By the hand of God?

Table of contents

Table of figures

1. Introduction – By the hand of God?

2. Creationism vs. Evolutionism
2.1. What is "Intelligent Design (ID)"?
2.2. Definition of "Creation Science"
2.3. Difference between Evolutionism and Darwinism
2.4. Graph "Creationism vs. Evolutionism"

3. Creationism in the USA
3.1. Acceptance of Evolution
3.2. Creationism and politics
3.2.1. The Kansas case
3.3. Institute of Creation Research
3.3.1. History
3.3.2. Philosophy

4. Europe and "Creation Science"
4.1. Creationism in Europe
4.2. Position of the European Council

5. Conclusion – "And on the seventh day"

List of references

Table of figures

Figure 1: Creationism vs. Evolution, URL: http://fp.bio.utk.edu/evo-eco/resources-this_semester/creationism%20101.jpg (download: 20.10.2007)

Figure 2: Put the blame where it belongs: God and the Republican Party, URL: http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2006/08/put_the_blame_where_it_belongs.php (download: 22.10.2007)

1. Introduction – By the hand of God?

"God created the universe to look old." This is just one argument of just one creationism theory. Evolutionism is not the only theory of how the earth and every living being were created. People who believe in a supernatural "higher being" involved into the development of life claim that creationism is a science too. But if God created the universe to look old, though the Bible is an unquestioned truth: Is God a deceiver? (Figure 1: Creationism vs. Evolutionism)

US creationists usually support a literal interpretation of the Bible, although even the Vatican itself claimed that the evolution theory by Darwin is compatible with the history of creation written in the Bible. (Pope Benedict XVI., 2007)

The following text will focus on the discussion between creationists and evolutionists in the USA. The two most common theories in the USA are "Scientific Creationism" and "Intelligent Design Creationism". The dossier will cover the position of the creationists in respect of the US education system, their involvement in political decisions and the "Institute of Creation Research". As the theory of creationism is found not only in devout regions of the USA but worldwide, the paper will also give a comparison of the situation in the USA and Europe.

2. Creationism vs. Evolutionism

Giving a definition of "creationism" is not as easy as it may sound. However, it is not enough to state "believes in a literal interpretation of the bible". There are many different implementations of the creation theory as the complex graph in Figure 1 shows.

2.1. What is "Intelligent Design (ID)"?

In the late 1970s, the ID theory started as an outcome of the information theory. The complexity of living things is vast and that is why ID theorists argue that it is more reasonable to assume that the information is a language or it is a product of design. This is the complete opposite of Darwinism. (O'Leary, 2004)

The perception of problems would be totally different if "design" were reintroduced in science. "The ID scientist does not try to figure out how things happened by chance, but rather looks for intentional patterns that suggest general laws of development. The laws that prevail in one situation may shed light on another." (O'Leary, 2004, p. 10)

2.2. Creation science

Creation science is more common in the USA and Australia than Europe. This type of creationism wants to justify "Genesis" (young earth, macro-evolution, cataclysmic development of geological bed) using natural science data and reasoning but without reference to the Bible.

"Scientists" of this branch of creationism theory mostly claim to provide better argumentation than evolutionists. In the majority of cases, they understand their own point of view as the only scientifically rational theory. (Studiengemeinschaft Wort und Wissen, 2005)

2.3. Difference between "Evolutionism" and "Darwinism"

The general evolution theory states that all life forms are descended from one or several common ancestors that were present on the early earth, three to four billion years ago. (O'Leary, 2004)

In comparison to the general theory, Charles Darwin's explanation of evolution is more detailed and already points out that there is no need for design. It claims that "[…]each life form has certain random mutations that make it either more or less fit to survive in a given environment. Over time, these random mutations create the vast array of life forms that we see, from sponges to elephants to people." (O'Leary, 2004, p. 9)

[...]