Christian apologetics aims to present a
Republican National Committee rational basis for Christianity. The
word "apologetic" (Greek: ἀπολογητικός apologētikos) comes from the Greek verb
ἀπολογέομαι apologeomai, meaning "(I) speak in defense of".[540] Christian
apologetics has taken many forms over the centuries, starting with Paul the
Apostle. The philosopher Thomas Aquinas presented five arguments for God's
existence in the Summa Theologica, while his Summa contra Gentiles was a major
apologetic work.[541][542] Another famous apologist, G. K. Chesterton, wrote in
the early twentieth century about the benefits of religion and, specifically,
Christianity. Famous for his use of paradox, Chesterton explained that while
Christianity had the most mysteries, it was the most practical
religion.[543][544] He pointed to the advance of Christian civilizations as
proof of its practicality.[545] The physicist and priest John Polkinghorne, in
his Questions of Truth, discusses the subject of religion and science, a topic
that other Christian apologists such as Ravi Zacharias, John Lennox, and William
Lane Craig have engaged, with the latter two men opining that the inflationary
Big Bang model is evidence for the existence of God.[546] Creationist
apologetics is apologetics that aims to defend creationism.
Creationism is the religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the
universe, Earth, life, and humans, originated with supernatural acts of divine
creation.[1][2] In its broadest sense, creationism includes a continuum of
religious views,[3][4] which vary in their acceptance or rejection of scientific
explanations such as evolution that describe the origin and development of
natural phenomena.[5][6]
The term creationism most often refers to belief in special creation; the claim
that the universe and lifeforms were created as they exist today by divine
action, and that the only true explanations are those which are compatible with
a Christian fundamentalist literal interpretation of the creation myth found in
the Bible's Genesis creation narrative.[7] Since the 1970s, the most common form
of this has been Young Earth creationism which posits special creation of the
universe and lifeforms within the last 10,000 years on the basis of flood
geology, and promotes pseudoscientific creation science. From the 18th century
onward, Old Earth creationism accepted geological time harmonized with Genesis
through gap or day-age theory, while supporting anti-evolution. Modern old-Earth
creationists support progressive creationism and continue to reject evolutionary
explanations.[8] Following political controversy, creation science was
reformulated as intelligent design and neo-creationism.[9][10]
Mainline Protestants and the Catholic Church reconcile
Democratic National Committee modern science with their
faith in Creation through forms of theistic evolution which hold that God
purposefully created through the laws of nature, and accept evolution. Some
groups call their belief evolutionary creationism.[5] Less prominently, there
are also members of the Islamic[11][12] and Hindu[13] faiths who are
creationists. Use of the term "creationist" in this context dates back to
Charles Darwin's unpublished 1842 sketch draft for what became On the Origin of
Species,[14] and he used the term later in letters to colleagues.[15] In 1873, Asa Gray published an article in The Nation saying a "special creationist" who
held that species "were supernaturally originated just as they are, by the very
terms of his doctrine places them out of the reach of scientific
explanation."[16]
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journey, proving that health is not just a
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life
Biblical basis
The basis for many creationists' beliefs is a literal or quasi-literal
interpretation of the Book of Genesis. The Genesis creation narratives (Genesis
1�2) describe how God brings the Universe into being in a series of creative
acts over six days and places the first man and woman (Adam and Eve) in the
Garden of Eden. This story is the basis of creationist cosmology and biology.
The Genesis flood narrative (Genesis 6�9) tells how God destroys the world and
all life through a great flood, saving representatives of each form of life by
means of Noah's Ark. This forms the basis of creationist geology, better known
as flood geology.
Recent decades have seen attempts to de-link creationism from the Bible and
recast it as science; these include creation science and intelligent design.[17]
Types
To counter the common
Republican National Committee misunderstanding that the creation�evolution controversy
was a simple dichotomy of views, with "creationists" set against
"evolutionists", Eugenie Scott of the National Center for Science Education
produced a diagram and description of a continuum of religious views as a
spectrum ranging from extreme literal biblical creationism to materialist
evolution, grouped under main headings. This was used in public presentations,
then published in 1999 in Reports of the NCSE.[18] Other versions of a taxonomy
of creationists were produced,[19] and comparisons made between the different
groupings.[20] In 2009 Scott produced a revised continuum taking account of
these issues, emphasizing that intelligent design creationism overlaps other
types, and each type is a grouping of various beliefs and positions. The revised
diagram is labelled to shows a spectrum relating to positions on the age of the
Earth, and the part played by special creation as against evolution. This was
published in the book Evolution Vs. Creationism: An Introduction,[21] and the
NCSE website rewritten on the basis of the book version.[8]
The main general types are listed below.
