Program / Course 19: Modern Challenges / Lesson 2.3
What you will learn
- Describe the main Christian positions: young earth creationism, old earth creationism, evolutionary creationism and intelligent design.
- State how each reads Genesis and what it says about science.
- Explain what the creeds and church teaching fix, and what they leave open.
- Identify the theological questions that matter most in the dispute, such as Adam, death and the fall.
The big idea
Christians agree that God is the Creator of heaven and earth and that human beings are made in his image. They do not agree about how Genesis should be read or how it relates to the sciences of the earth and of life. The main positions are young earth creationism, old earth creationism, evolutionary creationism and intelligent design, along with others. The disagreement is real, and it is mostly a disagreement about how to read Scripture and how to weigh scientific evidence, and not about whether God made the world.
Key terms
- Young earth creationism
- The view that the earth and universe are only thousands of years old and that Genesis 1 describes six ordinary days. It usually rejects common descent.
- Old earth creationism
- The view that the earth is billions of years old, with God acting at certain points to create kinds of living things. Many accept an old earth but reject full common descent.
- Evolutionary creationism
- The view that God created through evolution. Also called theistic evolution. Many prefer the first name to stress that God is the creator.
- Intelligent design
- The claim that some features of nature are best explained by an intelligent cause. Supporters differ over the age of the earth and common descent.
- Literal reading
- A reading that takes the words according to their plain sense. Different Christians mean different things by it, and the term is often used loosely.
- Accommodation
- The idea, found in Augustine and Calvin, that God speaks in terms that fit human understanding, so that Scripture’s language about the world need not be technical science.
- Original sin and the fall
- The teaching that human beings are in a state of sin that began with the first sin of Adam and Eve. Its relation to evolution is a major question.
Background
The question did not begin with Darwin. Origen in the third century and Augustine in the early fifth already doubted that the days of Genesis 1 were ordinary days. Augustine, in his work on the literal meaning of Genesis, warned Christians not to speak foolishly about the natural world, since unbelievers who knew better would laugh and be pushed away from the faith. Other writers, such as Basil of Caesarea, read the six days more directly.
After 1859 many Protestant leaders, including those who wrote the early twentieth century series called The Fundamentals, were open to an old earth and some to evolution. Young earth creationism in its modern form arose mainly after 1961, when John Whitcomb and Henry Morris published The Genesis Flood, drawing on earlier writing by the Seventh-day Adventist George McCready Price. Today it is widespread in American evangelicalism and less common elsewhere.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: Young earth creationism
Its holders argue that the plain sense of Genesis, supported by Exodus 20:11 (which grounds the sabbath in six days of creation), is history. They hold that death entered the world through Adam’s sin (Romans 5:12), so that animal death and suffering before the fall would be hard to reconcile with a good creation. They propose that the geological record was shaped largely by Noah’s flood. Mainstream geologists reject this account on the basis of dating methods and the structure of rock layers. Young earth writers reply that dating assumes things that cannot be checked.
Many holders are devout, and the position is held as a matter of fidelity to Scripture. It is not a creed of the ancient church, which did not define the age of the earth.
Step 2: Old earth creationism and intelligent design
Old earth creationists accept the age of the earth and read the days as periods, as a literary frame, or as a pattern of revelation. Many deny that humans descend from earlier animals. Hugh Ross, a prominent Protestant, holds this view. Intelligent design is a narrower claim, that design is detectable in nature, and it does not specify the age of the earth. Some of its defenders accept common descent.
Critics say that old earth creationism is an unstable compromise, since the evidence for common descent covers humans too. Defenders reply that the fossil gaps and the complexity of life leave room for intervention.
Step 3: Evolutionary creationism
Evolutionary creationists, such as Francis Collins and many in the organization BioLogos, hold that evolution is the process God used. They read Genesis 1 as ancient literature about who God is and what the world means, not as a scientific report, and they point to older church writers who read it non-literally. Some hold that Adam and Eve were historical persons chosen from a larger population. Others read Adam as representing humanity.
Critics respond that this weakens the link between Adam’s sin and Christ’s saving work, which Paul draws in Romans 5. Evolutionary creationists answer that Paul’s point can be kept without a particular biological scenario, and they note that the fall can be taught as a real moral rupture.
Step 4: The theological questions
Several questions matter more than the age of the earth. Was there a historical Adam, and was he the single ancestor of all humans? How did death and suffering enter the world, and does evolution make God the author of a cruel process? What is the soul, and how does it relate to the body? How should Scripture’s authority be understood when it speaks of the natural world?
No tradition requires a particular answer to every question. The Catholic Church requires belief that the first parents’ sin affected all humanity and that the soul is created by God. Orthodox teaching affirms the fall and stresses that death is an enemy (1 Corinthians 15:26). Reformed confessions affirm the creation of Adam and Eve. How each is related to the scientific picture remains a question inside each tradition.
- How does this position read Genesis 1, and why?
- How does it deal with the evidence from geology and genetics?
- What does it say about Adam, the fall and the entrance of death?
- What would it concede to the other positions?
- Is this position required by the creeds of its own church?
- Is it fair to call the holders of the opposing views unfaithful?
