christian cosmologies

creationism

• Belief that the universe and the world we live in were created immediately and supernaturally by God, and that the Bible is literally correct 

• Appeal to Bible as a scientific source, stating that it contradicts evolution 

• Theory of evolution attacked as just a theory 

• NB: misunderstands use of ‘theory’ -> refers to an established explanation that is backed up with research, and supported by scientific laws. 

• Gap in fossil record shows inconsistency 

• NB: can be explained by animals dying in not correct conditions 

pastor robin fish on creationism

Pastor Robin Fish: argues that the Bible has spoken of different ‘kinds’ of v similar things (e.g. Leviticus speaks of diff kinds of owls, reptiles, lizards etc) -> what we see in scripture is a definition of living things which is inconsistent and incompatible with evolution 

young earth creationism

• Belief that universe was created in 6 days by Abrahamic God 6,000 years ago 

• Belief derived from literal interpretation of the 2 creation myths in book of Genesis 

• Fossils are not real and maj extinctions never occured 

apparent age creationism

• Earth created in a mature state 

• Earth is only apparently old 

• Doesn't explain astrological observations that some stars are new as well as old, and have complete life cycles 

scientific creationism

• A branch of creationism that claims to provide scientific support for the genesis creation story. Creation science is an attempt to map the Bible into scientific facts 

• The main ideas in creation science are: 

• The belief in creation ex nihilo (out of nothing) 

• The conviction that the earth was created in the last 6,000-10,000 years 

• The belief that mankind and other life on Earth were created as distinct fixed ‘baraminological’ kinds 

•  The idea that fossils found in geological strata were deposited during a cataclysmic flood which completely covered the entire earth 

intelligent design + complexities

• Certain aspects of the natural world are too complex to have arise naturally, and therefore must have been as a result of an intelligent designer 

• Objection to evolution: 

• Point to complexities of world (e.g. DNA, regularity of physics) as evidence that the universe is designed by an intelligent creator 

• Argue that irreducible complexity (idea that certain biological systems are too complex to have evolved from less complete predecessors/ have happened by chance) 

• Emphasise that the apparent fine-tuned nature of universe must mean there was a designer 

behe + id

• Argued that certain phenomena, such as bacterial flagellum, are too irreducibly complex to have evolved from more primitive forms of life and therefore must have been created by a designer 

• NB: proponents of ID try to stay strictly within the bounds of science 

• Do not mention Abrahamic God etc, but a ‘designer’ or ‘intelligence’