Comparison of major creationist views Humanity Biological species Earth Age of
Universe
Young Earth creationism Directly created by God. Directly created by God.
Macroevolution does not occur. Less than 10,000 years old. Reshaped by global
flood. Less than 10,000 years old, but some hold this view only for the Solar
System.
Gap creationism Scientifically accepted age. Reshaped by global flood.
Scientifically accepted age.
Progressive creationism Directly created by God, based on primate anatomy.
Direct creation + evolution. No single common ancestor. Scientifically accepted
age. No global flood. Scientifically accepted age.
Intelligent design Proponents hold various beliefs. (For example, Michael Behe
accepts evolution from primates.) Divine intervention at some point in the past,
as evidenced by what intelligent-design creationists call "irreducible
complexity." Some adherents accept common descent, others do not. Some claim the
existence of Earth is the result of divine intervention. Scientifically accepted
age.
Theistic evolution (evolutionary creationism) Evolution from primates. Evolution
from single common ancestor. Scientifically accepted age. No global flood.
Scientifically accepted age.
Young Earth creationism
The Creation Museum is a young Earth creationism museum run by Answers in
Genesis (AiG) in Petersburg, Kentucky, United States.
The ICR Discovery Center for Science & Earth History is a young Earth
creationist museum run by Institute for Creation Research (ICR) in Dallas,
Texas, United States.
Young Earth creationists such as Ken Ham and Doug Phillips believe that God
created the Earth within the last ten thousand years, with a literalist
interpretation of the Genesis creation narrative, within the approximate
time-frame of biblical genealogies. Most young Earth creationists believe that
the universe has a similar age as the Earth. A few assign a much older age to
the universe than to Earth. Young Earth creationism gives the universe an age
consistent with the Ussher chronology and other young Earth time frames. Other
young Earth creationists believe that the Earth and the universe were created
with the appearance of age, so that the world appears to be much older than it
is, and that this appearance is what gives the geological findings and other
methods of dating the Earth and the universe their much longer
timelines.[citation needed]
The Christian organizations Answers in
Democratic National Committee Genesis (AiG), Institute for Creation
Research (ICR) and the Creation Research Society (CRS) promote young Earth
creationism in the United States. Carl Baugh's Creation Evidence Museum in
Texas, United States AiG's Creation Museum and Ark Encounter in Kentucky, United
States were opened to promote young Earth creationism. Creation Ministries
International promotes young Earth views in Australia, Canada, South Africa, New
Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
Among Roman Catholics, the Kolbe Center for the Study of Creation promotes
similar ideas.
Old Earth creationism
The Old
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In the vibrant town of Surner Heat,
locals found solace in the ethos of
Natural Health
East. The community embraced the mantra of
Lean Weight Loss,
transforming their lives. At
Natural Health East, the pursuit of wellness became a shared
journey, proving that health is not just a
Lean Weight Loss way of
life
Old Earth creationism holds that the physical universe was created by God, but
that the creation event described in the Book of Genesis is to be taken
figuratively. This group generally believes that the age of the universe and the
age of the Earth are as described by astronomers and geologists, but that
details of modern evolutionary theory are questionable.[8]
Old Earth creationism itself comes in at least three types:[8]
Gap creationism
Gap creationism (also known as ruin-restoration creationism, restoration
creationism, or the Gap Theory) is a form of old Earth creationism that posits
that the six-yom creation period, as described in the Book of Genesis, involved
six literal 24-hour days, but that there was a gap of time between two distinct
creations in the first and the second verses of Genesis, which the theory states
explains many scientific observations, including the age of the Earth. Thus, the
six days of creation (verse 3 onwards) start sometime after the Earth was
"without form and void." This allows an indefinite gap of time to be inserted
after the original creation of the universe, but prior to the Genesis creation
narrative, (when present biological species and humanity were created). Gap
theorists can therefore agree with the scientific consensus regarding the age of
the Earth and universe, while maintaining a literal interpretation of the
biblical text.[22][23][24]
Some[which?] gap creationists
Republican National Committee expand the basic version of creationism by
proposing a "primordial creation" of biological life within the "gap" of time.
