A Historic Conference on Providential History
July 28, 2006
Vision Forum’s History of the World Mega-Conference was the first of its kind. Its impact will continue to be felt by thousands over the years in shaping their understanding of this world and its history. —Dr. Joe Morecraft
They came from Australia and New Zealand and Japan, from Hawaii and Florida, and from Alaska and California to attend Vision Forum Ministries’ History of the World Mega-Conference this month. Nearly one thousand home educators, Christian school students, moms and dads, and children came to hear Dr. John Whitcomb, Dr. John Morris, Dr. George Grant, Col. John Eidsmoe, Dr. Paul Jehle, Dr. Floyd Jones, Dr. Joe Morecraft, Dr. Marshall Foster, the Honorable Howard Phillips, William Potter, and Geoff Botkin present sixty-eight lectures on diverse subjects covering more than six thousand years of earth history.
Dr. Joe Morecraft presented twelve
Christ-exalting lectures.
History of the World Mega-Conference speakers (left to right) Col. John Eidsmoe, William Potter, Dr. Paul Jehle, Geoff Botkin, Dr. Marshall Foster, Hon. Howard Phillips, and Doug Phillips
Doug Phillips opened the conference with “Six Thousand Years of Earth History in One Hour” — a panoramic presentation designed to dispel anti-Christian myths of historiography, establish a distinctively biblical grid for interpreting historical events, and cover, millennium by millennium, key themes in the rise and fall of civilizations. A fundamental principle emphasized by Phillips and all of the other speakers was the providence of God and His sovereign direction over every factoid of history.
Dr. Paul Jehle brought a millennium by millennium overview of Providential themes in world history.
Doug Phillips lectured on the "12 C’s of Earth History."
Four days and sixty-seven messages later, the History of the World Mega-Conference concluded. Though no one was able to attend all of the messages, a large percentage of the attendees left with a complete set of the CDs — the equivalent of six thousand years of earth history in a box. Some commented that the event was like a college degree in history condensed into one very intense, memorable, and life-changing week.
A Time of Fellowship for Families
Dr. John Whitcomb and Noah Botkin
Young ladies gathering for fellowship during a break at the History of the World Mega-Conference.
Over the years, one of the most encouraging testimonies which we often receive from those attending Vision Forum Ministries’ conferences is that the events provide a time of great refreshment and encouragement for Christian families to fellowship, renew their vision in Christ, and meet like-minded brothers and sisters. We thank the Lord that this theme was repeatedly echoed by attendees this last week in the context of the History of the World Mega-Conference.
The History of the World Mega-Conference provided young men and women with an opportunity to spend time with some of their favorite teachers and preachers. There were many opportunities for “lighter” moments as well.
Providence Proclaimed, False Philosophies Defrocked
Dr. Marshall Foster of the Mayflower Institute
Doug Phillips challenges Christians to think like
Hebrews and not like Greeks
The History of the World Mega-Conference was a milestone event in the history of Christendom. It drove a stake in the heart of the beast of modern secularism and historical theory. It also encouraged an intelligent army of believers that God is orchestrating all events, on their behalf, to spread the victorious Gospel of liberty from our homes, to our nation, and out to encompass the world. —Dr. Marshall Foster
At this year’s History of the World Mega-Conference, Dr. Marshall Foster of the Mayflower Institute brought hope, enthusiasm, and practical wisdom for building multi-generational family dynasties. He delivered a series of messages on the providence of God in American history, including a riveting keynote before a crowded auditorium entitled: “How Families Have Changed the World.” In a series of lectures which exposed the influence of Marxist thinking on modern textbooks and historiography, Geoff Botkin provided an enormously helpful foundation for students to think like Christian historians. With great precision, Dr. Floyd Jones defended the literal, historical, grammatical, no-gap hermeneutical view of earth chronology. Dr. John Morris thrilled the young men and ladies of the audience with a detailed report of his thirteen trips to the Mountains of Ararat in search of Noah’s Ark. He also rebutted evolutionary and racist views of the origin of the people groups and gave a helpful history of the Ice Age.
One of the greatest honors for all in attendance was the opportunity to hear eighty-two-year-old Dr. John Whitcomb (co-author of The Genesis Flood) bring a series of messages on the pre-flood world, the tower of Babel, the table of nations, and the necessity and implications of a universal Genesis flood. Dr. Whitcomb tackled controversial subjects like the origin and meaning of the Nephilim, and the theological and practical weakness of the Intelligent Design Movement.
Man of the Century Award
Dr. John Morris accepts the Man of the Century Award, presented by Doug Phillips
and Dr. John Whitcomb, to Dr. Henry Morris posthumously.
Different men are well suited to receive the moniker “Man of the Century.” One thinks of great men like Churchill and evil personages like Hitler, Stalin, and Margaret Sanger, any one of whom provided a unique and singular contribution to the twentieth century. As to the defining apologetic battle of the twentieth century — evolutionism — one man stands out for his principled efforts to defend orthodoxy and protect the church of Jesus Christ. That man is Dr. Henry Morris who posthumously received the Vision Forum Ministries award presented to his son, Dr. John Morris. The award came after a stirring speech from Dr. Whitcomb in which the sage theologian declared:
God used Henry Morris mightily in my life to help me to think through, analyze, evaluate, understand, and explain clearly, emphatically, repeatedly to people everywhere: the foundation of all of Scripture is what Christ the Lord did when He designed the world.
