Canada's first permanent museum dedicated to creationism opens its doors next Tuesday in rural Alberta.
The Big Valley Creation Science Museum, located in a village northeast of Calgary, sets out to show that the earth was created by God in six days about 6,000 years ago.
"Basically, we are pointing out that scientifically speaking, there is a lot of good evidence putting to a supernatural creation," said Ian Juby, a consultant to the museum.
The small museum, which cost $300,000 to build, is filled with displays of fossils and model DNA strands meant to support a literal interpretation of the Bible.
The Big Valley museum offers "a scientific and biblically based alternative to the evolutionary view of earth history as presented by the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller," according to its website.
The Royal Tyrrell Museum, a popular museum known for its collection of dinosaur fossils, is only 60 km away.
Juby created displays for the Big Valley museum with the assistance of the Creation Research Society, an organization committed to the idea of scientific creation.
"We have no problem with the dinosaurs, but dinosaurs have been kind of hijacked as some kind of evidence for evolution, even though it is no evidence," Juby said.
"Most people don't realize that it appears that the Bible refers to dinosaurs regularly. For instance, in the Bible it refers to dragons."
'Preposterous,' says paleontologist
Michael Caldwell, a vertebrate paleontologist from the University of Alberta, said Juby's explanations of the short history of the earth don't stand up to scrutiny.
"He is absolutely incorrect in saying he has demonstrable evidence that counters the evidence from science," Caldwell said.
Caldwell said he considers Juby's arguments "preposterous," but he doesn't see the Big Valley museum as much of a threat.
"There are lots of ideas out there just within the Christian community. This is simply one aspect — and what I would consider a bit more of a fringe side of the story — with its perspective that everything has to be interpreted literally against the Bible."
Harry Nibourg, the owner of the Big Valley museum, said he has offered to debate many scientists in Alberta and across Canada, but most have refused his request.
"They've got the right to be wrong," he said. "They don't have a leg to stand on and they're hoping to evolve one."
With files from the Canadian Press
