The science behind geological timeframes must be solid enough to convince any reasonable person that the Earth is billions of years old, and that alone is counter to creationism, and the age of the Earth is critical to both Evolutionary theory as well as Creationism.
My uderstanding is that the "6,000 years" types are a minority in the creationist realm.
In modern usage, the term creationism has come to be most strongly associated with the brand of Christian fundamentalism in which the books of Genesis are held to provide absolute truths about the creation of kinds of life and often, in more literal faiths, the age of the universe and of the earth. It therefore conflicts with the more allegorical theological interpretations of the mainstream churches. "Creationism" typically connotes a religious, political, and social campaign?- for instance, in education?-to assert the dominance or widespread acceptance of a spiritual view of nature and of humanity's place in it. Creationism is also separate from, and should not be confused with the separate Christian tradition of "Creation Spirituality," which draws upon the theology of Matthew Fox.
Those who hold strict creationist views reject scientific theories that contradict their understanding of their religious texts. Most notable is the rejection of the scientific consensus[4][5][6][7] on evolution and common descent by most creationists. They often also reject the scientific consensus regarding the geologic history of the Earth, formation of the solar system, and origin of the universe.
I think this is probably incorrect. Almost all Creationists (Fundamental Christian Creationism) are also young earthers.
But I could be wrong.
Do we have any creationists on A2K who readily admit that the Earth is billions of years old, but also believe strongly in an Adam and Eve style biological foundation?
Here's a slice of info from Wikipedia
Wikepedia wrote:In modern usage, the term creationism has come to be most strongly associated with the brand of Christian fundamentalism in which the books of Genesis are held to provide absolute truths about the creation of kinds of life and often, in more literal faiths, the age of the universe and of the earth. It therefore conflicts with the more allegorical theological interpretations of the mainstream churches. "Creationism" typically connotes a religious, political, and social campaign?- for instance, in education?-to assert the dominance or widespread acceptance of a spiritual view of nature and of humanity's place in it. Creationism is also separate from, and should not be confused with the separate Christian tradition of "Creation Spirituality," which draws upon the theology of Matthew Fox.
Those who hold strict creationist views reject scientific theories that contradict their understanding of their religious texts. Most notable is the rejection of the scientific consensus[4][5][6][7] on evolution and common descent by most creationists. They often also reject the scientific consensus regarding the geologic history of the Earth, formation of the solar system, and origin of the universe.
The "geology vs. creationism" debate only exists with the Biblical creationists.
Why do Creation vs Evolution debates get going so much more readily than Creation vs Geology debates?
fishin wrote:The "geology vs. creationism" debate only exists with the Biblical creationists.
So you're saying that the creation vs evolution debates are more prevalent because evolution is offensive to a broader swath of general creationists. Whereas geology only conflicts with a subset of the group. I guess this is inherently true, but then you would expect to see at least a FEW creation/geoology debates flare up, but instead we see none.
Also, since the age of the earth is fundamental to the evidence for evolution, once you accept an ancient earth, you pretty much trap yourself into a system which is riddled with evidence for biological evolution. It's almost impossible to take a stance against evolution without denying the age of the Earth. The two things are linked.
the basic mechanism of evolution is very simple, it's easy to believe you can make profound statements about what it can do and what it can't.
I throw my vote to fishin's analyses. Creationism is a broad spectrum and although "Thesistic evolution" is not considered a Creationist doctrine per se, its close enough to the "Old Earth Creationists " doctrines for me, so arguing geology with them would be sort of singing to the choir. Most Catholic Universities in the US have very good geology departments . I was sub teaching at one in Philly and they started class with a Hail Mary
In my opinion, the reason is because evolution basically says that God didnt create humanity. Geology would just be saying that the Bible has a bad timeline.
The Theistic EVolutionists merely dodge the issue by accepting the evidence but dismissing an evolved human, and also dismissing the evidence that the flow of evolution can be shown to have been undirected by some Supreme Being. The fact that evdence strongly shows how evolution is consequent to gradual earth changes and cataclysms removes a God from the mix entirely because HE would be an impotent witness.
In that world view God isn't an impotent witness. He/She is the cause from which all other results flow.
Scientifically, we are restricted to hard evidence--the fossils, artifacts, and other tangible objects in the record--limited though it is. While correct, it is also true that because the product of that change--us--is such a creature of wonder and possessed of so deep a need to understand, there is a great temptation to go beyond the hard evidence. This is acceptable only if it is clearly recognized where scientific inference ends and desire-driven speculation begins.
rosborne979 wrote:Why do Creation vs Evolution debates get going so much more readily than Creation vs Geology debates?
I think it's because geology, unlike biology, lacks a simple, elegant theory like Darwinian evolution. Because the basic mechanism of evolution is very simple, it's easy to believe you can make profound statements about what it can do and what it can't. The geologists' theoretical toolbox, by comparison, is harder to learn, so people accept that it takes some studying before you can have a profound opinion about it.
Evolution is too firmly rooted in physical reality to be selective about which parts of it a bible-thumper can object to.
Wraith-contrary to what you said , Darwin became an "anti" Intelligent Design proponent . He arrived at that point when he finally understood the power of the evidence hed amassed while on the Beagle and from all his work on seed dispersal and pigeons and barnacles. He said that it was ridiculousthat God was continually correcting his own mistakes, removing species and creating others , when all along he could have gotten it right in the first place. Darwin said that this
"Actually paints a most unflattering picture of the very intelligence of the Intelligent Designer"
Others (don't recall the names)
