Creationism

Creationism

1. Creationism is used to refer to the religiously motivated rejection of the big bang theory and evolution as explanations of the origin of the universe and affirm that the universe was created by God in line with the Biblical account.

2. Reasons why Creationists reject the Big Bang theory and the Theory of Evolution

   • 1) They challenge the role of God as creator of life in Genesis
   • 2) They challenge the status of human beings as distinct life form at the pinnacle of creation in Genesis
   • 3) The age of the earth can be calculated by counting back years from Adam, from the stated life spans of Patriarchs in the Old Testament or by interpreting the Days of Creation as symbolic periods of time such as 10,000 years.
   • 4) The geology of the earth can be explained by flood catastrophes such as Noah's flood.
   • 5) Animals on the earth are descendants from those that Noah took into the ark.
   • 6) The theory overlooks the clear signs of design in the universe discovered by modern scientist.

3. Creationists beliefs

   • 1) Scripture is verbally inspired by God and so is literally true. Apparently millennia old rocks can be explained as prematurely aged by God or the product of past catastrophes such as Noah's flood.
   • 2) The theory of evolution is only a theory.
   • 3) Creationists argue that theirs is the empirical approach. Scientific discoveries are used to illustrate the truth of statements within the bible. E.g.- scientific discoveries point to the fact that in the past sea levels were different and catastrophic floods did take place.
   • 4) The bible can be used to work out a chronology of the earth. James Usher in the eighteenth century used dates and information in the bible to work out that creation took place on the 23rd October 4004 BCE.
   • 5) Some modern Creationists have argued strongly in favour of 'Intelligent Design'. They point to the complexity of the world and discoveries such as DNA or the regularity of the laws of physics as evidence that the universe is designed by an intelligent creator.

4. 'The only way we can determine the true age of the earth is for God to tell us what it is.' Henry Morris

5. 'We cannot discover by scientific investigation anything about the creative processes used by God.' Duane Gish