Dr. Terry Mortenson | Historian of Geology, Theologian, Speaker, Author, Researcher

Education

PhD, History of geology, Coventry University, Coventry, England, 1996
MDiv, Systematic theology, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois, USA, 1992
BA, Math, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, 1975

Testimony

Terry grew up in a church-going family. But it wasn’t until the spring of 1972 during his first year at university that he trusted Christ as his Lord and Savior through the witness of a staff member of Campus Crusade for Christ. A few weeks later he encountered two books by Henry Morris and Duane Gish exposing the lie of evolution and millions of years and from then on started reading everything he could on the subject.

During his summer assignment on Campus Crusade staff in 1979 he heard a lunch-time lecture on creation and evolution by John Baumgardner (before John had studied for his PhD in geophysics and became a well-known creation scientist). Terry asked John if he could purchase a copy of his 35mm slides and the manuscript of his lecture. Armed with this resource, Terry started speaking on the subject. During his nearly ten years of covert missionary work in communist Czechoslovakia (1980–1989), he had only one opportunity to give that lecture, but it and the slides were translated into Czech and used by others in the country. Over the years Terry continued to study the scientific evidence in confirmation of the truth of Genesis.

Having read a lot of creationist scientific literature over the previous 15+ years, while he was in seminary (1989–1992) he used every course he could to deepen his understanding of the biblical and theological side of the origins debate and his ability to refute various compromise views in the church. He also had a few opportunities to speak on the subject. His PhD studies (1992–1996) gave him time to study more deeply the historical and philosophical roots of this controversy and to speak in a few schools and churches. During these years Answers in Genesis also became aware of his research, which later led to an invitation to join AiG staff as a speaker.

After receiving his PhD in 1996 he moved his growing family to Hungary where he served on a Campus Crusade team providing biblical and theological education for Campus Crusade staff all over Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. In the courses he taught he had many more opportunities to teach and defend the truth of Genesis 1–11 and was also able to give some public lectures in secular universities in a number of those countries. Just before he left Campus Crusade to join AiG in 2001, he had his first formal debate with an evolutionist—the head of the biology department at the University of Tirana in Albania.
Professional Experience

Lecturer, writer, researcher, Answers in Genesis, Hebron, Kentucky, 2001–present
Instructor, Institute for Biblical and Theological Studies, Budapest, Hungary, 1996–2001
Research staff, Campus Crusade for Christ, Coventry University, Coventry, England, 1992–1996
Seminary staff, Campus Crusade for Christ, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois, 1989–1992
Country director, Campus Crusade for Christ, Czechoslovakia, 1979–1989
Campus director at Moorhead State University, Campus Crusade for Christ, Moorhead, Minnesota, 1977–1979
Campus staff at Purdue University, Campus Crusade for Christ, West Lafayette, Indiana, 1975–1977

Professional Affiliations

Evangelical Theological Society, 1996–present

Personal Information

Like most people, Dr. Mortenson grew up in an education system that taught evolution as fact. During his first year at the University of Minnesota (where he majored in math) and shortly after becoming a Christian, he began to see the fallacy of the idea of millions of years of evolution.

With a PhD in history of geology from Coventry University in England and an MDiv from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, Dr. Mortenson has lectured on the creation-evolution controversy in 25 countries since the late 1970s. He has spoken in homes, churches, schools (primary, middle and secondary), secular universities, Bible colleges, and seminaries. Several of his popular lectures have been produced as DVDs and as TV programs. He has also participated in seven formal debates with PhD evolutionary scientists in secular venues in four countries.

He is the author of numerous magazine and journal articles and several book chapters.

He is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society, has presented seven creation-related papers at ETS annual meetings, and spearheaded the formation of the “Creation” study group sessions at the ETS annual meeting beginning in 2008. Since that same year he has also helped to lead annual by-invitation-only, seven-day rafts trips down the Colorado River through Grand Canyon for more than 180 seminary and Christian college professors and other key Christian leaders from over 90 institutions and 10 countries.

Terry and his wife, Margie, have been happily married since 1976 and have 5 daughters, 3 sons, and 11 grandchildren.

“Creation in the 21st Century” episodes with guest Dr. Terry Mortenson