Creationism
Creationism is the belief that there exists a supernatural Creator who possesses the wisdom and knowledge to create living things on Earth, instead of them evolving from natural selection. Creationism is based on the Book of Genesis (the Bible), which states that The Creator, also known as God, created the universe and organisms in 6 days, making the Earth less than 10 000 years old. Creationism is one of the main current opposing theories of evolution.
Intelligent Design Theory
The Intelligent Design Theory, in support of Creationism, also claims that God creates and perfects His design of organisms so that they are purposefully given the abilities, characteristics, body parts etc. to carry out different processes necessary for their survival.
Such a theory is supported by English theolgian, William Paley made the famous watchmaker analogy:
"If we find a pocket watch in a field, we immediately infer that it was produced not by natural processes acting blindly but by a designing human intellect. Likewise, the natural world contains abundant evidence of a supernatural creator." (http://www.actionbioscience.org/evolution/nhmag.html, 9th April 07)
Evidence
A Creator
Creationism explains that everything is created by God for a purpose. As Paley said, there is much evidence that such a Creator exists, and such can be seen from the evidence provided:
Position of Earth from the Sun
The light and heat from the Sun is of paramount importance to organisms on Earth; processes such as photosynthesis depend greatly on the energy from the Sun. In fact, all life on Earth is linked very closely to the energy (light and heat) received by the Sun, without which would cease to exist.
Approximately 93 million miles away from the earth, the Sun is at exactly the right distance for Earth to bear life, which is not possible on any other planet in the solar system due to their positions from the Sun (either too near therefore making it too hot, or too far away, making it much too cold). The Earth is the only planet that is at a precise climatic distance such that the production and maintenance of life is possible. With reference to Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”, the Earth’s positioning from the Sun is the creation of God, who purposefully placed the planet from the Sun, such that life could be supported by the energy received. This is evidence that a supernatural Creator exists, and proves the theory of Creationism.
Instinct
Instincts are evidence of God’s creation of organisms. For a plant to grow towards an area with a higher intensity of light due to the need for light energy for photosynthesis, explains how God created natural reactions in organisms to aid in their survival. Instincts are part of the Intelligent Design of organisms by God, which ultimately helps them to live on.
An example of instinct present in organisms can be seen in spiders. All web-weaving spiders are perfectly able to weave their own webs without being taught how. Such an instinct cannot be explained by evolution, but Creationism is able to explain this. As God created creatures and their complex reactions for a purpose, the spider’s ability to weave its web based on its instinct created by God for it to survive.
Proportion of roles of bees
There is diversity in the roles of bees in a hive. In an article by Jean George, which appeared in the Reader's Digest, 1966, it is explained that nurse bees, which feed the queen bee and the larvae, have special glands in their heads to form milk. Other bees with different roles have different abilities, for example to turn honey into beeswax. The proportion of the roles of bees in a hive has always been maintained at equilibrium, such that there are not too many queen bees or too few nurse bees.
Evolution by natural selection cannot explain how this correct proportion of the roles of bees is maintained. It is only through Creationism that such a phenomenon can be explained: God has created bees with the design and purpose, so that the maintenance of the equilibrium of the roles of bees is possible, hence the different productions can be carried out at suitable proportions, enabling the entire hive to survive.
A Young Earth
As from the Book of Genesis, it is said that God created the universe in 6 days, and the Earth is less than 10 000 years old, instead of the generally-believed 4.5 billion years old by evolutionists.
Cosmic dust on the Moon
It is believed by scientists that cosmic dust is like dust on Earth; it collects on the surface of heavenly bodies over time. As such, the measure of cosmic dust on the Moon has been used as a measure of the Earth’s age (since the Earth and the universe were created at the same time by God).
However, the first trip made to the Moon by Neil Armstrong and his team showed that there was not a billion years’ worth of cosmic dust on the moon, rather only a few thousand years’ worth of cosmic dust, hence proving that the Moon and Earth are not in fact 4.5 billion years old, but less than 10 000 years old.
Meteor-shower gauge
The meteor-shower gauge works on the same theory as cosmic dust: meteorites reaching the Earth’s surface should be accumulated throughout the supposed billions of years in the Earth’s geological column, and found embedded in rock layers. As a result, many meteorites should be found on Earth if it were 4.5 billion years old, with the number of meteorites acting as a “clock” to gauge the Earth’s age.
However, geologists are only able to find a small number of meteorites in the Earth’s geological column, thus reflecting that the Earth’s surface was not exposed to meteorites for a long time, supporting Creationism in saying that the Earth was created recently. This proves that God created the Earth recently, that is within the last 10 000 years.
Response to Creationism
Most scientists do not believe in Creationism, and have dismissed it as a religious dogma. According to Religioustolerance.org, 95% of the scientists support evolution, and believe that humans and apes did evolve from a common ancestor, as with other species of organisms.
Belief system Creationist view Theistic evolution Naturalistic Evolution
Group of adults God created man pretty much in his present form at one time within the last 10,000 years. Man has developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God guided this process, including man's creation. Man has developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life. God had no part in this process.
(Source: http://www.religioustolerance.org/ev_publi.htm)As can be seen from the above table (a survey conducted in November 1997), there is a vast difference in scientists’ belief in Creationism as compared to the public.
Also according Religioustolerance.org, a secularist would probably comment that Genesis is should not be interpreted literally, as those who wrote the Book lived in an era before science, and “adopted creation legends from their surrounding Pagan societies” (http://www.religioustolerance.org/ev_publi.htm, 22nd April 2007)
Conclusion
Having stated the above evidence to support the theory of Creationism, it can be seen that an existing Creator with intelligence far greater than any human indeed is the cause of diverse life on Earth.
He created the Earth in a position from the Sun such that the biodiversity of life can survive. God also equipped the different species of living things on Earth with the necessary tools for survival (through Intelligent Design), for instance instinct. By providing all organisms with such a tool to rely on for survival and by purposefully creating organisms in proportion (and maintaining such equilibrium), it is evident that God created this Earth and life, proving Creationism.
Reference
http://www.trueorigin.org/, 9th April 2007
http://www.talkorigins.org/, 9th April 2007
http://www.actionbioscience.org/evolution/nhmag.html, 10th April 2007
John Brockman, “Intelligent Thought: Science versus the Intelligent Design Movement”, 2006, 11th April 2007
http://www.creationism.org/, 15th April 2007
http://www.religioustolerance.org/evolutio.html, 15th April 2007
Dr. Paul D. Ackerman, “It’s A Young World After All”, 1986, chapter 1 – 2, 21st April 2007
Picture taken from http://www.phys.utas.edu.au/optastr/media_OB390_files/p060_x_bacon.jpg, 22nd April 2007
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