Creationism (Religion and Science) Flashcards
What is Young Earth Creationism?
Bishop Usher calculated that the universe was created 6,000 years ago in six 24 hour days by God. This type of creationism interprets Genesis literally and rejects the idea of evolution. Rocks/fossil were formed by the Flood
What are the weaknesses of Young Earth creationism?
There is a lot of scientific evidence that is older than 6,000 years old, dinosaurs, the fossil record, evidence that humans and dinosaurs lived millions of years apart
What is the Omphalos Argument?
By Phillip Gosse, God created the world with an appearance of age (like a trick) thus no physical evidence for dating the earth can be reliable
What are the weaknesses of the Omphalos Argument?
When did false history begin? Creationism could have occurred as early as five minutes ago (Last Thurdayism). The idea is not consistent with an omnibenevolent God because why would God try to deceive his creation
What is Old Earth Creationism?
Agrees that the earth is much older but still created by God, perhaps a “day” in Genesis 1 can be interpreted as a period of time, not 24 hours. Others believe that Genesis is a poetic figure
What is a strength of Old Earth Creationism?
It accepts scientific discoveries
What are weaknesses of Old Earth Creationism?
There is inconsistent interpretation of Genesis in order to fit in with modern science which could be considered arbitrary
What does Old Earth Creationism also contain?
Gap Theory and Progressive Creationism
What does the Gap Theory propose?
That there is a gap of time (billions of years) between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. The original earth was ruined perhaps by Satan and fallen angels and was later repaired by God as described during the six 24 hour days of creation
What is a strength of the Gap Theory?
It finds a solution to the idea that the universe is 13.7 billion years old
What are the weaknesses of the Gap Theory?
It suggests that sin and death must have entered the world before Adam and Eve which are traditionally the reason for sin and death
What is Progressive Creationism?
God started the Big Bang and created all species would allow for adaptation within species. God created new life forms gradually over hundreds of millions of years. God has intervened throughout history. Allows for micro-evolution but not macro
