In case you’re the discerning type of reader who has an interest in worldviews, here’s something that may provide a good indication of what yours is – how you react to Kentucky’s new full-size ark.

That’s right. Ken Ham and his team of Christian apologists at Answers in Genesis have constructed a real-life replica of Noah’s Ark known as the Ark Encounter. It features the largest timber frame building in the world, one constructed to the exact dimensions given for the ark in the Bible. I recently spent a few nights teaching a group of lively Vacation Bible Schoolers about this very subject, so let me put all those cubits from Genesis 6 in perspective: the Ark was about two school buses wide, a football field and a half long, and seven stories tall. Not quite the whimsical houseboat found in so many picture books, huh?

That point is emphasized at the new Ark attraction throughout its world-class exhibits, including one called the Fairy Tale Ark Display. Here’s how an opening-day visitor described it: “This was a simple room filled with children’s books about Noah’s Ark. At first I thought the room was going to be celebrating that the story is taught to children, but I quickly realized that the purpose of the room was actually to condemn the trivializing of the Noah’s Ark story. I was completely caught off guard by this display, and it really resonated with me. For the longest time, I’ve been amazed that a story about the destruction of the world was often told as a children’s story.”

But what resonates with one person, evidently grates on the nerves of another. The Ark Encounter has quickly become a center of controversy, largely because of its unabashedly religious focus. Dozens of protesters staked out along the ark’s I-75 exit ramp on opening day, providing proof that an ark park wasn’t welcomed by everyone.

Among the Ark’s most vocal opponents is Bill Nye (as in Bill Nye the Science Guy). You may recall that Nye and Ham have clashed before.  In 2014, Nye agreed to participate in a public debate with Ham at Answers in Genesis’ Creation Museum. Tickets sold out in minutes and millions of people tuned in to watch via live streaming.

Fast forward to the July 2016 opening of the Ark and an invitation extended to Nye to visit, which he accepted. While exploring the Ark, the famed children’s television host was given a personal tour of the 120,000-square-foot structure by Ham. An impromptu debate ensued. Nye’s main gripe? Exhibits encourage visitors to trust faith over science, something he says “undercuts their ability to engage in critical thinking.”

And critical thinking, according to Nye and others like him, always involves a belief in evolution and an absence of faith, right?

“Bill challenged me about the content of many of our exhibits, and I challenged him about what he claimed and what he believed,” Ham later wrote on Facebook about the visit. “It was a clash of worldviews.”

Ham is pretty good at handling clashing worldviews. I first heard him speak in Mississippi State’s Humphrey Coliseum 12 years ago, and his Aussie accent and commanding grasp of genetics were enough to keep me, a tired mom without a single scientifically-inclined bone in my entire body, interested for hours. My worldview was rocked.

Answers in Genesis supporters say their hope is the stunning 21st-century Ark will serve as a reminder that God’s Word is true – every cubit of it.  I see it as a bold Jude 3 example of contending for the faith in a culture that resembles that of Noah more each day. May the visitors flood in.

Wesson resident Kim Henderson is a freelance writer who writes for The Daily Leader. Contact her at kimhenderson319@gmail.com.