July 2006 - Vol 2, Issue 2

In this issue...
-- The history and impact of the book, The Genesis Flood – Part I
-- Hear Dr. Whitcomb speak this month
-- Whitcomb Ministries enjoying the benefits of working with BMH Books
-- Third Annual Day with Whitcomb Ministries is fast approaching
-- WMI SermonAudio stats posted on website
-- MM subscribers top 1,000
-- Dr. Whitcomb referenced in 'Pre-Trib' article
-- SermonAudio broadcast schedule now available on website
-- Schedule announced for promotions of Day with WMI

The history and impact of the book, The Genesis Flood – Part I
By Dr. John C. Whitcomb

Note: The following article is based on Dr. Whitcomb’s presentation at the Answers in Genesis 2005 Creation Mega-Conference, which was held in July of last year in Lynchburg, Va. We are grateful to AiG for allowing us to reprint it here. This message is also now available on DVD from Answers in Genesis. For ordering information, visit www.AnswersBookstore.com. Also, please remember that this message was delivered before the death of Dr. Henry Morris on Feb. 25 of this year.

My highly esteemed and long-time friend, Henry M. Morris, co-author of “The Genesis Flood,” joins me in giving praise to God for His merciful providence in allowing our 550-page book to be published and distributed around the world in four languages. Unable to travel now, especially because of severe health problems his wife Mary Louise is experiencing, he has kindly sent me his perspective on the impact of our book. I quote: "The publication of ‘The Genesis Flood’ in 1961 did make a tremendous difference in my own life, culminating in a change from engineering to full-time concentration on creationism and Christian evidences. But first there were numerous speaking requests, then the formation of the Creation Research Society (1963), then eventually the Institute for Creation Research (1970) and extensive seminars, conferences, debates, etc., all over the world. Many have attributed the global revival of scientific Biblical creationism to the catalytic effect of ‘The Genesis Flood.’”

(Note, for example, a book entitled, “The Creationists” [New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992] authored by Ronald L. Numbers, professor of the history of science and medicine at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, especially the final chapter, entitled, "Creation Science Floods the World.") Dr. Morris agrees with me that this is a remarkably objective study by one who claims to be an agnostic on the subject of ultimate origins (p. xvi).

It was in 1961 that our book was published by a very small company, P & R Publishing. The current president, Bryce H. Craig, comments: "Though hard to measure, it is easy to see the immense impact that the book ‘The Genesis Flood’ has had on the Biblical creation movement in the USA and beyond. ‘The Genesis Flood’ has sold over (264,000 copies in English, plus editions in German, Spanish and Korean), and the book that gave an answer to the secular thinking at that time and started the Biblical creation movement is still going strong today. Forty-five years ago, when I was twelve years old, I accompanied my father (Charles Craig) when he visited Dr. Whitcomb and Dr. Morris (at Winona Lake, Ind., in July, 1960) during the editorial stage of the book's development. My mother designed its original cover; I packed it for shipment as a part-time packer, and I have sold it through all these years as a full-time employee with P&R Publishing. I have always enjoyed the partnership with Drs. Whitcomb and Morris. It brought joy and pleasure to my late father, to publish and distribute this seminal and God-honoring book."

The story of how God brought this book into existence is truly amazing. I was a total evolutionist at Princeton University, taking courses in historical geology and paleontology in 1942 and 1943, when Donald B. Fullerton, a former missionary to India and Afghanistan, confronted me with the gospel of Jesus Christ in my dormitory room in Pyne Hall in February of 1943. He had graduated from the university in 1913, and for 50 years, after returning from the mission field in poor health in 1931, the university amazingly allowed him to teach the Bible on Sunday afternoons at the student center (see my dedication to him in “The World That Perished” [Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1988]).

Two months later I was drafted into the Army, and, in God's mercy, survived the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium. Returning to Princeton in 1946, I was taught by Dr. Fullerton to believe the entire written Word of God. He believed that the days of creation were 24-hour days, but, in harmony with the evangelical consensus of those years, he allowed vast periods of time between the first two verses of Genesis. When I began to teach the Old Testament at Grace Theological Seminary in 1951, I presented this popular gap theory to my students. Some were skeptical of this approach, and I myself had certain reservations, having previously read Dr. Henry Morris's defense of a recent creation, “That You Might Believe.”

