Difference between revisions of "Young Earth Creationism"

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[[Image:Michelangelo creation-of-sun-and-moon.jpg|right|alt=Young earth creationism|thumb|310px|[[Michelangelo|Michelangelo's]] painting of the creation of the [[Sun]] and [[Moon]] by [[God]].]]
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'''Young Earth Creationism''', or "YEC",<ref>"YEC", can refer to Young Earth Creationist or Young Earth Creationism.  "YECs" refers to Young Earth Creationists.</ref> accepts [[creationism]] whereby the [[earth]] and the [[universe]] are approximately 6,000 years old.<ref>Sarfati, 1999, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3837 Chapter 8, How old is the earth?].</ref><ref>Sarfati, 1999, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3836 Chapter 7, Astronomy] of Refuting Evolution.</ref>
  
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'''Young Earth creationism''' (abbreviated to '''YEC''') is the belief that our planet and universe were [[creationism|created]], from nothing, in six days<noinclude> (usually defined as six consecutive  days consisting of twenty-four hours each)</noinclude>, approximately 6,000 years ago, by the God of the Abrahamic religions ([[Christianity]], [[Judaism]] and [[Islam]]). Adherents of young Earth creationism are known as "young Earth creationists", or simply YECs.
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Young earth creationists hold that both [[creation]] and the [[Evolution|evolutionary position]] are based on [[worldview]]s; because they are both claims about historical (or prehistorical) events, they depend on untestable assumptions.  At the same time, Young Earth [[Creation Science|creation scientists]] see the Young Universe as the explanation that best fits the evidence.<ref>''See also'' [[Young Earth|Young earth]].</ref>
  
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This belief derives from a [[Biblical literalism|literal]] interpretation of a conflation of the two [[Creation Week|creation stories]] in the  [[The Bible|Biblical]] book of [[Genesis]].<ref>[http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/k/kjv/kjv-idx?type=DIV1&byte=1477 Genesis ''King James Bible version'']</ref>
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Scientists who advocate for an Old Earth consider, with biased arrogance, Young Earth Creationism to be unscientific.  But the predominantly [[atheistic science|atheistic scientists]] rely on a [[double standard]] that ignores numerous [[counterexamples to an Old Earth]], and believers in an Old Earth also over-rely on flawed [[radiometric dating]].
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This means young Earth creationists believe the six days described in Genesis were standard 24-hour days and consequently they reject [[Evidence against a recent creation|all scientific evidence]] demonstrating the earth is older than this and the various attempts to reconcile genesis with science, such as Day-Age theory.
 
  
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A [[fundamentalism|firm]] belief in the biblical [[Global flood|worldwide flood]] and the story of [[Noah's Ark|Noah]] is also a cornerstone of young Earth creationism. The flood is used by proponents of YEC to explain almost all observations that scientists have interpreted as pointing to a significantly older Earth.
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== Beliefs ==
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[[Image:Stbasil.jpg|right|thumb|270px|[[Saint Basil]] was one of the early [[church fathers]] who indicated that the earth was about 6,000 years old.]]
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=== Biblical ===
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Young Earth creationism generally takes the following positions regarding the biblical book of [[Genesis]]:
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* [[Creation]] took place over a period of six ordinary (solar/24-hour) days, with God then "resting" on the seventh day.
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* This creation, described in Genesis as "good" and "very good", was without flaw or defect.
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* All people are descended from the first couple, [[Adam]] and [[Eve]].
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* Adam and Eve [[sin]]ned, leading to their expulsion from the [[Garden of Eden]].
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* A global [[Great Flood|Noachian flood]] occurred, destroying all land-based, air-breathing life, except that on the [[Ark]].
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* The dispersal of humanity was caused by God after the [[Tower of Babel]].<ref>[http://www.christiananswers.net/q-abr/confusionoflanguages.html Is there any reference to the confusion of languages at Babel in early Mesopotamian literature?] (ChristianAnswers.Net).</ref><ref>[http://www.christiananswers.net/q-abr/abr-a021.html Is there archaeological evidence of the Tower of Babel?] (ChristianAnswers.Net).</ref><ref>Jackson, Wayne, [http://www.christiancourier.com/archives/babel.htm The Tower of Babel—Legend or History?] December 17, 1999 (Christian Courier).</ref>
  
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Creationists who believe in an older earth are called [[Old Earth Creationism|old earth creationists]]. This is marginally less in conflict with science.
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Young Earth creationists do not believe that one's view on the age of the Earth has any effect on their salvation, since one is saved through faith alone in Christ alone, but they do believe that the young Earth view does allow one to view the Bible and its authority consistently.<ref>Ham, Ken (September 28, 2019). [https://answersingenesis.org/age-of-the-earth/does-the-gospel-depend-on-a-young-earth/ Chapter 1: Does the Gospel Depend on a Young Earth?] ''Answers in Genesis''. Retrieved October 2, 2019.</ref>
  
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==Date of creation according to young earth creationists==
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=== Scientific ===
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Young earth creationism holds that the scientific evidence is unreasonably ''interpreted'' by evolutionists and [[atheism|atheists]]/[[naturalism|naturalists]] as supporting their point of view, but that the same evidence can be reasonably interpreted by creationists to support the creationary point of view. This imposes a heavy burden on the testability of both theories, which is one of the reasons why some scientists question whether either the creationary or evolutionary view is scientific.
  
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Although the book of [[Genesis]] does not mention any specific creation date, the 4004 BCE date of creation upheld by young Earth creationists was calculated by the Anglican Archbishop [[James Ussher]]<ref>[http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast161/Unit5/ussher.html James Ussher's Date of the Creation ''Ohio Sate University'']</ref> in 1658 and John Lightfoot in 1644<ref>[http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/ussher.htm Bishop Ussher Dates the World: 4004 BC ''Lock Haven University'']</ref>. He meticulously traced the biblical lineages (including [[Noah's Ark|Noah]]'s supposed 900 years) back to this year, and compared Middle Eastern, biblical and Mediterranean sources to come up with the surprisingly exact date of October 23, 4004 [[BCE]] at 9 in the morning.
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They further argue that the scientific evidence is more consistent with the creationary point of view than the evolutionary point of view.
  
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This figure would put the age of the Earth several orders of magnitude less than the scientifically agreed figure. To put this in perspective, those with the YEC worldview believe the world was created after the domestication of the dog (and possibly the [[goat]]), after the first stones were laid at [[Stonehenge]] and after people settled in [[Scotland]], although Conservapedia's [http://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Scotland&diff=397011&oldid=397010 Scotland article] has another statement about the inhabitation of the Northern part of the British Isles. [[Evidence against a recent creation]] is quite simply overwhelming.
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Critics argue, however, that none of the YEC beliefs are subject to the scientific method, but the same criticism applies to theories promoted by evolutionists.  The scientific method includes the process of making predictions based on your starting hypothesis and then performing experiments to verify those predictions, all in a manner that can be reproduced and validated by a peer review process.
  
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==Conflict with science==
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Some specific arguments are as follows:
  
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The concept of the Earth being instantaneously formed only 6000 years ago obviously flies in the face of many fields of modern science. A full list can be found on[[Branches of science you have to ignore to believe in Young Earth Creationism|here]] but most notably these sciences are [[biology]] (The [[theory of evolution]] and [[Conservapedia:dinosaur|paleontology]]), [[astronomy]] ([[starlight problem]]), geology (volcanic formation, sedimentation, plate tectonics), [[archaeology]] (historic development of ancient civilizations) and physics ([[Radiometric dating]]). Not surprisingly, YEC also contradicts the [[creation myths]] of other religions and is in conflict with more evolved forms of Christianity.
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* The [[First Law of Thermodynamics|first law of thermodynamics]] and [[second law of thermodynamics]] argue against an eternal universe, and these laws point to the universe being created by [[God]].<ref>[http://godevidences.net/space/lawsofscience.php Evidences for God From Space&mdash;Laws of Science]</ref><ref>Thompson, Bert, [http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2329 So Long, Eternal Universe; Hello Beginning, Hello End!], 2001 (Apologetics Press)</ref><ref>http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/AstroPhysicalSciences14.html</ref>
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* The [[theory of evolution]] is at odds with scientific evidence.  Evolutionists often cite secular scientific sources which agree with them on various points (for further details please see: [[theory of evolution]] and [[creationism]]).<ref>https://creation.com/frequently-asked-questions-faq</ref>
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These scientific fields are backed by centuries of research by the [[scientific method]], are [[falsifiable]] and have accumulated vast quantities of supportive evidence.
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* Both evolutionary scientists and young earth creation scientists believe that [[speciation]] occurs; however, young earth creation scientists state that speciation generally occurs at a much faster rate than evolutionary scientists believe is the case.<ref>[[Creation Ministries International]], [http://www.creation.com/content/view/3036/ Speciation: Questions and Answers]</ref>
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* Many young earth creationists (including those at [[Creation Ministries International]] and [[CreationWiki]]) assert that the [http://creationwiki.org/index.php/Bible_scientific_foreknowledge Bible contains knowledge that shows an understanding of scientific knowledge beyond that believed to exist at the time the Bible was composed].<ref>[http://creationwiki.org/index.php/Bible_scientific_foreknowledge  Bible Scientific Foreknowledge]</ref><ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v17/i1/medicine.asp</ref>
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* The facts 1)  that so many cultures and people record a history of a great flood and 2) that geological evidence of a flood exists in almost every area of the Earth, show that it is very likely, if not proven, that the great flood did take place.<ref>[http://www.noahs-ark-flood.com/]</ref>
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* The fact that history only spans a few thousand years evidences a young Earth. If the Earth were millions of years old, then so would civilization be. This is obviously not the case as recorded history only spans a few thousand years and our level of technology would be much more advanced.
  
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Young Earth creationists often reject scientific theories and discoveries that go against their ideas - but rather than presenting evidence for a young Earth, they resort to attacking modern science. Since their ideas are based on [[faith]] rather than [[evidence]], they are not [[Falsifiability|falsifiable]].
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== Biblical exegesis ==
  
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Popular methods of discrediting modern science include:
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''See also:'' [[Bible exegesis]]
  
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* '''[[Quote mining]]:'''
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Young earth creationism holds that the book of Genesis is historical in nature and that [[Bible exegesis]] warrants a six-day creation with each day being 24 hours.<ref>[http://creationwiki.org/Days_of_creation Days of Creation] (CreationWiki).</ref><ref>[http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/faq/genesis.asp Genesis Questions and Answers] (Answers in Genesis).</ref><ref>Niessen, Richard, [https://www.icr.org/article/164/ Theistic Evolution and the Day-Age Theory] ''Impact'' 81, March 1980.</ref>
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::Which is the practice of removing quotes from their context to support a particular view. This often is used in conjunction with the [[argument from authority]].
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Andrew Kulikovsky describes it as follows:
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* '''Politicization:'''
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{{QuoteBox|The hermeneutic employed by most YECs is best described as the historical-grammatical method in which historical narrative (such as the book of Genesis) is interpreted as literal history, prophecy is interpreted as prophecy, poetry is interpreted as poetry, etc.
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::Claiming modern science is politicized and biased because most scientists are [[liberal]]s or moderates. This is, of course, untrue.
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<ref>Kulikovsky, Andrew S., [http://www.creationontheweb.com/images/pdfs/tj/tjv16v2_forster.pdf Fostering fallacy] ''Journal of Creation'' 16(2) 2002, p.31-36.</ref>}}
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* '''Exaggerating the limits of a scientific [[theory]]:'''
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{{QuoteBox|Historical-grammatical exegesis involves a systematic approach to analyzing in detail the historical situation, events and circumstances surrounding the text, and the semantics and syntactical relationships of the words which comprise the text.<ref>Kulikovsky, Andrew S., [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/4880/ The Bible and hermeneutics] ''Journal of Creation'' 19(3):14–20, December 2005, p.14-20.</ref>}}
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::Usually the phrase "only a theory" is passed about without any sense of irony, as creationists themselves sometimes attempt to pass creationism off as a "theory" &mdash; albeit one utterly unsupported by any [[evidence]]. This is also due to a misunderstanding of what a [[scientific theory]] actually is.
 
