AIG's 'What About Carl Baugh?' Page

Note: This web page was originally authored by Dr. Don Batten of Answers in Genesis (AIG), a sister group of the Creation Science Foundation. The purpose was to answer often-asked questions regarding the teachings of Carl Baugh, a strict creationist who is perhaps best known for his Paluxy "man track" claims. AIG and CSF had installed this page as part of their own web site, but was asked to remove it by Eden Films, another creationist group with whom they share web space. AIG and CSF feel it is important to continue making this site available to the public. Therefore, they have gratiously allowed me to include this page as part of my Paluxy web site, and to update portions of the text to reflect information made available since the original AIG page was created. I do not share the young-earth position of AIG and CSF, but applaud their courage and forthrightness in dealing frankly and publicly with the serious problems in Carl Baugh's work and claims. The main AIG web site still available at
http://www.christiananswers.net/aig/aighome.html

Readers are invited to contact me or Carl Kerby, administrator of the AIG web site, with any questions of comments. Thank you.

Glen J. Kuban

Carl Baugh's Teaching

Recently Carl Baugh has been given considerable television exposure by American tele-evangelist Kenneth Copeland, and also appeared on a widely viewed NBC TV program entitled "Mysterious Origins of Man." The Creation Science Foundation (CSF) has had many calls from people who have seen the shows and suspect that some things are not quite right about Baugh's teaching.

It is with heavy heart that we criticise others who are presenting themselves as spokesman for creationism, but who are doing damage to the cause of Christ through ill-founded claims.

Some of Carl Baugh's more outlandish claims, contained in his videotape Panorama of Creation, are as follows:

1. Before the Flood, the earth was surrounded by hydrogen which was so cold it was metallic and this collapsed when God shouted. This is nonsense. It is impossible that such a surrounding cloud of hydrogen could ever be cold enough, especially in such proximity to the earth.
2. People could hear the 'singing' of the stars before the Flood. Apparently the metallic hydrogen (which could not have existed) enabled this to happen.
3. People could 'feel' the time before the Flood.
4. People can affect radioactive decay rates with their minds. There is absolutely no evidence for this.
5. Eggs do not hatch outside the earth's magnetic field. Baugh claimed that NASA did an experiment demonstrating this. Absolute nonsense.
6. Granites (which contain radioactive elements) are not exploding because they are in 'perfect balance'. However, radioactive elements do not normally 'explode' of course - that requires very special conditions which are not easy to arrange (if it were otherwise, every terrorist group would have atomic bombs!). Even pure radioactive elements will not 'explode', so the fact that granite does not has nothing to do with 'perfect balance' of the granite.
7. He argues that, in some way, radioactive minerals align themselves with the magnetic field, which is nonsense.
8. He says that people were smarter before the Flood, attributing this to a supposedly higher oxygen pressure. There is absolutely no evidence that high oxygen levels would make people more intelligent. He talked nonsense about 'four molecules of oxygen', linking this to his subsequent theories about oxygen saturation. Furthermore, there is no basis for his extravagant claims about the curative effects of high oxygen pressures - if it worked as he claims, paraplegics would be lining up to be treated (many hospitals have suitable hyperbaric chambers).

Baugh confuses many things. He confuses the pre-Flood and pre-Fall worlds in saying that there was no violence among animals 'before the Flood'. He confuses micro- and macro-evolution, getting them completely reversed.

Baugh exaggerates. For example, in discussing the Setterfield theory on slowing light, he says that it was calculated on 'the largest computer in Australia' (not true) and that scientists 'haven't been able to refute it'.

The latter claim ignores the voluminous criticisms from creationist scientists alone against Setterfield's idea. Few, if any, creationist scientists with proper research degrees in science would now support the theory, and many never supported the idea. In similar vein, Baugh promotes the 'canopy theory' as 'the creation model' when many creationist scientists have now abandoned the idea. Baugh makes a lot of use of words such as 'academically' to back up statements. For example, he says that 'parents are superior to children - this can be academically proved' (this is a no nsensical statement).

Checking the claims

CSF, as one of the major creationist organisations world-wide, wrote to Mr. Baugh two years ago asking for documentation regarding such astonishing claims as chlorophyll being found on a T. rex tooth, alleged tapes of Neil Armstrong, a NASA experiment showing that eggs do not hatch outs ide of a magnetic field, and a tomato plant that grew to 30 feet tall and produced 5,000 tomatoes when grown under light supposedly simulating pre-Flood conditions. The only reply we received had enclosed 'documentation' which was nothing of the sort.

Insert by Glen Kuban:

Baugh's "Man Track" Claims

Baugh is perhaps best known for his claims about "man tracks" and other "out-of-order" fossils from the Paluxy Riverbed of Glen Rose, Texas. Such claims have not stood up to close scientific scrutiny, and in recent years have been largely abandoned even by most creationists. Baugh's Paluxy claims have been among the least credible and most problematic, involving many ambigous and doctored markings promoted as clear human prints. He also has actively promoted several loose carvings as genuine prints, including The Burdick Print , which was featured in the recent NBC TV show. Detailed articles on the Paluxy controversy are found at:

http://paleo.cc/paluxy.htm

Misrepresented Credentials

Perhaps the most troublesome of Baugh's claims concerns his credentials. Baugh claims to have earned a Ph.D's in theology as well as advanvced degrees in several fields of science, yet there is no evidence that Baugh has any earned degrees whatsoever. For detailed discussion on this matter, please see the article A Matter of Degree. Although is is possible to do good work without advanced degrees, misrepresenting one's credentials is a serious matter which bears directly on one's basic honesty and integrity.

CSF is committed to the biblical account of Creation, the Fall and the Flood. We publish Creation magazine, Creation Ex Nihilo Technical Journal, books and videos, and are involved in running seminars and speaking around the world to promote the biblical world-view. We are positive about biblical creation, but we are negative about the spreading of misinformation in the name of Christ.

CSF is in fellowship with many creationist groups around the world. We are part of a world-wide network of qualified scientists who are work ing to understand the evidence in the light of the biblical account. All the creationist scientists that we have spoken to regard Mr. Baugh's teaching as a serious embarrassment.

Carl Baugh is a 'loner'. He does not interact with others in the mainstream creationist movement and so is not getting his ideas challenged and corrected.

Muddying the water?

It is sad that Carl Baugh will 'muddy the water' for many Christians and non-Christians. Some Christians will try to use Baugh's 'evidences' in witnessing and get 'shot down' by someone who is scientifically literate. The ones witnessed to will thereafter be wary of all creation evidences and even more inclined to dismiss Christians as nut cases not worth listening to.

Also, the Christian is likely to be less apt to witness, even perhaps tempted to doubt their own faith (wondering what other misinformation they have gullibly believed from Christian teachers). CSF ministers to strengthen the faith of Christians and equip them for the work of evangelism and, sadly, the long term effect of Carl Baugh's efforts will be detrimental to both.

We would much rather be spending all our time positively encouraging and equipping rather than countering the well-intentioned but misguided efforts of some like Carl Baugh, but we cannot stand idly by knowing people are being misled. Truth sets people free, not error!

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