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The '''scriptural geologists''' were a movement of scientists and theologians, primarily in [[Britain]], from roughly 1820-60 who defended a biblical, young earth view of origins against the old earth theories that were gaining popularity at the time.

The '''scriptural geologists''' were a movement of scientists and theologians, primarily in [[Britain]], from roughly 1820–60 who defended a biblical, young earth view of origins against the old earth theories that were gaining popularity at the time.

==Background==

==Background==

Throughout the vast majority of Christian and Jewish history, the dominant view was [[Young Earth Creationism|the earth was young]], created roughly around 4000 B.C., and that the [[Great Flood]] in Genesis was a global and historical event.<ref name="HBackground">Terry Mortenson, [http://creation.com/the-19th-century-scriptural-geologists-historical-background The 19th century scriptural geologists: historical background]. ''creation.com''. Retrieved December 31, 2016.</ref><ref name="Turpin"/> An extremely great number of Christian leaders throughout history, such as [[Basel the Great]], [[Augustine]], [[Martin Luther]], [[John Calvin]], and [[John Wesley]], believed in a young earth and/or a literal six-day creation.<ref name="HBackground"/><ref name="Turpin"/><ref>Beeke, Joel R. (October 2, 2017). [https://answersingenesis.org/age-of-the-earth/what-did-reformers-believe-about-age-earth/ What Did the Reformers Believe about the Age of the Earth?] ''Answers in Genesis''. Retrieved October 30, 2017.</ref>

Throughout the vast majority of Christian and Jewish history, the dominant view was [[Young Earth Creationism|the earth was young]], created roughly around 4000 B.C., and that the [[Great Flood]] in Genesis was a global and historical event.<ref name="HBackground">Terry Mortenson, [https://creation.com/the-19th-century-scriptural-geologists-historical-background The 19th century scriptural geologists: historical background]. ''creation.com''. Retrieved December 31, 2016.</ref><ref name="Turpin"/> An extremely great number of Christian leaders throughout history, such as [[Basel the Great]], [[Augustine]], [[Martin Luther]], [[John Calvin]], and [[John Wesley]], believed in a young earth and/or a literal six-day creation.<ref name="HBackground"/><ref name="Turpin"/><ref>Beeke, Joel R. (October 2, 2017). [https://answersingenesis.org/age-of-the-earth/what-did-reformers-believe-about-age-earth/ What Did the Reformers Believe about the Age of the Earth?] ''Answers in Genesis''. Retrieved October 30, 2017.</ref>

However, during the [[Enlightenment|"Enlightenment,"]] society stopped placing [[Bible|God's Word]] first, where it belongs.<ref name="HBackground"/> They started replacing the clear biblical teaching of creation with a man-made belief in long ages.<ref name="HBackground"/> Belief in long ages was not a new idea when [[Charles Darwin]] wrote his ''[[The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection|Origin of Species]]''.<ref name="HBackground"/> Additionally, [[theological liberalism]] developed in formerly orthodox denominations.

However, during the [[Enlightenment|"Enlightenment,"]] society stopped placing [[Bible|God's Word]] first, where it belongs.<ref name="HBackground"/> They started replacing the clear biblical teaching of creation with a man-made belief in long ages.<ref name="HBackground"/> Belief in long ages was not a new idea when [[Charles Darwin]] wrote his ''[[The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection|Origin of Species]]''.<ref name="HBackground"/> Additionally, [[theological liberalism]] developed in formerly orthodox denominations.

===Scriptural Geology in America===

===Scriptural Geology in America===

Martyn Payne published the most comprehensive geological treatise in America from the perspective that Noah's flood was a global historical reality.<ref>Physiology of the Soul and Instinct, as Distinguished from Materialism, M Paine - 1872 (this book is available on-line).[https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=xo8vS6QZ0zUC&oi=fnd&pg=PA17&dq=martyn+paine&ots=A9KxtIfNZc&sig=zGemhBsF8rWVGCVi21J2eVZzCog#v=onepage&q=martyn%20paine&f=false]</ref> Eleazer Lord performed earlier work on this new academic discipline.<ref>The Epoch of Creation: The Scripture Doctrine Contrasted with the Geological Theory, E Lord - 1851 (online).[https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=cJksAAAAYAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR2&dq=eleazar+lord&ots=1XhtyN3G9g&sig=l8IKLCBvnCwZk634Eb9l6H79X6M#v=onepage&q=eleazar%20lord&f=false]</ref>