Examples
A young earth family
A Christian family teaches that the earth is six thousand years old. They read Genesis as history, and believe this honors the authority of Scripture. They are glad to support science in medicine and engineering. (A constructed example.)
An evolutionary creationist
A biology teacher in a Baptist church prays before class. He teaches the fossil record and common descent, and tells his students that Genesis answers questions of why and who, while science answers how. He is sometimes accused of compromise, and he replies that he reads the text on its own terms. (A constructed example.)
A church that takes no position
A congregation publishes a statement that it affirms God as Creator and holds that Christians may differ on the age of the earth. A visiting speaker is asked not to argue for either side. (A constructed example.)
Different perspectives
Catholic
The Church teaches that God is Creator of all things, that every human soul is directly created by him, and that all human beings are affected by the sin of the first parents. Within that, it permits Catholics to accept evolution. The 2004 document Communion and Stewardship from the International Theological Commission spoke of an unguided evolutionary process as incompatible with faith if it denies God’s providence, and affirmed that God can work through secondary causes. Some Catholics still defend special creation of humans.
Orthodox
Orthodox teaching rests on the Fathers, who vary in how they read the six days. The tradition affirms the fall, the goodness of creation and the centrality of Christ. There is no dogmatic definition on evolution, and members hold views from acceptance to strong rejection. A frequent concern is that the fall and the redemption of death in Christ must not be emptied of meaning.
Protestant
Protestants hold the greatest range. Many conservative churches, such as some Baptist and Lutheran Missouri Synod bodies, teach a young earth. Many evangelical and Reformed scholars hold old earth or evolutionary views. Mainline denominations have mostly accepted evolution. All affirm that God is Creator, and they differ over how Scripture’s authority governs the reading of Genesis.
Jewish and secular views
Many Jewish interpreters have long read Genesis in non-literal ways, and Maimonides argued that Scripture must be interpreted when reason demands. Modern Orthodox Jews, Conservative and Reform Jews hold varied views. Secular scholars generally regard creationism as scientifically unsupported but recognize that the disagreement is largely about authority and meaning.
Why it matters
Disputes over creation have driven people out of churches and away from science. The positions in this lesson are held by sincere Christians who love the same Lord. A student who understands why each position is held is better able to disagree with kindness and to avoid making one view a test of whether someone is a Christian.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: Young earth creationism is the historic Christian view.
Correction: Several early and medieval writers read Genesis 1 in non-literal ways, and the creeds are silent on the age of the earth. The modern young earth movement dates largely from the twentieth century.
Misunderstanding: Christians who accept evolution do not believe the Bible.
Correction: Many hold a high view of Scripture and read it by its literary kind. Whether that reading is right is debated, but the charge of unbelief is unfair.
Misunderstanding: The Catholic Church requires belief in evolution, or forbids it.
Correction: Neither. The Church allows the study of evolution while teaching that God creates the world and every human soul.
Misunderstanding: Intelligent design is the same as young earth creationism.
Correction: They are distinct. Intelligent design makes a narrower claim and many of its defenders accept an old earth.
Knowledge check
Name four Christian positions on creation and evolution and give a one-line description of each.
Young earth creationism holds that the earth is thousands of years old and Genesis describes six ordinary days. Old earth creationism accepts an ancient earth but resists full common descent. Evolutionary creationism holds that God created through evolution. Intelligent design claims that some features of nature are best explained by an intelligent cause.
What does the Catholic Church require on this question?
It requires belief that God is the Creator of all things, that each human soul is directly created by God, and that the sin of the first parents affected humanity. It does not require a particular view of the age of the earth or the mechanism of life’s development, and it allows evolution to be studied and accepted.
Why is the question of Adam so important in the discussion?
Paul draws a parallel between Adam and Christ in Romans 5, and the traditions teach that sin and death entered the world through the first man. If evolution is true, some ask how a single first couple fits. Responses include a historical Adam within a larger population, or a representative Adam. The question is open inside the traditions.
How did Augustine advise Christians to speak about the natural world?
In his commentary on the literal meaning of Genesis, Augustine warned Christians not to talk nonsense about the natural world. A non-Christian who knows facts about the earth and the heavens may mock the nonsense and lose respect for Scripture. He advised caution in claiming that Scripture teaches particular scientific details.
Think it through
- Which position did you grow up with, and what are its best reasons?
- What would you need to know in order to judge between two positions fairly?
- How do you treat a friend who holds a different view from yours on this question?
- Is the age of the earth essential to the gospel? Why or why not?
Independent assignment
A fair account of a rival view
In your notebook, choose one position in this lesson other than your own. Write 400 to 600 words presenting it as its holders would, citing the Scripture passages and arguments they use. Then write 150 words stating the best objection and 150 words on what you have learned. Do not send it.
Further study
- Augustine of Hippo, The City of God Read the passages on creation and time.
- Basil of Caesarea, On the Holy Spirit (De Spiritu Sancto) Use for Basil’s thought on creation and the Spirit, as background to his Hexaemeron.
- Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church Read the section on creation and the fall.
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Religion and Science Read the discussion of creationism and evolution.
- Genesis 1:1 The opening of the account of creation.
- Genesis 2:7 God forms man of the dust of the ground.
- Romans 5:12 By one man sin entered into the world.
- Exodus 20:11 The sabbath grounded in the six days.