John Clement Whitcomb Jr. (June 22, 1924 – February 5, 2020) was an American
theologian
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
and
young Earth creationist
Young Earth creationism (YEC) is a form of creationism which holds as a central tenet that the Earth and its lifeforms were created by supernatural acts of the Abrahamic God between approximately 6,000 and 10,000 years ago. In its most widespr ...
. Along with
Henry M. Morris
Henry Madison Morris (October 6, 1918 – February 25, 2006) was an American young Earth creationist, Christian apologist and engineer. He was one of the founders of the Creation Research Society and the Institute for Creation Research. He is con ...
, he wrote ''
The Genesis Flood
''The Genesis Flood: The Biblical Record and its Scientific Implications'' is a 1961 book by young Earth creationists John C. Whitcomb and Henry M. Morris that, according to Ronald Numbers, elevated young Earth creationism "to a position of fund ...
'', which influenced many conservative American Christians to adopt
flood geology
Flood geology (also creation geology or diluvial geology) is a pseudoscientific attempt to interpret and reconcile geological features of the Earth in accordance with a literal belief in the global flood described in Genesis 6–8. In the ea ...
.
Biography
Whitcomb was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Salome Josephine (Fuller) and John Clement Whitcomb, an army officer. He lived in northern China between the ages of 3 and 6, and later attended
The McCallie School
The McCallie School is a boys college-preparatory school located on Missionary Ridge in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. The school was founded in 1905 and now has 250 boarding students in grades 9–12 and 669 day students in grades 6–12 ...
in
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...
.
[Dr. Whitcomb's Biosketch](_blank)
WhitcombMinistries.org. Accessed 2012-01-23. His education at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
was interrupted in 1943 when he was drafted into the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
and served in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
While at Princeton, he converted to
evangelical Christianity
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...
through the ministry of
Donald B. Fullerton
Donald B. Fullerton (July 6, 1892 – April 9, 1985) was a Christian missionary and teacher who founded the Princeton Christian Fellowship, called the Princeton Evangelical Fellowship until 2017, and served with it from 1931 until 1980. ...
and the
Princeton Christian Fellowship
The Princeton Christian Fellowship (PCF), formerly the Princeton Evangelical Fellowship (PEF), is a nondenominational Christian ministry at Princeton University whose purpose is "to help undergraduate and graduate students ... grow as believers a ...
. He studied historical geology and paleontology for a year and graduated in 1948 with honors in ancient and European history. Thereafter he enrolled at
Grace Theological Seminary
Grace Theological Seminary (GTS) is a conservative evangelical Christian seminary located in Winona Lake, Indiana. GTS is now part of Grace College & Seminary and is associated with Charis Fellowship, before 2018 known as the Fellowship of Grace B ...
in
Winona Lake, Indiana
Winona Lake is a town in Wayne Township, Kosciusko County, in the U.S. state of Indiana, and the major suburb of Warsaw. The population was 4,908 at the 2010 census.
Geography
Winona Lake is located at (41.220818, -85.817118). It is now contiguo ...
, where he earned a
B.D. degree in 1951, and remained at the seminary, teaching Old Testament and Hebrew, along with
Young Earth creationism
Young Earth creationism (YEC) is a form of creationism which holds as a central tenet that the Earth and its lifeforms were created by supernatural acts of the Abrahamic God between approximately 6,000 and 10,000 years ago. In its most widespre ...
.
In 1953, the
American Scientific Affiliation
The American Scientific Affiliation (ASA) is a Christian religious organization of scientists and people in science-related disciplines. The stated purpose is "to investigate any area relating Christian faith and science." The organization publi ...
(ASA) held its annual conference at Grace. Whitcomb was especially impressed by
Henry M. Morris
Henry Madison Morris (October 6, 1918 – February 25, 2006) was an American young Earth creationist, Christian apologist and engineer. He was one of the founders of the Creation Research Society and the Institute for Creation Research. He is con ...
' presentation defending
Flood geology
Flood geology (also creation geology or diluvial geology) is a pseudoscientific attempt to interpret and reconcile geological features of the Earth in accordance with a literal belief in the global flood described in Genesis 6–8. In the ea ...
against
day-age,
ruin-restoration and pictorial-day views. The two found that they shared a belief in a literal six-day creation and a global Flood.
Bernard Ramm
Bernard L. Ramm (1 August 1916 in Butte, Montana – 11 August 1992 in Irvine, California) was a Baptist theologian and apologist within the broad evangelical tradition. He wrote prolifically on topics concerned with biblical hermeneutics, religion ...
's book ''The Christian View of Science and Scripture'', which was published in 1954 and led to ASA rejection of Flood geology, impelled Whitcomb to devote his doctoral dissertation to rebutting Ramm and defending a literal interpretation of Genesis 6–9. Whitcomb polled Old Testament, archeology and apologetics scholars at evangelical schools, but although he found a wide range of viewpoints, he found little support for Flood geology. Whitcomb completed his dissertation on 'The Genesis Flood' in 1957 and successfully defended it at Grace Theological Seminary.
