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Revision as of 17:58, 19 October 2001 by Lee Daniel Crocker (talk | contribs) ("Created kinds")(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Creationism is a philosophical or religious position grounded in the idea that a supreme being or ultimate mover literally created the physical universe and all life contained therein. Within the Judeo-Christian tradition, this creation is taken to be ex nihilo (Latin: out of nothing). Some Biblical scholars have argued that this comes from a mistranslation of the biblical account in the book of Genesis.
In one sense it is possible to be an evolutionary creationist: one can believe that a supreme being created the universe and also hold that life (and humans) evolved within this creation. (Generally speaking, this is related to a Deistic conception).
It can also be held that a supreme being guided the process of evolution. This latter option, however--if it is construed as being part of a scientific explanation--might well be held up to criticism, since it seems to violate the stipulation that scientific enquiry be built upon a foundation of methodological naturalism. Those theists who don't hold that the scientific method must be used to describe things that are unfalsifiable have no disagreement with this 'Supreme Being guided evolution'.
Creationism, particularly when rooted in Judeo-Christian Biblical literalism, is usually expressed as opposition to the evolutionary model of life on Earth. Creationism in this sense is primarily a U.S. phenomenon, although it can be found in other countries as well. This form of Creationism was an integral part of the Scopes Trial of 1925.
It is important to clarify what parts of the evolutionary model Creationists do not agree with. Current Creationist thinking embraces natural selection and small changes in species, which is sometimes termed microevolution. Creationists do not, however, agree that the major divisions of life were derived through the same process (macroevolution). Typically, they do not believe that all life is derived from a single-celled ancestor, that mammals are descendents of reptiles, or that man descended from apes. A common argument made is that all solid examples of evolution are in fact examples solely of microevolution. Rather than using the term "species", they use the term "created kinds" to describe the boundaries they believe evolution does not cross, but they offer no rigorous (or operational) definition of what a "created kind" is.
The majority of practising scientists, theologians and philosophers of science believe scientific creationism and intelligent design theory to be untenable, either because these views are scientifically unsupported and unverifiable, or because they are considered outright nonsense.
Creationists, of course, including a number of Christian scientists, disagree with this position and primarily combat it by claiming that evolutionary theory is inadequately supported and thus rooted in faith as well.
Evolutionary scientists, at this point in the debate, usually argue that science does not claim any absolute truths but learns from its own failures and incompleteness, and that creationists do not present anything which would qualify as a falsifiable theory.
As of 2001, Neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory is the position of scientific orthodoxy. Anti-evolutionists represent a challenge to this orthodox position.
Creationism also refers to the belief that each soul is created individually by God, as opposed to traducianism, which holds that the souls of infants are derived from those of their parents. Another theory of the soul is known as Pre-existence.
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