Cedarville Partners with Answers in Genesis for Creation Conference

Cedarville University is partnering with Answers in Genesis (AIG) on Sept. 15-16, 2016 to present a conference highlighting the importance of a biblical worldview concerning creation.

CU President Thomas White said both groups hope the Creation Conference will show their shared commitment to the authority of scripture, particularly in regards to man and the origin of the universe.

“I suspect this issue will be one of the major worldview challenges Cedarville graduates will face,” White said in an email.

John Whitmore, a Cedarville professor of geology who will be speaking at the conference, said he is looking forward to the opportunity the Creation Conference presents to explain how a young earth perspective corresponds with both scientific and biblical truth.

“A lot of Christians think that the earth is millions of years old and that scientists have proven that through scientific data and so forth,” Whitmore said. “We don’t have to make that compromise.”

Whitmore, who has taken several rafting trips down the Grand Canyon in Arizona, will be using his knowledge of the canyon and of fossils to describe the earth’s rocks from a young earth perspective during the chapel session on Friday. Ken Ham, the founder and CEO of Answers in Genesis, will be speaking Thursday in chapel on the importance of a young earth creationist worldview in higher education. Still, these chapel sessions are only a small portion of the conference.

Cedarville administration has invited many other speakers to the conference including Georgia Purdom, a 1994 Cedarville graduate and molecular geneticist with Answers in Genesis, and Terry Mortenson, another expert from Answers in Genesis to speak in breakout sessions during the afternoon on both days. Breakout sessions will cover discussions on marriage, genetics, the age of the earth and other topics.

While Cedarville students are not required to attend these sessions like they are required to attend chapel, White stressed that they should still try to attend.

“It would be tragic to miss this opportunity to hear from experts right here on our campus addressing such a crucial subject,” White said in an email.

Whitmore urges students to not just go to chapel and the sessions, but to pay attention and to seek out nuggets of truth that they can use throughout their lives and ministries.

“[Students should] go to the sessions not only with an idea of learning, but learning the material to such a depth that they can actually talk to somebody who might believe differently,” Whitmore said.

AIG will have a bookstore available on campus during the conference so visitors, faculty and students can purchase resources that help explain the young earth perspective and a Christian worldview.

White said he hopes that attendees will turn the knowledge they learn from the conference into action.

“We have truth,” White said in an email. “We simply need to unleash it with compassionate conviction.”

A full list of speakers, topics and the schedule for this event can be found on the Creation Conference website at www.cedarville.edu/creation.

Rebekah Erway is a junior English major and campus news editor for Cedars. She is a diehard Disney, Veggietales, and Lord of the Rings fan and enjoys speaking in a British accent.