Difference between revisions of "Young Earth Creationism"

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[[Image:Michelangelo creation-of-sun-and-moon.jpg|right|alt=Young earth creationism|thumb|300px|[[Michelangelo|Michelangelo's]] painting of the creation of the [[Sun]] and [[Moon]].]]
 
'''Young Earth Creationism''', sometimes abbreviated ''YEC'',<ref>"YEC", can refer to Young Earth Creationist or Young Earth Creationism.  "YECs" refers to Young Earth Creationists.</ref> is a form of [[creationism]] which holds that the [[earth]] and the [[universe]] are approximately 6,000 years old.<ref>Sarfati, 1999, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3837 Chapter 8, How old is the earth?].</ref><ref>Sarfati, 1999, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3836 Chapter 7, Astronomy] of Refuting Evolution.</ref>
 
  
Young earth creationists hold that both creation and the [[Evolution|evolutionary position]] are at root tied to [[worldview]]s, and because they are both claims about historical (or prehistorical) events, they depend on untestable assumptions.  At the same time, young earth [[Creation Science|creation scientists]] argue that the young universe view is the explanation that best fits the evidence.
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'''Young Earth creationism''' (abbreviated to '''YEC''') is the belief that our planet and universe were [[creationism|created]], from nothing, in six days<noinclude> (usually defined as six consecutive  days consisting of twenty-four hours each)</noinclude>, approximately 6,000 years ago, by the God of the Abrahamic religions ([[Christianity]], [[Judaism]] and [[Islam]]). Adherents of young Earth creationism are known as "young Earth creationists", or simply YECs.
  
Most other scientists regard young earth creationism as being unscientific.  Many do so because they believe that things such as [[radiometric dating]] and [[biology|biological]] observations have disproved it, and/or for ideological reasons. In addition, these scientists may not be aware of the many [[anomaly|anomalies]] associated with the old earth/universe position.
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This belief derives from a [[Biblical literalism|literal]] interpretation of a conflation of the two [[Creation Week|creation stories]] in the [[The Bible|Biblical]] book of [[Genesis]].<ref>[http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/k/kjv/kjv-idx?type=DIV1&byte=1477 Genesis ''King James Bible version'']</ref>
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This means young Earth creationists believe the six days described in Genesis were standard 24-hour days and consequently they reject [[Evidence against a recent creation|all scientific evidence]] demonstrating the earth is older than this and the various attempts to reconcile genesis with science, such as Day-Age theory.
  
== Beliefs ==
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A [[fundamentalism|firm]] belief in the biblical [[Global flood|worldwide flood]] and the story of [[Noah's Ark|Noah]] is also a cornerstone of young Earth creationism. The flood is used by proponents of YEC to explain almost all observations that scientists have interpreted as pointing to a significantly older Earth.
  
=== Biblical ===
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Creationists who believe in an older earth are called [[Old Earth Creationism|old earth creationists]]. This is marginally less in conflict with science.
Young Earth creationism generally takes the following positions regarding the biblical book of [[Genesis]]:
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* Creation took place over a period of six ordinary (solar/24-hour) days, with God then "resting" on the seventh day.
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* This creation, described in Genesis as "good" and "very good", was without flaw or defect.
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* All people are descended from the first couple, [[Adam]] and [[Eve]].
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* Adam and Eve [[sin]]ned, leading to their expulsion from the [[Garden of Eden]].
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* A global [[Great Flood|Noachian flood]] occurred, destroying all land-based, air-breathing life, except that on the [[Ark]].
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* The dispersal of humanity was caused by God after the [[Tower of Babel]]. <ref>[http://www.christiananswers.net/q-abr/confusionoflanguages.html Is there any reference to the confusion of languages at Babel in early Mesopotamian literature?] (ChristianAnswers.Net).</ref><ref>[http://www.christiananswers.net/q-abr/abr-a021.html Is there archaeological evidence of the Tower of Babel?] (ChristianAnswers.Net).</ref><ref>Jackson, Wayne, [http://www.christiancourier.com/archives/babel.htm The Tower of Babel—Legend or History?] December 17 1999 (Christian Courier).</ref>
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=== Scientific ===
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==Date of creation according to young earth creationists==
Young earth creationism holds that the scientific evidence is unreasonably ''interpreted'' by evolutionists and [[atheism|atheists]]/[[naturalism|naturalists]] as supporting their point of view, but that the same evidence can be reasonably interpreted by creationists to support the creationary point of view. This imposes a heavy burden on the testability of both theories, which is one of the reasons why some scientists question whether either the creationary or evolutionary view is scientific.
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They further argue that the scientific evidence is more consistent with the creationary point of view than the evolutionary point of view. {{fact}}
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Although the book of [[Genesis]] does not mention any specific creation date, the 4004 BCE date of creation upheld by young Earth creationists was calculated by the Anglican Archbishop [[James Ussher]]<ref>[http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast161/Unit5/ussher.html James Ussher's Date of the Creation ''Ohio Sate University'']</ref> in 1658 and John Lightfoot in 1644<ref>[http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/ussher.htm Bishop Ussher Dates the World: 4004 BC ''Lock Haven University'']</ref>. He meticulously traced the biblical lineages (including [[Noah's Ark|Noah]]'s supposed 900 years) back to this year, and compared Middle Eastern, biblical and Mediterranean sources to come up with the surprisingly exact date of October 23, 4004 [[BCE]] at 9 in the morning.
  
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This figure would put the age of the Earth several orders of magnitude less than the scientifically agreed figure. To put this in perspective, those with the YEC worldview believe the world was created after the domestication of the dog (and possibly the [[goat]]), after the first stones were laid at [[Stonehenge]] and after people settled in [[Scotland]], although Conservapedia's [http://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Scotland&diff=397011&oldid=397010 Scotland article] has another statement about the inhabitation of the Northern part of the British Isles. [[Evidence against a recent creation]] is quite simply overwhelming.
  