Then, in His merciful providence, God sent Henry Morris to our campus in September of 1953, to present a paper to the American Scientific Affiliation meeting there, entitled, "Biblical Evidence for a Recent Creation and Universal Deluge." This revolutionized my entire approach to ultimate origins, and God motivated me to spend four years writing a 450-page doctoral dissertation entitled, "The Genesis Flood: An Investigation of its Geographical Extent, Geological Effects and Chronological Setting" (Winona Lake, Ind.: Grace Theological Seminary, 1957) with special focus on Genesis 6-9; Job 38:8-11; Psalm 29:10; Psalm 104:6-9; Isaiah 54:9-10; Jeremiah 5:22; Matthew 24:36-39; Luke 17:26-27; Hebrews 11:7; 1 Peter 3:18-20; and 2 Peter 3:3-7. All of my reasons for abandoning the gap theory have been spelled out in the final chapter of my book, “The Early Earth.”

It was in December of 1957 that Henry Morris agreed to coauthor “The Genesis Flood.” This was also in God's providence, for both he and I agreed that a project of such magnitude, dealing with stupendous scientific and theological issues, needed the perspectives of a trained and experienced scientist as well as a theologian. Dr. Morris tells the story of his own abandonment of theistic evolutionism and his discovery of flood geology, especially during his graduate studies at the University of Minnesota in 1946 to 1950, where he majored in hydraulics and minored in geology and mathematics. He shares these details in his excellent volume, “History of Modern Creationism,” rev. ed. (Institute for Creation Research, 1993).

(See also the DVD, “ICR Presents Fireside Chats,” with Drs. Whitcomb and Morris. This hour-long discussion of the history of the relationship of these two authors was made in 2003, and is available at www.icr.org or from the catalog on our website).

To Be Continued...

Hear Dr. Whitcomb speak this month
Dr. Whitcomb is keeping very busy these days. Please remember to pray for his upcoming meetings. Following are details on his next speaking engagements.

On Sunday, October 8, Dr. Whitcomb will preach on creationism at the Fourth Baptist Church of Plymouth, Minn. For more information on these services, call Pastor Roger Kilian at 763-417-8200, or visit www.fourthbaptist.org.

On Tuesday, October 10, Dr. Whitcomb will speak at the Foundations Conference of Central Baptist Seminary in Plymouth, Minn. His topics will be: “The Gospel and Integrationalism,” and “The Tower of Babel and the Worldwide Gospel.” For more information on this conference, call Dr. Thomas Zempel at 763-417-8250, or visit www.centralseminary.edu.

From Wednesday, October 18, to Sunday, October 22, Dr. and Mrs. Whitcomb will speak at the Duluth Bible Church of Duluth, Minn. Dr. Whitcomb will lecture on Exodus, and Mrs. Whitcomb will speak on “Relationships – God’s Way.” For more information on this conference, call Pastor Dennis Rokser at 218-724-5914, or visit www.duluthbible.org.

From Tuesday, October 24, to Friday, October 27, and from Tuesday, October 31, to Friday, November 3, Dr. Whitcomb will lecture on Genesis at the Word of Life Bible Institute of Schroon Lake, N.Y. For more information on these courses, call Dr. Tom Davis at 518-494-4723, or visit www.wol.org/biblei. (Note: The audio of the lectures for these classes is available at www.sermonaudio.com/whitcomb.)

On Sunday, October 29, Dr. Whitcomb will preach at the Grace Brethren Church of Saratoga Springs in Ballston Spa, N.Y. For more information on this service, call Pastor Dan Pierce at 518-587-0649.

For additional details about these events, please visit our web pages at www.whitcombministries.org and www.sermonaudio.com/whitcomb.

Whitcomb Ministries enjoying the benefits of working with BMH Books
As we announced in the June issue of the Monograph, Whitcomb Ministries, Inc. has formed a new partnership with BMH Books of Winona Lake, IN. BMH will now warehouse, distribute, and market the books and charts authored by Dr. and Mrs. Whitcomb.

BMH is already busily engaged in promoting those materials through a new page on their website at www.bmhbooks.com/whitcomb.htm. While a complete listing of our products may still be seen in our online catalog at www.whitcombministries.org, the BMH website will give you the convenience of ordering via credit card. You may also do this by calling their toll-free order line at 1-800-348-2756.

Mail orders for books and charts by Dr. and Mrs. Whitcomb should now be sent to BMH Books, P.O. Box 544, Winona Lake, IN 46590.

Please remember that orders for audio and video tapes, CDs and DVDs should now be sent to, and will be distributed from, Whitcomb Ministries, Inc., 6147 Hythe Road, Indianapolis, IN 46220. Credit cards are not accepted for these orders.

BMH Books, founded in 1940, publishes substantive Bible reference books, commentaries, and works for the general Christian market.

Third Annual Day with Whitcomb Ministries is fast approaching
We at Whitcomb Ministries are working diligently to prepare for the Third Annual Day with Whitcomb Ministries, which is set for Saturday, Nov. 11, at Calvary Baptist Church in Menomonee Falls, Wis.

