After retiring from the military, Dr. Brown moved to the Chicago area and began giving creation seminars and debating evolutionists. He prepared strenuously for his seminars and debates. He always assumed that several people in the audience knew more about a topic than he did, and he didn’t want to disappoint them. He forced himself to be very broad because people would ask questions concerning the Bible, genetics, astronomy, physics, geology, or chemistry. Dr. Brown’s training as an engineer gave him the tools to explore many disciplines. Engineers ask questions and look for realistic solutions. By definition, engineering—sometimes called applied science—deals with making science useful to people. And that is exactly what Dr. Brown did in his seminars.
His main challenge was to present technical matters understandably to a general audience. He applied the same techniques he had used when he taught math and walked his students through complicated equations. He used demonstrations and simple thought experiments to get his points across.
Dr. Brown’s purpose in debating evolutionists is to try to get the real scientific evidence aired. A month ahead of time he sends a summary of everything he plans to say so that the evolutionist will be prepared. If necessary, Dr. Brown is willing to be embarrassed in a public forum if an opponent can catch him saying something wrong. Then he will be able to correct it, and his case is strengthened. Dr. Brown does not have contempt or disdain for those who believe in evolution. On the contrary, he has great compassion for them, because he was once in their shoes.
In his debates, he never uses the word prove. Unlike mathematics, science cannot prove something because all the evidence is not in. But he can raise or lower the plausibility of an idea. So the debate topic is simply “Does the scientific evidence favor evolution or creation?”
For seminars, Dr. Brown traveled across the United States and Canada driving a van and pulling a trailer full of seminar props. He received hundreds of invitations to speak at schools or on radio and television, but to save travel time, he generally accepted only those in the city hosting the seminar. One school appearance near Seattle was vigorously opposed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), an organization famous for its antibiblical efforts. His appearance generated a media ruckus throughout the western United States. When Dr. Brown showed up to speak and saw the reporters gathered, he smiled at the many TV cameras and said, “I want to thank the ACLU for doing such a good job of promoting this program.”
The seminar work was encouraging. Dr. Brown was surprised to see what an effective preevangelistic tool the creation science topic is for unbelievers. Many people have told him they had a real problem with origins, and they did not believe the Bible was credible. But the seminars removed those obstacles. For some, this confidence in the Bible leads to the understanding that Scripture is reliable and pertinent. For others, it leads to salvation.