On February 25, Dr. Henry Morris died in a San Diego convalescent hospital after suffering a series of minor strokes.
The origins of the modern Creationist movement in the USA can be traced to the publication of his first major work (with John C. Whitecombe), The Genesis Flood, in 1961. A hydraulic engineer by background, the book argued that any attempt to diminish the biblical account of a global flood does so at the expense of sound hermeneutics and biblical orthodoxy. It also sought to provide a working model of biblical ‘catastrophism’ rather than the uniformitarianism of geological changes usually adopted until then.
He received his bachelor of science degree from Rice University Houston in 1939, and a doctorate from the University of Minnesota in 1950 and became head of department at Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1959. He was joint founder with nine others of the Creation Research Society. He was also a keen enthusiast for home-schooling and Christian education.
His character as a Christian is underlined by his friend, Douglas Philips, who has written: ‘Dr. Morris was dismissed and misinterpreted by many people. Through all this he remained a gentleman and a scholar, never responding in kind, no matter how vitriolic and ungentlemanly the tactic of his opponent. He was always the best man in the room. Those who knew him heard him pray for his enemies and speak of them with charity and hope.’
