Henry M Morris

Early life, education and personal life

Morris was born in Dallas on October 6, 1918, grew up in Texas in the 1920s and 1930s, and graduated from Rice University with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering in 1939. He married Mary Louise on January 24, 1940, and they later had six children. They were married until Morris's death in 2006.

While Morris was religiously indifferent during his youth, shortly after his graduation from Rice in 1939, Morris became a Christian and accepted the Bible, from Genesis through Revelation, as the infallible and literal word of God.

Career

After graduating in 1939, Morris served as an hydraulic engineer working with the International Boundary and Water Commission (1939-1942). He returned to Rice, teaching civil engineering from 1942 until 1946, where he also wrote a short book, That You Might Believe (1946). From 1946-1951, he studied at the University of Minnesota, where he earned a master's degree in hydraulics (1948) and a Ph.D. in hydraulic engineering (1950). In 1951, he became a professor and chair of civil engineering at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and served as the Acting Dean of Engineering in the fall of 1956. Morris then served as a professor of applied science at Southern Illinois University in 1957.

In 1959, Morris moved to the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) to serve as Professor of Civil Engineering in the area of hydraulics, and to serve as department chair for civil engineering. There, Morris co-authored an advanced text on engineering hydraulics with J.M. Wiggert that was used "in dozens of universities worldwide", and under a decade of leadership the department "rose to become one of the largest civil engineering programs in the nation". While Morris' religious views and writings were controversial among university biology and geology faculty, and in the broader debate, it has been reported that Morris "kept his own counsel on [them], unless... pressed", such that his university engineering colleagues respected Morris as "a good administrator" and his religious views "because they never influenced his [administration]".

In 1961, Morris coauthored The Genesis Flood with John C. Whitcomb, which some regard as the first significant attempt in the 20th century to offer a systematic scientific explanation for creationism. The book was very influential on modern creationist thought, and Stephen Jay Gould, a critic of Morris, called it "the founding document of the creationist movement."

In 1963, while yet at Virginia Tech, Morris and nine others founded the Creation Research Society, and Morris continued his creationist writing and speaking. Morris eventually left his faculty position at Virginia Tech in 1970 to focus on his work in creationism, after university interactions with a new engineering dean who directed Morris not to list creationist works alongside his engineering publications, viewing his non-engineering writings and increasing persona to be "too controversial." Morris is quoted as having said that these directions "seemed like... the handwriting on the wall that they didn't want me to stay..." and that "[Dean Willis] Worchester was happy... when I submitted my resignation".

In 1970, Morris co-founded the Christian Heritage College in Santee, California which led to formation of the Institute for Creation Research (ICR) in 1972. He served as President of Christian Heritage College from 1978 to 1980. Additionally, Morris served as President, and as President Emeritus of ICR from 1970-1995 and 1996-2006, respectively. His son, John D. Morris, took over the presidency of ICR when his father retired.

On February 1, 2006, Morris suffered a minor stroke and was hospitalized. Morris was moved from the hospital to a rehabilitation facility near his son's home (and ICR) in Santee, California where he died.

Achievements

Morris has been considered by many to be "the father of modern creation science", and was "arguably the most influential creationist of the 20th century." Morris helped create the modern school of thought based on a belief in biblical inerrancy and a literal interpretation of Genesis. It is a system Morris called "Scientific Creationism" that opposes the mainstream scientific community regarding the history of the earth and the universe. Morris found an audience among preachers and home school teachers all over America, where 46% of the public holds some form of creationist belief.

Morris was the primary source for much of the argumentation used by young Earth creationists when rejecting primary ideas in mainstream science, from the expanding universe to plate tectonics to biological evolution to genetics.

Morris's book, The Genesis Flood, coauthored by John C. Whitcomb, was very influential on modern creationist belief, and by the time of Morris's death, it was in its 44th printing and sold 250,000 English copies. While the greater bulk of his published writings address creation science and evolution themes, he had also written Many Infallible Proofs, and The Bible Has The Answer, which are both works of general Christian apologetics.

In 1995, Morris completed The Defenders Study Bible which includes his scientific & theological notes accompanying the King James Version. Just prior to his death in 2006 he completed a significant expansion of that work titled The New Defender's Study Bible. In May 2012 The New Defenders Study Bible was updated and released as The Henry Morris Study Bible.

In addition, during his lifetime, Morris published eleven articles on hydraulics in technical journals as well as hundreds of other articles and booklets on Biblical or creationist topics. From 1985 to 2002, he published Days of Praise, a monthly devotional booklet that contained a devotional Bible commentary for each day, which illustrated his spiritual focus.

Criticism

Many in the scientific community have said that Morris' representation of evolution as a complete religious system is a straw man. In particular, Massimo Pigliucci criticized Morris' omission of material that interfered with his "mission" and "beliefs". Pigliucci also criticized Morris' interpretation of thermodynamics. Morris' position had also been the subject of debate among Evangelical scholars of the Old Testament and among Evangelicals working in various fields of science.

In Evolution & the Modern Christian (1967), Morris hoped to "open the minds and hearts of young people to the true Biblical cosmology." T.E. Fenton, Professor of Agronomy at Iowa State University, wrote "scientific value of the book is nil; the author selectively chooses the areas of science that he accepts and rejects other areas of accepted science". David Vogel, Professor of Biology at Creighton University, reviewed the book explaining "his theology is shallow; his exegesis is maddening; his science is wrong; and he tops it off by offending millions of Bible-believing Christians who also accept evolution".

Morris' book Scientific Creationism (1974 and 1984), according to Herman Kirkpatrick, "is not very convincing evidence to support the recent creation of the earth". Thomas Wheeler, Professor of biochemistry at University of Louisville, reviewed the second edition and concluded, "Scientific Creationism cannot be recommended for use in public school classes, or indeed anyone interested in learning science". Wheeler cited what he claimed was Morris' misunderstanding of science, appeals to religious prejudice, misrepresentation of scientific knowledge, omission of opposing science, double standards in evidence, "absurd conclusions," inappropriate and misidentified sources, attacks on scientists, using discredited arguments, and "silly calculations".

Morris' work with John C. Whitcomb, The Genesis Flood, has been criticized for taking quotes out of context and misquoting sources. For example, in one instance, a source which read "the sea which vanished so many million years ago" was quoted as "the sea which vanished so many years ago." Geologist John G. Solum has criticized the work for being inaccurate. Solum said "Whitcomb and Morris are mistaken about the nature of the rocks associated with thrust faults. Their claim about fossils is based on a Young Earth creationist misunderstanding of how rocks are dated relative to each other, and how the geologic column was constructed." Additionally, Solum said "Morris' explanation of relative dating is not merely 'somewhat oversimplified' - it is entirely incorrect."

In The Long War Against God: The History and Impact of the Creation/Evolution Conflict (1989) Morris wrote that "the denial of God – rejecting the reality of supernatural creation and the creator's sovereign rule of the world – has always been the root cause of every human problem." Morris was criticized by Randy Moore, of University of Minnesota, for writing in the book that "evolutionism" is satanic and responsible for racism, abortion, and a decline in morality.

Books