Martyn Payne published the most comprehensive geological treatise in America from the perspective that Noah's flood was a global historical reality.<ref>Physiology of the Soul and Instinct, as Distinguished from Materialism, M Paine - 1872 (this book is available on-line).[https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=xo8vS6QZ0zUC&oi=fnd&pg=PA17&dq=martyn+paine&ots=A9KxtIfNZc&sig=zGemhBsF8rWVGCVi21J2eVZzCog#v=onepage&q=martyn%20paine&f=false]</ref> Eleazer Lord performed earlier work on this new academic discipline.<ref>The Epoch of Creation: The Scripture Doctrine Contrasted with the Geological Theory, E Lord - 1851 (online).[https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=cJksAAAAYAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR2&dq=eleazar+lord&ots=1XhtyN3G9g&sig=l8IKLCBvnCwZk634Eb9l6H79X6M#v=onepage&q=eleazar%20lord&f=false]</ref>

Eleazer Lord's brother David emphasized that past rates of geological activity were greater than at present (in 1857).<ref>Geognosy; or, The facts and principles of geology against theories, D Lord - 1857.[https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=T9w0AAAAMAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA5&dq=geognosy&ots=JO2kCYD4RH&sig=5zCIEuTeSOB9Rg2ygIefLUF0j2o#v=onepage&q=geognosy&f=false]</ref> The majority of present-day geologists accept this argument (even if they reject a Genesis Flood). Gordon in the 1877 Vedder Lectures for the students of Rutgers College and Theological Seminary praised the work of Martyn Payne. The Reformed Church in America published these in 1878.<ref>Science of Revealed Truth Impregnable as Shown by the Argumentative Failures of Infidelity and Theoretical Geology. WR Gordon, 1878.[https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=0V8NAQAAMAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA9&dq=vedder+lectures&ots=ttLBzmcqQT&sig=W7IFXKiPL_c499LMzd0y2RbDv70#v=onepage&q=vedder%20lectures&f=false]</ref>  Gordon challenged the faulty scriptural hermeneutics of British old earth geologist Hugh Miller.<ref>"The Testimony of the Rocks; or, geology in its bearings on the two theologies, natural and revealed" 1857.[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZhM-AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA522&dq=testimony+of+the+rocks&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiPsJys9cXVAhXHKCYKHZspBGQQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=testimony%20of%20the%20rocks&f=false]</ref> Geology being a new science in the 19th century, scholars trained in other fields pioneered the discipline.  For instance, Charles Lyell the founder of uniformitarian geology "the present is the key to the past" trained as a lawyer.  Payne, however, had scientific expertise as a leading medical scholar of the 19th century. Rodney Stiling negatively appraised the American Scriptural Geologists.<ref>Rodney Stiling, "Scriptural Geology in America" pp. 177-192. Livingstone, DG Hart, MA Noll (eds.) - 1999, Evangelicals and Science in Historical Perspective.[https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=_4K720YRj88C&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&dq=Evangelicals+and+Science+in+Historical+Perspective,+1999&ots=0VdoQg0wcy&sig=hdpk3fTueG2-hdTaxXz_uFIREJo#v=onepage&q=Evangelicals%20and%20Science%20in%20Historical%20Perspective%2C%201999&f=false]</ref>