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* '''Pointing out science has been wrong before:'''
 
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::This is often combined with the above method of citing the fact that science is theory. Indeed, science has been wrong, but when it is found to be wrong it changes and becomes more accurate. Fundamentalism on the other hand, by definition doesn't change, staying the exact same distance from reality at all times.
 
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* '''Exploiting the existence of [[Uniformitarianism|non-uniformitarian]] views:'''
 
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::This can be wide reaching, from the [[speed of light]] changing over time to support the apparent age of the [[universe]] to bizarre [[hypothesis|hypotheses]] and suggestions that help support a [[global flood]] event.
 
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* '''Exploiting science fiction and popular culture:'''
 
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::As not all people are experts in all fields of science, a lot of people have to make do with popularised and slightly inaccurate versions of scientific theories. The inaccuracies or dramatisations of these theories which slip into popular culture (such as [[natural selection]] being termed "survival of the fittest") are easily exploitable. As is saying that intelligent design is right because it sort of happens in 2001: A Space Odyssey.  
 
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* '''Invoking divine intervention:'''
 
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::This technique solves many problems, like the [[starlight problem]] and explaining why [[incest]] was not an issue for [[Adam]] and [[Eve]]'s offspring as well as for those aboard [[Noah's Ark]]. From a [[materialism|materialistic]] view, these are unsatisfying answers. Often this is abbreviated to "[[goddidit]]".
 
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*'''Referring to obsolete sources:'''
 
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::Science thrives on change. When discrediting evolutionary theories, Creationists will often cite [[Charles Darwin]]'s original Origin of Species and point out issues which were badly understood at the time. As all of science is a "work in progress" the specific details of  the the theory of evolution have changed much since Darwin's time and continue to be improved.
 
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* '''[[Creation science|Creationist "scientists"]] writing outside of their field:'''
 
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::For example, a physicist writing about DNA analysis or geologists commenting on biology. In science, this is of course perfectly acceptable but it does not by default give them authority over someone who has proved themselves as a specialist in an area. This is possibly most apparent in the published list of scientists who disagree with evolution, where only a small handful are qualified biologists.
 
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* '''Referring to "[[Global flood|the flood]]" for everything:'''
 
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::Similar to divine intervention, the Flood is often cited to explain the presence of [[fossil]]s, sedimentary layers, [[The Grand Canyon]] and to explain why [[radiometric dating]] would be flawed. However, this [[Begging the question|presumes]] a flood occurred and that it would adequately explain these features of the earth, which it wouldn't do well even if it was feasible to have occurred. See [[Petrified forest]].
 
  
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Mainstream scientists classify young Earth creationism as a [[pseudoscience]], putting it on par with [[astrology]].
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For more than a century, the majority of conservative Old Testament scholars no longer accepted the chronological implications of the Genesis "chrono-genealogies" following the accommodation of the old Princeton Theology (“Primeval Chronology,” ''Bibliotheca Sacra'' 47 (1890): 285–303).  However, Jeremy Sexton reexamined this hypothesis in 2015<ref>: "Who Was Born When Enosh Was 90?: A Semantic Reevaluation of William Henry Green's Chronological Gaps." The Westminster Theological Journal 77, no. 2 (September 2015): 193-218.[http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2016/04/06/Who-Was-Born-When-Enosh-Was-90-A-Semantic-Reevaluation-of-William-Henry-Greene28099s-Chronological-Gaps.aspx]</ref> starting the process of returning Old Testament Scholarship to the consensus that held sway since before the coming of Christ ([[Earth age opinions of prominent Christians - pre-1800‎]]).
  
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==Young earth creationism around the world==
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== Age of the Universe and Earth - General Overview ==
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Young earth creationism is directly correlated with a rejection of the theory of evolution, a 2006 poll<ref>U.S. Lags World in Grasp of Genetics and Acceptance of Evolution ''Live Science, 10 August 2006 '' [http://www.livescience.com/health/060810_evo_rank.html]</ref> among adults in developed nations showed that at only 40% of adult Americans accept evolution, only [[Turkey]] has a lower acceptance rate (25%), while acceptance in [[Japan]] and [[Europe]] is typically higher than 60%.
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Young Earth [[creation]] scientists advance a number of reasons for the Earth and [[universe]] being approximately 6,000 years old.<ref>[http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/faq/young.asp ‘Young’ age of the Earth & Universe Q&A] (Answers in Genesis).</ref><ref name="AiG Astr QA">[http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/faq/astronomy.asp Astronomy and Astrophysics Questions and Answers] (Answers in Genesis).</ref><ref name="AiG Astr QA" /><ref>[http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3040/ ‘Young’ age of the Earth & Universe Q&A] (Creation Ministries International).</ref><ref>[http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/faq/dating.asp Radiometric Dating Questions and Answers] (Answers in Genesis)</ref><ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/faq/young.asp</ref> They argue that the evolutionary geological timescale is in error,<ref>Woodmorappe, John, [http://www.trueorigin.org/geocolumn.asp The Geologic Column: Does It Exist?] ''Journal of Creation'' 13(2):77–82, 1999</ref><ref>Morris, Henry, [https://www.icr.org/index.php?module=articles&action=view&ID=54 Geology and the Flood] ''Impact'' 6, August 1973</ref><ref>[http://www.allaboutcreation.org/geologic-time-scale.htm Geologic Time Scale  - The Misconceptions] (All About Creation)</ref> and that [[geology]] further provides multiple lines of evidence that the Earth is young.<ref>[http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/faq/geology.asp Geology Questions and Answers] (Answers in Genesis)</ref><ref>[http://www.creationism.org/topbar/geology.htm Geology] (Creation.org)</ref><ref>[http://www.nwcreation.net/geologylinks.html Geology Links] (Northwest Creation Network)</ref><ref>Baumgardner, John, [http://globalflood.org/ Genesis Flood] 28 July 2003.</ref> Rejecting the [[uniformitarianism (science)|uniformitarian]] assumptions of secular geologists, they use a [[geologic system|geological system]] that depends more on [[catastrophism]]<ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/ee/geologic-record</ref> and point out that catastrophism is being increasingly accepted in the field of geology.<ref>http://www.grisda.org/origins/12061.htm</ref><ref>https://www.icr.org/index.php?module=articles&action=print&ID=84</ref>
  
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Factors such as the level of devotion to a religion, as well as politics, and most importantly the education system of a nation, determine the percentage of young Earth creationists in a nation. This explains the high percentages of YECs in [[Muslim]] countries and the [[United States]] as both regions have a significant fundamentalist population.
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== Astronomy ==
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[[Image:NGC .jpg|right|thumb|350px|The majestic spiral [[galaxy]] ''NGC 4414'', imaged by the [[Hubble Space Telescope]] in 1995.]]
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The view of young earth creationism is that the various astronomical bodies such as [[planet]]s, [[star]]s, and [[galaxy|galaxies]] were supernaturally created and that [[Materialism|materialistic]] explanations of the origins of various astronomical bodies are insufficient and counter-evidence.<ref>Brown, 1991, [http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/AstroPhysicalSciences.html Astronomical and Physical Sciences]; Sarfati, 1999, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3836 Chapter 7].</ref> In addition, creationists often cite the secular scientific literature to make the case that materialist explanations of various astronomical bodies are inadequate:
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{{cquote|...most every prediction by theorists about planetary formation has been wrong.<ref>Scott Tremaine, as quoted by Richard A. Kerr, “Jupiters Like Our Own Await Planet Hunters,” Science, Vol. 295, 25 January 2002, p. 605, quoted by [http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes42.html Brown, 2001, notes for chapter 43].</ref>}}
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{{cquote|Attempts to find a plausible naturalistic explanation of the origin of the [[Solar System]] began about 350 years ago but have not yet been quantitatively successful, making this one of the oldest unsolved problems in modern science.<ref>Stephen G. Brush, A History of Modern Planetary Physics, Vol. 3 (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1996, p. 91, quoted by [http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes42.html Brown, 2001, notes for chapter 43]).</ref>}}
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{{cquote|We don’t understand how a single star forms, yet we want to understand how 10 billion stars form.<ref>Carlos Frenk, as quoted by Robert Irion, “Surveys Scour the Cosmic Deep,” Science, Vol. 303, 19 March 2004, p. 1750, quoted by Brown, 1991, [http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes59.html Notes for chapter 61]</ref>}}
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{{cquote|We cannot even show convincingly how galaxies, stars, planets, and life arose in the present universe.<ref>Michael Rowan-Robinson, “Review of the Accidental Universe,” New Scientist, Vol. 97, 20 January 1983, p. 186, quoted by Brown, 1991, [http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes59.html Notes for chapter 62].</ref>}}
  
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Although it has little or no political traction, creationism exists in the UK. An article in The Guardian in September 2008 put the number of people believing in YEC ideas at 10% of the population.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2008/sep/11/michael.reiss.creationism 10% of UK population creationists]</ref>
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In 2001, Cristina Chiappini wrote regarding the [[Milky Way]] galaxy the following:
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:". . . it is an elegant structure that shows both order and complexity. . . . The end product is especially remarkable in the light of what is believed to be the starting point: nebulous blobs of gas. How the universe made the Milky Way from such simple beginnings is not altogether clear. - Cristina Chiappini, " The Formation and Evolution of the Milky Way," American Scientist (vol. 89, Nov./Dec. 2001), p. 506.<ref name="icr.org">https://www.icr.org/article/547/</ref>
  
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==The "To Test our Faith" school==
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Dr. [[Walt Brown]] provides numerous citations to the secular science literature that corroborate the failings of current old universe paradigm explanations in regards to the planets, stars, and galaxies.<ref>http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes43.html</ref><ref>http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes60.html#wp1142334</ref><ref>http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes61.html#wp1212721</ref>
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One branch of YEC has God deliberately creating paradoxes such as [[dinosaur]]s, strata in the Grand Canyon, etc. in order "to test our (the True Christian Believers) [[faith]]".  Then, God sends them to hell! They maintain that a mischievous God, who could/can do anything, simply created an Earth that ''appeared'' to be billions of years old, with million-year old bones and the like already in place.<ref>''Autobiography of a Carp, Chapter 12: I learn about Creation'', unpublished manuscript, n/d, Dixon NM, USA'''</ref> However, the idea is completely untestable and is in fact very old; a similar hypothesis was proposed by the Calvinist and naturalist Philip Henry Gosse in his 1857 book ''Omphalos'', and it also resembles [[Last Thursdayism]], or the idea that we're living in a computer simulation. If this is the case that the Creator is testing people's faith, it is clear that it is a willfully ''deceitful'' Creator - and the concept of such a god being a benevolent one can be thrown out.
 
