Creation Ministries International (CMI) is a

nonprofit organisation A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

that promotes the

pseudoscience Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable cl ...

young Earth creationism Young Earth creationism (YEC) is a form of creationism which holds as a central tenet that the Earth and its lifeforms were created by supernatural acts of the Abrahamic God between about 10,000 and 6,000 years ago, contradicting established s ...

. It has branches in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

History

In 1977

Carl Wieland Carl Wieland (born 1950) is an Australian young Earth creationist, author and speaker. He was the managing director of Creation Ministries International (formerly Answers in Genesis - Australia), a Creationist apologetics ministry. CMI are ...

organised the Creation Science Association (CSA) in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. In 1978 the organisation began the magazine ''Ex Nihilo'' (from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

phrase ''

Creatio ex nihilo (Latin, 'creation out of nothing') is the doctrine that matter is not eternal but had to be created by some divine creative act. It is a theistic answer to the question of how the universe came to exist. It is in contrast to ''creatio ex mate ...

'', meaning "Creation out of nothing"). Soon after, the Creation Science Foundation (CSF) took over production of ''Ex Nihilo'' (later renaming it ''Creation Ex Nihilo'', and eventually simply ''Creation''). In 1984, CSF started the ''Ex Nihilo Technical Journal'' for more in-depth analysis of creation issues (it was later renamed ''Creation Ex Nihilo Technical Journal'', then simply ''TJ'', and now the ''Journal of Creation''). In the mid-1990s

Ken Ham Kenneth Alfred Ham (born 20 October 1951) is an Australian Christian fundamentalist, young Earth creationist, apologist and former science teacher, living in the United States. He is the founder, CEO, and former president of Answers in Genesis ...

, formerly of the Creation Science Foundation and then part of the

Institute for Creation Research The Institute for Creation Research (ICR) is a creationist apologetics institute in Dallas, Texas, that specializes in media promotion of pseudoscientific creation science and interpretation of the Genesis creation narrative as a historical e ...

, formed an autonomous ministry in the United States. This ministry, along with the Australian Creation Science Foundation, were branded "

Answers in Genesis Answers in Genesis (AiG) is an American fundamentalist Christian apologetics parachurch organization. It advocates young Earth creationism on the basis of its literal, historical-grammatical interpretation of the Book of Genesis and the Bib ...

" (AiG); eventually, legally-autonomous Answers in Genesis offices were opened in Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. Following a legal dispute in 2005, AiG split in 2006. The Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa branches re-branded as "Creation Ministries International".Creation Ministries International – About us, history
/ref> In late 2006 CMI established offices in the UK and United States. Since then CMI has distributed ''Creation'' magazine and the ''Journal of Creation'' in the United States itself. CMI publishes ''Creation'' magazine as well as the ''Journal of Creation''. ''Creation'' reports that it has subscribers in more than 170 countries, with 60,000 copies of each issue produced. ''Creation'' is published four times a year. The ''Journal of Creation'' is published three times a year.

The Voyage That Shook the World

''The Voyage That Shook The World'' is a 2009 dramatised documentary film commissioned by Creation Ministries International and produced by Fathom Media. It was released to mark the 200th anniversary of

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

's birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his seminal work ''

On the Origin of Species ''On the Origin of Species'' (or, more completely, ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life'')The book's full original title was ''On the Origin of Species by M ...

''. This 52-minute-long film includes interviews with proponents of

intelligent design Intelligent design (ID) is a pseudoscientific argument for the existence of God, presented by its proponents as "an evidence-based scientific theory about life's origins".#Numbers 2006, Numbers 2006, p. 373; " Dcaptured headlines for it ...

and

young earth creationism Young Earth creationism (YEC) is a form of creationism which holds as a central tenet that the Earth and its lifeforms were created by supernatural acts of the Abrahamic God between about 10,000 and 6,000 years ago, contradicting established s ...

along with some scholars, academics, and scientists who support the

scientific consensus Scientific consensus is the generally held judgment, position, and opinion of the majority or the supermajority of scientists in a particular field of study at any particular time. Consensus is achieved through scholarly communication at confer ...

evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

. Some of the mainstream scientists later said that the filmmakers deceptively edited their interviews and misled them. It features wildlife footage from the Galapagos Islands as well as on-location footage from Argentina, Chile,

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South America, South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main is ...

, and the United Kingdom. The film's dramatised sequences were shot on location in

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, Australia. The

National Center for Science Education The National Center for Science Education (NCSE) is a Nonprofit organization, not-for-profit membership organization in the United States whose stated mission is to educate the press and the public on the scientific and educational aspects of con ...

reviewed the film and found it misleading.

Legal controversy with Answers in Genesis

CMI's history is closely linked with that of its daughter ministry in the United States,

(AiG), founded by former Australian colleague

. A legal and personal dispute broke out between the Australian and US arms of AiG in 2005, involving claims of unethical dealing in the handling of magazine subscriptions and autocratic leadership on Ham's part. A more involved analysis of the situation is described in an account in the ''Reports of the National Center for Science Education''. A lawsuit was filed on 31 May 2007, by CMI in

Supreme Court of Queensland The Supreme Court of Queensland is the highest court in the Australian State of Queensland. It was formerly the Brisbane Supreme Court, in the colony of Queensland. The original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court allows its trial division to ...

against Ken Ham and Answers in Genesis, seeking damages and accusing "unbiblical/unethical/unlawful behaviour" in Ham's dealings with the Australian organisation. CMI produces ''Creation Magazine'' and the ''Journal of Creation'', formerly distributed by the US and UK AiG offices to their respective countries prior to the split. The Australian group maintains it was disconnected from all its American subscribers when the US office "announced on its web site (without telling us, the publishers) that it was ceasing to distribute both of these publications (and simultaneously announced its own magazine)". CMI further alleged in the lawsuit that AiG misrepresented their own magazine to subscribers as a replacement of ''Creation''. CMI is claiming $252,000 (US) in damages for lost revenue by misleading and deceptive conduct in relating to lost subscriptions. The case also concerns use of the trademark "Answers in Genesis" within Australia, and alleged misuse by Ken Ham of his position as a director for the Australian group to cause it detriment. Answers in Genesis has had little to say in public to these accusations, but in comments to news reporters Ken Ham dismisses them all as "totally preposterous and untrue". In February 2009, the

United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (in case citations, 6th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * Eastern District of Kentucky * Western District of K ...

ordered Australian-based Creation Ministries International into arbitration in the United States with Answers in Genesis (as sought by AiG) over copyrights and control of affiliates in other countries. In April 2009, the ministries reached a settlement and ended their dispute.

Relationship with schools

In 2011, a group of 30 UK scientists accused the organisation's representatives of falsely presenting themselves to schools as scientists.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1977 establishments in Australia Christian organizations established in 1977 Creation science Creationist organizations Young Earth creationism