Eleazer Lord's brother David emphasized that past rates of geological activity were greater than at present (in 1857).<ref>Geognosy; or, The facts and principles of geology against theories, D Lord - 1857.[https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=T9w0AAAAMAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA5&dq=geognosy&ots=JO2kCYD4RH&sig=5zCIEuTeSOB9Rg2ygIefLUF0j2o#v=onepage&q=geognosy&f=false]</ref> The majority of present-day geologists accept this argument (even if they reject a Genesis Flood). Prof. William Robert Gordon in the 1877 Vedder Lectures for the students of [[Rutgers]] College and Theological Seminary praised the work of Martyn Payne. He specifically mentioned the argument that past rates of geologic activity might have been greater than present processes. The Reformed Church in America published these in 1878.<ref>Science of Revealed Truth Impregnable as Shown by the Argumentative Failures of Infidelity and Theoretical Geology. WR Gordon, 1878.[https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=0V8NAQAAMAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA9&dq=vedder+lectures&ots=ttLBzmcqQT&sig=W7IFXKiPL_c499LMzd0y2RbDv70#v=onepage&q=vedder%20lectures&f=false]</ref>  Gordon challenged the faulty scriptural hermeneutics of British old earth geologist Hugh Miller.<ref>"The Testimony of the Rocks; or, geology in its bearings on the two theologies, natural and revealed" 1857.[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZhM-AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA522&dq=testimony+of+the+rocks&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiPsJys9cXVAhXHKCYKHZspBGQQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=testimony%20of%20the%20rocks&f=false]</ref> Geology being a new science in the 19th century, scholars trained in other fields pioneered the discipline.  For instance, Charles Lyell the founder of uniformitarian geology "the present is the key to the past" trained as a lawyer.  Payne, however, had scientific expertise as a leading medical scholar of the 19th century. Rodney Stiling negatively appraised the American Scriptural Geologists.<ref>Rodney Stiling, "Scriptural Geology in America" pp. 177-192. Livingstone, DG Hart, MA Noll (eds.) - 1999, Evangelicals and Science in Historical Perspective.[https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=_4K720YRj88C&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&dq=Evangelicals+and+Science+in+Historical+Perspective,+1999&ots=0VdoQg0wcy&sig=hdpk3fTueG2-hdTaxXz_uFIREJo#v=onepage&q=Evangelicals%20and%20Science%20in%20Historical%20Perspective%2C%201999&f=false]</ref>

===Views===

===Views===

Due to their upholding of the authority of Scripture, the scriptural geologists believed that the six days of creation were literal days, that the earth was created around 4000 B.C., and that the entire narrative of [[Genesis]] 1-11 was factual history.<ref name="HBackground"/><ref name="ThenAndNow">Johns, Warren H. (November 30, 2016). [https://answersingenesis.org/age-of-the-earth/scriptural-geology-then-and-now/ Scriptural Geology, Then and Now]. ''Answers in Genesis''. Retrieved December 31, 2016.</ref> They criticized old earth proponents for several reasons, including biblical and theological, logical, as well as scientific and geological.<ref name="HBackground"/>

Due to their upholding of the authority of Scripture, the scriptural geologists believed that the six days of creation were literal days, that the earth was created around 4000 B.C., and that the entire narrative of [[Genesis]] 1–11 was factual history.<ref name="HBackground"/><ref name="ThenAndNow">Johns, Warren H. (November 30, 2016). [https://answersingenesis.org/age-of-the-earth/scriptural-geology-then-and-now/ Scriptural Geology, Then and Now]. ''Answers in Genesis''. Retrieved December 31, 2016.</ref> They criticized old earth proponents for several reasons, including biblical and theological, logical, as well as scientific and geological.<ref name="HBackground"/>

While the scriptural geologists did not believe in long ages, they (unlike what secularists and evolutionists mistakenly believe of those who disagree with them) they fully supported the study of science and geology as long as the inerrant Bible was placed above man's ideas.<ref name="HBackground"/> Additionally, they argued respectfully rather than using faulty ''[[ad hominem]]'' attacks.<ref name="HBackground"/>

While the scriptural geologists did not believe in long ages, they (unlike what secularists and evolutionists mistakenly believe of those who disagree with them) they fully supported the study of science and geology as long as the inerrant Bible was placed above man's ideas.<ref name="HBackground"/> Additionally, they argued respectfully rather than using faulty ''[[ad hominem]]'' attacks.<ref name="HBackground"/>