Some specific arguments are as follows:
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==Conflict with science==
  
* The [[First Law of Thermodynamics|first law of thermodynamics]] and [[Second law of thermodynamics|second law of thermodynamics]] argue against an eternal universe and these laws point to the universe being created by [[God]].<ref>[http://godevidences.net/space/lawsofscience.php Evidences for God From Space&mdash;Laws of Science]</ref><ref>Thompson, Bert, [http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2329 So Long, Eternal Universe; Hello Beginning, Hello End!], 2001 (Apologetics Press)</ref><ref>http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/AstroPhysicalSciences14.html</ref>
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The concept of the Earth being instantaneously formed only 6000 years ago obviously flies in the face of many fields of modern science. A full list can be found on[[Branches of science you have to ignore to believe in Young Earth Creationism|here]] but most notably these sciences are [[biology]] (The [[theory of evolution]] and [[Conservapedia:dinosaur|paleontology]]), [[astronomy]] ([[starlight problem]]), geology (volcanic formation, sedimentation, plate tectonics), [[archaeology]] (historic development of ancient civilizations) and physics ([[Radiometric dating]]). Not surprisingly, YEC also contradicts the [[creation myths]] of other religions and is in conflict with more evolved forms of Christianity.
* The [[theory of evolution]] is at odds with scientific evidence.  They often cite secular scientific sources which agree with them on various points (for further details please see: [[theory of evolution]] and [[creationism]]).<ref>http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/21</ref>
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* Both evolutionary scientists and young earth creation scientists believe that [[speciation]] occurs, however, young earth creation scientists state that speciation generally occurs at a much faster rate than evolutionary scientists believe is the case.<ref>[[Creation Ministries International]], [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3036/ Speciation: Questions and Answers]</ref>
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These scientific fields are backed by centuries of research by the [[scientific method]], are [[falsifiable]] and have accumulated vast quantities of supportive evidence.
*Many young earth creationists (including those at [[Creation Ministries International]] and [[CreationWiki]]) assert that the [http://creationwiki.org/index.php/Bible_scientific_foreknowledge Bible contains knowledge that shows an understanding of scientific knowledge beyond that believed to exist at the time the Bible was composed].<ref>[http://creationwiki.org/index.php/Bible_scientific_foreknowledge  Bible Scientific Foreknowledge]</ref><ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v17/i1/medicine.asp</ref>
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* The fact that so many cultures and people record a history of a great flood, and geological evidence of a flood in almost every area of the earth, shows that it is very likely, if not guaranteed that the great flood did take place.<ref>[www.noahs-ark-flood.com/]</ref>
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* The fact that history only spans a few thousand years evidences a young Earth. If the Earth were millions of years old, then so would civilization. This is obviously not the case as recorded history only spans a few thousand years and our level of technology would be much more advanced.
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== Biblical exegesis ==
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Young Earth creationists often reject scientific theories and discoveries that go against their ideas - but rather than presenting evidence for a young Earth, they resort to attacking modern science. Since their ideas are based on [[faith]] rather than [[evidence]], they are not [[Falsifiability|falsifiable]].
  
