Journey Beneath the Grand Canyon Rim

One characteristic of false teachers and cults is to isolate their people, which is to keep them from interacting with and learning from other people. If you study on it, biblical creationists are the opposite. Especially the scientists. They have friends and professional colleagues who hold to secular views of science. However, they still work together and even co-author scientific papers, then shake hands and part friendly.

Biblical creationists, whether scientists or the rest of us, are not isolated from old-Earth views. Consider the Grand Canyon.

Colorado River Rafting, Flickr / Gordon Tarpley (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Many people journey to the Grand Canyon in the formerly United States. Some keep it simple, spend a few minutes, make "wow" sounds, and leave. Others get more involved with hiking, rafting the Colorado River, and more. Rafting for tourist can be a rather short jaunt of a few hours, but certain creationists wanted to get serious about it: nine days and eight nights.

There are several creation ministries that offer Grand Canyon trips, and this one was in conjunction with Canyon Ministries. It was not intended to be a simple jaunt on the Minnow with the Skipper and Gilligan. No, this was going to be an experience of appreciating evidence for the Genesis Flood (as well as discussing views of secularists). There was serious hiking, examining this part of our beautiful but wrecked world, Bible devotions, a heap of conversation, learning about other people as well as themselves, rafting, and more.

The team at Answers magazine planned for years to send a writer and a photographer on a raft trip down the Grand Canyon to capture a story for everyone who would love to go but probably never could. We wanted to experience the canyon’s beauty and see evidences of the flood that few ever get to see. Nine days and eight nights with a creation geologist speaker—a one-of-a-kind annual trip offered by Canyon Ministries.

My plane had just landed in Las Vegas. The hectic preparations were behind me: buying raincoats, waterproof shoes, and the like. What lay ahead? Was it worth all the effort? A flood of questions rushed through my mind, and 23 fellow travelers had similar thoughts.

Our vision of the world was about to change.

To read the rest and see some nice picture (or listen to the audio version), head over to "Grand Canyon—Nine Days Below the Rim." Why should creationists fear secular views? After all, the biblical view has the preconditions of intelligibility — beginning at the very first verse.