Portal:Creationism/Selected article
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Intelligent design (ID) is a form of creationism promulgated by the Discovery Institute. The Institute defines it as the proposition that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection. It is a contemporary adaptation of the traditional teleological argument for the existence of God, presented by its advocates as "an evidence-based scientific theory about life's origins" rather than "a religious-based idea". The leading proponents of intelligent design are associated with the Discovery Institute, a politically conservative think tank, and believe the designer to be the Christian deity.
The scientific community states unequivocally that intelligent design is not science; many scientists and at least one major organization of science teachers have also termed it pseudoscience and some have termed it junk science. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences has stated that intelligent design "and other claims of supernatural intervention in the origin of life" are not science because they cannot be tested by experiment, do not generate any predictions, and propose no new hypotheses of their own. Intelligent design advocate Michael Behe has also testified, under oath, that there is no scientific evidence in support of the intelligent design hypothesis that has been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
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The creation-evolution debate is a recurring cultural, political, and theological dispute about the origins of the Earth, humanity, life, and the universe, a debate most prevalent in certain regions of the United States, where it is often portrayed as part of the culture wars. While the controversy has a long history, today it is mainly over what constitutes good science, with the politics of creationism primarily focusing on the teaching of creation and evolution in public education.
Debate on the details of scientific theories and their philosophical or religious implications are often the most intense parts of the controversy. Some participants on both sides believe that the conflict boils down to opposing definitions of all or parts of science, reality, and religion. Accusations of misleading formulations, incorrect or false statements, and inappropriate mixing of ideas are also fundamental points of disagreement. Some consider the term "creation vs. evolution" itself is misleading, believing it implies a false dichotomy and adds fuel to the debate.
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Progressive creationism is the religious belief that God allows certain natural process (such as gene mutation and natural selection) to affect the development of life, but has also directly intervened at key moments in life’s history to guide those processes or, in some views, create new species altogether (often to replenish the earth).
This view of creationism allows for and accepts fluctuation within defined species but rejects transitional evolution as a viable mechanism to create a gradual ascent from unicellular organisms to advanced life. Progressive creationists point to multiple destructive events in the Earth's history (such as meteoric impacts and large-scale global volcanic activity) and geological evidence for rapid subsequent speciation as evidence for distinct, typically limited intervention by a Creator. This view can be applied (as it often is) to virtually any of the other old Earth creationist views.
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The Genesis creation narrative is the biblical account of the creation of the world contained in the first two chapters of the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. As a sacred narrative of the primeval history of the world (chapters 1–11), it is part of the biblical canons of Judaism and Christianity. It is a creation myth with similarities to several ancient Mesopotamian creation myths, while differing in its monotheistic outlook.
Chapter one describes the creation of the world by God (Hebrew אֱלֹהִ֔ים Elohim), by means of divine fiat in six days and the designation of the seventh day as Sabbath, a holy (set apart) day of rest. Man and woman are created to be God's regents over his creation. Chapter two tells of God creating the first man whom he forms from clay (or dust) and into whom he "breathes" the "breath of life". The first woman is formed from the side of the first man. God plants a garden "east of Eden" into which he places the first couple. Chapter two ends with a statement concerning why men and women are given into marriage.
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Young Earth creationism (or YEC) is a form of creationism that asserts the Heavens, Earth, and all life on Earth was created by direct acts of the Abrahamic God during a relatively short period, sometime between 5,700 and 10,000 years ago. Its adherents are Christians and Jews who believe that God created the Earth in six 24-hour days, taking a literal interpretation of the Genesis creation narrative as a basis for their beliefs.
Between 40-50% of adults in the United States say they believe in young Earth creationism, depending on the poll. According to a Gallup poll in December 2010, around 40% of Americans believe in YEC, with 52% among Republicans and 34% among Democrats. The percentage falls quickly as the level of education increases — only 22% of respondents with postgraduate degrees believed compared with 47% of those with a high school education or less.
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A creation myth or creation story is a narrative that presents an account of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it. Creation myths have symbolic meanings, develop in oral traditions and are the most common form of myth, found throughout human culture. In the society in which it is told, a creation myth is usually regarded as conveying profound truths, although not necessarily in a historical or literal sense. They are commonly, although not always, considered cosmogonical myths—that is they describe the ordering of the cosmos from a state of chaos or amorphousness. They often are considered sacred accounts and can be found in nearly all known religious traditions.
