Creationism

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Creationism is the belief that the Earth and everything in it was created by God or some other supreme being. Those that hold the views of Creationism are referred to as Creationists.[1] Young earth creationists scientists also believe that the first law of thermodynamics and second law of thermodynamics argue against an eternal universe and they also claim that these laws point to the universe being supernaturally created. [2][3][4]

Creationist categories

There are multiple different overarching categories and subcategories within the realm of Creationism, this list is not meant to be exhaustive but to deal with only the notable ones.

  • Biblical Young Earth Creationists generally accept a literal or nearly literal interpretation of Genesis and insist that the world is around 6000 years old. Traditionally, Judaism supported young earth creationism.[5] In addition, a majority of the early church fathers supported the young earth creationist view.[6]
  • Old Earth Creationists do not take the Bible's creation account literally in regard to the days of creation, and agree with the idea that the age of the earth is around 4.5 billion years but generally do not accept the idea that all life on earth evolved from a common ancestor. Old Earth Creationists generally interpret the Bible by suggesting that the days in chapter one of Genesis were not 24 hour days or by inserting gaps between various verses in the Bible. There is no general agreement among Old Earth Creationists on whether or not there was a global flood. Dr. Norman Geisler wrote that "both young- and old-earthers who are evangelical hold to the historicity of the Genesis account: They believe that Adam and Eve were literal people, the progenitors of the entire human race." [7]
  • The Omphalos argument first expounded in a book titled Omphalos by Philip Henry Gosse (1857), argues that the universe was created young but with the appearance of age, much as Adam must have appeared to be fully grown even when he was but a single day in chronological age. The theological objection to this argument is found in Romans 1:20 when Paul declares that the nature of God can be discerned by observing the universe, "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead...". If the Omphalos argument is true, then not only is our evidence of the universe's great age untrustworthy, but the God revealed by examining this cosmic deception is untrustworthy as well.


Dr. Norman Geisler stated that "Both young- and old-earthers believe that God supernaturally, directly and immediately produced every kind of animal and human as separate and genetically distinct forms of life." [8]

Within creationism, there are various ideas. Young Earth Creationism is the "Belief in the literal interpretation of the account of the creation of the universe and of all living things related in the Bible."[9]

Creationism (especially the most literal forms) conflicts with the Theory of evolution.[10] Not all Christian denominations embrace creationism with the literal Genesis interpretations. Many non-Christian sects believe in a form of creationism, including American Indian religions, Hindus, and the Classical Greek and Egyptian polytheistic religions.



Controversy

Creationism and Intelligent Design

Believers in the Abrahamic faiths believe that the the natural world has been designed by God. Recently, there has been articles which were favorable to the intelligent design position in scientific journals which traditionally have favored the macroevolutionary position.[11] Believers in the Abrahamic faiths have points of agreement and disagreement with the intelligent design movement. They agree that the natural world has an intelligent cause and was designed but some also believe that the intelligent design movement divorces the Creator from creation by not explicitly stating that the cause of creation is a supernatural being and also failing to state explicitly who that supenatural being is.[12]

There is considerable disagreement on whether or not Intelligent Design amounts to a form of creationism and if so, where to place it in comparison to the other forms of creationism. This is due to the concept having many different definitions and proponents espousing different ideas.

For example, one major proponent of Intelligent Design is Young Earth Creationist Paul Nelson, while Michael Behe, another major proponent, accepts common descent. William Dembski has stated unequivocally that Intelligent Design is not theistic evolution and they should not be considered the same[13]. Dembski has also asserted that Intelligent Design is the Logos in terms of information theory[14], while Dembski and others have given other definitions that do not include any specific theological references. Arguably, intelligent design can be summarized as the notion that at some point in the past, in some way, some entity (possibly God) created life, or altered life at some point, or created the universe to be compatible with life.

