Photo Credit: Niko Knigge | Flickr (Creative Commons)
How exactly did we come to be? The debate about Creationism continues to stir the hearts and minds of individuals since it first became a hotly discussed topic in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Creationism is the belief that human life, the Earth, and/or the universe as a whole was created by a supreme being (namely God) or by other forms of supernatural intervention.
Oftentimes the term Creationism specifically describes belief in a literal interpretation of the biblical account of God creating the universe. But such a view of Creationism (see Young Earth Creationism) is just one of many. Here you’ll find the many variations of Creationism among Christians
“Nature is too thin a screen; the glory of the omnipresent God bursts through everywhere.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Young Earth Creationism
Definition: The belief that the Earth was created by God within the last ten thousand years, literally as described in Genesis, within the approximate timeframe of biblical genealogies. It also interprets geological records largely as a result of global flood (Genesis 7).
Because of the description in Genesis of divine creation of every “kind” of plant and animal during a week about 6,000 years ago, this view disputes parts of evolution which describes all species developing from a common ancestor, independent of divine intervention, by random chance and over a much longer time.
Old Earth Creationism
Definition: The view that the physical universe was created by God, but that the creation narrative of Genesis is not to be taken strictly literally. Old Earth Creationists generally believe that the age of the Universe and the age of the Earth are as described by astronomers and geologists but that details of evolutionary theory are questionable.
Day Age Creationism
Definition: A type of Old Earth Creationism, this is the view that the “six days” of Genesis are not ordinary, twenty-four-hour days but rather much longer periods (for example, each “day” could be the equivalent of millions, or billions of years in human time). This theory often states that the Hebrew word “yom”, which has been interpreted as “day” in the context of Genesis 1, actually means “age.” Some claim we are living in the seventh age (“seventh day”).
Gap Creationism
Definition: Another type of Old Earth Creationism, also called “Restitution creationism,” this is 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 unspecified large-scale event.
Progressive Creationism
Definition: A third type of Old Earth Creationism, Progressive Creationism believes that species have changed or evolved in a process continuously guided by God, with various ideas as to how that guidance operates—maybe at precise moments, maybe through a pre-set plan. This view accepts most of modern physical science, including the age of the earth, but it rejects much of modern evolutionary biology or looks to it for evidence that evolution by natural selection alone is incorrect.
Theistic evolution
Definition: Also known as “evolutionary creationism”, this is the general view that, instead of faith being in opposition to biological evolution, it is compatible with some or all of modern scientific theories, including evolution. It generally views evolution as a tool used by God and maintains that divine intervention brought about the origin of life or that divine laws govern the formation of species. In the creation-evolution controversy, its proponents generally take the “evolutionist” side.
Intelligent Design and Neo-Creationism
Definition: Intelligent design (ID) is the concept that “certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected, chance-based process such as Darwinian evolution.” says Ideacenter.org.
Its proponents claim that intelligent design is a scientific theory that stands on equal footing with, or is superior to, other current scientific theories regarding the origin of life. Intelligent Design is the most recognized form of Neo-Creationism, the goal of which is to restate creationism in terms more likely to be well received by the public, education policy makers, and the scientific community. It aims to re-frame the debate over the origins of life in non-religious terms, without scripture, and to bring the scientific debate before the public.
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