[Numbers (2006) p. 212–217]
Whitcomb set about preparing his dissertation for publication, and sought somebody with a PhD in science to check or write the chapters on the scientific aspects of the Flood, but found himself unable to find any "Ph.D.s in geology today who take Genesis 6–9 seriously." His work was viewed with disfavour even by Douglas A. Block, reputedly the only scientist at
Wheaton College who held to the idea of a global Flood, who stated:
Whitcomb accepted this criticism, being already aware that his inability to deal effectively with objections raised to Flood geology by ASA scientists was his "greatest weakness". He agreed to put off publication of the book to allow Morris to co-author chapters on scientific issues (including
radioactivity,
stratification
Stratification may refer to:
Mathematics
* Stratification (mathematics), any consistent assignment of numbers to predicate symbols
* Data stratification in statistics
Earth sciences
* Stable and unstable stratification
* Stratification, or str ...
and
uniformitarianism
Uniformitarianism, also known as the Doctrine of Uniformity or the Uniformitarian Principle, is the assumption that the same natural laws and processes that operate in our present-day scientific observations have always operated in the universe in ...
).
''The Genesis Flood'', published by Whitcomb and Morris in 1961, "became a best-seller in the
Fundamentalist
Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that is characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguishing ...
world and polarized Evangelical opinion", though it was ignored by all university scientists and liberal Christians. It was followed by the launch of the
Creation Research Society
The Creation Research Society (CRS) is a Christian fundamentalist group that requires of its members belief that the Bible is historically and scientifically true in the original autographs, belief that "original created kinds" of all living thin ...
in 1963 and of Morris'
Institute for Creation Research
The Institute for Creation Research (ICR) is a Creationist apologetics institute in Dallas, Texas, that specializes in media promotion of pseudoscientific creation science and interpretation of the Genesis creation narrative as a historical ...
in 1972.
Ken Ham
Kenneth Alfred Ham (born 20 October 1951) is an Australian Christian fundamentalist, young Earth creationist and apologist, living in the United States. He is the founder, CEO, and former president of Answers in Genesis (AiG), a Christian apolo ...
, the founder of
Answers in Genesis
Answers in Genesis (AiG) is an American fundamentalist Christian apologetics parachurch organization. It advocates Young Earth creationism on the basis of its literal, historical-grammatical interpretation of the Book of Genesis and the Bible ...
and the
Creation Museum
The Creation Museum, located in Petersburg, Kentucky, United States, is a museum that promotes a pseudoscientific, young Earth creationist (YEC) explanation of the origin of the universe based on a literal interpretation of the Genesis creat ...
near
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
, credited ''The Genesis Flood'' for "really launch
ngthe modern creationist movement around the world."
Whitcomb taught at Grace Theological Seminary's Old Testament and Christian Theology departments from 1951 to 1990. He was dismissed amid several theological controversies. Whitcomb attributes his dismissal to Dave Plaster prohibiting him attending a meeting of Conservative Grace Brethren Association (of which Whitcomb was a member) in
Orrville, Ohio
Orrville is a city in Wayne County, Ohio, United States. It is about 9 miles east of Wooster and 20 miles southwest of Akron. The population was 8,380 at the 2010 census.
The J.M. Smucker Co., owner of the Smucker's brand, is headquartered in ...
, in January 1990. Whitcomb went and upon his return was fired. He had shared concerns about theological drifts within the Seminary, especially in regards to Genesis 1.
[Personal interview with Dr. John C. Whitcomb in Indianapolis, IN on April 18, 2013 by Dr. Daniel J. Pritchett]
In 1992, he was part of a split from the
Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches
Charis Fellowship, known before 2018 as the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches, and before 1976 under the name of National Fellowship of Brethren Churches, is a theologically conservative fellowship of Brethren churches that was founded in 1939 ...
, the denominational home both of himself and Grace Seminary, forming the
Conservative Grace Brethren Churches, International {{portal, Christianity
Conservative Grace Brethren Churches, International (CGBCI) is a biblically conservative and fundamentalist group that separated from the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches in 1992.
In 1939 the ''National Fellowship of Br ...
. This occurred after the Conservative Grace Brethren Association (CGBA) had been denied a request to be a recognized as a Cooperating Agency with the FGBC at National Conference. Whitcomb held no official title within the organization.
Whitcomb and his wife Norma resided in
Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
. He served as President Emeritus of Whitcomb Ministries, Inc., and as a speaker for Answers in Genesis.
Whitcomb died at his home on February 5, 2020.
Notes
References
*
External links
Whitcomb MinistriesJohn Whitcomb: How did the human race begin?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitcomb, John C.
1924 births
2020 deaths
American Christian theologians
Clergy of Brethren denominations
American Christian Young Earth creationists
Flood geology
Writers from Indianapolis
Writers from Washington, D.C.
Princeton University alumni
Creation scientists
United States Army personnel of World War II