Young earth creationism holds that the book of Genesis is historical in nature and that [[Bible exegesis]] warrants a six-day creation with each day being 24 hours.<ref>[http://creationwiki.org/Days_of_creation Days of Creation] (CreationWiki).</ref><ref>[http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/faq/genesis.asp Genesis Questions and Answers] (Answers in Genesis).</ref><ref>Niessen, Richard, [http://www.icr.org/article/164/ Theistic Evolution and the Day-Age Theory] ''Impact'' 81, March 1980.</ref>
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Popular methods of discrediting modern science include:
Andrew Kulikovsky describes it as follows:
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{{QuoteBox|The hermeneutic employed by most YECs is best described as the historical-grammatical method in which historical narrative (such as the book of Genesis) is interpreted as literal history, prophecy is interpreted as prophecy, poetry is interpreted as poetry, etc.
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<ref>Kulikovsky, Andrew S., [http://www.creationontheweb.com/images/pdfs/tj/tjv16v2_forster.pdf Fostering fallacy] ''Journal of Creation'' 16(2) 2002, p.31-36.</ref>}}
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{{QuoteBox|Historical-grammatical exegesis involves a systematic approach to analyzing in detail the historical situation, events and circumstances surrounding the text, and the semantics and syntactical relationships of the words which comprise the text.<ref>Kulikovsky, Andrew S., [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/4880/ The Bible and hermeneutics] ''Journal of Creation'' 19(3):14–20, December 2005, p.14-20.</ref>}}
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== Age of the Universe and Earth - General Overview ==
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* '''[[Quote mining]]:'''
Young earth creation scientists advance a number of reasons for the earth and [[universe]] being approximately 6,000 years old.<ref>[http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/faq/young.asp ‘Young’ age of the Earth & Universe Q&A] (Answers in Genesis).</ref><ref name="AiG Astr QA">[http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/faq/astronomy.asp Astronomy and Astrophysics Questions and Answers] (Answers in Genesis).</ref><ref>[http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3040/ ‘Young’ age of the Earth & Universe Q&A] (Creation Ministries International).</ref><ref>[http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/faq/dating.asp Radiometric Dating Questions and Answers] (Answers in Genesis)</ref><ref name="AiG Astr QA" /><ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/faq/young.asp</ref> They argue that the evolutionary geological timescale is in error,<ref>Woodmorappe, John, [http://www.trueorigin.org/geocolumn.asp The Geologic Column: Does It Exist?] ''Journal of Creation'' 13(2):77–82, 1999 </ref><ref>Morris, Henry, [http://www.icr.org/index.php?module=articles&action=view&ID=54 Geology and the Flood] ''Impact'' 6, August 1973</ref><ref>[http://www.allaboutcreation.org/geologic-time-scale.htm Geologic Time Scale  - The Misconceptions] (All About Creation)</ref> and that [[geology]] further provides multiple lines of evidence that the earth is young.<ref>[http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/faq/geology.asp Geology Questions and Answers] (Answers in Genesis)</ref><ref>[http://www.creationism.org/topbar/geology.htm Geology] (Creation.org)</ref><ref>[http://www.nwcreation.net/geologylinks.html Geology Links] (Northwest Creation Network)</ref><ref>Baumgardner, John, [http://globalflood.org/ Genesis Flood] 28 July 2003.</ref> Rejecting the [[uniformitarianism (science)|uniformitarian]] assumptions of secular geologists, they use a [[geologic system|geological system]] that depends more on [[Catastrophism|catastrophism]]<ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/ee/geologic-record</ref> and point out that catastrophism is being increasingly accepted in the field of geology.<ref>http://www.grisda.org/origins/12061.htm</ref><ref>http://www.icr.org/index.php?module=articles&action=print&ID=84</ref>
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::Which is the practice of removing quotes from their context to support a particular view. This often is used in conjunction with the [[argument from authority]].
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* '''Politicization:'''
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::Claiming modern science is politicized and biased because most scientists are [[liberal]]s or moderates. This is, of course, untrue.
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* '''Exaggerating the limits of a scientific [[theory]]:'''
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::Usually the phrase "only a theory" is passed about without any sense of irony, as creationists themselves sometimes attempt to pass creationism off as a "theory" &mdash; albeit one utterly unsupported by any [[evidence]]. This is also due to a misunderstanding of what a [[scientific theory]] actually is.
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* '''Pointing out science has been wrong before:'''
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::This is often combined with the above method of citing the fact that science is theory. Indeed, science has been wrong, but when it is found to be wrong it changes and becomes more accurate. Fundamentalism on the other hand, by definition doesn't change, staying the exact same distance from reality at all times.
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* '''Exploiting the existence of [[Uniformitarianism|non-uniformitarian]] views:'''
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::This can be wide reaching, from the [[speed of light]] changing over time to support the apparent age of the [[universe]] to bizarre [[hypothesis|hypotheses]] and suggestions that help support a [[global flood]] event.
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* '''Exploiting science fiction and popular culture:'''
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::As not all people are experts in all fields of science, a lot of people have to make do with popularised and slightly inaccurate versions of scientific theories. The inaccuracies or dramatisations of these theories which slip into popular culture (such as [[natural selection]] being termed "survival of the fittest") are easily exploitable. As is saying that intelligent design is right because it sort of happens in 2001: A Space Odyssey.  
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* '''Invoking divine intervention:'''
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::This technique solves many problems, like the [[starlight problem]] and explaining why [[incest]] was not an issue for [[Adam]] and [[Eve]]'s offspring as well as for those aboard [[Noah's Ark]]. From a [[materialism|materialistic]] view, these are unsatisfying answers. Often this is abbreviated to "[[goddidit]]".
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*'''Referring to obsolete sources:'''
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::Science thrives on change. When discrediting evolutionary theories, Creationists will often cite [[Charles Darwin]]'s original Origin of Species and point out issues which were badly understood at the time. As all of science is a "work in progress" the specific details of the the theory of evolution have changed much since Darwin's time and continue to be improved.
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* '''[[Creation science|Creationist "scientists"]] writing outside of their field:'''
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::For example, a physicist writing about DNA analysis or geologists commenting on biology. In science, this is of course perfectly acceptable but it does not by default give them authority over someone who has proved themselves as a specialist in an area. This is possibly most apparent in the published list of scientists who disagree with evolution, where only a small handful are qualified biologists.
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* '''Referring to "[[Global flood|the flood]]" for everything:'''
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::Similar to divine intervention, the Flood is often cited to explain the presence of [[fossil]]s, sedimentary layers, [[The Grand Canyon]] and to explain why [[radiometric dating]] would be flawed. However, this [[Begging the question|presumes]] a flood occurred and that it would adequately explain these features of the earth, which it wouldn't do well even if it was feasible to have occurred. See [[Petrified forest]].
  
== Astronomy ==
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Mainstream scientists classify young Earth creationism as a [[pseudoscience]], putting it on par with [[astrology]].
[[Image:NGC .jpg|right|thumb|350px|The majestic spiral [[galaxy]] ''NGC 4414'', imaged by the [[Hubble Space Telescope]] in 1995.]]
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The young earth creationism view is that the various astronomical bodies such as [[planet]]s, [[star]]s, and [[galaxy|galaxies]] were supernaturally created and that [[Materialism|materialistic]] explanations of the the origins of various astronomical bodies are insufficient and counter evidence.<ref>Brown, 1991, [http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/AstroPhysicalSciences.html Astronomical and Physical Sciences]; Sarfati, 1999, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3836 Chapter 7].</ref> In addition, creationists often cite the secular scientific literature in order to make the case that materialist explanations of various astronomical bodies are inadequate:
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{{cquote|...most every prediction by theorists about planetary formation has been wrong.<ref>Scott Tremaine, as quoted by Richard A. Kerr, “Jupiters Like Our Own Await Planet Hunters,” Science, Vol. 295, 25 January 2002, p. 605, quoted by [http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes42.html Brown, 2001, notes for chapter 43].</ref>}}
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{{cquote|Attempts to find a plausible naturalistic explanation of the origin of the [[Solar System]] began about 350 years ago but have not yet been quantitatively successful, making this one of the oldest unsolved problems in modern science.<ref>Stephen G. Brush, A History of Modern Planetary Physics, Vol. 3 (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1996, p. 91, quoted by [http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes42.html Brown, 2001, notes for chapter 43]).</ref>}}
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{{cquote|We don’t understand how a single star forms, yet we want to understand how 10 billion stars form.<ref>Carlos Frenk, as quoted by Robert Irion, “Surveys Scour the Cosmic Deep,” Science, Vol. 303, 19 March 2004, p. 1750, quoted by Brown, 1991, [http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes59.html Notes for chapter 61]</ref>}}
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{{cquote|We cannot even show convincingly how galaxies, stars, planets, and life arose in the present universe.<ref>Michael Rowan-Robinson, “Review of the Accidental Universe,” New Scientist, Vol. 97, 20 January 1983, p. 186, quoted by Brown, 1991, [http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes59.html Notes for chapter 62].</ref>}}
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In 2001, Cristina Chiappini wrote regarding the [[Milky Way]] galaxy the following:
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==Young earth creationism around the world==
:". . . it is an elegant structure that shows both order and complexity. . . . The end product is especially remarkable in the light of what is believed to be the starting point: nebulous blobs of gas. How the universe made the Milky Way from such simple beginnings is not altogether clear. - Cristina Chiappini, "The Formation and Evolution of the Milky Way," [[American Scientist]] (vol. 89, Nov./Dec. 2001), p. 506. <ref>http://www.icr.org/article/547/</ref>
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Young earth creationism is directly correlated with a rejection of the theory of evolution, a 2006 poll<ref>U.S. Lags World in Grasp of Genetics and Acceptance of Evolution ''Live Science, 10 August 2006 '' [http://www.livescience.com/health/060810_evo_rank.html]</ref> among adults in developed nations showed that at only 40% of adult Americans accept evolution, only [[Turkey]] has a lower acceptance rate (25%), while acceptance in [[Japan]] and [[Europe]] is typically higher than 60%.
  
