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An article of possible interest to some of you. The comment that concerns me the most is when the curator says ".. raise their children to fear the Lord." What benefit to children does this have? 

Happy New Year, Amanda

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Adam, Eve and T-Rex: Museums feature science and God

http://www.cushingdaily.com/religion/cnhinsfaith_story_363090651.html?keyword=topstory

By Brianna Bailey 
THE NORMAN TRANSCRIPT (NORMAN, Okla.)

NOBLE, Okla. - Thomas Sharp holds science degrees from Purdue University and the University of Oklahoma but believes dinosaurs and humans once walked the Earth together and the world is somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 years old.

The office of the Creation Truth Foundation, founded by Sharp in 1989 and based in a Main Street storefront in Noble, is decorated with fossils and framed Bible verses. Sharp sees no contradiction between the two. A prehistoric petrified shell is showcased next to a plaque in the front room that reads "Trust in the Lord with all your heart."

"If we reject the book of Genesis, then where do we pick up after that?" Sharp said. "If you want to believe in the legitimacy of God, then you have to start from the beginning."

His latest endeavor is opening a museum devoted to debunking the theory of evolution in Dallas. The 20,000-square-foot museum just off of Interstate 35 in Dallas will feature 15-18 first-generation replicas of dinosaur skeletons and exhibits on the Great Flood and the Garden of Eden. 

The building that will house the Museum of Earth History in Dallas is already near completion, Sharp said, and he expects the facility to open its doors to the public sometime in 2007. Christ For the Nations Institute, a Christian educational organization based in Dallas, is helping fund the museum's completion. 

Sharp said his agenda isn't to get creationism taught in public schools, or convert people to his belief system, but he wants to give Christians a way to teach their children about science. 

"I don't believe we can change our multi-cultural environment," Sharp said. "But I'd like to help Bible believers to hold their heads up and raise their children to fear the Lord." 

CFT, with its staff of nine, produces Biblical creationist school curricula for Christian schools and home-schoolers with titles like "Putting the Pieces Together," a two-semester guide for grades 7-12 on science, history, philosophy and political science from a Biblical perspective. The CFT Web site sells children's books with titles like "Dinosaurs of Eden," which teaches children that Noah brought Dinosaurs aboard the Ark.

Sharp, a former pastor who holds a doctorate with an emphasis in the philosophy of religion and science from South Florida Bible College and Seminary, has toured the country with a trailer of dinosaur bones and fossils, speaking to churches and other religious groups. 

"Creation isn't a scientific debate, its a religious one," Sharp said. 

Sharp said he struggled to justify his Christian beliefs while studying evolution in college and believes young people reject Christianity as they grow up because of the public school system's secular curriculum, he said. 

"I struggled with (evolution), feared it, and was challenged by it in school," Sharp said. "I was 33 years old before I got up the courage to read Darwin's 'The Origin of the Species,' and when I finally did, I said, 'Is that all there is to it?'" 

Sharp is already the president and co-founder of the Museum of Earth History in Eureka Springs, Ark., which has attracted more than 60,000 visitors from all 50 states and more than 10 foreign countries since it opened in 2005, Sharp said. 

The Dallas museum will be twice the size of the Eureka Springs branch, he said. 

Sharp said he hope to open five or six more museums across the country in his lifetime. 

While reactions to his efforts have been positive for the most part, Sharp said, he does get hate mail every once and a while.

"It's a reaction to clashing world views," Sharp said. "I choose not to insult my opponents; I choose to win." 

Brianna Bailey writes for The Norman (Okla.) Transcript.

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