Ken Ham

Kenneth Ham (b. Oct. 20, 1951) is a Christian fundamentalist evangelist and president of Answers in Genesis, a U.S. nonprofit “dedicated to enabling Christians to defend their faith and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ effectively” and “to expose the bankruptcy of evolutionary ideas.”

Born in Australia, Ham studied Environmental Biology at the Queensland Institute of Technology, then taught high school science in the mid-1970s. His realization that many of his students considered the findings of science to disprove the Bible led him to quit his teaching position. He founded two companies that provided creationist teaching materials to Queensland public schools, where equal time for creation and evolution were mandated by law.

In 1987, Ham moved to the United States to take part in speaking tours promoting strict biblical literalism, including six-day creation and the idea that the earth is roughly 6,000 years old. His organization grew through mergers with existing creationist organizations, and in 1997 took the name Answers in Genesis (AiG).

In addition to the website, a magazine and journal, and speaking events, AiG owns and operates the Creation Museum, a museum in Petersburg, Kentucky depicting a young earth creationist perspective, and the Ark Encounter, a replica of the Ark depicted in the Book of Genesis. The Creation Museum opened in 2007, the Ark Encounter in 2016.

The Museum has been the subject of several large-scale petition campaigns by scientists, educators, and science advocacy organizations concerned that the “scientifically inaccurate materials” in the displays will contribute to scientific illiteracy.

In 2004, Ham was awarded an honorary doctorate by Rev. Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University.

Patheos on Ken Ham

RELIGION PROF

• Ken Ham is a Liar

PROGRESSIVE SECULAR HUMANIST

• Creationist Ken Ham Blames Atheists For Ark Park Failure
• Ken Ham’s Reconstruction of Noah’s Ark Demonstrates Absurdity of Creationism

LOVE, JOY, FEMINISM

• Ken Ham: Noah Probably Had More Sophisticated Tools than We Do Today

DANTHROPOLOGY

• Ken Ham Says Building His Ark is More Important than Feeding the Homeless

FRIENDLY ATHEIST

• Ken Ham Isn’t a Big Bad Ogre: Why I Feel Bad About Ark Encounter
• Ken Ham, Who Spent $100 Million on Noah’s Ark Park, Says We Shouldn’t Waste Money Studying Science

Image by John Foxe. Public domain, unrestricted.