Young earth creationism

Young earth creationism is a fundamentalist Christian belief asserting that the origin of the universe, and of life on earth, was precisely revealed in the Bible's book of Genesis. Taking a literal interpretation, proponents argue that the earth is only 6000 - 10, 000 years old. Once a mainstream belief in parts of Protestant Europe, modern adherents to young earth creationism are at odds with majority Christian views about the world, and with the teachings of current science. Yet activists, especially in Australia, are not only unapologetic about such a minority position, but claim several supporters have credentials as scientists. Few of these activists have training in biology, but they are primarily opposed to what they call "Darwinism," and attack modern biology for its opposition to their beliefs. Their focus on Darwin is most likely on a historical basis. Viewing Genesis as the recorded word of God, adherents to young earth creationism are sure that the truth is known to them and, accordingly, are skeptical of the need for scientific research to support those views.

The creationist chronology was originally developed in 17th century England. Bishop Ussher, an Anglican, in 1651 argued that Adam’s birth came at 9 AM on October 23, 4004 BC, and his chronology appeared in English bibles starting in 1701. Young earth creationism was the popular belief among Christians, and was not a contentious issue until the 19th century, when geologists (such as James Hutton and Charles Lylle) found very old fossils and published convincing evidence that the earth was millions of years old. The publication of Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" in 1859 led to the acceptance of the diversity of living things as a result of evolution rather than by divine creation as depicted in Genesis. With the acceptance of the geologic time scale by scientists through out the world in the latter part of the 19th century, creationist chronology was no longer viewed as accurate by more educated citizens, including the clergy. The 4004 date was abandoned in the 1870s by liberal theologians, and in 1890-1920 was abandoned by the conservatives and fundamentalists, who concluded the Bible does not speak to the age of the earth or the dates of Adam. In other words, the interpretation of the Bible-as-science was altered while Christian faith was maintained.

In the United States, by the early years of the 20th century, a wide gap in scientific literacy between the more educated and less religious populations of the cities and towns (particularly in the North), and the less educated and more traditionally religious populations of the countryside, (particularly in the rural South) became pronounced. The advances in science had been revolutionary over the latter part of the nineteenth century, during the same period that the American South had suffered through the aftermath of the Civil War, leaving much of the population intellectually isolated and poverty-stricken. In the southern United States, Christian fundamentalism had grown rapidly after 1920, especially under the auspices of the Southern Baptist church, which included most Southern whites. The disparity in both scientific literacy and religious temperament between the Northern and Urban, and the Southern rural populations was highlighted by "the events leading up to the famous Scopes trial in 1925, which found teacher John Scopes guilty of teaching evolution in violation of Tennessee state law. The Scopes trial received national attention and newspaper reports turned those individuals who believed in a literal interpretation of the Bible into laughing stock in the eyes of the more urbane and sophisticated Americans. For the ridiculed, the Scopes trial resulted in further polarization away from contemporary norms of the more educated and secular Americans. Public censure helped convince a segment of the fundamentalists that Darwinism was a profound source of evil. Besides suffering ridicule, they feared that Christian teachings based on the Bible were under general attack from secular forces that required the public schools to teach Darwinian biology. In this way, science education- particularly public school education in biology and the theory of evolution, became symbolic of a hostile movement to undercut traditional moral values.

Young earth creationism in its current form was invented by two American theologians in the early 1960s, John C. Whitcomb, Jr. and Henry M. Morris, in The Genesis Flood (1961). They in turn borrowed heavily (without attribution) from George McCready Price, a self-taught Seventh-day Adventist author of The New Geology (1923). Price was not trying to interpret the Bible; he was trying to justify the visions of Ellen G. White, the founder of Seventh Day Adventism. Whitcomb and Morris modified Price's work by dropping references to Adventism and adding a Baptist interpretation to Price's theory that a great flood in the time of Noah had created all the fossils. The young earth creationism movement in the United States is rooted in the anti-modern Southern rural evangelical culture and exhibits a determined search for an alternative ethic not contaminated by secularism and Darwinism, which are seen as minions of Satan. Thus the creationists excommunicated adherents of the idea that "days" in Genesis meant epochs, not 24-hour units. The movement is largely confined to Protestant fundamentalists, especially in the United States and Australia. The theory is most popular among militant Southern Baptists and Missouri Synod Lutherans. Adherence to these beliefs have separated the young earth creationism proponents from more moderate fundamentalist Christians in internecine theological battles.

The scientific community as a whole has rejected young earth creationism for more than a hundred years. In addition, religious creationists who believe in old earth creationism also reject the assertion that the earth is only approximately 6000 years old. Young earth creationists allege that the evidence supporting their theories has been suppressed by mainstream science, and occasionally have brought lawsuits alleging censorship, one of them by Robert V. Gentry. They share this concern of a general scientific conspiracy with the proponents of intelligent design , a form of creationism that makes no claim on the age of the earth but does assert that living things exist because of an intelligent designer.

Believers in 2007 opened the Creation Museum theme park near Cincinnati, Ohio, showing early humans at play alongside vegetarian dinosaurs. Other groups in the United States have had similar plans. The "Creation Discovery Center, a museum with exhibits on Noah's flood, the Ice Age and the dinosaurs (featured in the antediluvian room in a mural with Adam and Eve)" was opened by Creation Studies Institute, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based ministry that promotes young earth creationism (Creationism 'lite'; 'Intelligent design' proponents marry God and evolution. The Creation Museum theme park is likely to remain a showcase for the movement, however. Planned by "a designer of amusement parks who created the Jaws and King Kong exhibits at Florida's Universal Studios, in a special-effects theater, the seats shake and visitors are sprinkled with water. There's a lush Garden of Eden, a partial re-creation of Noah's Ark, a slice of the Grand Canyon, lots of videos on plasma TVs, and a planetarium for exploring the universe. At Noah's Cafe, kids can saddle up on a triceratops." ( Jane Lampman:Natural history, Bible-style. Christian Science Monitor.May 24, 2007 edition)

Bibliography

• Giberson, Karl W. and Donald A. Yerxa. Species of Origins: America's Search for a Creation Story (2002) looks at the debate over creationism and evolution in late 20th century; covers Darwinism, young earth creationism, and intelligent design.
• Lienesch, Michael. In the Beginning: Fundamentalism, the Scopes Trial, and the Making of the Antievolution Movement (2007)
• Numbers, Ronald L. The Creationists (2nd ed. 2006)
  • James D. Bratt, "History of Brief Time" Reviews in American History, Vol. 22, No. 2 (Jun., 1994), pp. 335-339. (review of Numbers, 1992 edition. online at JSTOR
• Numbers, Ronald L. "The Most Important Biblical Discovery of Our Time": William Henry Green and the Demise of Ussher's Chronology," Church History, Vol. 69, No. 2 (Jun., 2000), pp. 257-276 in JSTOR

Further reading

Scopes Trial

• Edward J. Larson: Trial and Error: The American Controversy Over Creation and Evolution 2003 ISBN 0195154703

External links

• Northwest Creation Network Summary of Biblical Young Earth Creationism, with numerous links
• In Evolution Debate, Creationists Are Breaking New Ground Washington Post article on the Creation Museum (free registration required)
• The Young Earth Creation Club Arguments and publications from Young Earth creationists.
• godandscience.org Young Earth vs. Old Earth arguments from Old Earth creationists.