How Do Creationists Explain Life?
The Origin and Diversity of Life According to Creationism
Creationism is the belief that humanity, life, the Earth, and the universe were created in the form we know today by a supernatural being (God). In fundamentalist Christianity, creationism is usually based on a literal reading of the Book of Genesis from the Bible. Other religions such as Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism, have deity-led creation beliefs as well.
What are the Various Forms of Creationism?
In fundamentalist Christianity there is no one single creationist explanation for the origin of and diversity of life. Some of the various forms of creationism:
Young Earth creationism contends that the entire universe including the earth was created by God in six days exactly as described in Genesis 1 of the Bible. The young earth creationists set the age of earth at 6,000-10,000 years.
Gap creationism accepts that the earth is geologically old but contends that life was only recently created on it. This allows an indefinite gap of time to be inserted after the creation of the universe but prior to the creation of present biological species and humans.
Progressive creationism accepts the tenets of modern physics and earth science including the age of the earth. However, progressive creationists reject much of modern evolutionary biology. They believe that while species have changed (evolved), the process is continuously guided by God and it is generally understood that God directly intervened at key moments in both the planet's history and the history of life on this planet.
Neo-Creationism is an attempt by some progressive creationists to restate creationism in more scientific terms in hopes that it will be better received by the public, education policy makers, the courts, and the scientific community. The goal of neo-creationists is to re-frame the debate over the origins of life in non-religious terms and without appeals to Biblical scripture, and to present a more scientific form of creationism before the public, judges, and school boards.
The most recognized form of Neo-Creationism in the United States is the Intelligent Design movement. Unlike their philosophical forebears, Neo-Creationists largely do not believe in many of the traditional cornerstones of creationism such as a young Earth, or in a dogmatically literal interpretation of the Bible. Common to all forms of Neo-Creationism is a rejection of naturalism, and an open and often hostile opposition to what they term "Darwinism", which generally is meant to refer to naturalistic evolution.
Theistic Evolution holds that classical religious teachings about God are compatible with the modern scientific understanding about naturalistic evolution. Theistic evolutionists believe that there is a God, that God is the creator of the entire universe and everything within it, and that naturalistic evolution is simply a process within that creation. Evolution, according to this view, is simply a tool that God employs in the development and diversity of all life including humans.
The Prevalence of Creationism in the United States
In a recent poll conducted by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, researchers asked half of the respondents about their views on the evolution of "all living things" and found that 61 percent accepted that "all living things have evolved over time." Of those, 36 percent thought all living things "evolved due to natural processes such as natural selection," and 25 percent thought "a supreme being guided the evolution of living things for the purpose of creating life in the form it exists today."
The researchers asked the remaining respondents to consider human evolution and found that 53 percent accepted that "humans and other living things" evolved. This majority included 32 percent who accepted that humans and other living things evolved through natural processes and 21 percent who thought they had evolved with guidance.
Creationism in the Courtroom and Classroom
From national courts to local school boards, evolution wins out legally time after time over creationism but does evolution win the battle for the minds of biology teachers? In an article entitled, "Creationism Lurks in Public High Schools," published in the January, 2009 issue of Discover magazine, Jocelyn Rice summarize the findings of a group of Penn State political scientists who have been investigating this very question.
Despite courtroom victories, evolution continues to encounter competition in the classroom. According to the first rigorous nationwide survey of how evolution is taught in U.S public schools, as many as one in eight high school biology teachers presents creationism or intelligent design as a viable scientific alternative to evolution.
The researchers, led by Penn State political scientist Eric Plutzer, questioned nearly 1,000 teachers about their personal beliefs and the amount of class time they devoted to evolution and creationism. The results? About one in six of the surveyed teachers espoused young earth creationist views, and most of them taught their students those views. Only 23 percent strongly agreed that evolution was a central theme in their teaching.
As we see, creationism relies on divine guidance and creation miracles to explain the origin and diversity of life. Under the banner of Intelligent Design neo-creationists battle to place creationism on equal footing with evolution in the courtroom and in the classroom.
The Truth Fish of Creationism
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