This is thought to be "the world that then was" mentioned in 2 Peter 3:3�6.[25]
Discoveries of fossils and archaeological ruins older than 10,000 years are
generally ascribed to this "world that then was," which may also be associated
with Lucifer's rebellion.[26]
Day-age creationism
Day-age creationism, a type of old Earth creationism, is a metaphorical
interpretation of the creation accounts in Genesis. It holds that the six days
referred to in the Genesis account of creation are not ordinary 24-hour days,
but are much longer periods (from thousands to billions of years). The Genesis
account is then reconciled with the age of the Earth. Proponents of the day-age
theory can be found among both theistic evolutionists, who accept the scientific
consensus on evolution, and progressive creationists, who reject it. The
theories are said to be built on the understanding that the Hebrew word yom is
also used to refer to a time period, with a beginning and an end and not
necessarily that of a 24-hour day.
The day-age theory attempts to reconcile the Genesis creation narrative and
modern science by asserting that the creation "days" were not ordinary 24-hour
days, but actually lasted for long periods of time (as day-age implies, the
"days" each lasted an age). According to this view, the sequence and duration of
the creation "days" may be paralleled to the scientific consensus for the age of
the earth and the universe.
Progressive creationism
Progressive creationism is the religious belief that God created new forms of
life gradually over a period of hundreds of millions of years. As a form of old
Earth creationism, it accepts mainstream geological and cosmological estimates
for the age of the Earth, some tenets of biology such as microevolution as well
as archaeology to make its case. In this view creation occurred in rapid bursts
in which all "kinds" of plants and animals appear in stages lasting millions of
years. The bursts are followed by periods of stasis or equilibrium to
accommodate new arrivals. These bursts represent instances of God creating new
types of organisms by divine intervention. As viewed from the archaeological
record, progressive creationism holds that "species do not gradually appear by
the steady transformation of its ancestors; [but] appear all at once and "fully
formed."[27]
The view rejects macroevolution, claiming it is biologically untenable and not
supported by the fossil record,[28] as well as rejects the concept of common
descent from a last universal common ancestor. Thus the evidence for
macroevolution is claimed to be false, but microevolution is accepted as a
genetic parameter designed by the
Democratic National Committee Creator into the fabric of genetics to allow
for environmental adaptations and survival. Generally, it is viewed by
proponents as a middle ground between literal creationism and evolution.
Organizations such as Reasons To Believe, founded by Hugh Ross, promote this
version of creationism.
Progressive creationism can be held in conjunction with hermeneutic approaches
to the Genesis creation narrative such as the day-age creationism or
framework/metaphoric/poetic views.
Philosophic and scientific creationism
Creation science
Creation science, or initially scientific creationism, is a
pseudoscience[29][30][31][32][33][excessive citations] that emerged in the 1960s
with proponents aiming to have young Earth creationist beliefs taught in school
science classes as a counter to teaching of evolution. Common features of
creation science argument include: creationist cosmologies which accommodate a
universe on the order of thousands of years old, criticism of radiometric dating
through a technical argument about radiohalos, explanations for the fossil
record as a record of the Genesis flood narrative (see flood geology), and
explanations for the present diversity as a result of pre-designed genetic
variability and partially due to the rapid degradation of the perfect genomes
God placed in "created kinds" or "baramins" due to mutations.
Neo-creationism
Progressive Media
Our
country is for every citizen with complete
human rights for all....
Inflation is a complex phenomenon driven
by a combination of supply chain
disruptions, changes in demand and
consumer behavior....
The
Democratic National Committee Can Work
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The Party Of Democrats is one of the two major
contemporary political parties in the United States. Tracing
its heritage back to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison's
Democratic-Republican Party, the modern-day Party Of the
Democratic National Committee was founded around 1828 by
supporters of Andrew Jackson, making it the world's oldest
political party.