==Decline and downfall==

==Decline and downfall==

The scriptural geologist movement started to decline when it began to compromise on important issues of the origins debate.<ref name="ThenAndNow"/> The decline started when George Bugg anonymously wrote his ''Scriptural Geology'' in 1826-27, which gave the name to the movement.<ref name="ThenAndNow"/> While ''Scriptural Geology'' appears to have been in line with biblical authority, an 1839 work by a "Biblicus Delvinus," who is believed to have been Bugg, showed considerable compromise, such as believing in a "pre-creation" earth.<ref name="ThenAndNow"/> In the 1850s, the scriptural geology movement started to diverge from biblical authority and the writings of previous scriptural geologists.<ref name="ThenAndNow"/>

The scriptural geologist movement started to decline when it began to compromise on important issues of the origins debate.<ref name="ThenAndNow"/> The decline started when George Bugg anonymously wrote his ''Scriptural Geology'' in 1826–27, which gave the name to the movement.<ref name="ThenAndNow"/> While ''Scriptural Geology'' appears to have been in line with biblical authority, an 1839 work by a "Biblicus Delvinus," who is believed to have been Bugg, showed considerable compromise, such as believing in a "pre-creation" earth.<ref name="ThenAndNow"/> In the 1850s, the scriptural geology movement started to diverge from biblical authority and the writings of previous scriptural geologists.<ref name="ThenAndNow"/>

While several theories exist on the decline and demise of the scriptural geology movement, the best theories are the compromise of biblical authority on the biblical account of creation for man's fallible ideas<ref name="ThenAndNow"/><ref>Johns, Warren H. (1975). [https://www.ministrymagazine.org/archive/1975/11/the-downfall-of-scriptural-geology The Downfall of Scriptural Geology]. ''Ministry Magazine''. Retrieved December 31, 2016.</ref> and the association of speculative fringe theories with no biblical or scientific support (which advocated the ex nihilo creation of fossils alongside the rest of the creation) with the movement as a whole.<ref name="ThenAndNow"/>

While several theories exist on the decline and demise of the scriptural geology movement, the best theories are the compromise of biblical authority on the biblical account of creation for man's fallible ideas<ref name="ThenAndNow"/><ref>Johns, Warren H. (1975). [https://www.ministrymagazine.org/archive/1975/11/the-downfall-of-scriptural-geology The Downfall of Scriptural Geology]. ''Ministry Magazine''. Retrieved December 31, 2016.</ref> and the association of speculative fringe theories with no biblical or scientific support (which advocated the ex nihilo creation of fossils alongside the rest of the creation) with the movement as a whole.<ref name="ThenAndNow"/>

With the exception of a small amount of scriptural geology writings (some of which continued to accept compromise on a pre-creation period), the scriptural geologists died out by about 1860.<ref name="ThenAndNow"/>

With the exception of a few scriptural geology writings (some of which continued to accept compromise on a pre-creation period), the scriptural geologists died out by about 1860.<ref name="ThenAndNow"/>

==Aftermath==

==Aftermath==

==Analysis==

==Analysis==

While numerous old earth creationists attempt to trace the beginnings of young earth creationism to [[Ellen White]] and the [[Seventh-day Adventists]], in reality the biblical position of a young earth and a six literal day creation has dominated Christian thought throughout most of history, and the scriptural geologists, who lived and wrote before White, are strong evidence of this.<ref name="Turpin">Turpin, Simon (December 29, 2016). [https://answersingenesis.org/reviews/articles/response-age-earth-plea-geo-chronological-non-dogmatism/ A Response to “The Age of the Earth: A Plea for Geo-Chronological Non-Dogmatism”]. ''Answers in Genesis''. Retrieved December 31, 2016.</ref>

While numerous old earth creationists attempt to trace the beginnings of young earth creationism to [[Ellen White]] and the [[Seventh-day Adventists]], in reality the biblical position of a young earth and a six literal day creation has dominated Christian thought throughout most of history, and the scriptural geologists, who lived and wrote before White, are strong evidence of this.<ref name="Turpin">Turpin, Simon (December 29, 2016). [https://answersingenesis.org/reviews/articles/response-age-earth-plea-geo-chronological-non-dogmatism/ A Response to “The Age of the Earth: A Plea for Geo-Chronological Non-Dogmatism”]. ''Answers in Genesis''. Retrieved December 31, 2016.</ref>

==References==

==References==