Dr. [[Walt Brown]] provides numerous citations to the secular science literature that corroborate the failings of current old universe paradigm explanations in regards to the planets, stars, and galaxies.<ref>http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes43.html</ref><ref>http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes60.html#wp1142334</ref><ref>http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes61.html#wp1212721</ref>
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Factors such as the level of devotion to a religion, as well as politics, and most importantly the education system of a nation, determine the percentage of young Earth creationists in a nation. This explains the high percentages of YECs in [[Muslim]] countries and the [[United States]] as both regions have a significant fundamentalist population.
  
The [[Institute for Creation Research]] has a notable essay by David Coppedge entitled "Mature at Birth: Universe Discredits Evolution" which cites recent findings which challenge an old universe paradigm.<ref>http://www.icr.org/article/2946/</ref>  In addition, [[Henry Morris]] has an essay regarding the subject of the failings of the old universe paradigm entitled "What Astronomers Don't Know". <ref>http://www.icr.org/article/547/</ref>
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Although it has little or no political traction, creationism exists in the UK.  An article in The Guardian in September 2008 put the number of people believing in YEC ideas at 10% of the population.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2008/sep/11/michael.reiss.creationism 10% of UK population creationists]</ref>
  
Young earth creationist scientists also contest the [[Big Bang theory]] stating that it is scientifically unsound.  
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==The "To Test our Faith" school==
<ref name="BB Critique">Thompson, Bert, Harrub, Brad, and May, Branyon [http://www.apologeticspress.org/modules.php?name=Read&cat=1&itemid=22 The Big Bang Theory—A Scientific Critique] ''Apologetics Press'', May 2003 - 23[5]:32-34,36-47.</ref>
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One branch of YEC has God deliberately creating paradoxes such as [[dinosaur]]s, strata in the Grand Canyon, etc. in order "to test our (the True Christian Believers) [[faith]]".  Then, God sends them to hell! They maintain that a mischievous God, who could/can do anything, simply created an Earth that ''appeared'' to be billions of years old, with million-year old bones and the like already in place.<ref>''Autobiography of a Carp, Chapter 12: I learn about Creation'', unpublished manuscript, n/d, Dixon NM, USA'''</ref> However, the idea is completely untestable and is in fact very old; a similar hypothesis was proposed by the Calvinist and naturalist Philip Henry Gosse in his 1857 book ''Omphalos'', and it also resembles [[Last Thursdayism]], or the idea that we're living in a computer simulation. If this is the case that the Creator is testing people's faith, it is clear that it is a willfully ''deceitful'' Creator - and the concept of such a god being a benevolent one can be thrown out.
<ref>Brown, Walt, 2001, [http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/AstroPhysicalSciences16.html Big Bang?]</ref> <ref>http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/309</ref> <ref>http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2047</ref> <ref>http://www.icr.org/article/343/</ref>
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=== Starlight and the Age of the Universe ===
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{{main|Starlight problem}}
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[[Image:Barry_setterfield.jpg‎|right|thumb|175px|[[Barry Setterfield]]]]
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This concept conjures up the image of God burying dinosaur skeletons while saying, "That'll fool the bastards!"
Anti-creationists often claim that [[star|starlight]] from millions of light years away demonstrates that the Biblical timescale of 6,000 years is in error, as insufficient time has passed for the light from distant stars to reach [[Earth]].
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Creationists respond in part by pointing out that the popular Big Bang theory has its own star light-travel time problem (the horizon problem), citing the work of Dr. [[Charles W. Misner]]. <ref>Lisle, Jason, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/167/ Light-travel time: a problem for the big bang], Creation 25(4):48–49, September 2003.</ref>
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Secondly, creationists have proposed a number of explanations for the objection, and although none are yet certain, they claim that it shows that the critics' claims that it cannot be explained is unfounded.
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==Opinions==
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{{cquote|Nearly all peoples have developed their own creation myths, and the Genesis story is just the one that happened to have been adopted by one particular tribe of Middle Eastern herders. It has no more special status than the belief of a particular West African tribe that the world was created from the excrement of ants.|30|30|[[Richard Dawkins]]}}
  
==== Setterfield's decay of the speed of light ====
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{{cquote|If we are going to teach creation science as an alternative to evolution, then we should also teach the stork theory as an alternative to biological reproduction.|30|30|Judith Hayes}}
  
