The Creation Museum, located in Petersburg, Kentucky, United States, is a museum that promotes a pseudoscientific form of<!-- Please do not remove the word "pseudoscientific". There is a longstanding consensus to use that word here. If you disagree, please discuss it on the talk page. --> young Earth creationism (YEC), portraying the origin of the universe and life on Earth based on a literal interpretation of the Genesis creation narrative of the Bible. It is operated by the Christian creation apologetics organization Answers in Genesis (AiG).
The museum cost 27 million, raised through private donations, and opened on May 28, 2007. In addition to the main collection, the facility has a special effects theater, a planetarium, an Allosaurus skeleton and an insect collection. As the headquarters of AiG, the museum has approximately 300 employees, and permanent employees must sign a statement of faith affirming their belief in AiG's principles.
Reflecting young-Earth creationist beliefs, the museum depicts humans and dinosaurs coexisting, portrays the Earth as approximately 6,000 years old, and disputes the theory of evolution. Scientists, educators, and theologians have criticized the museum for misrepresenting science and expressed concerns that it could harm science education, and even some Christians have expressed concern that its rejection of scientific consensus could damage the credibility of Christianity and its adherents. Tenets of young-Earth creationism enjoy substantial support among the general population in the United States, however, contributing to the museum's popularity.
Background
The Creation Museum portrays a literal interpretation of the creation narrative from the Book of Genesis in the Bible using creation science, a pseudoscientific form of young Earth creationism (YEC). It is owned and operated by Answers in Genesis (AiG), a creation apologetics organization. According to the AiG website, the purpose of the museum is to "exalt Jesus Christ as Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer", to "equip Christians to better evangelize the lost", and to "challenge visitors to receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord". AiG founder Ken Ham said: "We're not out to convert people to believing in Intelligent Design. We're not out to convert people to not believe in evolution. And we're not out to just convert people to being Creationists. We're Christians."
YEC, the belief that the God of the Bible created the Universe and everything in it in six 24-hour days, approximately 6,000 years ago, contradicts the scientific consensus that the Earth is approximately 4.5 billion years old and that living organisms come into being by descent from common ancestors through evolution. A similar poll conducted by Pew Research Center in 2016 found that 35% of Americans agreed with the statement "humans and other living things have existed in their present form since the beginning of time".