 The Institute for Creation Research began in 1970 as a division of
 Christian Heritage College, the later established by Henry Morris,
 Tim LaHaye and Scott Memorial Baptist Church (of San Diego, CA) as
 "the first college in modern times formed in order to provide a
 liberal arts education based specifically on strict Biblical
 creationism and full Biblical controls in all courses."  (Henry M.
 Morris.  _History of Modern Creationism_.  Master Books Publishers,
 1984; p.222.)

 Below is the ICR's statement of faith, written in 1981 when ICR
 became formally independent of Christian Heritage College and was
 no longer governed by its statement of faith.  This must be signed
 annually by all ICR staff and by its trustees.  According to the
 ICR's by-laws, it cannot be changed.  The statement of faith has
 two parts -- the "tenets of scientific creationism" and the "tenets
 of Biblical creationism."  Also reproduced is a portion of the "ICR
 educational philosophy" which appears in the Institute's Graduate
 School catalog.  My source is appendix G of the book cited in the
 preceding paragraph:


                ICR EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY

 The programs and curricula of the Graduate School, as well as the
 activities of other ICR divisions, while similar in factual content
 to those of other graduate colleges, are distinctive in one major
 respect.  The Institute for Creation Research bases its educational
 philosophy on the foundational truth of a personal Creator-God and
 His authoritative and unique revelation of truth in the Bible, both
 Old and New Testaments.

 This perspective differs from the evolutionary humanistic
 philosophy which has dominated most educational institutions for
 the past century, providing the most satisfying and meaningful
 structure of a consistently creationist and Biblical framework, and
 placing the real facts of science and history in the best context
 for effective future research and application.

 More explicitly, the administration and faculty of ICR are
 committed to the tenets of both scientific creationism and Biblical
 creationism as formulated below.  A clear distinction is drawn
 between _scientific creationism_ and _Biblical creationism_ but it
 is the position of the Institute that the two are compatible and
 that all genuine facts of science support the Bible.  ICR maintains
 that scientific creationism should be taught along with the
 scientific aspect of evolutionism in tax-supported institutions,
 and that both scientific and Biblical creationism should be taught
 in Christian schools.


                TENETS OF SCIENTIFIC CREATIONISM

 1)  The physical universe of space, time, matter and energy has not
 always existed, but was supernaturally created by a transcendent
 personal Creator who alone existed from eternity.

 2)  The phenomenon of biological life did not develop by natural
 processes from inanimate systems but was specially and
 supernaturally created by the Creator.

 3)  Each of the major kinds of plants and animals was created
 functionally complete for the beginning and did not evolve from
 some other kind of organism.  Changes in basic kinds since their
 first creation are limited to "horizontal" changes (variation)
 within kinds, or "downward" changes (e.g., harmful mutations,
 extinctions).

 4)  The first human beings did not evolve from an animal ancestry,
 but were specially created in fully human form from the start.
 Furthermore, the "spiritual" nature of man (self-image, moral
 consciousness, abstract reasoning, language, will, religious
 nature, etc.) is itself a supernaturally created entity distinct
 from mere biological life.

 5)  The record of earth history, as preserved in the earth's crust,
 especially in the rocks and fossil deposits, is primarily a record
 of catastrophic intensities of natural processes, operating largely
 within uniform laws, rather than one of gradualism and relatively
 uniform process rates.  There are many scientific evidences for a
 relatively recent creation of the earth and the universe, in
 addition to strong scientific evidence that most of the earth's
 fossiliferous sedimentary rocks were formed in an even more recent
 global hydraulic cataclysm.

 6)  Processes today operate primarily within fixed natural laws and
 relatively uniform process rates but, since these were themselves
 originally created and are daily maintained by their Creator, there
 is always the possibility of miraculous intervention in these laws
 or processes by their Creator.  Evidences for such intervention
 should be scrutinized critically, however, because there must be
 clear and adequate reason for any such action on the part of the
 Creator.