  
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This concept conjures up the image of God burying dinosaur skeletons while saying, "That'll fool the bastards!"
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The [[Institute for Creation Research]] has a notable essay by David Coppedge entitled "Mature at Birth: Universe Discredits Evolution" which cites recent findings that challenge an old universe paradigm.<ref>https://www.icr.org/article/2946/</ref>  In addition, [[Henry Morris]] has an essay regarding the subject of the failings of the old universe paradigm entitled "What Astronomers Don't Know".<ref name="icr.org"/>
  
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==Opinions==
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Young earth creationist scientists also contest the [[Big Bang theory]] stating that it is scientifically unsound.
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{{cquote|Nearly all peoples have developed their own creation myths, and the Genesis story is just the one that happened to have been adopted by one particular tribe of Middle Eastern herders. It has no more special status than the belief of a particular West African tribe that the world was created from the excrement of ants.|30|30|[[Richard Dawkins]]}}
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<ref name="BB Critique">Thompson, Bert, Harrub, Brad, and May, Branyon [http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=9&article=1453 The Big Bang Theory—A Scientific Critique] ''Apologetics Press'', May 2003 - 23[5]:32-34,36-47.</ref>
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<ref>Brown, Walt, 2001, [http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/AstroPhysicalSciences16.html Big Bang?]</ref><ref>http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/309</ref><ref>http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2047</ref><ref>https://www.icr.org/article/343/</ref>
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=== Starlight and the Age of the Universe ===
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{{main|Starlight problem}}
  
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{{cquote|If we are going to teach creation science as an alternative to evolution, then we should also teach the stork theory as an alternative to biological reproduction.|30|30|Judith Hayes}}
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[[Image:Barry setterfield.jpg‎|right|thumb|175px|[[Barry Setterfield]]]]
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Anti-creationists often claim that [[star]]light from millions of light-years away demonstrates that the Biblical timescale of 6,000 years is in error, as insufficient time has passed for the light from distant stars to reach [[Earth]].
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Creationists respond in part by pointing out that the popular Big Bang theory has its own star-light-travel time problem (the horizon problem), citing the work of Dr. Charles W. Misner.<ref>Lisle, Jason, [http://www.creation.com/content/view/167/ Light-travel time: a problem for the big bang], Creation 25(4):48–49, September 2003.</ref>
  
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{{cquote|Science has proof without any certainty. Creationists have certainty without any proof.|30|30|Ashley Montague}}
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Secondly, creationists have proposed a number of explanations for the objection, and although none are yet certain, they claim that it shows that the critics' claims that it cannot be explained are unfounded.
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==== Setterfield's decay of the speed of light ====
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One early explanation was that of creationist [[Barry Setterfield]], who proposed that the speed of light was faster in the past.<ref>Wieland, Carl, [http://www.creation.com/content/view/2551/ Speed of light slowing down after all?], Journal of Creation 16(3):7–10, December 2002.</ref>
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Critics objected to Setterfield's proposal, including on the grounds that the constancy of the speed of light is one of science's most fundamental laws.<ref name="JS">Sarfati, Jonathan, [http://www.creation.com/content/view/2430/ Have fundamental constants changed, and what would it prove?], 22nd August 2001.</ref>
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Yet in 1999, John Webb, a professor at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia,  and his colleagues reported astronomical observations suggesting that the value of the fine-structure constant (which is related to the speed of light) may have changed (although the size of the change was much smaller than proposed by Setterfield).
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They subsequently published this in 2001 in ''[[Physical Review Letters]]''.<ref name="JS" /><ref>http://www.nature.com/physics/highlights/6849-3.html#ref1</ref>
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However, other problems with the proposal have led most creationists to abandon the idea.<ref>For example, [http://www.creation.com/content/view/2996#c_decay CMI] and [http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/faq/dont_use.asp#c_decay AiG] say that this is an idea that should not be used.</ref>
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==== Russell Humphreys's model ====
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Creationary physicist Dr. [[Russell Humphreys]] proposed a model based on [[Albert Einstein|Einstein's]] law of relativity (as the Big Bang model is), but with a different starting assumption, a bounded universe.
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Humphreys's model proposes that God created the universe much smaller than it is now, then expanded it, quoting the Bible as saying that God "stretched out the heavens."
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In such a scenario, time would pass at different rates on Earth and in outer parts of the universe, so that while 6,000 years went by on Earth, billions of years passed on the outer edge of the universe.
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This model is also based on the [[Genesis]] account recording the days of creation according to time on Earth, rather than elsewhere.
 +
 
 +
However, this theory is not without problems. The evidence contradicts Humphreys's assumption that the Earth is in a large gravity well. If the Earth were in such a gravity well, light from distant galaxies should be blue-shifted. Instead, it is red-shifted. Also, gravitational time dilation, if it existed on such a large scale, should be easily observable. On the contrary, we observe (from the periods of Cepheid variable stars, from orbital rates of binary stars, from supernova extinction rates, from light frequencies, etc.) that such time dilation is minor. It is thought that there is some time dilation corresponding with Hubble's law (i.e., further objects have greater red shifts), but this is due to the well-understood expansion of the universe, and it is not nearly extreme enough to fit more than ten billion years into less than 10,000 years.<ref>Conner, S. R. and D. N. Page, 1998. Starlight and time is the Big Bang. CENTJ 12(2): 174-194. (See also letters in CENTJ 13(1), 1999, 49-52).</ref>
 +
 
 +
==== John Hartnett's model ====
 +
 
 +
Young earth creationist scientist Dr. [[John Hartnett]] proposes a model similar to Humphreys, wherein the Earth was trapped in a time-dilation field caused by extremely strong gravitation during the first few days of creation, from Earth's point of view, while billions of years passed for the rest of the universe.
 +
He attributes the field, its removal, and the continued balance in our solar system (after the field was removed) to divine intervention.<ref>Hartnett, John G., [http://www.creationontheweb.com/images/pdfs/tj/j17_2/j17_2_98-102.pdf A new cosmology:  solution to the starlight travel time problem] ''Journal of Creation'' 17(2):98–102, August 2003.</ref>
 +
Whilst Humphreys' model has time dilation caused only by gravity (per [[Albert Einstein|Einstein's]] [[General Theory of Relativity]]), Hartnett's model also takes into account time dilation caused by motion (God's expansion of the universe) (per Einstein's [[Special Theory of Relativity]]).
 +
 
 +
== Biology ==
 +
 
 +
According to young-Earth creationists, God separately created each ''kind'' of living thing, or ''[[baraminology|baramin]]'', to reproduce "after its kind".
 +
Living things had built into them a capacity for variation and adaptation, but within the limits of their ''kind''.
 +
Genetically, in the case of sexually-reproducing species, much of this is due to the [[information]] carried on each living thing's [[DNA]] being a subset of the parent's DNA, with the subset of information being selected for by the process known as natural selection (described by a creationist before Darwin wrote about it).
 +
Mutations also play a part in this variation, but only to the extent of ''destroying'' genetic information, not ''creating'' it.
 +
 
 +
Many of the ensuing variations have been classified by science as different ''species'', but this speciation is not evolution, as it does not involve the generation of new genetic information and therefore could not have produced the evolutionary "family tree".
 +
 
 +
YECs believe that most of the world's living things were wiped out by the [[Great Flood]], but that pairs of each ''kind'' that could not survive in a flood (i.e. air-breathing, land-dwelling creatures) survived the flood on [[Noah's Ark]], and from the Flood survivors all modern species have descended.
 +
 
 +
== Geology ==
 +
 
 +
YECs believe that most rocks were laid down in two main episodes.
 +
The first was during the creation week, particularly when God caused the waters of the Earth to gather together into the sea and dry land to appear.
 +
The second was during Noah's Flood.
 +
The effects of a global watery catastrophe would have been enormous, which would have formed massive amounts of erosion and sedimentation during a short period of time.
 +
Further, many young-Earth creationists believe that there was a single supercontinent prior to the Flood. This single land mass broke apart during the Flood when the subterranean waters burst out of subterranean chambers, causing the Earth to break apart (see also: [[Hydroplate Theory]]). According to many Young Earth creationists, there were probably fewer oceans with much more land on the Earth prior to the Flood. It is believed that the worldwide water quantity increased after the Flood. The sea trenches and ocean floors sank further down after the Flood waters subsided, because of the increased pressure of the water, thus causing the sea levels to rise.<ref>http://creationwiki.org/Hydroplate_theory</ref><ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=390_ILj34oM&feature=channel_video_title</ref><ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hbj7FXQ-RY&feature=relmfu</ref> Young earth creationists also believe that many of the mountains, valleys, and lakes we see today were formed by the geological transformations caused by the Flood. This would have further contributed to a massive reshaping of the Earth's surface.
 +
 
 +
== Anthropology ==
 +
{{main|Biblical anthropology}}
 +
 
 +
YECs believe that all intact evidence of civilization is evidence of post-Flood civilization, as the [[Global flood|Flood]] destroyed the pre-Flood world.
 +
God confounded man's single language at the [[Tower of Babel]], forcing different family groups to separate and spread around the world.
 +
Most of the people groups listed in the 'Table of Nations' in {{Bible ref|Genesis|10}}, which contains a family tree of Noah's descendants, are identifiable from non-biblical records.
 +
People enduring a forced migration will find any shelter they can, and this would explain much of the evidence of "cavemen".
 +
 
 +
== Contrasted with evolution ==
 +
 
 +
The young earth creationism view contrasts with evolution and other aspects of the old universe view in the following ways:
 +
* According to the chronogenealogies in the Bible, the age of the [[universe]] and [[Earth]] is approximately 6,000 years.  The old universe view is that the universe started about 14,000 million (14 billion) years ago and Earth was formed around 4,500 million (4.5 billion) years ago.
 +
* The creation account has everything being created over a period of six ordinary days, whereas the old universe view has things appearing over billions of years.
 +
* The order of creation is different.  The creation account has the Earth before the sun, plants before the sun, and birds before land animals, among other differences.  The old universe view is the opposite order for each of these.
 +
* The creation account records that death didn't exist prior to the [[Fall of man|Fall]], whereas the evolutionary view is that death and suffering are part of the biological process and existed for billions of years of death prior to the appearance of [[homo sapiens|man]].
 +
* The creation account records various living things being separately created, whereas the evolutionary view has all living things being descended from the first living cell.
 +
* Young Earth creationism is based on the Bible, the infallible Word of God.<ref>http://www.christiananswers.net/q-acb/acb-t002.html</ref><ref>atheism.about.com/od/creationismcreationists/a/bible.htm</ref>
 +
 
