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"Creationism" is the name given to the belief that the
creation story of Genesis is the literal truth about how the world came into
being. According to Christian creationists, the universe and everything in it
was created by God in six days, at a time which biblical scholars have
calculated to be just over 6000 years ago. Up until the late nineteenth century
it was quite possible to believe in the scientific world picture and also in the
biblical story of creation, because science itself did not have any particular
account of creation. But in the past 150 years scientists have gradually pieced
together their own accounts of how life and the universe began. These accounts
differ significantly from the literal account in Genesis, and so they present a
significant challenge to Christian believers.
The scientific account of the creation of life was kicked off by
Charles Darwin in the mid-nineteenth century. He put forward the theory that all
life evolves by processes of "natural selection." According to Darwin,
life began with very simple creatures, which gradually evolved over millions of
years into more complex forms. Eventually this process gave rise to human
beings. Likewise in the twentieth century, physicists and cosmologists have
worked out a scientific account of how the universe came into being. Again, this
account says that in the beginning - at the moment of the big bang - the
universe came into being in a very simple state that gradually evolved over
millions of years into ever more complex forms. Again, the process did not
happen in a week, but over extremely long periods of time.
The scientific accounts of biological and cosmological evolution
are supported by vast amounts of evidence and data. Yet creationists reject this
evidence. Not only that, in recent decades they have developed what is
often-called "creation science". Creation scientists aim to
demonstrate through the methods of science itself that the Genesis account is
essentially correct. A key component of this effort is "flood
geology". Flood geologists - some of whom are card-carrying Phd's in
geology - look at the geological and fossil record and argue that the correct
interpretation of the evidence is that the earth is really 6000 years old.
According to flood geologists, the massive crevice of the Grand Canyon is
evidence that there was a vast flood just as the Bible depicts in the story of
Noah.
Creation science and flood geology are not just
"stupid" exercises (as is often said). They are attempts on the part
of people of sincere belief to reconcile their faith with science. But what is
troubling about such efforts is that by turning their beliefs into scientific
form creationists are able to argue that what they are offering is simply an
alternative scientific theory. On these grounds, they are beginning to push for
a creationist perspective to be taught in sciences classes at school. Rather
than being anti-science, creationists have realized that they can enlist science
as their ally. It is just this kind of fusion, that science educators need to
very wary about.
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| Contributed by: Margaret Wertheim
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