Behe and others have stated that Intelligent Design is not religious in nature but in the Dover trial, Judge John E. Jones III, a Republican and a US Federal District Judge, ruled as a one of his findings that Intelligent Design was essentially religious in nature. The opinion met with wide accolades, but some criticism that it borrowed too heavily from the ACLU's briefs. [15] Nonetheless, it has been embraced by the legal community, and has quickly become the subject of renewed scholarship on the scope of the First Amendment.[16]


Adherents and Opponents of Creationism

Young Earth Creationism is a subset of Creationism most commonly found among members of the Abrahamic faiths, especially Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Most young earth creationists believe that most of the book of Genesis (including the creation accounts) is a straightforward narrative meant to be understood literally.[17]

Traditionally, Judaism supported young earth creationism.[18] In addition, a majority of the early church fathers supported the young earth creationist view.[19] While Young Earth Creationism is prominent in many conservative Protestant denominations, theologically liberal Protestant and Jewish denominations generally reject it.[20][21][22] The Roman Catholic Church has a cautiously positive view of the theory of evolution. [23][24] Orthodox Judaism currently has diverse opinions regarding young earth creationism.[25] Ultra-Orthodox Judaism accepts young earth creationism.[26] Islam has a variety of opinions regarding creationism and the theory of evolution. [27]Atheists do not believe in young earth creationism and a vast majority of the most prominent and vocal defenders of the evolutionary position since World War II have been atheists.[28][29] While agnostics do not believe in young earth creationism there have been some notable statements of skepticism regarding the theory of evolution from agnostics.[30][31] On the other hand, Charles Darwin and Thomas Huxley were both staunch proponents of the theory of evolution and they both stated that they were agnostics. [32][33]

See also

External links

Young Earth Creationist Organizations

Old Earth Creationists

Reasons To Believe, an Old Earth Creationist Ministry

References and Footnotes

  1. ↑ "creationist." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 21 Mar. 2007. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/creationist>.
  2. ↑ Evidences for God From Space—Laws of Science
  3. ↑ Thompson, Bert, So Long, Eternal Universe; Hello Beginning, Hello End!, 2001 (Apologetics Press)
  4. ↑ http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/AstroPhysicalSciences14.html
  5. ↑ [1]
  6. ↑ [2]
  7. ↑ http://www.johnankerberg.org/Articles/science/SC0305W3.htm
  8. ↑ http://www.johnankerberg.org/Articles/science/SC0305W3.htm
  9. ↑ American Heritage Dictionary
  10. ↑ [3]
  11. ↑ http://www.discovery.org/scripts/viewDB/index.php?command=view&id=2640
  12. ↑ http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v1/n1/intelligent-design-movement
  13. ↑ What every theologian should know about creation, evolution, and design Center for Interdisciplinary Studies Transactions 3(2), William Demsbki
  14. ↑ [4] Signs of Intelligence: A Primer on the Discernment of Intelligent Design Touchstone Magazine, Volume 12, Issue 4 July-August 1999
  15. ↑ [5]
  16. ↑ Richard B. Katskee, "Religion in Public Schools," 5 First Amend. L. Rev. 112 (2006)
  17. ↑ Grigg, Russell, Should Genesis be taken literally? Creation 16(1):38–41, December 1993.
  18. ↑ James-Griffiths, James,Creation days and Orthodox Jewish tradition Creation 26(2):53–55, March 2004.
  19. ↑ Bradshaw, Robert I., Creationism & the Early Church, chapter 3, The Days of Genesis 1.
  20. ↑ Morris, Henry, Old-Earth Creationism Back to Genesis April 1997.
  21. ↑ What Conservative Protestants Believe (beliefnet).
  22. ↑ Jarvik, Elaine, Beliefs on Darwin's evolution vary from religion to religion Deseret Morning News 19 January 2006.
  23. ↑ http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2007-04-11-pope-evolution-creation_N.htm
  24. ↑ Heneghan, Tom, Catholics and Evolution: Interview with Cardinal Christoph Schönborn (beliefnet).
  25. ↑ Rabbinical Council of America, Creation, Evolution, and Intelligent Design.
  26. ↑ Winnick, Pamela R.,Evolutionary War Toledo City Paper, March 7 2002.
  27. ↑ http://www.irfi.org/articles/articles_151_200/muslim_responses_to_evolution.htm
  28. ↑ Batten, Don, A Who’s Who of evolutionists Creation 20(1):32 December 1997.
  29. ↑ http://www.creationists.org/nas.html
  30. ↑ Woodward, Thomas E., Doubts About Darwin (Apologetics Press).
  31. ↑ Agnostic Philosopher Caught in Conspiracy to Question Darwinism Evolution News & Views, (Discovery Institute).
  32. ↑ http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/1025
  33. ↑ http://www.arn.org/docs/odesign/od171/desmond171.htm
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