Scriptural geologists
The Scriptural geologists were a movement of scientists and theolgians, 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
Throughout the vast majority of Christian and Jewish history, the dominant view was the earth was young, created roughly around 4000 B.C., and that the Great Flood in Genesis was a global and historical event.[1] 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.[1]
However, during the "Enlightenment," society stopped placing God's Word first, where it belongs.[1] They started replacing the clear biblical teaching of creation with a man-made belief in long ages.[1] Belief in long ages was not a new idea when Charles Darwin wrote his Origin of Species.[1]
The science of geology also developed during this time.[1] While some of the earliest geologists believed in a young earth, the old earth view soon took over.[2] During this time, many Christians, including scientists and geologists strongly opposed this trend and defended the biblical and scientific view of creation.[1]
References
- â 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Terry Mortenson, The 19th century scriptural geologists: historical background. creation.com. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
- â Mortenson, Terry (August 8, 2007). The Historical Development of the Old-Earth Geological Time-Scale. Answers in Genesis. Retrieved December 31, 2016.