Is Genesis History? preview night!

Hey, that's me on the big screen!

Friday night, I went to a preview showing of Is Genesis History? in Franklin, TN with a small crowd of mostly people from the production company and their friends and family.  It was the first time I had seen the finished film, and we did a little Q&A after.  I was the only featured scientist from the movie at that showing.  These are just a few thoughts on the film rather than a full review.  I don't want to engage with the film fully before others have a chance to see it.

I'm happy to say that the finished film is very nice and substantially improved from the cut I saw last summer.  I was repeatedly amazed at how much better I liked it this time.  It's amazing what you can do with a little editing!  The film is basically a series of interviews with various creationists around the United States.  Each scholar is featured in some sort of location that relates to what they're talking about.  Creationist geologist Steve Austin filmed at the Grand Canyon to talk about Flood geology, and I filmed in the zoo to talk about created kinds.

Before I went, I read some other comments from a different screening, and those creationists described it with some (almost funny) hyperbole.  It's supposedly devastating to evolution, irrefutable evidence, etc. etc.  It's not any of those things.  It's a presentation of creationist research.  I think it makes a very favorable case for young-age creationism, but a lot of the film will be pretty familiar to those who've followed the creation/evolution debate.

I found the movie valuable because it focuses directly on the creationist scholars and researchers talking about their own work.  It's rare that we get such a large public platform and the opportunity to describe the importance and nuances of our research.  Don't get me wrong, though.  There are a lot of folks featured, so we don't get to say a lot.  But the attentive listener will hear things that don't usually get said in creationist films, and that seems worthwhile to me.

I'm actually really curious how this will be received.  I know that some will think it's the usual creationist claptrap, and others will adore it like the creationists cited above.  That's just tribalism, but there are others who (I hope) are a little more attentive to the details.  I'm not sure how those folks will react, but it will definitely spark some interesting conversations.

Producer Thomas Purifoy and I during the Q&A

Once the movie comes out, I'm sure I'll have plenty of things to say as reviews hit various websites.  I'll definitely want to offer some clarifications and expansions on things I said in the movie.  So stay tuned for that. I think this movie could inspire a new generation of young scientists to join our quest to better understand the mysteries of God's creation.  That would make me very happy.

So go see the movie!  Theaters have been selling out, and the list of theaters showing it has expanded recently.  Originally, it was only supposed to be in one theater in my area, and they've recently added four more.  So check out the list of theaters and get your tickets soon before they sell out again.

And if your church or Christian school is in the southeast or midwest and wants to schedule a Q&A with one of the scientists from the film, let me know.  I'll be glad to come and try to answer any questions I can.

Feedback? Email me at toddcharleswood [at] gmail [dot] com. If you enjoyed this article, please consider a contribution to Core Academy of Science. Thank you.