Creation science (or scientific creationism) is a pseudoscientific movement that attempts to use scientific-sounding arguments to support a literal interpretation of the biblical creation narrative, usually rejecting evolution and deep geological time. It is distinct from theistic evolution, which accepts evolutionary theory as compatible with religious belief.
🌍 Definition
- Creation Science: A form of Young Earth creationism that claims to provide scientific evidence for the Genesis creation story.
- Core Claim: The universe, Earth, and life were created relatively recently (often within the last 6,000–10,000 years).
- Contrast: Rejects mainstream evolutionary biology, geology, and cosmology, proposing instead flood geology and supernatural creation.
🔑 Characteristics
- Flood Geology: Attributes most geological features to a single global flood (Noah’s Flood).
- Special Creation: Argues that species were created in their current form (“created kinds”).
- Rejection of Evolution: Denies common descent and natural selection as explanations for biodiversity.
- Appeal to Scripture: Uses biblical texts as scientific evidence.
- Pseudoscientific Status: Lacks empirical support and is rejected by the scientific community.
📚 Historical & Cultural Context
- 1970s–1980s: Term “creation science” gained prominence in U.S. debates over public school curricula.
- Legal Battles: In 1987, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down laws requiring creation science to be taught alongside evolution, ruling it religious rather than scientific.
- Neo-Creationism: Later movements (like Intelligent Design) reframed arguments to avoid explicit biblical references, but retained similar critiques of evolution.
🛠 Examples of Claims
- Fossils formed rapidly during a global flood.
- Earth’s geological strata are evidence of catastrophic events, not deep time.
- Human and dinosaur coexistence is possible under a young Earth framework.
✨ Summary
Creation science is not recognized as legitimate science but as a religiously motivated attempt to challenge evolutionary theory. It has played a major role in cultural debates about education, religion, and science policy, especially in the United States.