 +
== Arguments for a recent creation ==
 +
{{main|Arguments for a recent creation}}
 +
 
 +
[[Image:Roth-01.gif|right|thumb|350px|The arrows point to [[Paraconformity|paraconformities]] at the [[Grand Canyon]].]]
 +
 
 +
Many arguments for a recent creation have been put forward by creationary scientists, both scientific and theological arguments.
 +
 
 +
Scientific arguments include [[radiometric dating]] results that disagree with secular ages, other dating methods that do not fit with secular ages, and phenomena showing events that occurred quickly.
 +
 
 +
There should be virtually no <sup>14</sup>C present in carbon supposedly older than 100,000 years, yet it has proved impossible to find any such carbon without <sup>14</sup>C.
 +
 
 +
Dating methods don't have to be based on radioactivity.
 +
Measuring the amount of [[sodium]] in seawater, for example, and calculating how long it would take to reach those levels is another method.
 +
Yet calculations show that the amount of sodium could not have taken longer than 62 million years to accumulate, well short of the 3,000 million year supposed age of the oceans.
 +
 
 +
[[Polystrate fossil]]s demonstrate that many layers of sedimentary rock that are normally supposed to take a long time to form can be formed quite quickly.
 +
 
 +
== Criticism ==
 +
===Creationist methodology===
 +
Against the Young Earth Creationist attacks on "evolutionism" and "Darwinism", critics argue that every challenge to evolution by YECs is either made in an unscientific fashion, or is readily explainable by science, and that while a gap in scientific knowledge may exist now it is likely to be closed through further research. While scientists acknowledge that there are indeed a number of gaps in the scientific theory, they generally reject the creationist viewpoint that these gaps represent fatal, insurmountable flaws with evolution. Those working in the field who pointed out the gaps in the first place have often explicitly rejected the creationist interpretation. The "God of the gaps" viewpoint has also been criticized by [[theology|theologians]] and [[philosophy|philosophers]],<ref>[http://www.newdualism.org/papers/R.Larmer/Gaps.htm Is there anything wrong with “God of the gaps” reasoning?], by Robert Larmer</ref> although creationists claim that their models are based on what is known, not on gaps in knowledge.{{Citation needed|date=October 2009}}
 +
 
 +
Christian YECs adhere strongly to the concept of [[biblical inerrancy]], which declares the Bible to be divinely inspired and therefore scientifically infallible and non-correctable. This position is considered by devotees and critics alike to be incompatible with the principles of scientific objectivity. The Young Earth creationist organizations [[Answers in Genesis]] (AiG) and Institute for Creation Research (ICR) require all members to pledge support for biblical inerrancy.
 +
 
 +
YECs often suggest that supporters of evolution theory are primarily motivated by [[atheism]]. Critics reject this claim by pointing out that many supporters of evolutionary theory are in fact religious believers, and that major religious groups such as the Roman Catholic Church and [[Church of England]] believe that the concept of biological evolution does not imply a rejection of the scriptures. Nor do they support the specific doctrines of biblical inerrancy proposed by YEC. Critics also point out that workers in fields related to evolutionary biology are not required to sign statements of belief in evolution comparable to the biblical inerrancy pledges required by ICR and AiG. This is contrary to the popular belief of creationists that scientists operate on an a priori disbelief in biblical principles.<ref>[http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v20/i3/admission.asp Amazing admission.<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> They also discount Christian faith positions, like those of French Jesuit priest, geologist and paleontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, who saw that his work with evolutionary sciences actually confirmed and inspired his faith in the cosmic Christ. Nor do they believe the views of Catholic priest Fr. Thomas Berry, a cultural historian and eco-theologian, that the [[cosmology|cosmological]] 13 billion year "Universe Story" provides all faiths and all traditions a single account by which the divine has made its presence in the world.
 +
 
 +
Proponents of YEC are regularly accused of [[quote mining]], the practice of isolating passages from academic texts that appear to support their claims while deliberately excluding context and conclusions to the contrary.<ref>[http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/quotes/mine/project.html Quote Mine Project: Examining 'Evolution Quotes' of Creationists<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
 +
 
 +
===Theological===
 +
Some theologians oppose the proposition that God can be a legitimate or viable subject for scientific experimentation, and reject a literal interpretation of Genesis. They propose there are statements in the creation week itself that render the historical interpretation of Genesis incompatible with scientific evidence.
 +
 
 +
One example is that God created the Earth and heavens, and light, on Day 1, plant life on Day 3, and the sun and moon on Day 4. One must ask where the light in Day 1 came from, and why there were plants in Day 3 if the sun, which provides all light to the Earth, did not even exist until Day 4.<ref>[http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v2/n2/framework-interpretation-critique-part-one A Critique of the Framework Interpretation of the Creation Account (Part 1 of 2) - Answers in Genesis<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> YECs such as Basil the Great and [[John Calvin]] answered this by suggesting that the light created by God on Day 1 was the light source. Answers in Genesis has refined this by suggesting that the Earth was already rotating with respect to this light.<ref>[http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs/1203.asp How could the days of Genesis 1 be literal before the sun was created?<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> One can also make a case that God created the plants toward the evening of Day 3, the Sun was created on the morning of Day 4, therefore the plants only had to endure the darkness for a period not much longer than a typical night.
 +
 
 +
Another problem is the fact that distant galaxies can be seen. If the universe did not exist until 10,000 years ago, then light from anything farther than 10,000 light-years would not have time to reach us. Most cosmologists accept an inflation model as the likely explanation for the horizon problem. Inflationary models also account for other phenomena, and are in agreement with observations of recent microwave anisotropy satellites. Creationists have also proposed models to explain why we see distant starlight.<ref>[http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v25/i4/lighttravel.asp Light-travel time: a problem for the big bang<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs/405.asp Does Distant Starlight Prove the Universe Is Old? - Answers in Genesis<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> See creationist cosmologies and the [[starlight problem]] for more information.
 +
 
 +
Many critics claim that Genesis itself is internally inconsistent on the question of whether man was created before the animals or after the animals as stated in Genesis. Proponents of the Documentary hypothesis suggest that Genesis 1 was a litany from the ''Priestly'' source (possibly from an early Jewish [[liturgy]]) while Genesis 2 was assembled from older ''Jahwist'' material, holding that for both stories to be a single account, Adam would have named all the animals, and God would have created Eve from his rib as a suitable mate, all within a single 24-hour period. Many creationists attribute this view to misunderstanding having arisen from poor translation of the tenses in Genesis 2 in contemporary translations of the Bible (e.g. compare "planted" and "had planted" in [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Gen%202:8;&version=9 KJV] and [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Gen%202:8;&version=31 NIV]).<ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v16/i1/genesis.asp Biblical Exegesis</ref>
 +
Some Christians assert that the Bible is free from error only in religious and moral matters, and that where scientific questions are concerned, the Bible should not be read literally. This position is held by a number of major denominations. For instance, in a publication entitled ''The Gift of Scripture'',<ref>http://www.catholic-ew.org.uk/liturgy/Resources/Scripture/ (October 2005)</ref> the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales comments that "We should not expect to find in Scripture full scientific accuracy or complete historical precision". The Bible is held to be true in passages relating to human salvation, but "We should not expect total accuracy from the Bible in other, secular matters."<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-1811332,00.html | work=The Times | location=London | title=Catholic Church no longer swears by truth of the Bible | first=Ruth | last=Gledhill | date=2005-10-05}}</ref> By contrast, YECs contend that moral and spiritual matters in the Bible are intimately connected with its historical accuracy; in their view, the Bible stands or falls as a single indivisible block of knowledge.<ref>[http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v26/i4/editorial.asp ‘But Genesis is not a science textbook’<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
 +
 
 +
Aside from the theological doubts voiced by other Christians, YEC also stands in opposition to the creation mythologies of other religions (both [[wikt:extant|extant]] and [[extinct]]). Many of these make claims regarding the origin of the universe and humanity that are completely incompatible with those of Christian creationists (and with one another).<ref>{{cite book|title=A Dictionary of Creation Myths|last=Leeming|first=D.A.|coauthors=Leeming, M.A.|year=1996|publisher=Oxford Paperbacks|isbn=0195102754}}</ref>
 +
 
 +
== Responses to criticisms ==
 +
 
 +
Young Earth creationist responses to criticisms from atheistic evolutionists, theistic evolutionists, progressive creationists, and others include the following:
 +
* ''The young Earth view is just one interpretation of the Bible.''
 +
: The young Earth view is the clear intention of the authors of the Bible.  See [[Creation week]] for more.  Also, the young Earth view was the view of most of the church throughout most of its history.  That has only changed in order to accommodate non-biblical views of history.
 +
* ''Creationists read the Bible literally, whereas parts, such as the creation account, are really metaphors.''
 +
: Creationists deny that they read all the Bible literally, and accept that there are metaphors and other non-literal passages in the Bible.  Instead, they read the Bible the way it was meant to be understood, which in the case of the creation account, is as literal history.  See [[#Biblical exegesis|Biblical exegesis]] above and [[Creation week]] for more.
 +
* ''Evolution has scientific evidence, and creationism does not.''
 +
: Both creationists and evolutionists have the same evidence.  The difference is in how that evidence is interpreted.
 +
* ''Creation relies on faith, not evidence.''
 +
: Both creation and evolution are faith positions based on different worldviews. Evolutionists exclude God from consideration ''[[a priori]]'', not because of the evidence.
 +
* ''The evidence in favor of evolution means the Earth must be much older than the 6-10 thousand years explained in [[creation science]].''
 +
: It is difficult to conceive of a mechanism by which any kind of biological "dating" mechanism could remain accurate in face of the supposedly changing levels of chemicals and solar radiation that evolutionary geologists insist upon. Even the most dedicated Darwin followers in the ranks of academia have been forced to admit that Carbon-14 dating can be wildly inaccurate for several reasons, such as naturally occurring radioactive elements in the Earth's crust.<ref>http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/c14.html</ref> This is just one area of the theory of evolution that scientists have had to back away from with much embarrassment. Perhaps if scientists could adopt a more open-minded tone towards those they disagree with, they could issue retractions without such fear of retribution.
 +
* ''If creation had scientific merit, why don't they publish their evidence in peer-reviewed scientific papers?''
 +
: The scientific establishment won't allow creationists to publish.  See [[Suppression of alternatives to evolution]]. Some journals purport to accept material from all scientific perspectives, but engage in a process known as [[sham peer review]]. In normal peer review, papers are checked by two editors, independently, for methodological errors only, not vetted for their content. That is the responsibility of the scientific public. During sham peer review, editors often collaborate to block publication of any literature that challenges established dogma, or their own pet theories. To make the problem worse, due to the incestuous nature of the mainstream journal editor pool, the same editor may serve on as many as a dozen different editorial boards, allowing them to spread their bias across a much larger area than an ethical editor would. Though this is widely acknowledged as a [[liberal deceit|deceitful]] practice, its scope is widely downplayed in the scientific community and is actually almost openly tolerated in some areas of science.<ref>http://www.aapsonline.org/peerreview/epidemic.php</ref>
 +
* ''Creationists start with a preconception and try to fit the evidence to that.  Evolutionists start with the evidence.''
 +
: Both creationists and evolutionists have their worldview as a starting point.  Evolutionists try to fit the evidence into their idea just as much as they accuse the creationists of doing.
 +
* ''Because they are based on the Bible, creationists are not willing to change their views.  Evolutionists will change their views as new evidence is found.''
 +
: Creationists start with the Bible as the foundation of their views, but beyond that are willing to change their views as new evidence is found.  Evolutionists are willing to change the details of how evolution works, but are not prepared to change their basic view that evolution did occur.
 +
* ''Creationists are anti-science.''
 +
: Many creationists are scientists and fully support science.  They never reject science itself, and the criticism is bogus.
 +
* ''Creationism is not [[falsifiable]].''
 +
: Creationism is not less falsifiable than evolution.  See [[falsifiability of Creation]] and [[Falsifiability of evolution]].
 +
* ''Creationists want their view taught in schools, but not other creation stories.''
 +
: Creationists have made it clear that they only want ''scientific evidence'' consistent with creation taught.  Critics have not proposed any scientific evidence for other creation stories.
 +
* ''Leading creationists know that what they promote is wrong, so they are liars.''
 +
: Accusations like this are rarely backed by any evidence of systematic lying.
 +
 