One early explanation was that of creationist [[Barry Setterfield]], who proposed that the speed of light was faster in the past.<ref>Wieland, Carl, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/2551/ Speed of light slowing down after all?], Journal of Creation 16(3):7–10, December 2002.</ref>.
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{{cquote|Science has proof without any certainty. Creationists have certainty without any proof.|30|30|Ashley Montague}}
Critics objected to Setterfield's proposal, including on the grounds that the constancy of the speed of light is one of science's most fundamental laws.<ref name="JS">Sarfati, Jonathan, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/2430/ Have fundamental constants changed, and what would it prove?], 22nd August, 2001.</ref>
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Yet in 1999, John Webb, a professor at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia,  and his colleagues reported astronomical observations suggesting that the value of the fine-structure constant (which is related to the speed of light) may have changed (although the size of the change was much smaller than proposed by Setterfield).
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They subsequently published this in 2001 in ''[[Physical Review Letters]]''.<ref>http://www.nature.com/physics/highlights/6849-3.html#ref1</ref><ref name="JS" />
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However, other problems with the proposal has led most creationists to abandon the idea.<ref>For example, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/2996#c_decay CMI] and [http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/faq/dont_use.asp#c_decay AiG] say that this is an idea that should not be used.</ref>
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==== Russell Humphreys's model ====
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Creationary physicist Dr. [[Russell Humphreys]] proposed a model based on [[Albert Einstein|Einstein's]] law of relativity (as the Big Bang model is), but with a different starting assumption, a bounded universe.
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Humphreys's model proposes that God created the universe much smaller than it is now, then expanded it, quoting the Bible saying that God "stretched out the heavens".
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In such a scenario, time would pass at different rates on Earth and in outer parts of the universe, so that while 6,000 years went by on Earth, billions of years passed on the outer edge of the universe.
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This model is also based on the [[Genesis]] account recording the days of creation according to time on Earth, rather than elsewhere.
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However, this theory is not without problems. The evidence contradicts Humphrey's assumption that the earth is in a large gravity well. If the earth were in such a gravity well, light from distant galaxies should be blue-shifted. Instead, it is red-shifted. Also, gravitational time dilation, if it existed on such a large scale, should be easily observable. On the contrary, we observe (from the periods of Cepheid variable stars, from orbital rates of binary stars, from supernova extinction rates, from light frequencies, etc.) that such time dilation is minor. It is thought that there is some time dilation corresponding with Hubble's law (i.e., further objects have greater red shifts), but this is due to the well-understood expansion of the universe, and it is not nearly extreme enough to fit more than ten billion years into less than 10,000. <ref>Conner, S. R. and D. N. Page, 1998. Starlight and time is the Big Bang. CENTJ 12(2): 174-194. (See also letters in CENTJ 13(1), 1999, 49-52).</ref>
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==== John Hartnett's model ====
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Young earth creationist scientist Dr. [[John Hartnett]] proposes a model similar to Humphreys, wherein the Earth was trapped in a time-dilation field caused by extremely strong gravitation during the first few days of creation, from Earth's point of view, while billions of years passed for the rest of the universe.
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He attributes the field, its removal and the continued balance in our solar system (after the field was removed) to divine intervention. <ref>Hartnett, John G., [http://www.creationontheweb.com/images/pdfs/tj/j17_2/j17_2_98-102.pdf A new cosmology:  solution to the starlight travel time problem] ''Journal of Creation'' 17(2):98–102, August 2003.</ref>
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Whilst Humphreys' model has time dilation caused only by gravity (per [[Albert Einstein|Einstein's]] [[General Theory of Relativity]]), Hartnett's model also takes into account time dilation caused by motion (God's expansion of the universe) (per Einstein's [[Special Theory of Relativity]]).
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== Biology ==
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According to young-Earth creationists, God separately created each ''kind'' of living thing, or ''[[baraminology|baramin]]'', to reproduce "after its kind".
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Living things had built into them a capacity for variation and adaptation, but within the limits of their ''kind''.
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Genetically, in the case of sexually-reproducing species, much of this is due to the [[information]] carried on each living thing's [[DNA]] being a subset of the parent's DNA, with the subset of information being selected for by the process known as natural selection (described by a creationist before Darwin wrote about it).
+
Mutations also play a part in this variation, but only to the extent of ''destroying'' genetic information, not ''creating'' it.
+
 
+
Many of the ensuing variations have been classified by science as different ''species'', but this speciation is not evolution, as it does not involve the generation of new genetic information and therefore could not have produced the evolutionary "family tree".
+
 
+
YECs believe that most of the world's living things were wiped out by the [[Great Flood]], but that pairs of each ''kind'' that could not survive in a flood (i.e. air-breathing, land-dwelling creatures) survived the flood on [[Noah's Ark]], and from the Flood survivors all modern species have descended.
+
 
+
== Geology ==
+
 
+
YECs believe that most rocks were laid down in two main episodes.
+
The first was in creation week, particularly when God caused the waters of the Earth to gather together into the sea and dry land to appear.
+
The second was during Noah's Flood.
+
The effects of a global watery catastrophe would have been enormous, with massive amounts of erosion and sedimentation.
+
Further, many young-Earth creationists believe that there was a single supercontinent prior to the Flood, which broke up during the Flood.
+
This would have further contributed to a massive reshaping of the Earth's surface.
+
 
+
== Anthropology ==
+
{{main|Biblical anthropology}}
+
 
+
YECs believe that all intact evidence of civilisation is evidence of post-flood civilisation, as the [[Global flood|Flood]] destroyed the pre-flood world.
+
God confounded man's single language at the [[Tower of Babel]], forcing different family groups to separate and spread around the world.
+
Most of the people groups listed in the 'Table of Nations' in {{Bible ref|Genesis|10}}, which contains a family tree of Noah's descendants, are identifiable from non-biblical records.
+
People enduring a forced migration will find any shelter they can, and this would explain much of the evidence of "cavemen".
+
 
+
== Contrasted with evolution ==
+
 
+
The young earth creationism view contrasts with evolution and other aspects of the old universe view in the following ways:
+
* According to the [[chronogenealogies]] in the Bible, the age of the [[universe]] and [[Earth]] is approximately 6,000 years.  The old universe view is that the universe started about 14,000 million(14 billion) years ago and Earth was formed around 4,500 million(4.5 billion) years ago.
+
* The creation account has everything being created over a period of six ordinary days, whereas the old universe view has things appearing over billions of years.
+
* The order of creation is different.  The creation account has the Earth before the sun, plants before the sun, and birds before land animals, among other differences.  The old universe view is the opposite order for each of these.
+
* The creation account records that death didn't exist prior to the [[Fall of man|Fall]], whereas the evolutionary view is that death and suffering are part of the biological process and existed for billions of years of death prior to the appearance of [[homo sapiens|man]].
+
* The creation account records various living things being separately created, whereas the evolutionary view has all living things being descended from the first living cell.
+
*Young Earth creationism is based on the Bible, the infallible Word of God.<ref>www.christiananswers.net/q-acb/acb-t002.html</ref> <ref>atheism.about.com/od/creationismcreationists/a/bible.htm</ref>
+
 
