Creation and Evolution: What Should We Teach?, The Eagle Feather

The following comments are based on my essay, “The Creation/Evolution Continuum,” available on the National Center for Science Education’s Website (Scott, 2000).

Many—if not most—Americans think of the creation and evolution controversy as a dichotomy with "creationists" on one side, and "evolutionists" on the other. This assumption all too often leads to the unfortunate conclusion that because creationists are believers in God, that evolutionists must be atheists. The true situation is much more complicated. I encourage people to reject the creation/evolution dichotomy and recognize the creation/evolution continuum that I present graphically in Figure 1. It is clear that creationism comes in many forms. If a student tells a teacher, "I´m a creationist," the teacher needs to ask, "What kind?"

The flat-earthers are the most extreme of the biblical literalists. They believe Earth is a flat, two-dimensional plane shaped more like a coin than a ball. They believe that biblical references to “the four corners of the earth” and to “the circle of the earth” imply this shape. The International Flat Earth Research Society, headquartered in California, has only about 200 members, and, thus is not a major player in the creation/evolution debate although they are the most extreme of the creationists. In fact, with the demise of its president, Charles K. Johnson, it appears to be defunct (Martin, 2001).

Geocentrists believe that Earth, not the sun, is the center of the solar system. The earth is a flat disk, floating on water, covered by a dome of heaven with sun, moon, and stars attached to it. The geocentrists, like the flat-earthers, reject virtually all of modern physics, chemistry, and biology. Like the flat-earthers, they are also a very small group with an insignificant impact on the current creation/evolution debate.

Young-earthers believe that Earth is between 6,000 and 10,000 years old. They also reject most of modern science, including biological evolution, although most accept that the earth is spherical and that the sun is the center of the solar system. Henry Morris and John C. Whitcomb are the founders of “creation science,” which is the most significant 20th-century attempt to provide a scientific rationale for special creation, and of the Institute for Creation Research, the flagship creationist institution. Creation science has been criticized by the National Science Teachers Association and the National Association of Biology Teachers. The U.S. Supreme Court has also ruled, as noted earlier, that the teaching of creation science is an illegal advancement of sectarian religion (Edwards v. Aguillard, 1987).

The fact that the earth is ancient has been well accepted since the mid-1800s, even by mainstream religious institutions in the Western world. The theology of special creation has harmonized scientific data showing that the earth is ancient with the belief that God has been an active, causal agent in creation. There have been three major schools of thought attempting to accommodate Western religious beliefs and science: gap creationism, day-age creationism, and progressive creationism.

Gap creationism. Gap creationists claim two creations, described sequentially in the first and second chapters of Genesis, and that the first was destroyed before God created man. The time gap between the two creations allows for accommodation of the scientific data on the ancient age of the earth and special creation.

Day-age creationism. The day-age model accommodates science and religion by rendering each of the 6 days of creation as long periods of time, even thousands or millions of years instead of merely 24 hours.

Progressive creationism. The view held by the majority of modern old-earth creationists is some form of progressive creationism, blending special creationism with a fair amount of modern science. Progressive creationists believe that God created “kinds” of animals sequentially. The fossil record is an accurate representation of history because different animals and plants appeared at different times. Earlier forms are not related genetically to later ones because the “kinds” are separate creations; one “kind” cannot evolve into another “kind”; and descent with modification cannot occur. Evolution within a “kind” can occur however, through the processes of recombination, natural selection, and genetic drift. God acts through these natural, micro-evolutionary processes as well as through active and direct creation.

On this continuum, intelligent design creationism overlaps with young-earth creationism and old-earth creationism. While most are old-earthers, some of the more prominent proponents today are young-earthers. In 1803, William Paley argued that God’s existence could be proved by examining his works using the analogy of a watch. If one found a watch in a forest, it is obvious that such a thing could not have come together by chance; the existence of a watch implies the existence of a watchmaker who has designed the watch with a purpose in mind. Similarly, the existence of order, purpose, and design in the world is proof of an omniscient designer. Paley’s example of intelligent design in nature was the human eye. Modern intelligent designers are more likely to refer to DNA structure or cellular complexity as too complex to have evolved by chance. Some of the biologists in this school accept a fair amount of modern science, including evidence of descent with modification in evolution, even evidence linking the ancestry of chimpanzees and apes.

In evolutionary creationism, God the Creator uses evolution to bring about the universe according to his plan. The difference between evolutionary creationism and theistic evolution, which follows in the continuum, is that evolutionary creationists are more likely to be conservative Christians; evolutionary creationism is more theologically conservative.

Theistic evolution is the theological view that God creates through evolution. Astronomical, geological, and biological evolution are acceptable, although different schools of theistic evolution vary over when and how much God intervenes. Theistic evolution is the view of mainline Protestant sects and the Catholic Church. In 1996, Pope John Paul II reiterated the Catholic position that God created, evolution happened, humans may indeed have descended from more primitive forms, but God was needed for the creation of the human soul (John Paul II, 1996).

Materialist evolution is a nonreligious view of evolution. “Materialism” may be used in two ways: in terms of methodology, and in terms of philosophy. Methodological materialism is the methodology of science. Science attempts to explain the world by focusing on natural causes—matter and energy. Science in and of itself is neutral on religion; supernatural forces by definition cannot be held constant and therefore cannot be tested. If an explanation cannot be tested, it is not considered scientific. Philosophical materialists go beyond methodological materialism to propose that the laws of nature are all there are; the supernatural does not exist. Philosophical materialism is distinct from the practical rules of how to do science. It is very likely that all philosophical materialists are also methodological materialists, but the converse is not necessarily true. There are many scientists who use methodological materialism in their work, but who are theists and therefore not philosophical materialists. Gregor Mendel is a classic case of a scientist who was a methodological materialist but not a philosophical one. Materialist evolutionism is a form of philosophical materialism, not a variety of methodological materialism.