Several features are found in all creation myths. They are all stories with a plot and characters who are either deities, human-like figures, or animals, who often speak and transform easily. They are often set in a dim and nonspecific past, what historian of religion Mircea Eliade termed in illo tempore (at that time). Also, all creation myths speak to deeply meaningful questions held by the society that shares them, revealing of their central worldview and the framework for the self-identity of the culture and individual in a universal context.
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The Raven in Creation is the trickster and creator in the traditional creation myths of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast.
One version of the Raven creation myth begins when Raven was taught by his father, Kit-ka'ositiyi-qa to be a creator, but Raven was unsatisfied with the product. He created the world but was unable to give it light or water. On hearing that light could be found hidden in a far off land, Raven decided he would travel there and steal it. When he discovered that dwelling in the house of light was a young woman who lived there with her father, he played the first of many tricks. He turned himself into a speck of dirt and slipped into her drinking water and was swallowed. This made the daughter pregnant, and she gave birth to an unusual and fussy child who cried demanding to touch one of the bundles which had been stored hanging from the walls. The child was given one of the bags to quiet him, but when tired of playing with it he let it go, and it floated away from him and disappeared through the smoke hole. Once it reached the sky the bundle came undone and scattered stars across the sky. The child was given the second bundle to play with, and he let it too float away through the hole in the ceiling, and it released the moon. This would happen again with the third and last bundle, which flew away and became sunlight.
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Creation Science or scientific creationism is a branch of creationism, which attempts to provide help scientific support for the Genesis creation narrative in the Book of Genesis and disprove generally accepted scientific facts, theories and scientific paradigms about the history of the Earth, cosmology and biological evolution. Its most vocal proponents are fundamentalist Christians in the United States who seek to prove Biblical inerrancy and nullify the scientific evidence for evolution. The main ideas in creation science are: the belief in "creation ex nihilo"; the conviction that the Earth was created within the last 10,000 years; the belief that mankind and other life on Earth were created as distinct fixed "baraminological" kinds; and the idea that fossils found in geological strata were deposited during a cataclysmic flood which completely covered the entire Earth. As a result, creation science also challenges the geologic and astrophysical evidence for the age and origins of Earth and Universe, which creation scientists acknowledge are irreconcilable to the account in the Book of Genesis. Creation science proponents often refer to the theory of evolution as "Darwinism" or as "Darwinian evolution".
Portal:Creationism/Selected article/9 Hinduism includes a range of viewpoints about evolution and the origins of life. The accounts of the emergence of life within the universe vary in description, but classically the god Brahma, from a Trimurti of three Gods also including Vishnu and Shiva, is described as performing the act of 'creation', or more specifically of 'propagating life within the universe' with the other two deities being responsible for 'preservation' and 'destruction' (of the universe) respectively. Some Hindu schools do not regard the scriptural creation myth as a literal truth, and often the creation stories themselves do not go into specific detail, thus leaving open the possibility of incorporating at least some theories in support of evolution. Some Hindus find support for, or foreshadowing of evolutionary ideas in scriptures, namely the Vedas.
According to Hindu creationism all species on earth including humans have "devolved" or come down from a highly state of pure consciousness. Hindu creationists claim that species of plants and animals are material forms adopted by pure consciousness which live an endless cycle of births and rebirths.
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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) takes no official position on whether or not biological evolution has occurred, or on the validity of the modern evolutionary synthesis as a scientific theory. However, in the 20th century, the LDS Church published doctrinal statements on the origin of man and creation. In addition, individual leaders of the LDS Church have expressed a variety of opinions on evolution, many of which have affected the beliefs and perceptions of Latter-day Saints.
The first official statement on the issue of evolution was in 1909, which marked the centennial of Charles Darwin's birth and the 50th anniversary of his On the Origin of Species. In that year, the First Presidency, led by Joseph F. Smith as President, issued a statement declaring that "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, basing its belief on divine revelation, ancient and modern, proclaims man to be the direct and lineal offspring of Deity." This teaching regarding the origin of man differs from traditional Christianity's doctrine of creation which comprises belief in a fiat creation.
