Creationism

It's a mistake to say "Either scientism or creationism." If those are the only two options, then of course a religious person must be a young-earther. But there is a third alternative: Catholicism. Scientism and creationism agree that if there is evolution, then there is no God. Assert God, deny evolution; assert evolution, deny God; or accept God & evolution.

The fear is that if we do not embrace creationism, then we accept scientism. We should not concede the saganist argument that if the Big Bang is true, there is no God or that if evolution takes place, there is no God. We don't have to be creationists in order to deny those absurd arguments from the saganists. There is a third position.

Ken Ham vs. Bill Nye

• Bill Nye Debates Ken Ham - HD (Official).
• Ken Ham, Answers in Genesis.
• Bill Nye, the Science Guy.

Debate Topic: "Is creation a viable model of origins in today's modern scientific era?"

If you adopt Ham's interpretation for Genesis, you're committed to it for the whole of the Bible. All of his Protestant theology of sola scriptura and the infallible bible come into play.

Ken Ham's Views

Naturalism is a secular religion

I agree very much with Ham's view that "the word 'science' has been hijacked by secularists" and that approach to teaching evolution mandated by the states forces the religion of naturalism on students. Atheism is presented as scientific and theism as ignorant.

The atheists are guilty of bait-and-switch when they argue from easily observable changes (micro-evolution with an already established form) to unobservable changes (macro-evolution--a new species emerging from a parent species).

The evolutionary tree is a matter of belief, not observation. "Certainly there's change, but not the change that's necessary for molecules-to-man."

"If you teach creationism in public schools, that's religion. If you teach evolution, that's science. ... Actually, it's public school textbooks teaching a belief [in the unobserved "tree of life"] and imposing it on students."

"... imposing a naturalistic religion on students."

In my view, any vision of reality that answers all of the questions of religion is itself a religion. Ham is right that Christianity and naturalism are two very different philosophical worldviews that are in conflict with each other: "It's really a battle over worldviews and starting points. It's a battle over philosophical worldviews and starting points."

Creationism is the only viable model of science

Ham says, "Creation is the only viable model of historical science confirmed by observational science in today's modern scientific era."

I object very strongly to his use of the word "creation" as if it means "a model of historical science." I use the word "creationism" instead for biblical literalists like himself who believe that the only model of creation is that given by a literal reading of Genesis 1 (six 24-hour days, 6000 years ago).

God is the lawgiver

Ham asked Nye, "How do you account for the laws of logic and laws of nature from a naturalistic worldview that excludes the existence of God?" Nye never addressed this question. This is not directly taken from the Bible, but is part of the arguments advanced in natural theology. I understand it as a variation of the Fifth Way of Aristotle and Thomas.

C. S. Lewis, The Case for Christianity

Supposing there was no intelligence behind the universe, no creative mind. In that case, nobody designed my brain for the purpose of thinking. It is merely that when the atoms inside my skull happen, for physical or chemical reasons, to arrange themselves in a certain way, this gives me, as a by-product, the sensation I call thought. But, if so, how can I trust my own thinking to be true? It’s like upsetting a milk jug and hoping that the way it splashes itself will give you a map of London. But if I can’t trust my own thinking, of course I can’t trust the arguments leading to Atheism, and therefore have no reason to be an Atheist, or anything else. Unless I believe in God, I cannot believe in thought: so I can never use thought to disbelieve in God.

Observational science is different from historical science

Ham made a sharp distinction between two kinds of science:

• Observational science: done in the present.

• Historical science: beyond the range of observation. We were not there "in the beginning." We do not observe the past directly. We can't observe God creating. The only way to know about the beginning of everything is to take God's word for it.

It seems to me that reasoning from effects that are observable to causes that are not in themselves observable is one of the key features of science. We cannot see energy fields directly (electro-magnetic, gravitational, quantum); what we see is the effects of those fields acting on observable forms of matter and energy. Some of the great philosophical arguments for the existence of God in natural theology depend on effect-to-cause reasoning.

