Creationism

"The Creation of Light" by Gustave Doré

Creationism is the belief that the universe was created in the way described in religious books (such as the Bible, Quran and Aqdas). According to Genesis, God directly created life from the nothingness that was before, by fixing the chaos that was. The first approach is known as creatio ex nihilo, which is the Latin name for creation from nothing.

The idea that God created the world has been taught for thousands of years by writers such as Augustine of Hippo. Creationism as it is known today started in the 19th century by fundamentalist Protestants who were opposed to the theories that scientists began to put forward from research about the Geologic time scale and how life came to be. One such theory is called evolution.

In the 20th century, creationist movements also started in Islam and Judaism.

Belief

Creationists usually do not believe that all of today's living things came about from simple organisms changing slowly over time. They believe that life was created much as it is today, and that one form of life cannot change into another. While evolutionists say that fossils (the remains of living things that died long ago) are different from the life we see today, and can be put into order to show changes over time, Creationists say that there is not evidence and argue that nearly every living thing that has a fossil counterpart is practically identical to it. They also argue that the order is random because there is no place on earth where the rock layers are completely intact.

Baha'i creationism

The Baha'i Faith considers the creation narratives in previous Abrahamic religions to be symbolic and not literal. Baha'i Faith also accepts hte Earth is ancient. Baha'ullah existed at the same time as Charles Darwin so was aware of Darwin's works.

Christian Creationism

Christian Creationism says that Noah's flood is important to creationism. They argue that "the first buried fossils of each group are complete and complex (complicated), strong support for the biblical concept (idea) that each kind of life was created well designed to multiply after its own kind." They think that the Bible is literally true. (see Biblical inerrancy) They point to the perfection of Earth's size, shape, and distance as designed by God, and Earth's imperfections as proofs that the Earth is dirtied by humans' sin. They believe that God created the world in six days (with God resting on the seventh) as it was said in the Book of Genesis.

Some do not believe in Biblical inerrancy and say God used evolution to create mankind and other life. This idea is called theistic evolution.

Islamic Creationism

Islamic creationism is the belief that the universe (including humanity) was directly created by Allah as in the Qur'an. Currently, Islam takes religious texts literally. Many scholars say that Genesis is a corrupted version of God's message. There is also a creation myth in the Qu'ran, but it is more vague than Genesis. This allows for more interpretation. Several liberal movements within Islam generally accept the scientific positions on the age of the earth, the age of the universe and evolution.

Islam also has its own form of Theistic evolution, which says that mainstream scientific analysis of the origin of the universe is supported by the Qur'an. Many liberal Muslims believe in evolutionary creationism.

Khalid Anees, president of the Islamic Society of Britain attended a conference called 'Creationism: Science and Faith in Schools'. During that conference, he made points including the following: There is no contradiction between what is revealed in the Koran and natural selection and survival of the fittest. However, some Muslims, such as Adnan Oktar, do not agree that one species can develop from another.

But there is also a growing movement of Islamic creationism. Like the movement in Christianity, Islamic creationists are concerned that the findings of evolutionary theory might contradict what is written in the Qu'ran.

There are several verses in the Qur'an which some modern writers have interpreted as being compatible with the expansion of the universe, Big Bang and Big Crunch theories:

"Do not the Unbelievers see that the skies (space) and the earth were joined together, then We clove them asunder and We created every living thing out of the water. Will they not then believe?"^{[Qur'an 21:30]}

"Then turned He to the sky (space) when it was smoke, and said unto it and unto the earth: Come both of you, willingly or loth. They said: We come, obedient."^{[Qur'an 41:11]}

"And it is We Who have constructed the sky (space) with might, and it is We Who are steadily expanding it."^{[Qur'an 51:47]}

"On the day when We will roll up the sky (space) like the rolling up of the scroll for writings, as We originated the first creation, (so) We shall reproduce it; a promise (binding on Us); surely We will bring it about."^{[Qur'an 21:104]}

Science criticism

Scientists (evolutionists) who oppose the beliefs of creationism and "Intelligent Design" (as well as the 1987 United States Supreme Court) say that creationism is not a true science. And so, they have kept it from being taught in schools in the US and many other countries.

Other websites

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Creationism

• The Edinburgh Creation Group This site features many interesting videos bringing a Creationist perspective.
• CreationOnTheWeb A creation website for Creation Ministries International, an apologetics ministry that supports a 6-day biblical creation worldview
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Creationism
• How creationism works
• Muslim viewpoint
• Darwinism Refuted
• Creation and Evolution Both? Examines whether Biblical creation and neo-darwinistic evolution can be reconciled.
• Evolution, Creationism & ID Timeline Focuses on major historical and recent events in the scientific and political debate
• Evolution Sciences versus Doctrines of Creationism and Intelligent Design
• Evolution and CreationismPDF (204 KiB). A Guide for Museum Docents
• What is creationism? from talk.origins.
• The Creation/Evolution Continuum by Eugenie Scott.
• Armies of the Night by Isaac Asimov.
• Workers have stake in defending science a materialist statement on creationism by The Militant, 2005.
• Edward J. Larson and Larry Witham Leading scientists still reject God in Nature, Vol. 394, No. 6691 (1998), p. 313. Online at Freethought-web.org
• Creationism: The Hindu View
• Northwest Creation Network's extensive list of International Creation Science links
• Teaching Hearts Creation Science