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Early opposition to Darwinism American Creationism to 1987 Acceptance of naturalistic explanation (but no commitment to natural selection); Evolution as hypothesis rather than theory (Feb 1860) ◦ But useful versus the educationally powerful clergy Examine evidence ◦ Man‟s Place in Nature (1863) ◦ Dinosaurs and birds Evolution a theory well supported by empirical evidence but still agnostic about selection (1880) Natural Selection ◦ “environmentalist” (ARW) versus “competitive” (CD) ◦ Denial of ubiquitous power specifically with regard to human mind. Sexual selection ◦ Denial of efficacy. “I cannot conclude without expressing my detestation of the theory, because of its unflinching materialism … [and] because it utterly repudiates final causes, and thereby indicates a demoralized understanding on the part of its advocates” Spectator (7 April 1860)
“I shall always protest against that degrading hypothesis which attributes to man an origin derived from the lower animals” October 1868 Reign of Law (1867) Both history and physical phenomena were planned and directed by a divine Mind using natural law. Transmutation could occur, natural selection was not the mechanism. Beauty for beauty‟s sake could not be explained. “What is Darwinism? It is Atheism. This does not mean, as before said, that Mr. Darwin himself and all who adopt his views are atheists; but it means that his theory is atheistic, that the exclusion of design from nature is … tantamount to atheism.” (1874) Species were fixed, unchanging entities Large numbers of each species were created in their intended habitat The (instantaneous) Ice Age presented a last barrier between the “prophetic” species and modern fauna; there was no genetic connection between fossil and modern species
Post-bellum transition from rural agriculture to urban industrial Economic depression of 1870‟s Influx of non-Anglo immigrants Organization of workers Belief in “golden past,” the evils of technology, and a strong anti-intellectualism Populist crusade lead by William Jennings Bryan (Democrat known as „The Great Commoner‟) from the early 1920‟s “A movement or attitude stressing strict and literal adherence to a set of basic principles” ( Merriam- Webster) Protestant version developed out of Bible conferences beginning in 1876. Objected to: Attempts to reconcile doctrine with secular knowledge Acceptance of the scientific worldview Publication of The Fundamentals from 1909 ( volumes; ~3 million copies)
Presbyterian General Assembly (1910)
Virgin birth and divine nature Miracles of Christ Crucifixion and death for man‟s sins Resurrection and eventual return Bible as directly inspired and inerrant [free from error] word of God.
“All the ills from which
America suffers can be
traced back to the
teachings of evolution.
It would be better to
destroy every book ever
written, and save just
the first three verses of
Genesis"
“Read the Bible. It teaches you how to act. Read the hymn book. It contains the finest poetry ever written … there isn‟t another book that is necessary for anyone to read, and therefore I am opposed to all libraries”
Oklahoma (1923) Florida (1923) Tennessee (1925, Butler Act) Mississippi (1926) Arkansas (1928)
“Today the evolution
controversy seems
as remote as the
Homeric Era”
Henry Morris (Hydraulic engineer) John Whitcomb (Theologian) Resurrected George McCready Price‟s “flood geology” “Evolution is at the foundation of Communism, fascism, Freudianism, social Darwinism, behaviorism, Kinseyism, materialism, atheism, and in the religious world, modernism and neo-orthodoxy. Jesus said, „A good tree cannot bring forth corrupt fruit.‟ In view of the bitter fruit yielded by the evolutionary system over the past hundred years, a closer look at the nature of the tree itself is well warranted today.”
The Bible is the written Word of God, and because it is inspired throughout, all its assertions are historically and scientifically true in the original autographs. To the student of nature, this means that the account of origins in Genesis is a factual presentation of simple historical truths. All basic types of living things, including man, were made by direct creative acts of God during the Creation Week described in Genesis. Whatever biological changes have occurred since Creation Week have been accomplished only as changes within the original created kinds. The Great Flood described in Genesis, commonly referred to as the Noachian Flood, was an historic event worldwide in its extent and effect. Established in 1970 as part of Christian Heritage College (San Diego) Graduate school formed in 1981
Formed in 1980 in Australia Lead by Ken Ham Opened the Creation Museum (Kentucky,
“God didn‟t make monsters. The first T. rex would have eaten plants. Dinosaurs, along with all animals originally, were vegetarians. People say „Wait a minute – but T. rex has those incredibly sharp teeth.‟ And indeed, T. rex has perfectly six-inch serrated fangs – perfectly designed for ripping and tearing into watermelons and cantaloupes and cabbages and all kind of fruit.”
1. The physical universe of space, time,
matter, and energy has not always existed,
but was supernaturally created by a
transcendent personal Creator who alone
has existed from eternity.
2. The phenomenon of biological life did not
develop by natural processes from
inanimate systems but was specially and
supernaturally created by the Creator.
ICR Impact #85, 1980
Each of the major kinds of plants and
animals was created functionally complete
from the beginning and did not evolve from
some other kind of organism. Changes in
basic kinds since their first creation are
limited to "horizontal" changes (variation)
within the kinds, or "downward' changes
(e.g., harmful mutations, extinctions).
The first human beings did not evolve from
an animal ancestry, but were specially
created in fully human form from the start.
Furthermore, the "spiritual" nature of man
(self-image, moral consciousness, abstract
reasoning, language, will, religious nature,
etc.) is itself a supernaturally created entity
distinct from mere biological life.
The record of earth history, as preserved in the earth's crust, especially in the rocks and fossil deposits, is primarily a record of catastrophic intensities of natural processes, operating largely within uniform natural laws, rather than one of gradualism and relatively uniform process rates. There are many scientific evidences for a relatively recent creation of the earth and the universe, in addition to strong scientific evidence that most of the earth's fossils were formed in an even more recent global hydraulic cataclysm.
http://www.talkorigins.org http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/index.html
Constitution that teaching and learning must be tailored to the does not permit a state to require principles or prohibitions of any particular religious sect or doctrine.^ ^ Tennessee (1973) Evolution is “a theory” and equal time should be given to other theories. Arkansas (1981) Equal time must be given to other theories McLean v. Arkansas (1982) Louisiana (1981) Equal time must be given to other theories Edwards v. Aguillard (1987) There are two models: (1) a supernatural, intelligent creator designed and created the world, or (2) the world is not the result of intelligent intervention, but came about through random, mechanistic processes. Teachers are free to teach “any and all scientific theories”. William Brennan, 1987