+
== Responses to criticisms ==
+
 
+
Young Earth creationist responses to criticisms from atheistic evolutionists, theistic evolutionists, progressive creationists, and others include the following:
+
* ''The young Earth view is just one interpretation of the Bible.''
+
: The young Earth view is the clear intention of the authors of the Bible.  See [[Creation week]] for more.  Also, the young Earth view was the view of most of the church throughout most of its history.  That has only changed in order to accommodate non-biblical views of history.
+
* ''Creationists read the Bible literally, whereas parts, such as the creation account, are really metaphor.''
+
: Creationists deny that they read all the Bible literally, and accept that there are metaphors and other non-literal passages in the Bible.  Instead, they read the Bible the way it was meant to be understood, which in the case of the creation account, is as literal history.  See [[#Biblical exegesis|Biblical exegesis]] above and [[Creation week]] for more.
+
* ''Evolution has scientific evidence, and creationism does not.''
+
: Both creationists and evolutionists have the same evidence.  The difference is in how that evidence is interpreted.
+
* ''Creation relies on faith, not evidence.''
+
: Both creation and evolution are faith positions based on different worldviews. Evolutionists exclude God from consideration ''a priori'', not because of the evidence.
+
* ''If creation had scientific merit, why don't they publish their evidence in peer-reviewed scientific papers?''
+
: The scientific establishment won't allow creationists to publish.  See [[Suppression of alternatives to evolution]].
+
* ''Creationists start with a preconception and try and fit the evidence to that.  Evolutionists start with the evidence.''
+
: Both creationists and evolutionists have their worldview as a starting point.  Evolutionists try and fit the evidence into their idea just as much as they accuse the creationists of doing.
+
* ''Because they are based on the Bible, creationists are not willing to change their views.  Evolutionists will change their views as new evidence is found.''
+
: Creationists start with the Bible as the foundation of their views, but beyond that are willing to change their views as new evidence is found.  Evolutionists are willing to change the details of how evolution works, but are not prepared to change their basic view that evolution did occur.
+
* ''Creationists are anti-science.''
+
: Many creationists are scientists and fully support science.  They never reject science itself, and the criticism is bogus.
+
* ''Creationisms is not falsifiable.''
+
: Creationism is not less falsifiable than evolution.  See [[falsifiability of Creation]] and [[Falsifiability of evolution]].
+
* ''Creationists want their view taught in schools, but not other creation stories.''
+
: Creationists have made it clear that they only want ''scientific evidence'' consistent with creation taught.  Critics have not proposed any scientific evidence for other creation stories.
+
* ''Leading creationists know that what they promote is wrong, so they are liars.''
+
: Accusations like this are rarely backed by any evidence of systematic lying.
+
 
+
== Arguments for a recent creation ==
+
{{main|Arguments for a recent creation}}
+
 
+
[[Image:Roth-01.gif|right|thumb|350px|The arrows point to [[Paraconformity|paraconformities]] at the [[Grand Canyon]].]]
+
 
+
Many arguments for a recent creation have been put forward by creationary scientists, both scientific and theological arguments.
+
 
+
Scientific arguments include [[radiometric dating]] results that disagree with secular ages, other dating methods that do not fit with secular ages, and phenomenon showing events that occurred quickly.
+
 
+
There should be virtually no <sup>14</sup>C present in carbon supposedly older than 100,000 years, yet it has proved impossible to find any such carbon without <sup>14</sup>C.
+
 
+
Dating methods don't have to be based on radioactivity.
+
Measuring the amount of [[sodium]] in sea water, for example, and calculating how long it would take to reach those levels is another method.
+
Yet calculations show that the amount of sodium could not have taken longer than 62 million years to accumulate, well short of the 3,000 million year supposed age of the oceans.
+
 
+
[[Polystrate fossil]]s demonstrate that many layers of [[sedimentary]] rock that are normally supposed to take a long time to form can be formed quite quickly.
+
 
+
== Adherents of Young Earth Creationism ==
+
 
+
Young Earth Creationism is a subset of [[Creationism]] most commonly found among members of the [[Abrahamic religion]]s, especially [[Judaism]], [[Christianity]], and [[Islam]] (for details please see: [[Creationism]]). In regards to early Judaism and early Christianity,
+
early [[Judaism]] supported young earth creationism and a majority of the early [[church fathers]] held the young earth creationist view.<ref>
+
* James-Griffiths, James,[http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v26/i2/tradition.asp Creation days and Orthodox Jewish tradition] ''Creation'' 26(2):53–55, March 2004.
+
* Bradshaw, Robert I., [http://www.robibrad.demon.co.uk/Chapter3.htm Creationism & the Early Church, chapter 3, The Days of Genesis 1]
+
* http://www.creationontheweb.com/images/pdfs/tj/tjv16v2_forster.pdf</ref>
+
 
+
== Organizations and publications ==
+
 
+
=== Organizations ===
+
 
+
Some of the more notable young earth creationist organizations include: [[Answers in Genesis]] (America and the United Kingdom), [[Creation Ministries International]] (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, U.S.A., and United Kingdom), [[Institute for Creation Research]] (U.S.A.), [[Creation Research Society]] (U.S.A.), and [[NorthWest Creation Network]] (Washington state, U.S.A.) which founded [[CreationWiki]].
+
 
+
=== Magazines and newsletters ===
+
 
+
The Institute for Creation Research publishes a free monthly magazine, ''Acts & Facts'', which includes news of the organization and articles.
+
 
