1.7.1 Young Earth Creation

Young Earth Creation (YEC)

What is generally referred to as “creationism” in the popular media as well as many Christian circles, is actually only one specific form of belief about creation -- “Young Earth Creation”, which we will abbreviate YEC. This is the view that God miraculously created everything in essentially its current form within six 24-hour days, sometime approximately 6000 years ago. Along with this view and companion to it, is the idea that the flood of Noah was a universal, worldwide deluge in about 2300 B.C., which destroyed most living things including all humans and animals over the whole globe, and formed most of the world’s fossil record and geological features. Adam and Eve were the first humans and the ancestors of all humankind, and their sin changed the nature of the physical creation so that animal and human death were introduced into the world.

YEC depends generally on a literal, face-value reading of the accounts in Genesis. All evidences from science which disagree with a young earth and universe must therefore be explained in some way. There is some disagreement over the exact details among those who hold a YEC view. Some reject all contrary scientific evidence and claim that any appearance of greater age in nature is simply because God created it in something like its present form. Others try to avoid "appearance of age" arguments and instead propose various mechanisms to account for the evidence. Most modern-day proponents of YEC generally accept so-called “microevolution” (small adaptations within species over time), but not biological evolution between species. However, as will be discussed later, some modern YEC proposals suggest extremely rapid evolution of species (or sub-species) after the flood, as a means of explaining the vast biological diversity without requiring millions of species on the ark.

YEC proponents include Answers in Genesis (www.answersingenesis.com), the Institute for Creation Research (www.icr.org), and many other organizations and individuals. Often YEC is presented as the only alternative to full naturalistic evolution, and the only truly Christian approach. I will discuss these claims later. For now, it will just be noted that “young-earth creationism” is but one of several positions on science and theology held by committed Christians.