The theme of this year’s conference is, “A Young Earth: The Christian’s Absolute Beginning.” The keynote guest speaker will be Carl Kerby of Answers in Genesis, and Sherry Trainer will once again provide special music. Also returning to play for us will be violinist Elizabeth Pabón and harpist RuthAnn Ledgerwood.

This year’s conference will be dedicated to the memory of Dr. Henry Morris, whose passing on Feb. 25 marked, as has been said, “the end of an era” for the modern creationism movement.

Those who are interested in scheduling a promotion of this conference for their church, Christian school chapel, home school group, or other organization may call Paul Scharf, ministry assistant, at 920-623-0257.

A current schedule of these promotions is available at www.whitcombministries.org/Gods_Gracious_Workings/News_And_Notes.php.

We would be delighted to come and give your group a multi-media presentation and talk about this special conference and the importance of the creation message. Brochures for this conference are now available.

WMI SermonAudio stats posted on website
The response that we are receiving at the Whitcomb Ministries pages on SermonAudio.com continues to grow. As of this writing, there have now been more than 85,000 sermons downloaded or listened to since broadcasting began there in July of 2003.

For those who are interested in following the progress of our effectiveness through that ministry, comprehensive statistics are now available at www.whitcombministries.org/Gods_Gracious_Workings/News_And_Notes.php. You can trace the results of our efforts month-by-month, and the figures will be updated at the end of each new month.

We realize that it is only because of those who listen and share in our ministry that we can have this type of outreach on the Internet. Would you tell a friend today about the opportunity to hear Dr. Whitcomb and other respected Bible teachers on our pages at SermonAudio.com?

In recent weeks, we have added all of the messages that were delivered at the first two Days with Whitcomb Ministries, as well as one from Dr. Renald Showers, who will be our keynote guest speaker for the Fourth Annual Day with Whitcomb Ministries on Nov. 10, 2007. We trust that these things are a blessing to you and your family.

MM subscribers top 1,000
“A Monthly Monograph from Dr. Whitcomb” recently passed another milestone of its own – more than 1,000 combined subscribers in both English and Spanish.

Thanks to the help of Dante Rosso, director of the Spanish Translations Ministry in Beverly, Mass., this is the third issue of the “Monograph” that can be read in that language.

We hope that you will tell your Spanish-speaking friends about this new tool that can help them share the Word of God in their native tongue.

Are you new to the "Monograph?" You can catch up by reading archived issues at www.whitcombministries.org/Monthly_Monograph/index.php. Also, make sure to tell your friends to subscribe right at the bottom of our website.

One other note – we apologize for the extreme lateness of this issue of the “Monograph.” Due to some difficulties that we were having, you will be receiving several issues bundled closely together. Thank you for continuing to read this e-newsletter each month.

Dr. Whitcomb referenced in 'Pre-Trib' article
Dr. Whitcomb, along with the late Dr. Henry Morris, is mentioned several times in an interesting article by Dr. Thomas Ice, executive director of the Pre-Trib Research Center, in the June issue of "Pre-Trib Perspectives."

The title of the article is, "The Logic of Biblical Creationism and The Future," and you can read it online at www.pre-trib.org/article-view.php?id=271.

You can also hear Dr. Whitcomb discuss this article in a special new message that has been posted at www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?sermonID=9300654648.

Messages by Dr. Ice have also recently been featured on our pages at SermonAudio.com, and we trust that they have been a blessing to you. Among these are the sermons that Dr. Ice delivered at the first ever Day with Whitcomb Ministries in August of 2004, where he was the keynote guest speaker.

Please let us know how these messages have been of help to you – and be looking for more of them to be added in the future.

SermonAudio broadcast schedule now available on website
A schedule of upcoming messages slated for broadcast on our pages at SermonAudio.com is now available on our Web site, and you can find it by going to www.whitcombministries.org/Gods_Gracious_Workings/News_And_Notes.php.

We are so grateful to God for the opportunity to minister to you with audio messages on the Internet, and hope that you will share your excitement about them with a friend.

Schedule announced for promotions of Day with WMI
Paul Scharf, WMI ministry assistant, is actively seeking opportunities to promote the Third Annual Day with Whitcomb Ministries to churches, Christian schools, home school groups, creation groups and other organizations throughout southern Wisconsin.

You can go to our website (www.whitcombministries.org/Gods_Gracious_Workings/News_And_Notes.php) to see a current schedule of events where you may learn more about our conference, register for it, and (in some cases) hear a message from Whitcomb Ministries.

If you are interested in this possibility for your group, e-mail conference@whitcombministries.org.

Also, be sure to look for our display at the Fall Bible Conference of the Wisconsin Association of Regular Baptist Churches, in Hayward, on Oct. 9 and 10.