+
Creation Ministries International publishes a 56-page colour magazine, ''Creation'', with no paid advertising, which is distributed to 140 countries.<ref>http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3871/97</ref>
+
 
+
Answers in Genesis, which previously distributed ''Creation'', began their own magazine, ''Answers'', in 2006.  It contains advertising and its target audience is primarily American.<ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am</ref>
+
 
+
=== Peer-reviewed journals ===
+
 
+
The [[Creation Research Society Quarterly]] is published quarterly by the Creation Research Society,<ref>http://www.creationresearch.org/crsq.html</ref> and the Journal of Creation is published three times a year by Creation Ministries International.<ref>http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3873/98</ref>
+
 
+
==Further Reading==
+
 
+
*[[Duane Gish]], ''Evolution: The Fossils Still Say No!'', El Cajon: [[Institute for Creation Research]], 1996 <ref>http://www.icr.org/store/index.php?main_page=pubs_product_book_info&products_id=2176</ref>
+
*[[Jonathan Sarfati]], ''Refuting Evolution'', Master Books, 1999 [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/4014/ (Free on-line version)]
+
*Jonathan Sarfati, ''Refuting Evolution 2'', Master Books, 2002, ISBN 0890513872 [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/4013/ (Free on-line version)]
+
*[[R.L. Wysong]], ''The Creation-Evolution Controversy''.<ref>http://www.grisda.org/origins/05105.htm</ref><ref>http://www.wysong.net/page/WOTTPWS/PROD/EDUAIDS/ED022-S</ref>
+
*[[Phillip E. Johnson|Phillip Johnson]], ''Darwin on Trial''. InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois. 1991 <ref>http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/darwin.html</ref>
+
*[[R. C. Sproul]], ''Not a Chance: The Myth of Chance in Modern Science and Cosmology'', Baker Book House: 1994 <ref>http://www.ldolphin.org/chance.html</ref><ref>http://store.apologeticsgroup.com/product_info.php?products_id=191</ref>
+
* [[Walt Brown]], ''In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood'', 7th Edition, 2001 [http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/IntheBeginningTOC.html (free online version)]
+
{{Creation vs. evolution}}
+
== External Links ==
+
*[http://creation.com/age-of-the-earth 101 evidences for a young age of the earth and the universe] by [[Don Batten]] of [[Creation Ministries International]]
+
*[http://www.catholic.net/index.php?option=dedestaca&id=2708&grupo=Life%20%20Family&canal=Life%20and%20Bioethics The Problem of Evolution] Facts and theories of biological evolution.
+
 
+
Young earth creationism websites:
+
 
+
*[http://www.answersingenesis.org Answers in Genesis]
+
*[http://www.creationontheweb.com/ Creation Ministries International]
+
*[http://www.icr.org Institute for Creation Research]
+
*[http://edinburghcreationgroup Edinburgh Creation Group]
+
*[http://trueorigins.org TrueOrigins.org]
+
*[http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/index.html Center for Scientific Creation]
+
*[http://www.nwcreation.net/ageyoung.html Biblical Young Earth Creationism]
+
 
+
Articles focusing on arguments for a young earth:
+
 
+
*[http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/feedback/2006/0303.asp What are the most compelling evidences of a young earth - AiG]
+
*[http://www.nwcreation.net/young.html Evidence Supporting a Recent Creation - Northwest Creation Network]
+
*[http://www.icr.org/article/1842/ Evidence for a Young World - Institute for Creation Research]
+
 
+
Videos focusing on arguments for a young earth:
+
 
+
*[http://edinburghcreationgroup.org/youngearth.php Evidence for a Young Earth]- Dr Marc Surtees
+
 
+
== See also ==
+
*[[Creation Science]]
+
*[[Christianity and Science]]
+
*[[History of Young Earth Creationism]]
+
*[[List of Young Earth Creationists]]
+
*[[Earth Age Opinions of Prominent Christians - Pre-1800]]
+
=== Alternative views===
+
*[[Old Earth Creationism]]
+
*[[Theistic evolution]]
+
*[[Theory of Evolution]]
+
*[[Gap theory]]
+
*[[Day age creationism]]
+
*[[Progressive Creationism]]
+
 
+
==References==
+
{{reflist|2}}
+
 
+
[[Category: Young Earth Creationism]]
+
[[Category: Creationism]]
+
[[Category:Abrahamic Religions]]
+
[[Category:Featured articles]]
+

Revision as of 03:36, May 9, 2010

Young Earth creationism (abbreviated to YEC) is the belief that our planet and universe were created, from nothing, in six days (usually defined as six consecutive days consisting of twenty-four hours each), approximately 6,000 years ago, by the God of the Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Judaism and Islam). Adherents of young Earth creationism are known as "young Earth creationists", or simply YECs.

This belief derives from a literal interpretation of a conflation of the two creation stories in the Biblical book of Genesis.[1] This means young Earth creationists believe the six days described in Genesis were standard 24-hour days and consequently they reject all scientific evidence demonstrating the earth is older than this and the various attempts to reconcile genesis with science, such as Day-Age theory.

A firm belief in the biblical worldwide flood and the story of Noah is also a cornerstone of young Earth creationism. The flood is used by proponents of YEC to explain almost all observations that scientists have interpreted as pointing to a significantly older Earth.

Creationists who believe in an older earth are called old earth creationists. This is marginally less in conflict with science.

Date of creation according to young earth creationists

Although the book of Genesis does not mention any specific creation date, the 4004 BCE date of creation upheld by young Earth creationists was calculated by the Anglican Archbishop James Ussher[2] in 1658 and John Lightfoot in 1644[3]. He meticulously traced the biblical lineages (including Noah's supposed 900 years) back to this year, and compared Middle Eastern, biblical and Mediterranean sources to come up with the surprisingly exact date of October 23, 4004 BCE at 9 in the morning.

