CREATIONISM:CREATIONISM:Getting Back to the BasicsGetting Back to the Basics

In the beginning,

God created the Heavens and the Earth

Genesis 1:1

What is Creationism?

The belief that humanity, life, the Earth, or the universe as a whole was specially created by a supreme being (often referred to specifically as God) or by other forms of supernatural intervention.

How the World Began…Condensed Version

For those of you who don’t know the story, here is a brief synopsis of what most Creationists believe, according to the book of Genesis.

On the first day…

God called the light “day.” He called the darkness “night.” There was evening, and there was morning.

On the second day…

God said, “Let there be a huge space between the waters.” God called the huge space “sky.”

On the third day…

God said, “Let dry ground appear.” Then God said, “Let the land grow plants. And let there be trees on the land.”

On the fourth day…

God said, “Let there be lights in the huge space of sky.” God made two great lights. He made the larger light to rule over the day and the smaller light to rule over the night.

On the fifth day…

God said, “Let the waters be filled with living things. Let the birds fly in the sky.”

On the sixth day…

God said, “Let the land produce living creatures.” Then God said, “Let us make man in our likeness.”

And finally on the seventh day…

God saw everything He had made. And it was very good. There was evening, and there was morning and on the seventh day God rested.

Creationism continued...

Creationism covers a spectrum of beliefs which have been categorized in broad types. Despite popular belief, most “creationists” are those who object to specific parts of science for religious reasons, though many (if not most) people who believe in a divine act of creation do not categorically reject those parts of science.

Creationism vs. Evolution’s Frequently Asked Questions

What About the Dinosaurs?

Simply put, they lived concurrent with man down through the thousands of years of our existence, and they appear to have gone mostly extinct prior to our modern era.  Remember that the word "dinosaur" is only about 160 years old.  Legends of dangerous reptilian creatures (a.k.a. dragons) have been passed down to us from our ancestors across Europe, from China and the rest of Asia, all over the Americas (North, South & Central), and they're remembered in Africa too. The evidence is that there have been these large dangerous reptilian creatures.  We have bones, recorded history and footprints; we have strong evidence. 

What About Noah’s Ark?

Noah's mission was to preserve each kind of animal.  You don't need to find the biggest of each kind.  And you don't need each sub-divided species either.  Did you know that most modern dog breeds are less than 100 years old?  2 healthy young mutts could preserve the genome of the entire "dog kind" of animals.  The Bible uses the word "kind" for the different types of life forms.  Horses and zebras can (and have) physically mated producing viable offspring; so have tigers and lions, indicating that they (according to creation theory) probably respectively diverged from the same original stock.  Dogs and wolves (though considered quite different by humans today) probably originated from their same "kind" too.  There are a few large animals (when fully grown) of course: giraffes, elephants, and T-rexes among them.  But the average animal size is about sheep size, i.e. the 3-story Ark was plenty large enough to handle the variety of animal kinds plus lots of food for them.  Speciation could descend again from original healthy "mutt" stock to start with.  Thinking scientifically about this, it shows incredible variable design.

And Radioactive Dating…?

Rocks do not come with dates stamped on them, nor has anyone witnessed them aging over millions of years.  Radiometric dating is one-third fact and two-thirds assumption, and it is irreproducible.  Lava flows occurring in recorded historic times have dated radiometrically at millions of years old. This does not give us confidence in the current guesstimates of the earth's allegedly long age.

What About Hominid Evolution?

Humans alive today vary in cranial capacity from about 700 cc to 2200 cc, with no relation of brain size to intelligence.  (The average is about 1300 to 1350 cc) If we look at computers, one could argue that circuits that are closer together are more efficient and faster, ... so a smaller brain size may not necessarily be a disadvantage.  When evolutionists line up old skulls from smaller to larger they make false assumptions linking brain size to intelligence. Plus the radioactive dating methods are questionable,so they have no idea how old each skull is in the first place.

Hominid Evolution continued…

What happens to the bones of a person who doesn't get enough calcium in their diet?  Or if they were lacking copper, for example, it would detrimentally affect brain development.  If, in past times, many peoples only ate local foods ... and the local soil in different places had a lack of selenium, or magnesium, or iron, then this would affect each person and animal in the respective area over generations. When we come along now and look at the hominid fossils left behind let's consider all of the logical scientific possibilities (including potentially inbred defects),    The fossil record shows that each kind has always varied within each kind.

Evidence in Favor of Creationism and Evolution

Creationists and evolutionists, all have the same evidence—the same facts. Think about it: we all have the same earth, the same fossil layers, the same animals and plants, the same stars—the facts are all the same.

The difference is in the way we all interpret the facts. And why do we interpret facts differently? Because we start with different presuppositions. These are things that are assumed to be true, without being able to prove them. These then become the basis for other conclusions. This becomes especially relevant when dealing with past events.

In 2000, a poll conducted estimated that:

20% of Americans believe public schools should teach evolution only.

17% believe that only evolution should be taught in science classes.

29% believe that Creationism should be discussed as a belief NOT scientific theory.

13% believe that Creationism and evolution should be taught as scientific theories.

16% believe that only Creationism should be taught.

What Do You Believe???

So in Conclusion…

Maybe scientists, though smart in some ways, could be generally weak in other areas, like spiritual perception. Possibly somewhat like a "nerd" who's brilliant with computers, but who has trouble dealing with others. Really good at details and complex formulas, but possibly missing the big picture.  You wouldn't want a brilliant lawyer to perform open heart surgery on you (even though he or she is smart). So don't think that science can prove everything beyond a shadow of a doubt. If we knew EXACTLY what happened…could we handle it? I seriously doubt it.

References

Hazen, Robert M. Genesis: The Scientific Quest for Life’s Origin. Washington, D.C: Joseph Henry, 2005.

Zimmerman, Paul A. Darwin, Evolution and Creation. Missouri: Concordia, 1959.

Creationism- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 11/30/2006. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index/php?title=Creationism&printable=yes