 | |
 The front of the Creation Museum | |
  Location within Kentucky  Creation Museum (the United States) | |
| Established | May 28, 2007 |
|---|---|
| Location | Petersburg, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 39°05′10″N 84°47′00″W / 39.08611°N 84.78333°W |
| Type | Creation apologetics ministry |
| Visitors | 254,074 (2011) |
| Founder | Ken Ham |
| Owner | Answers in Genesis |
| Website | creationmuseum |
The Creation Museum, located in Petersburg, Kentucky, United States, is a museum that promotes the pseudoscientific young Earth creationist (YEC) explanation of the origin of the universe and life on Earth based on a literal interpretation of the Genesis creation narrative of the Bible. It is operated by the Christian creation apologetics organization Answers in Genesis (AiG).
The 75,000-square-foot (7,000 m2) museum cost US$27 million, raised through private donations, and opened on May 28, 2007. In addition to the main collection, the facility has a special effects theater, a planetarium, an Allosaurus skeleton and an insect collection. As the headquarters of AiG, the museum has approximately 300 employees, and permanent employees must sign a statement of faith affirming their belief in AiG's principles.
Reflecting young-Earth creationist beliefs, the museum depicts humans and dinosaurs coexisting, portrays the Earth as approximately 6,000 years old, and disputes the theory of evolution. Scientists, educators, and theologians have criticized the museum for misrepresenting science and expressed concerns that it could harm science education. Proponents of other religious beliefs about the Universe's origins—including old Earth creationism, theistic evolution, and intelligent design—have said that its rejection of scientific consensus damages the credibility of Christianity and its adherents. Tenets of young-Earth creationism enjoy substantial support among the general population in the United States, however, contributing to the museum's popularity.[1][2][3]
The museum is controversial and has received much commentary from cultural observers and the museum community. Scholars of museum studies, like Gretchen Jennings, have said that creationist exhibitions lack "valid connection with current worldwide thinking on their chosen discipline" and with "human knowledge and experience", and are not in their view museums at all.[4]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
sundayindwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
newportwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
pewwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Jennings, Gretchen (Spring 2011). "Creationist "Museums" Are Not Museums" (PDF). Exhibitionist. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
[T]heir assumption of the name 'museum' doesn't mean they are a new type of museum, or any type of museum, in my view. [...] The lack of valid connection with current worldwide thinking on their chosen discipline is why I maintain that creationist centers of display are not museums. [...] Creationist exhibition centers do not fall within any of the definitions for museums given above, which have to do with human knowledge and experience.