I find the view of science proposed by Nye on this score much more satisfying. It is true that science is no substitute for history, and vice-versa, but from looking at the world as it is now, and by making the assumption that the laws of nature have been operating unchanged for most of the history of the universe, we do get a "natural history" of the universe that makes very good sense.

This is not the kind of sense that is available from a witness who could say, "I was there. I saw it with my own eyes." But that it is not one form of knowledge that we value does not mean it is not another form of knowledge or that it is not valuable.

Both theists and atheists can do good science

Ham introduced a number of creationists who have solid scientific or technological credentials. Nye conceded the point. One's theology or atheology is practically irrelevant to observational science, experimentation, and invention.

Doing science requires faith

That science is itself a faith-based enterprise is one of my favorite themes in the epistemologies of John Henry Cardinal Newman and Michael Polanyi. The faith required to do science is not religious faith, but faith in one's powers of reason, faith in the laws of logic, faith in the stability and intelligibility of the universe, and faith in the work done by preceding generations of scientists.

"They don't want to admit that there is a belief aspect to what they are saying. ... I challenge the evolutionists to admit the belief aspects of their worldview."

There is likewise a belief aspect to the repudiation of saganism. No way out of belief systems (MP).

Reflections

"Creation" is not a "model of origins"

The question for debate was whether creation is "a viable model of origins in today's modern scientific era."

My immediate answer is "no" on the grounds that the religious dogma or philosophical judgment that one God created all things is not a model of origins. The thought that there is a sovereign Creator leaves open the question of how God unfolded what we now see all around us. There are many different models that are consistent with this theological and/or philosophical conviction.

A model is essentially a simplified imaginative representation of a larger or more complex reality. Model cars imitate the shape of real cars but not the size. Model aircraft that are capable of flight usually are not constructed of the same materials as a full-size aircraft. Some model ships are capable of floating or are used in tank-testing to predict how full-scale hulls will perform; others are designed merely to please the eye.

The doctrine of creation is that God created all things ex nihilo, which is Latin for "out of nothing." We can model (picture, imagine) this in different ways.

God is the Author of the Big Bang

In this model, God is the direct or indirect cause of the Big Bang. Some scientists speculate that there are an infinite number of universes. If so, the theistic view is that God created all of them. There is no theological difference in the dogma of creation in either case. If God created all physical realities, it does not matter whether the domain of physical realities is far greater than what we can observe now from our vantage point within this universe. The infinite, eternal, all-present, all-knowing, all-good, all-powerful Being whom we worship is the cause of "all that is visible and invisible" (Nicene Creed).

The deists imagined that God simply created the initial conditions of the whole universe, like a clockmaker building a clock, then wound it up and set it running deterministically, with no further participation in the process. I am opposed to determinism, but not to the thought that God did create the natural laws that make the development of life possible.

Progressive Mediate Creation

• Stephen E. Jones, Creation/Evolution/Design, "My Theory of Progressive Mediate Creation: 1.1. What is Progressive Mediate Creation?"

"Progressive Mediate Creation" is the view, based on Genesis 1, that God created the raw materials of the universe immediately from out-of-nothing (ex nihilo), and thereafter He created mediately by working (both naturally and supernaturally) through natural processes and existing materials.

[Creation/Evolution/Design is] my commentary on creation, evolution, intelligent design and the evidence for Christianity being objectively true. I am an Australian Christian old-Earth creationist biologist who accepts universal common ancestry (but not evolution).

Things Miraculously Pop into Existence All at Once

The model here is based on a belief in God's miracle-working power. The picture is that the universe as we know it is brought into existence all at once 6,000 years ago, with all of the stars and galaxies spread out as if they had moved into those positions by normal physical processes. They have the appearance of being ancient but really are young.

As a Christian, I believe that God is all-powerful and can do whatever He wills; if the Resurrection of Jesus did not take place, my religion is false and deserves to be condemned in no uncertain terms. Although I concede that, in principle, God could instantaneously create a universe that seemed very old (13.7 billion years, according to Nye) but is really young (6,000 years according to Ham), I am not attracted to the picture of an instantaneous creation.

The Scriptures are not scientific text books

"The Bible teaches us how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go" (Cardinal Baronius).