The award reads:
Man of the Century
In the Defense of the Faith
Dr. Henry Morris
(1918-2006)
Husband, Father, Scientist, Author, Educator,
Churchman, Apologist, Visionary
He raised an uncompromising standard and set the terms of
debate for the defining apologetic battle of the twentieth century.
Gratefully Presented by Vision Forum Ministries, July 12, 2006
Dr. John Morris offered the following response upon accepting the award:
It is a real privilege...to accept this award on behalf of my father. He’s with the Lord now, and for years he had his eyes fixed on the goal. He has realized it now, and we can be thankful. Thank you for this award, and thank Dr. Whitcomb. As I think back on The Genesis Flood and the movement they started with that book, I think of Dr. Whitcomb as I think of my father in the sense that both are such humble and godly men. They have this childlike faith in the Scriptures. They believe what it says, and it says what it means, and that’s where it goes. And there’s a lot of blanks to fill in, and there’s a lot of work to be done, but God has given us the framework within which we interpret all these things and apply them: in the education movement, in the scientific arena — in all these areas. And these are the kind of men that God chooses to use: humble, godly men who have a passion for the Word of God. Their fruit will last for eternity.
Christ, the Centerpiece of History
Captain John Smith’s map of Virginia
The Wedding of Pocahontas and John Rolfe
One of the most popular preachers and teachers at the History of the World Mega-Conference was Dr. Joe Morecraft, whose careful scholarship and passionate retelling of the lives of great Christian reformers deeply moved those in attendance. A hallmark of Dr. Morecraft’s teaching was the centrality of Christ to history and historical interpretation. Dr. Morecraft delivered a total of twelve messages including: “A Brief History of Martyrdom,” “Persecution and Inquisition,” “How Augustine Changed the World,” “How Augustine Changed the World II”, “How the Early Church Battled Heresy,” “The History of the English Church,” “The Meaning of the Incarnation for Earth History,” “The Problem with Medieval Scholasticism,” “What Every Christian needs to Know About the Reformation,” “The Global Influence of John Calvin,” “The Remarkable Life of Oliver Cromwell,” and “The Life of John Knox.”
In his keynote on the four hundredth anniversary in 2007 of the Christian founding of America, Doug Phillips presented the numerous examples of a distinctively Christian vision for law, evangelism, marriage, and culture birthed at Jamestown. He urged everyone to come to Jamestown in 2007 to be part of Vision Forum Ministries’ Christian celebration of God’s providence in our nation’s history.
Babylonians, Vikings, Mayans, Romans, and Muslims
Dr. George Grant lectures on Islam
and the Modern World
Col. John Eidsmoe speaking
on the history of the Vikings
An important theme of the History of the World Mega-Conference concerned the lessons of the pagan world, and their ongoing influence on the West. Col. John Eidsmoe spoke to an overflow audience on the history, culture, and legacy of the Vikings. In “A Terrifying Beauty: The Message of the Mayas,” Doug Phillips related the aesthetic and scientific excellence of a culture that raised children for the most grotesque forms of human sacrifice. He offered numerous lessons and comparisons to modern civilization and warned that apart from an all-consuming love for Christ and the restraining grace of God in culture, “ordinary men” are capable of extraordinary atrocities.
Dr. George Grant presented a series of power-packed messages which provided Christian students with a panoramic perspective on the most salient elements of the providential history of Rome: From the hope of the Republic, through the excess of the Empire, to the rise of Byzantium. He offered the perspective that great cultures that lack Christ are destroyed by their own success. Speaking to a packed audience, Dr. Grant also offered a series on the relationship of Islam and the West, making an apologetic for the strengths and weaknesses of the Crusades, and giving context to the present crisis with Islam in light of a millennia-old conflict between competing faiths.
Books, Battles, and Broken Philosophies
William Potter gave four lectures on the
Twenty Battles That Changed the World
William Potter demonstrated the ignorance of
books to the development of Western Civilization
Twenty epic battles were the subject of analysis and commentary by William Potter. From the massive sea wars of Ancient Greece, to the epic conquest of an entire Mayan empire by two hundred Spanish soldiers, to the horrors of the First World War, students received rich biblical insight into such subjects like “just war theory,” military strategy and ethics, and the impact of war on the providential direction of His church. One of the most popular lecturers during the History of the World Mega-Conference, Potter presented a four-part series giving a providential interpretation of twenty of the greatest military battles in history. Mr. Potter also presented a well-received lecture on the history of library and books. (Read a review by a thirteen year old here.)
Doug Phillips deconstructed Greek thinking in his message “Jerusalem and Athens” and explained the generational problem of rejecting “Hebrew” presuppositions about ethics and culture or syncretising Christianity with the Greco-Roman worldview.
In Conclusion
Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done (Isaiah 46:9-10).
From start to finish, attendees of the History of the World Mega-Conference heard this fundamental principle fleshed out across continents and kingdoms: that Christ is the “author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2) — that the history of the world is His Story.
May the insights shared about the last six thousand years prepare this generation to overcome in this new millennium.