Creationism

Creationism is generally the belief that the universe was created by a deity, or alternatively by one or more powerful and intelligent beings. In Europe, North America, South America, Africa, Australia, and the Middle East, the Creator is usually held to be the God of the Abrahamic religions, who, creationists believe, created living organisms "after their kind", as described in the biblical book of Genesis. Creationism, therefore, is often linked to theistic interpretations of nature, though the creating being need not be a deity.

The term creationism is used in a variety of ways to describe a number of beliefs regarding the origins of life and the universe, including:

• More generally but less commonly, those who believe that God or a group of gods created life through a supernatural theistic or mythological construct, through the process of supernaturally-guided evolution (evolutionary creationism or theistic evolution), or through some alternative, non-naturalistic mechanism (e.g. intelligent design or directed panspermia).

• More narrowly but most commonly, the belief that God created life as described in Genesis, in a very similar form to that found today, and not by evolution. This category can be further subdivided into two categories:
  • Young Earth Creationists, who believe that the Earth was created by God around 6,000 years ago, literally as described in Creation according to Genesis, within the timeframe of the Ussher-Lightfoot Calendar. As such, they reject radiometric or isochron dating of the age of the Earth, interpretting the geologic record as a result of a global flood.
  • Old Earth Creationists, who maintain that the physical universe was created by God, but that the creation event of Genesis is not to be taken strictly literally. This group generally believes that the Universe and the Earth are as described by astronomers and geologists, but that details of the evolutionary theory are questionable. Additionally, Old Earth creationism comes in two flavors:
    • Gap creationism, also called Restitution creationism — the view that life was immediately created on a pre-existing old Earth. This group generally translates Genesis 1:2 as “The earth became without form and void,” indicating a destruction of the original creation by some unknown cataclysm.
    • Day-age creationism — the view that the “six days” of Genesis are not ordinary twenty-four-hour days, but rather much longer periods (for instance, each “day” could be the equivalent of millions of years of modern time). Another theory states that the Hebrew word was mistranslated, and it's supposed to be seven ages.

This article will, unless otherwise noted, use the latter definition rather than the former.

Distribution of creationist views

The distribution of creationist and evolutionist views varies widely with geography. In some areas, such as Europe, evolution has achieved near-universality. In other areas, such as the Middle East, a type of creationism based on the locally accepted religious faith is nearly universal. Finally, in places such as the United States, opinions are widely mixed, and the debate rages in educational, political, and some academic circles.

United States

In the United States, creationism remains popular among the general population, and unpopular in the academic community. According to a 2001 Gallup evolution poll, 72% of Americans believe in some form of creationism (as defined above). About 45% of Americans ascribe to the more Biblically literal creationism, believing that “God created man pretty much in his present form at one time within the last 10,000 years.”.

Among the scientific community, the age of the universe, the age of the Earth, and biological evolution are overwhelmingly considered to be the correct description of the origins of nature. According to a 1997 Gallup poll, 55% of scientists ascribe to a completely atheistic evolution, with a total rejection of any deity. In 1987, Newsweek reported: “By one count there are some 700 scientists with respectable academic credentials (out of a total of 480,000 U.S. earth and life scientists) who ascribed to Biblically literal creationism”.

While a solid majority of the American population believes in some form of creation, statistics show that most Americans support the teaching of evolution in schools. A 2000 poll by People for the American Way examined the question of popular support for evolution and creationism in schools, and showed that a majority of 83% supported the teaching of the theory of evolution.

The western world outside the United States

Because most vocal creationists are from the United States, it is generally assumed that creationist views are not as common elsewhere. Statistics are not clear on the issue.

According to a PBS documentary on evolution, Australian Young Earth Creationists claimed that “five percent of the Australian population now believe that Earth is thousands, rather than billions, of years old.” The documentary further states that “Australia is a particular stronghold of the creationist movement.” Taking these claims at face value, “young-earth” creationism is very much a minority position in Western countries other than the USA.

In Europe, creationism is a less well defined phenomenon, and regular polls are not available; however, the option of teaching creationism in school has never been seriously considered in any Western European country. In Roman Catholic-majority countries, papal acceptance of evolution as worthy of study has essentially ended debate on the matter for many people. Nevertheless, creationist groups such as the German Studiengemeinschaft Wort und Wissen[1] are actively lobbying there as well. In the United Kingdom the Emmanuel Schools Foundation (previously the Vardy Foundation), which owns two colleges in the north of England and plans to open several more, teaches that creationism and evolution are equally valid “faith positions.” In Italy, the prime minister Silvio Berlusconi wanted to retire evolution from schools in the middle level; after one week of massive protests, he reversed his opinion. [2]

Of particular note for Eastern Europe, Serbia suspended the teaching of evolution for one week in 2004, under education minister Ljiljana Colic, only allowing schools to reintroduce evolution into the curriculum if they also taught creationism. [3] "After a deluge of protest from scientists, teachers and opposition parties," says the BBC report, Ms. Colic's deputy made the statement, "I have come here to confirm Charles Darwin is still alive," and announced that the decision was reversed. [4] Ms. Colic resigned after the government said that she had caused "problems that had started to reflect on the work of the entire government". [5]

Islamic creationism

In the Islamic world, due to the continued prevalence of religious belief, the theory of evolution has not yet taken hold, and traditional Islamic beliefs regarding creation remain dominant. However, several liberal movements within Islam, which are generally partial to secular scientific thought, ascribe to evolution.

In recent years, however, due to increased contact between Islamic and Western cultures, the arguments of “intelligent design”-style creationism have grown in popularity in parts of the Islamic world and among Muslim immigrants in the Western diaspora.

The centre of the Islamic creationist movement is Turkey. Its main exponent is the writer Harun Yahya (or. Adnan Oktar, b. 1956) who uses the Internet for the propagation of his ideas. His BAV (Bilim Araştırma Vakfı/ Science Research Foundation) organizes conferences with leading American creationists. Another leading advocate of Islamic creationism is Fethullah Gülen (b. 1941).

The movement seems to have a considerable following in Indonesia and Malaysia whereas interest seems to be low in the Arabic countries and Iran. As in the Western context, the theory of evolution is held responsible for a materialist worldview that is the alleged base of many societal problems and negative political developments.

Creationism and philosophical naturalism

Certain tenets of creationism are opposed to philosophical naturalism and materialism:

1. The universe in general and life in particular originated through the direct creative act of God.
2. Sentience, perception, self-awareness, and the capacities for knowledge and understanding, are not reducible to physical processes alone, but were granted to living and intelligent creatures by the direct creative act of God.
3. Life may be described in part through physics, but may only be fully understood with reference to some divine and creative agency.

One response to the modern creationism controversy has been articulated by creationist Phillip E. Johnson, Professor of Law (emeritus) at the University of California, Berkeley, who argues that the entire issue of biological origins has been framed in terms of scientific naturalism, and that natural science per se is not identical with naturalism. According to him, the statement, “Science has nothing to say about whether or not there exists a supernatural realm,” is true and based on the fact that rigorous physical science is naturalistic, but the statement, “Science holds that there is no supernatural realm,” is false because it is beyond the scope of natural science to make such an assertion, but is instead a philosophical position. According to Johnson, this distinction opens the possibility of natural science and creationism being non-contradictory. However, such an assertion is problematic when trying to reconcile natural science with certain types of creationism that do make specific claims about the natural realm.

Links

http://www.answersingenesis.org/

http://www.creationscience.com/

http://www.icr.org/

• Intervention Magazine Article 1-12-04