 +
== Adherents of Young Earth Creationism ==
 +
 
 +
Young Earth Creationism is a subset of [[Creationism]] most commonly found among members of the [[Abrahamic religion]]s, especially [[Judaism]], [[Christianity]], and [[Islam]] (for details please see: [[Creationism]]). With regard to early Judaism and early Christianity,
 +
early [[Judaism]] supported young earth creationism and a majority of the early church fathers held the young earth creationist view.<ref>
 +
* James-Griffiths, James,[http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v26/i2/tradition.asp Creation days and Orthodox Jewish tradition] ''Creation'' 26(2):53–55, March 2004.
 +
* Bradshaw, Robert I., [https://robibradshaw.com/chapter3.htm Creationism & the Early Church, chapter 3, The Days of Genesis 1]
 +
* http://www.creationontheweb.com/images/pdfs/tj/tjv16v2_forster.pdf</ref>
 +
 
 +
According to Gallup, young Earth creationism had a clear plurality of adherents in the United States until 2017, and even then it still comprised a large minority of the U.S. population.<ref>Swift, Art (May 22, 2017). [https://www.gallup.com/poll/210956/belief-creationist-view-humans-new-low.aspx?g_source=Politics&g_medium=newsfeed&g_campaign=tiles In US, Belief in Creationist View of Humans at New Low]. ''Gallup''. Retrieved June 6, 2017.</ref>
 +
 
 +
== Organizations and publications ==
 +
 
 +
=== Organizations ===
 +
 
 +
Some of the more notable young earth creationist organizations include: [[Answers in Genesis]] (America and the United Kingdom), [[Creation Ministries International]] (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, U.S.A., and United Kingdom), [[Institute for Creation Research]] (U.S.A.), [[Creation Research Society]] (U.S.A.), and NorthWest Creation Network (Washington state, U.S.A.) which founded [[CreationWiki]].
 +
 
 +
=== Magazines and newsletters ===
 +
 
 +
[[Creation Ministries International]] publishes a 56-page color magazine, ''[[Creation magazine]]'', with no paid advertising, which is distributed to 140 countries.<ref>http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3871/97</ref>
 +
 
 +
The Institute for Creation Research publishes a free monthly magazine, ''Acts & Facts'', which includes news of the organization and articles.
 +
 
 +
Answers in Genesis, which previously distributed ''Creation'', began their own magazine, ''Answers'', in 2006.  It contains advertising and its target audience is primarily American.<ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am</ref>
 +
 
 +
=== Peer-reviewed journals ===
 +
 
 +
The [[Creation Research Society Quarterly]] is published quarterly by the Creation Research Society,<ref>http://www.creationresearch.org/crsq.html</ref> and the [[Journal of Creation]] is published three times a year by Creation Ministries International.<ref>http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3873/98</ref>
 +
 
 +
==Further reading==
 +
 
 +
* J.D. Mitchell, ''The Creation Dialogues - A Response to the Position of the American Association for the Advancement of Science on Evolution, Christianity and the Bible'', Pleasant Word (Winepress Pub), 2010 ISBN 1414118007<ref>http://www.creationengineeringconcepts.org/index.php?p=1_35_THE-CREATION-DIALOGUES</ref><ref>http://www.christianbook.com/dialogues-american-association-advancement-evolution-christianity/j-d-mitchell/9781414118000/pd/118002</ref>
 +
* Dr. [[Grady S. McMurtry]], ''Creation: Our Worldview'', TEC Publications, Columbus, GA 2010 ISBN 0-9674006-1-9
 +
* [[Jonathan Sarfati]], ''Refuting Evolution'', Master Books, 1999 [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/4014/ (Free on-line version)]
 +
* Jonathan Sarfati, ''Refuting Evolution 2'', Master Books, 2002, ISBN 0890513872 [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/4013/ (Free on-line version)]
 +
* [[Duane Gish]], ''Evolution: The Fossils Still Say No!'', El Cajon: [[Institute for Creation Research]], 1996<ref>https://www.icr.org/store/index.php?main_page=pubs_product_book_info&products_id=2176</ref>
 +
* [[R.L. Wysong]], ''The Creation-Evolution Controversy''.<ref>http://www.grisda.org/origins/05105.htm</ref><ref>http://www.wysong.net/page/WOTTPWS/PROD/EDUAIDS/ED022-S</ref>
 +
* [[Phillip E. Johnson|Phillip Johnson]], ''Darwin on Trial''. InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois. 1991<ref>http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/darwin.html</ref>
 +
* [[R. C. Sproul]], ''Not a Chance: The Myth of Chance in Modern Science and Cosmology'', Baker Book House: 1994<ref>http://www.ldolphin.org/chance.html</ref><ref>http://store.apologeticsgroup.com/product_info.php?products_id=191</ref>
 +
* [[Walt Brown]], ''In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood'', 7th Edition, 2001 [http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/IntheBeginningTOC.html (free online version)]
 +
* Jeanson, Nathaniel T. (2017). ''[https://answersingenesis.org/store/product/replacing-darwin/ Replacing Darwin: The New Origin of Species]''. Green Forest, Arkansas: Master Books. ISBN: 9781683440758.
 +
* Mortenson, Terry, ed. (2016). ''[https://answersingenesis.org/store/product/searching-adam/ Searching for Adam: Genesis & the Truth About Man's Origin]''. Green Forest, Arkansas: Master Books. ISBN: 9780890519752.
 +
* Boyd, Steven W.; Snelling, Andrew A. ''[https://answersingenesis.org/store/product/grappling-chronology-genesis-flood/?sku=10-3-129 Grappling with the Chronology of the Genesis Flood: Navigating the Flow of Time in Biblical Narrative]''. Green Forest, Arkansas: Master Books. ISBN: 9780890517093.
 +
* Snelling, Andrew A. (2010). ''[https://answersingenesis.org/store/product/earths-catastrophic-past/?sku=10-3-124& Earth’s Catastrophic Past: Geology, Creation & the Flood]''. Green Forest, Arkansas: Master Books. ISBN: 9780890518748.
 +
 
 +
== See also ==
 +
* [[Creation Science]]
 +
* [[Creation vs. Evolution Videos]]
 +
* [[Revolution Against Evolution website]]
 +
* [[Christianity and Science]]
 +
* [[Atheists and historical illiteracy]]
 +
* [[List of Young Earth Creationists]]
 +
* [[Earth Age Opinions of Prominent Christians - Pre-1800]]
 +
* [[Literalist Bible chronology]]
 +
=== Alternative views===
 +
* [[Old Earth Creationism]]
 +
* [[Theistic evolution]]
 +
* [[Theory of Evolution]]
 +
* [[Gap theory]]
 +
* [[Day age creationism]]
 +
* [[Progressive Creationism]]
 +
 
 +
* [[Question evolution! campaign]]
 +
{{Creation vs. evolution}}
 +
 
 +
== External links ==
 +
*[https://creation.com/age-of-the-earth 101 evidences for a young age of the earth and the universe] by [[Creation Ministries International]]
 +
*[https://creation.com/refuting-evolution-chapter-8-how-old-is-the-earth How old is the earth?] - ''Refuting evolution'' - Chapter 8 by Dr. [[Jonathan Sarfati]]
 +
*[http://www.catholic.net/index.php?option=dedestaca&id=2708&grupo=Life%20%20Family&canal=Life%20and%20Bioethics The Problem of Evolution] Facts and theories of biological evolution.
 +
 
 +
History and young earth creation:
 +
 
 +
*[http://www.robibrad.demon.co.uk/Chapter3.htm Early church and the age of the earth]
 +
*[https://creation.com/augustine-young-earth-creationist Augustine and the age of the earth]
 +
*[https://creation.com/church-fathers-flood Church fathers and Genesis flood]
 +
 
 +
Young earth creation websites:
 +
 
 +
*[https://creation.com/ Creation Ministries International]
 +
*[http://creationrevolution.com/ Creation Revolution]
 +
*[https://www.icr.org Institute for Creation Research]
 +
*[http://www.answersingenesis.org Answers in Genesis]
 +
*[http://trueorigins.org TrueOrigins.org]
 +
*[http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/index.html Center for Scientific Creation]
 +
*[http://www.creationworldview.org Creation Worldview Ministries]
 +
*[http://www.nwcreation.net/ageyoung.html Biblical Young Earth Creationism]
 +
*[http://edinburghcreationgroup Edinburgh Creation Group]
 +
*[http://creationwiki.org/Main_Page Creation Wiki: The Encyclopedia of Creation Science]
 +
 
 +
Articles focusing on arguments for a young earth:
 +
 
 +
*[https://answersingenesis.org/creationism/young-earth/most-compelling-scientific-evidence-of-young-earth/ What Is the Most Compelling Scientific Evidence of a Young Earth?], by Dr. Terry Mortenson at [[Answers in Genesis]]. Originally published on February 27, 2006.
 +
*[https://answersingenesis.org/theory-of-evolution/millions-of-years/seven-reasons-why-we-should-not-accept-millions-of-years/ Seven Reasons Why We Should Not Accept Millions of Years] by Dr. Terry Mortenson at [[Answers in Genesis]]. Originally published on July 17, 2006.
 +
*[http://www.creationwiki.org/Young_earth_evidence Young earth evidence] on [[CreationWiki]]
 +
*[http://www.nwcreation.net/young.html Evidence Supporting a Recent Creation - Northwest Creation Network]
 +
*[https://www.icr.org/article/1842/ Evidence for a Young World - Institute for Creation Research]
 +
 
 +
Videos and movies focusing on arguments for a young earth:
 +
 
 +
*''[[Is Genesis History?]]'' (2017; [https://isgenesishistory.com/ website])
 +
*''Genesis: Paradise Lost'' (2017; [https://genesismovie.com/ website])
 +
*[http://edinburghcreationgroup.org/youngearth.php Evidence for a Young Earth]- Dr Marc Surtees
 +
 
 +
Profiles of important Young Earth biblical creation scientists:
 +
*[http://creationsciencehalloffame.org/ Creation Science Hall of Fame]
 +
 
 +
==References==
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{{Reflist|colwidth=35em}}
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[[Category:Young Earth Creationism]]
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[[Category:Creationism]]
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[[Category:Abrahamic Religions]]
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[[Category:Featured articles]]

Latest revision as of 04:00, October 16, 2026

Young earth creationism
Michelangelo's painting of the creation of the Sun and Moon by God.

