Introductory

Commercial movies come and go and many are soon forgotten. Of those movies that I saw as a university student, there is only one that I remember. Inherit the Wind was the lesser feature on a double bill in a small theatre in Quebec. But the content packed a powerful message! The story line was about a trial involving Christian townsfolk in an American town who were ignorant and boorish, as opposed to evolution supporting educators there who were informed and civilized. Everyone understood that the movie claimed to portray an actual event, the Scopes Trial of July 1925 in Dayton, Tennessee. Thus, we reflect on the centenary of this trial which some claim represents the most significant trial of the century. What was it all about, and what is its legacy?

Back in the days when television was new to North American society, there was a show called Perry Mason. This featured a lawyer who specialized in courtroom drama. In predictable fashion, Mr. Mason set out to defend an accused person, but the facts of the case looked very discouraging for the defendant. However, thanks to great sleuthing by Perry Mason’s two assistants, some important new details were discovered. In the courtroom, as the show drew toward a close, Mr. Mason triumphantly asked a witness, “Isn’t it true that ….?” And some new facts were revealed which changed the whole story. Everyone was all smiles when the defendant was exonerated. The point is that partial information can lead to wrong conclusions.

Once a qualified and interesting scientist has agreed to headline our next Creation Weekend, the members of CSAA’s executive have the fun task to choose which presentations will be featured. Every speaker has a menu of titles, but not all of them can be accommodated in one weekend. Choosing the line up of presentations is no easy task. Each member has different preferences and some choices were more recently presented than others. Nevertheless, year after year, the actual material presented fits together beautifully and seems to be the best of possible choices. So it was again this year that our speaker’s three lectures were stimulating, upbuilding and interesting.

Everyone knows that there are amazing phenomena in the natural world which are totally unexpected. Consider, for example, the male horseshoe crab whose eyes are one million times more sensitive to light at night than during the day. Shakespeare referred to such situations when he had Hamlet declare: “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, then are dreamt of in your philosophy.” (Act 1 Scene 5)

In that context, would you believe that there is a night flying moth that migrates long distances using the night sky for its navigation system? Let’s see what that moth would need to achieve this:

Most youngsters are enthusiastic about dinosaurs such as Stegosaurus, Triceratops and the gigantic four-footed sauropods like Camarasaurus. However, of course, it is T. rex that everybody loves! But grown up scientists (palaeontologists) love T. rex too. Many have published studies on this dinosaur. These works include ideas about species diversity, ecological networks, biogeography and other issues such as what caused the extinction of dinosaurs.

The Creation Science Association of Alberta (CSAA) is pleased to announce that Dr. Mark Horstemeyer, Distinguished Professor of Engineering at Liberty University (USA), will be our speaker at Creation Weekend 2026. The sessions will begin on Friday evening, October 23, and continue on Saturday, October 24. Over the years, many of the speakers featured at the CSAA’s Creation Weekend have been well-qualified scientists with a wide range of expertise in different fields such as geology, biology, and paleontology. This year we are grateful to have Dr. Horstemeyer speak to us about God’s amazing creation through the lens of an engineer.

Sometimes we encounter natural events that leave us amazed and reflecting on how beautiful the creation is that God has provided for us to enjoy. It so happened that some friends were on a plane heading to Hawaii early in June. Two years of planning had come together to allow them to be heading to Maui to celebrate a milestone in their lives. Suddenly out of the plane’s window they spotted two very bright spots of light in the night sky. This was a conjunction (apparent close approach) in the sky of the planets Venus and Jupiter. The planets were incredibly bright, and easily spotted with the naked eye. The smaller planet, Venus is about seven times brighter than Jupiter, but the latter is much larger. What a wonderful sight that was! Our friends were just days away from the best night to view this event.

Rats have the worst reputation of any known mammal. The reasons are many. Rats are often found in filthy places such as garbage dumps or sewers where they come to search for food.  Worse, rats serve as disease vectors, causing the plague, more accurately, the fleas on them cause disease. The Black Death killed as many as 50 million persons in Europe in the 1600s, wiping out as much as 60 percent of the existing population. Not surprisingly, people often demonstrate a visceral reaction to a rat’s hairless tail and feet.

Creation Weekend 2026
God: the Ultimate Engineer

Featured Speaker:
Dr. Mark Horstemeyer
Distinguished Professor of Engineering, Liberty University, Lynchburg, Virginia

Friday, October 23 & Saturday, October 24, 2026

at Providence Canadian Reformed Church
(12905 – 122 Ave. NW, Edmonton, Alberta)

Schedule:
Friday at 7:00 PM
Noah’s Ark, Testament to Excellent Engineering

Saturday at 10 AM
Engineers who Believed in God

Saturday at 11:30 AM
CSAA AGM

Saturday at 1:15. PM
Creationeering the Geosphere