 7)  The universe and life have somehow been impaired since the
 completion of creation, so that imperfections in structure,
 disease, aging, extinctions, and other such phenomena are the
 result of "negative" changes in properties and processes occurring
 in an originally-perfect created order.

 8)  Since the universe and its primary components were created
 perfect for their purpose in the beginning by a competent and
 volitional Creator, and since the Creator does remain active in
 this now-decaying creation, there do exist ultimate purposes and
 meanings in the universe.  Teleological considerations, therefore,
 are appropriate in scientific studies whenever they are consistent
 with the actual data of observation, and it is reasonable to assume
 that the creation presently awaits the consummation of the
 Creator's purpose.

 9)  Although people are finite and scientific data concerning
 origins are always circumstantial and incomplete, the human mind
 (if open to the possibility of creation) is able to explore the
 manifestations of that Creator rationally and scientifically, and
 to reach an intelligent decision regarding one's place in the
 Creator's plan.


                TENETS OF BIBLICAL CREATIONISM

 1)  The Creator of the universe is a triune God -- Father, Son, and
 Holy Spirit.  There is only one eternal and transcendent God, the
 source of all being and meaning, and He exists in three Persons,
 each of whom participated in the work of creation.

 2)  The Bible, consisting of the thirty-nine canonical books of the
 Old Testament and the twenty-seven canonical books of the New
 Testament, is the divinely-inspired revelation of the Creator to
 man.  Its unique, plenary, verbal inspiration guarantees that these
 writings, as originally and miraculously given, are infallible and
 completely authoritative on all matters with which they deal, free
 from error of any sort, scientific and historical as well as moral
 and theological.

 3)  All things in the universe were created and made by God in the
 six literal days of creation week described in Genesis 1:1-2:3, and
 confirmed in Exodus 20:8-11.  The creation record is factual,
 historical, and perspicuous; thus all theories of origins or
 development which involve evolution in any form are false.  All
 things which now exist are sustained and ordered by God's
 providential care.  However, a part of the spiritual creation,
 Satan and his angels, rebelled against God after the creation and
 are attempting to thwart His divine purposes in creation.

 4)  The first human beings, Adam and Eve, were specially created by
 God, and all other men and women are their descendants.  In Adam,
 mankind was instructed to exercise "dominion" over all other
 created organisms, and over the earth itself (an implicit
 commission for true science, technology, commerce, fine art, and
 education) but the temptation by Satan and the entrance of sin
 brought God's curse on that dominion and on mankind, culminating in
 death and separation from God as the natural and proper
 consequence.

 5)  The Biblical record of primeval earth history in Genesis 1-11
 is fully historical and perspicuous, including the creation and
 fall of man, the curse on the creation and its subjection to the
 bondage of decay, the promised Redeemer, the worldwide cataclysmic
 deluge in the days of Noah, the post-diluvian renewal of man's
 commission to subdue the earth (now augmented by the institution of
 human government) and the origin of nations and languages at the
 tower of Babel.

 6)  The alienation of man from his Creator because of sin can only
 be remedied by the Creator Himself, who became man in the person of
 the Lord Jesus Christ, through miraculous conception and virgin
 birth.  In Christ were indissolubly united perfect sinless humanity
 and full deity, so that His substitutionary death is the only
 necessary and sufficient price of man's redemption.  That the
 redemption was completely efficacious is assured by His bodily
 resurrection from the dead and ascension into heaven; the
 resurrection of Christ is thus the focal point of history, assuring
 the consummation of God's purpose in creation.

 7)  The final restoration of creation's perfection is yet future,
 but individuals can immediately be restored to fellowship with
 their Creator, on the basis of His redemptive work on their behalf,
 receiving forgiveness and eternal life solely through personal
 trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, accepting Him not only as estranged
 Creator but also as reconciling Redeemer and coming King.  Those
 who reject Him, however, or who neglect to believe on Him, thereby
 continue in their state of rebellion and must ultimately be
 consigned to the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his
 angels.


 -Scott Faust