Young Earth Creationism, or "YEC",[1] accepts creationism whereby the earth and the universe are approximately 6,000 years old.[2][3]

Young earth creationists hold that both creation and the evolutionary position are based on worldviews; because they are both claims about historical (or prehistorical) events, they depend on untestable assumptions. At the same time, Young Earth creation scientists see the Young Universe as the explanation that best fits the evidence.[4]

Scientists who advocate for an Old Earth consider, with biased arrogance, Young Earth Creationism to be unscientific. But the predominantly atheistic scientists rely on a double standard that ignores numerous counterexamples to an Old Earth, and believers in an Old Earth also over-rely on flawed radiometric dating.

Beliefs

Saint Basil was one of the early church fathers who indicated that the earth was about 6,000 years old.

Biblical

Young Earth creationism generally takes the following positions regarding the biblical book of Genesis:

  • Creation took place over a period of six ordinary (solar/24-hour) days, with God then "resting" on the seventh day.
  • This creation, described in Genesis as "good" and "very good", was without flaw or defect.
  • All people are descended from the first couple, Adam and Eve.
  • Adam and Eve sinned, leading to their expulsion from the Garden of Eden.
  • A global Noachian flood occurred, destroying all land-based, air-breathing life, except that on the Ark.
  • The dispersal of humanity was caused by God after the Tower of Babel.[5][6][7]

Young Earth creationists do not believe that one's view on the age of the Earth has any effect on their salvation, since one is saved through faith alone in Christ alone, but they do believe that the young Earth view does allow one to view the Bible and its authority consistently.[8]

Scientific

Young earth creationism holds that the scientific evidence is unreasonably interpreted by evolutionists and atheists/naturalists as supporting their point of view, but that the same evidence can be reasonably interpreted by creationists to support the creationary point of view. This imposes a heavy burden on the testability of both theories, which is one of the reasons why some scientists question whether either the creationary or evolutionary view is scientific.

They further argue that the scientific evidence is more consistent with the creationary point of view than the evolutionary point of view.

Critics argue, however, that none of the YEC beliefs are subject to the scientific method, but the same criticism applies to theories promoted by evolutionists. The scientific method includes the process of making predictions based on your starting hypothesis and then performing experiments to verify those predictions, all in a manner that can be reproduced and validated by a peer review process.

Some specific arguments are as follows:

Biblical exegesis

See also: Bible exegesis

Young earth creationism holds that the book of Genesis is historical in nature and that Bible exegesis warrants a six-day creation with each day being 24 hours.[17][18][19] Andrew Kulikovsky describes it as follows:

The hermeneutic employed by most YECs is best described as the historical-grammatical method in which historical narrative (such as the book of Genesis) is interpreted as literal history, prophecy is interpreted as prophecy, poetry is interpreted as poetry, etc. [20]

Historical-grammatical exegesis involves a systematic approach to analyzing in detail the historical situation, events and circumstances surrounding the text, and the semantics and syntactical relationships of the words which comprise the text.[21]

For more than a century, the majority of conservative Old Testament scholars no longer accepted the chronological implications of the Genesis "chrono-genealogies" following the accommodation of the old Princeton Theology (“Primeval Chronology,” Bibliotheca Sacra 47 (1890): 285–303). However, Jeremy Sexton reexamined this hypothesis in 2015[22] starting the process of returning Old Testament Scholarship to the consensus that held sway since before the coming of Christ (Earth age opinions of prominent Christians - pre-1800‎).

Age of the Universe and Earth - General Overview

Young Earth creation scientists advance a number of reasons for the Earth and universe being approximately 6,000 years old.[23][24][24][25][26][27] They argue that the evolutionary geological timescale is in error,[28][29][30] and that geology further provides multiple lines of evidence that the Earth is young.[31][32][33][34] Rejecting the uniformitarian assumptions of secular geologists, they use a geological system that depends more on catastrophism[35] and point out that catastrophism is being increasingly accepted in the field of geology.[36][37]

Astronomy

The majestic spiral galaxy NGC 4414, imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995.

The view of young earth creationism is that the various astronomical bodies such as planets, stars, and galaxies were supernaturally created and that materialistic explanations of the origins of various astronomical bodies are insufficient and counter-evidence.[38] In addition, creationists often cite the secular scientific literature to make the case that materialist explanations of various astronomical bodies are inadequate:

“ ...most every prediction by theorists about planetary formation has been wrong.[39] ”
“ Attempts to find a plausible naturalistic explanation of the origin of the Solar System began about 350 years ago but have not yet been quantitatively successful, making this one of the oldest unsolved problems in modern science.[40] ”
“ We don’t understand how a single star forms, yet we want to understand how 10 billion stars form.[41] ”
“ We cannot even show convincingly how galaxies, stars, planets, and life arose in the present universe.[42] ”

In 2001, Cristina Chiappini wrote regarding the Milky Way galaxy the following:

". . . it is an elegant structure that shows both order and complexity. . . . The end product is especially remarkable in the light of what is believed to be the starting point: nebulous blobs of gas. How the universe made the Milky Way from such simple beginnings is not altogether clear. - Cristina Chiappini, " The Formation and Evolution of the Milky Way," American Scientist (vol. 89, Nov./Dec. 2001), p. 506.[43]

Dr. Walt Brown provides numerous citations to the secular science literature that corroborate the failings of current old universe paradigm explanations in regards to the planets, stars, and galaxies.[44][45][46]

The Institute for Creation Research has a notable essay by David Coppedge entitled "Mature at Birth: Universe Discredits Evolution" which cites recent findings that challenge an old universe paradigm.[47] In addition, Henry Morris has an essay regarding the subject of the failings of the old universe paradigm entitled "What Astronomers Don't Know".[43]

Young earth creationist scientists also contest the Big Bang theory stating that it is scientifically unsound. [48] [49][50][51][52]

Starlight and the Age of the Universe

For a more detailed treatment, see Starlight problem.

Anti-creationists often claim that starlight from millions of light-years away demonstrates that the Biblical timescale of 6,000 years is in error, as insufficient time has passed for the light from distant stars to reach Earth. Creationists respond in part by pointing out that the popular Big Bang theory has its own star-light-travel time problem (the horizon problem), citing the work of Dr. Charles W. Misner.[53]

Secondly, creationists have proposed a number of explanations for the objection, and although none are yet certain, they claim that it shows that the critics' claims that it cannot be explained are unfounded.

Setterfield's decay of the speed of light

One early explanation was that of creationist Barry Setterfield, who proposed that the speed of light was faster in the past.[54] Critics objected to Setterfield's proposal, including on the grounds that the constancy of the speed of light is one of science's most fundamental laws.[55] Yet in 1999, John Webb, a professor at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, and his colleagues reported astronomical observations suggesting that the value of the fine-structure constant (which is related to the speed of light) may have changed (although the size of the change was much smaller than proposed by Setterfield). They subsequently published this in 2001 in Physical Review Letters.[55][56] However, other problems with the proposal have led most creationists to abandon the idea.[57]

Russell Humphreys's model

Creationary physicist Dr. Russell Humphreys proposed a model based on Einstein's law of relativity (as the Big Bang model is), but with a different starting assumption, a bounded universe. Humphreys's model proposes that God created the universe much smaller than it is now, then expanded it, quoting the Bible as saying that God "stretched out the heavens." In such a scenario, time would pass at different rates on Earth and in outer parts of the universe, so that while 6,000 years went by on Earth, billions of years passed on the outer edge of the universe. This model is also based on the Genesis account recording the days of creation according to time on Earth, rather than elsewhere.

However, this theory is not without problems. The evidence contradicts Humphreys's assumption that the Earth is in a large gravity well. If the Earth were in such a gravity well, light from distant galaxies should be blue-shifted. Instead, it is red-shifted. Also, gravitational time dilation, if it existed on such a large scale, should be easily observable. On the contrary, we observe (from the periods of Cepheid variable stars, from orbital rates of binary stars, from supernova extinction rates, from light frequencies, etc.) that such time dilation is minor. It is thought that there is some time dilation corresponding with Hubble's law (i.e., further objects have greater red shifts), but this is due to the well-understood expansion of the universe, and it is not nearly extreme enough to fit more than ten billion years into less than 10,000 years.[58]

John Hartnett's model

Young earth creationist scientist Dr. John Hartnett proposes a model similar to Humphreys, wherein the Earth was trapped in a time-dilation field caused by extremely strong gravitation during the first few days of creation, from Earth's point of view, while billions of years passed for the rest of the universe. He attributes the field, its removal, and the continued balance in our solar system (after the field was removed) to divine intervention.[59] Whilst Humphreys' model has time dilation caused only by gravity (per Einstein's General Theory of Relativity), Hartnett's model also takes into account time dilation caused by motion (God's expansion of the universe) (per Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity).

Biology

According to young-Earth creationists, God separately created each kind of living thing, or baramin, to reproduce "after its kind". Living things had built into them a capacity for variation and adaptation, but within the limits of their kind. Genetically, in the case of sexually-reproducing species, much of this is due to the information carried on each living thing's DNA being a subset of the parent's DNA, with the subset of information being selected for by the process known as natural selection (described by a creationist before Darwin wrote about it). Mutations also play a part in this variation, but only to the extent of destroying genetic information, not creating it.

Many of the ensuing variations have been classified by science as different species, but this speciation is not evolution, as it does not involve the generation of new genetic information and therefore could not have produced the evolutionary "family tree".

YECs believe that most of the world's living things were wiped out by the Great Flood, but that pairs of each kind that could not survive in a flood (i.e. air-breathing, land-dwelling creatures) survived the flood on Noah's Ark, and from the Flood survivors all modern species have descended.

