Creationism can be studied and taught in any
of three basic forms, as follows:
(1) Scientific creationism (no reliance
on Biblical revelation, utilizing only scientific data
to support and expound the creation model).
(2) Biblical creationism (no reliance on
scientific data, using only the Bible to expound
and defend the creation model).
(3) Scientific Biblical creationism (full
reliance on Biblical revelation but also using
scientific data to support and develop the creation
model).
These are not contradictory systems, of course,
but supplementary, each appropriate for certain applications.
For example, creationists should not advocate that
Biblical creationism be taught in public schools, both because
of judicial restrictions against religion in such schools
and also (more importantly) because teachers who do not believe
the Bible should not be asked to teach the Bible. It
is both legal and desirable, however, that scientific
creationism be taught in public schools as a valid alternative
to evolutionism.
In a Sunday School class, on the other hand,
dedicated to teaching the Scriptures and "all the counsel
of God," Biblical creationism should be strongly expounded
and emphasized as the foundation of all other doctrine. In
a Christian school or college, where the world of God is studied
in light of the Word of God, it is appropriate and very important
to demonstrate that Biblical creationism and scientific creationism
are fully compatible, two sides of the same coin, as it were.
The creation revelation in Scripture is thus supported by
all true facts of nature; the combined study can properly
be called scientific Biblical creationism. All three systems,
of course, contrast sharply and explicitly with the evolution
model.
The evolution and creation models, in their
simplest forms, can be outlined as follows:1
| Evolution Model |
Creation Model |
|
|
The evolution model, as outlined above, is in
very general terms. It can be expanded and modified in a number
of ways to correspond to particular types of evolutionism
(atheistic evolution, theistic evolution, Lamarckianism, neo-Darwinism,
punctuated equilibrium, etc.).
The same is true of the creation model, with
the Biblical record giving additional specific information
which could never be determined from science alone. The three
key items in the creation model above are then modified as
follows:
Biblical Creation Model
- Creation completed by supernatural processes in six
days. - Creation in the bondage of decay because of sin and
the curse. - Earth history dominated by the great flood of Noah's
day.
Creationists, however, do not propose that the
public schools teach six-day creation, the fall of man, and
the Noachian flood. They do maintain, however, that they should
teach the evidence for a complex completed creation, the universal
principle of decay (in contrast to the evolutionary assumption
of increasing organization) and the worldwide evidences of
recent catastrophism. All of these are implicit in observable
scientific data, and should certainly be included in public
education.
Both the scientific creation model and the Biblical
creation model can be considerably expanded to incorporate
many key events of creation and earth history, in terms of
both scientific observation on the one hand and Biblical doctrine
on the other. These can, in fact, be developed as a series
of formal tenets2 of scientific creationism and
Biblical creationism, respectively, as listed below:
Tenets of Scientific Creationism
- 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. - The phenomenon of biological life did not develop by
natural processes from inanimate systems but was specially
and supernaturally created by the Creator. - 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 (variations) 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. - Earth pre-history, as preserved especially in the crustal
rocks and fossil deposits, is primarily a record of catastrophic
intensities of natural processes, operating largely within
uniform natural laws, rather than one of uniformitarian
process rates. There is therefore no a priori reason
for not considering the many scientific evidences for
a relatively recent creation of the earth and the universe,
in addition to the scientific evidences that most of the
earth's fossiliferous sediments were formed in an even
more recent global hydraulic cataclysm. - Processes today operate primarily within fixed natural
laws and relatively uniform process rates. Since these
were themselves originally created and are daily maintained
by their Creator, however, there is always the possibility
of miraculous intervention in these laws or processes
by their Creator. Evidences for such intervention must
be scrutinized critically, however, because there must
be clear and adequate reason for any such action on the
part of the Creator. - The universe and life have somehow been impaired since
the completion of creation, so that imperfections in structure,
disease, aging, extinctions and other such phenomena are
the result of "negative" changes in properties
and processes occurring in an originally perfect created
order. - Since the universe and its primary components were created
perfect for their purposes in the beginning by a competent
and volitional Creator, and since the Creator does remain
active in this now-decaying creation, there does exist
ultimate purpose and meaning in the universe. Teleological
considerations, therefore, are appropriate in scientific
studies whenever they are consistent with the actual data
of observation, and it is reasonable to assume that the
creation presently awaits the consummation of the Creator's
purpose. - Although people are finite and scientific data concerning
origins are always circumstantial and incomplete, the
human mind (if open to the possibility of creation) is
able to explore the manifestation of that Creator rationally
and scientifically, and to reach an intelligent decision
regarding one's place in the Creator's plan.
