensive display of fossils remain hidden for so long? To be fair, they are in the depths of Grand Canyon, on rock ledges in the Redwall Limestone – not exactly an easy place to get to. However, they are accessible and easily visible to the trained eye. So why haven’t they been discovered before now? Dr. Austin believes it is because traditional geologists have not been asking the right questions. He says, “You find what you’re looking for.” Because of his worldview which includes the historical accuracy of the Genesis Flood, Dr. Austin believed there should be evidence of this Flood left in the rock layers of the earth. Through some rather serendipitous events, careful attention to details, and faith in a God who answers prayer, the discovery was made.

The significance of this find is truly staggering — both in its extent and implications. The sheer numbers indicate a mass-kill event and the orientation of the fossils indicated burial under a fast-moving, laminar flow. This totally demolishes the traditional interpretation of the slow and gradual deposition of the Redwall Limestone under shallow, placid seas. It also cuts out “millions” of years of time from the rock strata – time in which evolution was thought to occur. These findings fit perfectly with the Biblical account of creation, followed by a catastrophic Flood.

Where did all that water go?
by Dave Nutting

There are two questions that are frequently asked regarding the Flood. The first one is, “If there really was a global flood, where did all that water go?” The second is, “How could there be a worldwide flood? We do not have enough water to cover the whole earth above the tallest mountains.

These arguments sound good on the surface until one dives a bit deeper. The answer to this question is amazingly simple yet well-known (and even Christian) scholars have never thought of it. In fact, popular “progressive Creation” teacher, Hugh Ross says that he can’t believe in a global flood because of the first point.

Both objections can be answered together: What if the mountains were not as high before the flood as they are today? Psalm 104:8 (NASV) says, “The mountains rose; the valleys sank down …” This appears to be at the end of the Flood. So we might conclude the waters ran off as the mountains rose and the valleys and sea basins deepened. Indeed, there is ample evidence that the mountains have risen (in fact, it appears that some are still doing so). Also, there is abundant evidence of catastrophic erosion – both in the form of “sheet” erosion resulting in broad, relatively flat plains or plateaus, and in the form of deep-cutting valley or canyon erosion.

Additionally, if you look carefully at a globe, you will find that nearly 75% of the earth is covered with water. Calculations show that if you could “flatten” all the mountains and make the earth smooth like a billiard ball, there would be enough water to cover the entire earth by 1-1/2 to 2 miles of water.

1. 2.

So, was there enough water to cover the earth? Yes, indeed. Where is it now? Some of the floodwaters are probably still locked in the sediments of the earth, underground reservoirs, and glaciers but most of it is in the oceans. God’s Word and God’s world agree.