Geology

YECs believe that most rocks were laid down in two main episodes. The first was during the creation week, particularly when God caused the waters of the Earth to gather together into the sea and dry land to appear. The second was during Noah's Flood. The effects of a global watery catastrophe would have been enormous, which would have formed massive amounts of erosion and sedimentation during a short period of time. Further, many young-Earth creationists believe that there was a single supercontinent prior to the Flood. This single land mass broke apart during the Flood when the subterranean waters burst out of subterranean chambers, causing the Earth to break apart (see also: Hydroplate Theory). According to many Young Earth creationists, there were probably fewer oceans with much more land on the Earth prior to the Flood. It is believed that the worldwide water quantity increased after the Flood. The sea trenches and ocean floors sank further down after the Flood waters subsided, because of the increased pressure of the water, thus causing the sea levels to rise.[60][61][62] Young earth creationists also believe that many of the mountains, valleys, and lakes we see today were formed by the geological transformations caused by the Flood. This would have further contributed to a massive reshaping of the Earth's surface.

Anthropology

For a more detailed treatment, see Biblical anthropology.

YECs believe that all intact evidence of civilization is evidence of post-Flood civilization, as the Flood destroyed the pre-Flood world. God confounded man's single language at the Tower of Babel, forcing different family groups to separate and spread around the world. Most of the people groups listed in the 'Table of Nations' in Genesis 10 , which contains a family tree of Noah's descendants, are identifiable from non-biblical records. People enduring a forced migration will find any shelter they can, and this would explain much of the evidence of "cavemen".

Contrasted with evolution

The young earth creationism view contrasts with evolution and other aspects of the old universe view in the following ways:

  • According to the chronogenealogies in the Bible, the age of the universe and Earth is approximately 6,000 years. The old universe view is that the universe started about 14,000 million (14 billion) years ago and Earth was formed around 4,500 million (4.5 billion) years ago.
  • The creation account has everything being created over a period of six ordinary days, whereas the old universe view has things appearing over billions of years.
  • The order of creation is different. The creation account has the Earth before the sun, plants before the sun, and birds before land animals, among other differences. The old universe view is the opposite order for each of these.
  • The creation account records that death didn't exist prior to the Fall, whereas the evolutionary view is that death and suffering are part of the biological process and existed for billions of years of death prior to the appearance of man.
  • The creation account records various living things being separately created, whereas the evolutionary view has all living things being descended from the first living cell.
  • Young Earth creationism is based on the Bible, the infallible Word of God.[63][64]

Arguments for a recent creation

For a more detailed treatment, see Arguments for a recent creation.

The arrows point to paraconformities at the Grand Canyon.

Many arguments for a recent creation have been put forward by creationary scientists, both scientific and theological arguments.

Scientific arguments include radiometric dating results that disagree with secular ages, other dating methods that do not fit with secular ages, and phenomena showing events that occurred quickly.

There should be virtually no 14C present in carbon supposedly older than 100,000 years, yet it has proved impossible to find any such carbon without 14C.

Dating methods don't have to be based on radioactivity. Measuring the amount of sodium in seawater, for example, and calculating how long it would take to reach those levels is another method. Yet calculations show that the amount of sodium could not have taken longer than 62 million years to accumulate, well short of the 3,000 million year supposed age of the oceans.

Polystrate fossils demonstrate that many layers of sedimentary rock that are normally supposed to take a long time to form can be formed quite quickly.

Criticism

Creationist methodology

Against the Young Earth Creationist attacks on "evolutionism" and "Darwinism", critics argue that every challenge to evolution by YECs is either made in an unscientific fashion, or is readily explainable by science, and that while a gap in scientific knowledge may exist now it is likely to be closed through further research. While scientists acknowledge that there are indeed a number of gaps in the scientific theory, they generally reject the creationist viewpoint that these gaps represent fatal, insurmountable flaws with evolution. Those working in the field who pointed out the gaps in the first place have often explicitly rejected the creationist interpretation. The "God of the gaps" viewpoint has also been criticized by theologians and philosophers,[65] although creationists claim that their models are based on what is known, not on gaps in knowledge.[Citation Needed]

Christian YECs adhere strongly to the concept of biblical inerrancy, which declares the Bible to be divinely inspired and therefore scientifically infallible and non-correctable. This position is considered by devotees and critics alike to be incompatible with the principles of scientific objectivity. The Young Earth creationist organizations Answers in Genesis (AiG) and Institute for Creation Research (ICR) require all members to pledge support for biblical inerrancy.

YECs often suggest that supporters of evolution theory are primarily motivated by atheism. Critics reject this claim by pointing out that many supporters of evolutionary theory are in fact religious believers, and that major religious groups such as the Roman Catholic Church and Church of England believe that the concept of biological evolution does not imply a rejection of the scriptures. Nor do they support the specific doctrines of biblical inerrancy proposed by YEC. Critics also point out that workers in fields related to evolutionary biology are not required to sign statements of belief in evolution comparable to the biblical inerrancy pledges required by ICR and AiG. This is contrary to the popular belief of creationists that scientists operate on an a priori disbelief in biblical principles.[66] They also discount Christian faith positions, like those of French Jesuit priest, geologist and paleontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, who saw that his work with evolutionary sciences actually confirmed and inspired his faith in the cosmic Christ. Nor do they believe the views of Catholic priest Fr. Thomas Berry, a cultural historian and eco-theologian, that the cosmological 13 billion year "Universe Story" provides all faiths and all traditions a single account by which the divine has made its presence in the world.

Proponents of YEC are regularly accused of quote mining, the practice of isolating passages from academic texts that appear to support their claims while deliberately excluding context and conclusions to the contrary.[67]

Theological

Some theologians oppose the proposition that God can be a legitimate or viable subject for scientific experimentation, and reject a literal interpretation of Genesis. They propose there are statements in the creation week itself that render the historical interpretation of Genesis incompatible with scientific evidence.

One example is that God created the Earth and heavens, and light, on Day 1, plant life on Day 3, and the sun and moon on Day 4. One must ask where the light in Day 1 came from, and why there were plants in Day 3 if the sun, which provides all light to the Earth, did not even exist until Day 4.[68] YECs such as Basil the Great and John Calvin answered this by suggesting that the light created by God on Day 1 was the light source. Answers in Genesis has refined this by suggesting that the Earth was already rotating with respect to this light.[69] One can also make a case that God created the plants toward the evening of Day 3, the Sun was created on the morning of Day 4, therefore the plants only had to endure the darkness for a period not much longer than a typical night.

Another problem is the fact that distant galaxies can be seen. If the universe did not exist until 10,000 years ago, then light from anything farther than 10,000 light-years would not have time to reach us. Most cosmologists accept an inflation model as the likely explanation for the horizon problem. Inflationary models also account for other phenomena, and are in agreement with observations of recent microwave anisotropy satellites. Creationists have also proposed models to explain why we see distant starlight.[70][71] See creationist cosmologies and the starlight problem for more information.

Many critics claim that Genesis itself is internally inconsistent on the question of whether man was created before the animals or after the animals as stated in Genesis. Proponents of the Documentary hypothesis suggest that Genesis 1 was a litany from the Priestly source (possibly from an early Jewish liturgy) while Genesis 2 was assembled from older Jahwist material, holding that for both stories to be a single account, Adam would have named all the animals, and God would have created Eve from his rib as a suitable mate, all within a single 24-hour period. Many creationists attribute this view to misunderstanding having arisen from poor translation of the tenses in Genesis 2 in contemporary translations of the Bible (e.g. compare "planted" and "had planted" in KJV and NIV).[72] Some Christians assert that the Bible is free from error only in religious and moral matters, and that where scientific questions are concerned, the Bible should not be read literally. This position is held by a number of major denominations. For instance, in a publication entitled The Gift of Scripture,[73] the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales comments that "We should not expect to find in Scripture full scientific accuracy or complete historical precision". The Bible is held to be true in passages relating to human salvation, but "We should not expect total accuracy from the Bible in other, secular matters."[74] By contrast, YECs contend that moral and spiritual matters in the Bible are intimately connected with its historical accuracy; in their view, the Bible stands or falls as a single indivisible block of knowledge.[75]

Aside from the theological doubts voiced by other Christians, YEC also stands in opposition to the creation mythologies of other religions (both extant and extinct). Many of these make claims regarding the origin of the universe and humanity that are completely incompatible with those of Christian creationists (and with one another).[76]

Responses to criticisms

Young Earth creationist responses to criticisms from atheistic evolutionists, theistic evolutionists, progressive creationists, and others include the following:

  • The young Earth view is just one interpretation of the Bible.
The young Earth view is the clear intention of the authors of the Bible. See Creation week for more. Also, the young Earth view was the view of most of the church throughout most of its history. That has only changed in order to accommodate non-biblical views of history.
  • Creationists read the Bible literally, whereas parts, such as the creation account, are really metaphors.
Creationists deny that they read all the Bible literally, and accept that there are metaphors and other non-literal passages in the Bible. Instead, they read the Bible the way it was meant to be understood, which in the case of the creation account, is as literal history. See Biblical exegesis above and Creation week for more.
  • Evolution has scientific evidence, and creationism does not.
Both creationists and evolutionists have the same evidence. The difference is in how that evidence is interpreted.
  • Creation relies on faith, not evidence.
Both creation and evolution are faith positions based on different worldviews. Evolutionists exclude God from consideration a priori, not because of the evidence.
  • The evidence in favor of evolution means the Earth must be much older than the 6-10 thousand years explained in creation science.
It is difficult to conceive of a mechanism by which any kind of biological "dating" mechanism could remain accurate in face of the supposedly changing levels of chemicals and solar radiation that evolutionary geologists insist upon. Even the most dedicated Darwin followers in the ranks of academia have been forced to admit that Carbon-14 dating can be wildly inaccurate for several reasons, such as naturally occurring radioactive elements in the Earth's crust.[77] This is just one area of the theory of evolution that scientists have had to back away from with much embarrassment. Perhaps if scientists could adopt a more open-minded tone towards those they disagree with, they could issue retractions without such fear of retribution.
  • If creation had scientific merit, why don't they publish their evidence in peer-reviewed scientific papers?
The scientific establishment won't allow creationists to publish. See Suppression of alternatives to evolution. Some journals purport to accept material from all scientific perspectives, but engage in a process known as sham peer review. In normal peer review, papers are checked by two editors, independently, for methodological errors only, not vetted for their content. That is the responsibility of the scientific public. During sham peer review, editors often collaborate to block publication of any literature that challenges established dogma, or their own pet theories. To make the problem worse, due to the incestuous nature of the mainstream journal editor pool, the same editor may serve on as many as a dozen different editorial boards, allowing them to spread their bias across a much larger area than an ethical editor would. Though this is widely acknowledged as a deceitful practice, its scope is widely downplayed in the scientific community and is actually almost openly tolerated in some areas of science.[78]
  • Creationists start with a preconception and try to fit the evidence to that. Evolutionists start with the evidence.
Both creationists and evolutionists have their worldview as a starting point. Evolutionists try to fit the evidence into their idea just as much as they accuse the creationists of doing.
  • Because they are based on the Bible, creationists are not willing to change their views. Evolutionists will change their views as new evidence is found.
Creationists start with the Bible as the foundation of their views, but beyond that are willing to change their views as new evidence is found. Evolutionists are willing to change the details of how evolution works, but are not prepared to change their basic view that evolution did occur.
  • Creationists are anti-science.
Many creationists are scientists and fully support science. They never reject science itself, and the criticism is bogus.
Creationism is not less falsifiable than evolution. See falsifiability of Creation and Falsifiability of evolution.
  • Creationists want their view taught in schools, but not other creation stories.
Creationists have made it clear that they only want scientific evidence consistent with creation taught. Critics have not proposed any scientific evidence for other creation stories.
  • Leading creationists know that what they promote is wrong, so they are liars.
Accusations like this are rarely backed by any evidence of systematic lying.

