Creationism

• Author: John G. West
• Pages: 706-708

Page 706

Creationism is the belief that plants and animals were originally created by a supernatural being substantially as they now exist. Proponents of creationism today are primarily evangelical Christians who adopt a literal reading of the book of Genesis in the Bible. Several hundred creationists also hold advanced science degrees and claim that the best scientific evidence supports creationism; these creationists advocate what they call "scientific creationism."

Scientific creationism is far afield from prevailing scientific orthodoxy, and although most of its proponents are evangelicals, many evangelicals do not subscribe to it. Scientific creationism teaches that the earth is several thousand years old, rather than several billion, and that much of the fossil record was created in a worldwide deluge, rather than by the gradual accumulations of the ages. It harkens back to catastrophism of the type dominant in the scientific community before the theories of Charles Lyell and Charles Darwin gained acceptance. Scientific creationists claim that the fossil record supports the idea that when life first appeared it was already complicated and multifaceted; at the very least, they argue, the fossil record shows no support for the gradual progression of life forms taught by classical Darwinian theory. Much of the evidence cited by creation scientists comes from evolutionists, who continue to have marked disagreements with one another about the mechanism by which evolution occurs.

Creationism originally became a constitutional issue because creationists tried to keep evolution from being taught in the public schools, a policy the Supreme Court struck down as violative of the ESTABLISHMENT CLAUSE in EPPERSON V. ARKANSAS (1968). Creationism remains a constitutional issue, however, because creationists now seek to have scientific creationism taught in public schools. In fact, they have sought state laws that require the teaching of creationism side-by-side with evolution.

Opponents of these laws maintain that teaching creationism is tantamount to teaching religion and hence abridges the establishment clause; as evidence for their position, they point to the religious underpinnings of creationism and claim that few if any scientists hold creationist beliefs. Creationists respond that how they derived their theory is irrelevant; the sole question is whether or not it can be validated by scientific research. As for the dearth of scientists who are creationists, creation scientists point to their own doctorates in science from...