Tenets of Biblical Creationism
- The Creator of the universe is a triune God—Father,
Son and Holy Spirit. There is only one eternal and transcendent
God, the source of all being and meaning, and He exists
in three Persons, each of whom participated in the work
of creation. - The Bible, consisting of the thirty-nine canonical books
of the Old Testament and the twenty-seven canonical books
of the New Testament, is the divinely-inspired revelation
of the Creator to man. Its unique, plenary, verbal inspiration
guarantees that these writings, as originally and miraculously
given, are infallible and completely authoritative on
all matters with which they deal, free from error of any
sort, scientific and historical as well as moral and theological. - All things in the universe were created and made by
God in the six literal days of the creation week described
in Genesis 1:1-2:3, and confirmed in Exodus 20:8-11. The
creation record is factual, historical and perspicuous;
thus all theories of origins or development which involve
evolution in any form are false. All things which now
exist are sustained and ordered by God's providential
care. However, a part of the spiritual creation, Satan
and his angels, rebelled against God after the creation
and are attempting to thwart His divine purposes in creation. - The first human beings, Adam and Eve, were specially
created by God, and all other men and women are their
descendants. In Adam, mankind was instructed to exercise
"dominion" over all other created organisms,
and over the earth itself (an implicit commission for
true science, technology, commerce, fine art, and education)
but the temptation by Satan and the entrance of sin brought
God's curse on that dominion and on mankind, culminating
in death and separation from God as the natural and proper
consequence. - The Biblical record of primeval earth history in Genesis
1-11 is fully historical and perspicuous, including the
creation and fall of man, the curse on the creation and
its subjection to the bondage of decay, the promised Redeemer,
the worldwide cataclysmic deluge in the days of Noah,
the post-diluvian renewal of man's commission to subdue
the earth (now augmented by the institution of human government)
and the origin of nations and languages at the tower of
Babel. - The alienation of man from his Creator because of sin
can only be remedied by the Creator Himself, who became
man in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, through miraculous
conception and virgin birth. In Christ were indissolubly
united perfect sinless humanity and full deity, so that
His substitutionary death is the only necessary and sufficient
price of man's redemption. That the redemption was completely
efficacious is assured by His bodily resurrection from
the dead and ascension into heaven; the resurrection of
Christ is thus the focal point of history, assuring the
consummation of God's purposes in creation. - The final restoration of creation's perfection is yet
future, but individuals can immediately be restored to
fellowship with their Creator, on the basis of His redemptive
work on their behalf, receiving forgiveness and eternal
life solely through personal trust in the Lord Jesus Christ,
accepting Him not only as estranged Creator but also as
reconciling Redeemer and coming King. Those who reject
Him, however, or who neglect to believe on Him, thereby
continue in their state of rebellion and must ultimately
be consigned to the everlasting fire prepared for the
devil and his angels. - The eventual accomplishment of God's eternal purposes
in creation, with the removal of His curse and the restoration
of all things to divine perfection, will take place at
the personal bodily return to the earth of Jesus Christ
to judge and purge sin and to establish His eternal kingdom. - Each believer should participate in the "ministry
of reconciliations by seeking both to bring individuals
back to God in Christ (the "Great Commission")
and to "subdue the earth" for God's glory (the
Edenic-Noahic Commission). The three institutions established
by the Creator for the implementation of His purposes
in this world (home, government, church) should be honored
and supported as such.
Even though the tenets of scientific creationism
can be expounded quite independently of the tenets of Biblical
creationism, the two systems are completely compatible. All
the genuine facts of science support Biblical creationism
and all statements in the Bible are consistent with scientific
creationism. Either system can be taught independently of
the other or the two can be taught concurrently, as the individual
situation may warrant.
REFERENCES
1 See Scientific Creationism, ed.
Henry M. Morris (San Diego: C.L.P. Publishers, 1974), p.
12.
2 These tenets have recently been adopted by
the staff of the Institute for Creation Research and incorporated
permanently in its By-Laws.
*Dr. Henry M. Morris is the Founder and President
Emeritus of the Institute for Creation Research.
