Abstract
In the century since the Scopes Trial, one of the most influential dogmas to shape American evangelicalism has been that of young-earth creationism. This article explains why, with its arm of “creation science,” young-earth creationism is a significant factor in evangelicals’ widespread denial of anthropogenic climate change. Young-earth creationism has become closely intertwined with doctrines such as the Bible’s divine authority and the Imago Dei, as well as with social issues such as abortion and euthanasia. Addressing this aspect of the environmental crisis among evangelicals will require a re-orientation of biblical authority so as to approach social issues through a hermeneutic that is able to acknowledge the reality and imminent threat of climate change.
Highlights
Creation science2, a field which looks for scientific evidence that the earth was created in a manner consistent with the Genesis account, is taught almost exclusively in the vein of young-earth creationism (YEC), the belief that the earth is less than 10,000 years old and that the geological formations that we see today are the result of the Noahic flood of Genesis 6
In an era plagued by environmental crises, many of these Protestant Christians have come to deny anthropogenic climate change and support their views by pointing to the conclusions produced by creation science, which claims to have its basis in the divine authority of the Bible
Articles from The Discovery Institute do appear to be more ideologically charged than their counterparts from Answers in Genesis, which does strive to grapple with scientific data
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Creation science , a field which looks for scientific evidence that the earth was created in a manner consistent with the Genesis account, is taught almost exclusively in the vein of young-earth creationism (YEC), the belief that the earth is less than 10,000 years old and that the geological formations that we see today are the result of the Noahic flood of Genesis 6. While Darwinian evolution, social Darwinism, was the primary target of Bryan at the Scopes Trial, one of the ramifications of YEC is with regard to oil and climate change; if the earth is only a few thousand years old, oil could not have been created over the course of millions of years. In an era plagued by environmental crises, many of these Protestant Christians have come to deny anthropogenic climate change and support their views by pointing to the conclusions produced by creation science, which claims to have its basis in the divine authority of the Bible. I will argue that what creation science does is enact a false pillar on which biblical authority should rest, because according to creation science’s own claim, if YEC and its scientific arm are incorrect, the entire Bible cannot be trusted
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