Adherents of Young Earth Creationism

Young Earth Creationism is a subset of Creationism most commonly found among members of the Abrahamic religions, especially Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (for details please see: Creationism). With regard to early Judaism and early Christianity, early Judaism supported young earth creationism and a majority of the early church fathers held the young earth creationist view.[79]

According to Gallup, young Earth creationism had a clear plurality of adherents in the United States until 2017, and even then it still comprised a large minority of the U.S. population.[80]

Organizations and publications

Organizations

Some of the more notable young earth creationist organizations include: Answers in Genesis (America and the United Kingdom), Creation Ministries International (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, U.S.A., and United Kingdom), Institute for Creation Research (U.S.A.), Creation Research Society (U.S.A.), and NorthWest Creation Network (Washington state, U.S.A.) which founded CreationWiki.

Magazines and newsletters

Creation Ministries International publishes a 56-page color magazine, Creation magazine, with no paid advertising, which is distributed to 140 countries.[81]

The Institute for Creation Research publishes a free monthly magazine, Acts & Facts, which includes news of the organization and articles.

Answers in Genesis, which previously distributed Creation, began their own magazine, Answers, in 2006. It contains advertising and its target audience is primarily American.[82]

Peer-reviewed journals

The Creation Research Society Quarterly is published quarterly by the Creation Research Society,[83] and the Journal of Creation is published three times a year by Creation Ministries International.[84]

Further reading

See also

Alternative views

External links

History and young earth creation:

Young earth creation websites:

Articles focusing on arguments for a young earth:

Videos and movies focusing on arguments for a young earth:

Profiles of important Young Earth biblical creation scientists:

References

  1. ↑ "YEC", can refer to Young Earth Creationist or Young Earth Creationism. "YECs" refers to Young Earth Creationists.
  2. ↑ Sarfati, 1999, Chapter 8, How old is the earth?.
  3. ↑ Sarfati, 1999, Chapter 7, Astronomy of Refuting Evolution.
  4. ↑ See also Young earth.
  5. ↑ Is there any reference to the confusion of languages at Babel in early Mesopotamian literature? (ChristianAnswers.Net).
  6. ↑ Is there archaeological evidence of the Tower of Babel? (ChristianAnswers.Net).
  7. ↑ Jackson, Wayne, The Tower of Babel—Legend or History? December 17, 1999 (Christian Courier).
  8. ↑ Ham, Ken (September 28, 2019). Chapter 1: Does the Gospel Depend on a Young Earth? Answers in Genesis. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
  9. ↑ Evidences for God From Space—Laws of Science
  10. ↑ Thompson, Bert, So Long, Eternal Universe; Hello Beginning, Hello End!, 2001 (Apologetics Press)
  11. ↑ http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/AstroPhysicalSciences14.html
  12. ↑ https://creation.com/frequently-asked-questions-faq
  13. ↑ Creation Ministries International, Speciation: Questions and Answers
  14. ↑ Bible Scientific Foreknowledge
  15. ↑ http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v17/i1/medicine.asp
  16. ↑ [1]
  17. ↑ Days of Creation (CreationWiki).
  18. ↑ Genesis Questions and Answers (Answers in Genesis).
  19. ↑ Niessen, Richard, Theistic Evolution and the Day-Age Theory Impact 81, March 1980.
  20. ↑ Kulikovsky, Andrew S., Fostering fallacy Journal of Creation 16(2) 2002, p.31-36.
  21. ↑ Kulikovsky, Andrew S., The Bible and hermeneutics Journal of Creation 19(3):14–20, December 2005, p.14-20.
  22. ↑ : "Who Was Born When Enosh Was 90?: A Semantic Reevaluation of William Henry Green's Chronological Gaps." The Westminster Theological Journal 77, no. 2 (September 2015): 193-218.[2]
  23. ↑ ‘Young’ age of the Earth & Universe Q&A (Answers in Genesis).
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Astronomy and Astrophysics Questions and Answers (Answers in Genesis).
  25. ↑ ‘Young’ age of the Earth & Universe Q&A (Creation Ministries International).
  26. ↑ Radiometric Dating Questions and Answers (Answers in Genesis)
  27. ↑ http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/faq/young.asp
  28. ↑ Woodmorappe, John, The Geologic Column: Does It Exist? Journal of Creation 13(2):77–82, 1999
  29. ↑ Morris, Henry, Geology and the Flood Impact 6, August 1973
  30. ↑ Geologic Time Scale - The Misconceptions (All About Creation)
  31. ↑ Geology Questions and Answers (Answers in Genesis)
  32. ↑ Geology (Creation.org)
  33. ↑ Geology Links (Northwest Creation Network)
  34. ↑ Baumgardner, John, Genesis Flood 28 July 2003.
  35. ↑ http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/ee/geologic-record
  36. ↑ http://www.grisda.org/origins/12061.htm
  37. ↑ https://www.icr.org/index.php?module=articles&action=print&ID=84
  38. ↑ Brown, 1991, Astronomical and Physical Sciences; Sarfati, 1999, Chapter 7.
  39. ↑ Scott Tremaine, as quoted by Richard A. Kerr, “Jupiters Like Our Own Await Planet Hunters,” Science, Vol. 295, 25 January 2002, p. 605, quoted by Brown, 2001, notes for chapter 43.
  40. ↑ Stephen G. Brush, A History of Modern Planetary Physics, Vol. 3 (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1996, p. 91, quoted by Brown, 2001, notes for chapter 43).
  41. ↑ Carlos Frenk, as quoted by Robert Irion, “Surveys Scour the Cosmic Deep,” Science, Vol. 303, 19 March 2004, p. 1750, quoted by Brown, 1991, Notes for chapter 61
  42. ↑ Michael Rowan-Robinson, “Review of the Accidental Universe,” New Scientist, Vol. 97, 20 January 1983, p. 186, quoted by Brown, 1991, Notes for chapter 62.
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 https://www.icr.org/article/547/
  44. ↑ http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes43.html
  45. ↑ http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes60.html#wp1142334
  46. ↑ http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/ReferencesandNotes61.html#wp1212721
  47. ↑ https://www.icr.org/article/2946/
  48. ↑ Thompson, Bert, Harrub, Brad, and May, Branyon The Big Bang Theory—A Scientific Critique Apologetics Press, May 2003 - 23[5]:32-34,36-47.
  49. ↑ Brown, Walt, 2001, Big Bang?
  50. ↑ http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/309
  51. ↑ http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2047
  52. ↑ https://www.icr.org/article/343/
  53. ↑ Lisle, Jason, Light-travel time: a problem for the big bang, Creation 25(4):48–49, September 2003.
  54. ↑ Wieland, Carl, Speed of light slowing down after all?, Journal of Creation 16(3):7–10, December 2002.
  55. ↑ 55.0 55.1 Sarfati, Jonathan, Have fundamental constants changed, and what would it prove?, 22nd August 2001.
  56. ↑ http://www.nature.com/physics/highlights/6849-3.html#ref1
  57. ↑ For example, CMI and AiG say that this is an idea that should not be used.
  58. ↑ Conner, S. R. and D. N. Page, 1998. Starlight and time is the Big Bang. CENTJ 12(2): 174-194. (See also letters in CENTJ 13(1), 1999, 49-52).
  59. ↑ Hartnett, John G., A new cosmology: solution to the starlight travel time problem Journal of Creation 17(2):98–102, August 2003.
  60. ↑ http://creationwiki.org/Hydroplate_theory
  61. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=390_ILj34oM&feature=channel_video_title
  62. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hbj7FXQ-RY&feature=relmfu
  63. ↑ http://www.christiananswers.net/q-acb/acb-t002.html
  64. ↑ atheism.about.com/od/creationismcreationists/a/bible.htm
  65. ↑ Is there anything wrong with “God of the gaps” reasoning?, by Robert Larmer
  66. ↑ Amazing admission.
  67. ↑ Quote Mine Project: Examining 'Evolution Quotes' of Creationists
  68. ↑ A Critique of the Framework Interpretation of the Creation Account (Part 1 of 2) - Answers in Genesis
  69. ↑ How could the days of Genesis 1 be literal before the sun was created?
  70. ↑ Light-travel time: a problem for the big bang
  71. ↑ Does Distant Starlight Prove the Universe Is Old? - Answers in Genesis
  72. ↑ http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v16/i1/genesis.asp Biblical Exegesis
  73. ↑ http://www.catholic-ew.org.uk/liturgy/Resources/Scripture/ (October 2005)
  74. ↑ Gledhill, Ruth. "Catholic Church no longer swears by truth of the Bible", The Times, 2005-10-05. 
  75. ↑ ‘But Genesis is not a science textbook’
  76. ↑ Leeming, D.A.; Leeming, M.A. (1996). A Dictionary of Creation Myths. Oxford Paperbacks. ISBN 0195102754. 
  77. ↑ http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/c14.html
  78. ↑ http://www.aapsonline.org/peerreview/epidemic.php
  79. ↑
  80. ↑ Swift, Art (May 22, 2017). In US, Belief in Creationist View of Humans at New Low. Gallup. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  81. ↑ http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3871/97
  82. ↑ http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am
  83. ↑ http://www.creationresearch.org/crsq.html
  84. ↑ http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3873/98
  85. ↑ http://www.creationengineeringconcepts.org/index.php?p=1_35_THE-CREATION-DIALOGUES
  86. ↑ http://www.christianbook.com/dialogues-american-association-advancement-evolution-christianity/j-d-mitchell/9781414118000/pd/118002
  87. ↑ https://www.icr.org/store/index.php?main_page=pubs_product_book_info&products_id=2176
  88. ↑ http://www.grisda.org/origins/05105.htm
  89. ↑ http://www.wysong.net/page/WOTTPWS/PROD/EDUAIDS/ED022-S
  90. ↑ http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/darwin.html
  91. ↑ http://www.ldolphin.org/chance.html
  92. ↑ http://store.apologeticsgroup.com/product_info.php?products_id=191