This figure would put the age of the Earth several orders of magnitude less than the scientifically agreed figure. To put this in perspective, those with the YEC worldview believe the world was created after the domestication of the dog (and possibly the goat), after the first stones were laid at Stonehenge and after people settled in Scotland, although Conservapedia's Scotland article has another statement about the inhabitation of the Northern part of the British Isles. Evidence against a recent creation is quite simply overwhelming.

Conflict with science

The concept of the Earth being instantaneously formed only 6000 years ago obviously flies in the face of many fields of modern science. A full list can be found onhere but most notably these sciences are biology (The theory of evolution and paleontology), astronomy (starlight problem), geology (volcanic formation, sedimentation, plate tectonics), archaeology (historic development of ancient civilizations) and physics (Radiometric dating). Not surprisingly, YEC also contradicts the creation myths of other religions and is in conflict with more evolved forms of Christianity.

These scientific fields are backed by centuries of research by the scientific method, are falsifiable and have accumulated vast quantities of supportive evidence.

Young Earth creationists often reject scientific theories and discoveries that go against their ideas - but rather than presenting evidence for a young Earth, they resort to attacking modern science. Since their ideas are based on faith rather than evidence, they are not falsifiable.

Popular methods of discrediting modern science include:

Which is the practice of removing quotes from their context to support a particular view. This often is used in conjunction with the argument from authority.
  • Politicization:
Claiming modern science is politicized and biased because most scientists are liberals or moderates. This is, of course, untrue.
  • Exaggerating the limits of a scientific theory:
Usually the phrase "only a theory" is passed about without any sense of irony, as creationists themselves sometimes attempt to pass creationism off as a "theory" — albeit one utterly unsupported by any evidence. This is also due to a misunderstanding of what a scientific theory actually is.
  • Pointing out science has been wrong before:
This is often combined with the above method of citing the fact that science is theory. Indeed, science has been wrong, but when it is found to be wrong it changes and becomes more accurate. Fundamentalism on the other hand, by definition doesn't change, staying the exact same distance from reality at all times.
This can be wide reaching, from the speed of light changing over time to support the apparent age of the universe to bizarre hypotheses and suggestions that help support a global flood event.
  • Exploiting science fiction and popular culture:
As not all people are experts in all fields of science, a lot of people have to make do with popularised and slightly inaccurate versions of scientific theories. The inaccuracies or dramatisations of these theories which slip into popular culture (such as natural selection being termed "survival of the fittest") are easily exploitable. As is saying that intelligent design is right because it sort of happens in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
  • Invoking divine intervention:
This technique solves many problems, like the starlight problem and explaining why incest was not an issue for Adam and Eve's offspring as well as for those aboard Noah's Ark. From a materialistic view, these are unsatisfying answers. Often this is abbreviated to "goddidit".
  • Referring to obsolete sources:
Science thrives on change. When discrediting evolutionary theories, Creationists will often cite Charles Darwin's original Origin of Species and point out issues which were badly understood at the time. As all of science is a "work in progress" the specific details of the the theory of evolution have changed much since Darwin's time and continue to be improved.
For example, a physicist writing about DNA analysis or geologists commenting on biology. In science, this is of course perfectly acceptable but it does not by default give them authority over someone who has proved themselves as a specialist in an area. This is possibly most apparent in the published list of scientists who disagree with evolution, where only a small handful are qualified biologists.
Similar to divine intervention, the Flood is often cited to explain the presence of fossils, sedimentary layers, The Grand Canyon and to explain why radiometric dating would be flawed. However, this presumes a flood occurred and that it would adequately explain these features of the earth, which it wouldn't do well even if it was feasible to have occurred. See Petrified forest.

Mainstream scientists classify young Earth creationism as a pseudoscience, putting it on par with astrology.

Young earth creationism around the world

Young earth creationism is directly correlated with a rejection of the theory of evolution, a 2006 poll[4] among adults in developed nations showed that at only 40% of adult Americans accept evolution, only Turkey has a lower acceptance rate (25%), while acceptance in Japan and Europe is typically higher than 60%.

Factors such as the level of devotion to a religion, as well as politics, and most importantly the education system of a nation, determine the percentage of young Earth creationists in a nation. This explains the high percentages of YECs in Muslim countries and the United States as both regions have a significant fundamentalist population.

Although it has little or no political traction, creationism exists in the UK. An article in The Guardian in September 2008 put the number of people believing in YEC ideas at 10% of the population.[5]

The "To Test our Faith" school

One branch of YEC has God deliberately creating paradoxes such as dinosaurs, strata in the Grand Canyon, etc. in order "to test our (the True Christian Believers) faith". Then, God sends them to hell! They maintain that a mischievous God, who could/can do anything, simply created an Earth that appeared to be billions of years old, with million-year old bones and the like already in place.[6] However, the idea is completely untestable and is in fact very old; a similar hypothesis was proposed by the Calvinist and naturalist Philip Henry Gosse in his 1857 book Omphalos, and it also resembles Last Thursdayism, or the idea that we're living in a computer simulation. If this is the case that the Creator is testing people's faith, it is clear that it is a willfully deceitful Creator - and the concept of such a god being a benevolent one can be thrown out.

This concept conjures up the image of God burying dinosaur skeletons while saying, "That'll fool the bastards!"

Opinions

Nearly all peoples have developed their own creation myths, and the Genesis story is just the one that happened to have been adopted by one particular tribe of Middle Eastern herders. It has no more special status than the belief of a particular West African tribe that the world was created from the excrement of ants.

Richard Dawkins


If we are going to teach creation science as an alternative to evolution, then we should also teach the stork theory as an alternative to biological reproduction.

—Judith Hayes


Science has proof without any certainty. Creationists have certainty without any proof.

—Ashley Montague

  1. Genesis King James Bible version
  2. James Ussher's Date of the Creation Ohio Sate University
  3. Bishop Ussher Dates the World: 4004 BC Lock Haven University
  4. U.S. Lags World in Grasp of Genetics and Acceptance of Evolution Live Science, 10 August 2006 [1]
  5. 10% of UK population creationists
  6. Autobiography of a Carp, Chapter 12: I learn about Creation, unpublished manuscript, n/d, Dixon NM, USA