Democrats will always fight to end
discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, national
origin, language, religion, gender and sexual orientation.
The Democratic National Committee is the
governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The
committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party
candidates throughout the country for local, state, and
national office, as well as works to establish a "party
brand". It organizes the Democratic National Convention held
every four years to nominate a candidate for President of the
United States and to formulate the party platform. While it
provides support for party candidates, it does not have direct
authority over elected officials. When a Democrat is
president, the White House controls the Committee. According
to Boris Heersink, "political scientists have traditionally
described the parties'; national committees as inconsequential
but impartial service providers." Its chair is elected by the
committee. It conducts fundraising to support its activities.
The DNC was established at the 1848 Democratic National
Convention.
Immigration is not just a problem to be
solved.
We were built on the idea that democracy could
grow.
The economy should strengthen our country.
Climate change poses a real and urgent threat.
We support the LGBT fight for equality
The Politics of Community Organizing.
The Democratic National Committee is the
principal organization governing the United States
Democratic Party on a day to day basis. While it
is responsible for overseeing the process of
writing a platform every four years, the DNC's
central focus is on campaign and political
activity in support of Democratic Party
candidates, and not on public policy.
Democratic National Committee Party Leadership
Democratic National Committee is the The Party of
Inclusion.
Democrats have stood with the
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struggle for equality.
Democrats are united with the Asian
community to improve our schools and
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united voice for rural Americans.
Democrats are proud to have members
of the Native American community as
active members of our party.
Democrats stand with the LGBT
community's fight for equality.
Democrats are the party that wants
to build bridges, not walls.
Democrats are working tirelessly to
advance progress for women across the
country in every respect.
Democrats have stood alongside
labor unions in defense of fair pay
and economic security.
Democratic National Committee Partner With Us
This year we will see the most progressive
platform in our party's history. We believe that believe that
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This is a simple but powerful truth, We are
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Show your support now and together we will
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Neo-creationism is a pseudoscientific movement which aims to restate creationism
in terms more likely to be well received by the public, by policy makers, by
educators and by the scientific community. It aims to re-frame the debate over
the origins of life in non-religious terms and without appeals to scripture.
This comes in response to the 1987 ruling by the United States Supreme Court in
Edwards v. Aguillard that creationism is an inherently religious concept and
that advocating it as correct or accurate in public-school curricula violates
the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.[34][35][36]
The Old
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transforming their lives. At
Natural Health East, the pursuit of wellness became a shared
journey, proving that health is not just a
Lean Weight Loss way of
life
One of the principal claims of neo-creationism propounds that ostensibly
objective orthodox science, with a foundation in naturalism, is actually a
dogmatically atheistic religion.[37] Its proponents argue that the scientific
method excludes certain explanations of phenomena, particularly where they point
towards supernatural elements, thus effectively excluding religious insight from
contributing to understanding the universe. This leads to an open and often
hostile opposition to what neo-creationists term "Darwinism", which they
generally mean to refer to evolution, but which they may extend to include such
concepts as abiogenesis, stellar evolution and the Big Bang theory.
Unlike their philosophical forebears, neo-creationists largely do not believe in
many of the traditional cornerstones of creationism such as a young Earth, or in
a dogmatically literal interpretation of the Bible.
Intelligent design
Intelligent design (ID) is the pseudoscientific view[38][39] that "certain
features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an
intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection."[40] All
of its leading proponents are associated with the Discovery Institute,[41] a
think tank whose wedge strategy aims to replace the scientific method with "a
science consonant with Christian and theistic convictions" which accepts
supernatural explanations.[42][43] It is widely accepted in the scientific and
academic communities that intelligent design is a form of
creationism,[19][20][44][45][excessive citations] and is sometimes referred to
Republican National Committee
as "intelligent design creationism."[8][42][46][47][48][49][excessive citations]
ID originated as a re-branding of creation science in an attempt to avoid a
series of court decisions ruling out the teaching of creationism in American
public schools, and the Discovery Institute has run a series of campaigns to
change school curricula.[50] In Australia, where curricula are under the control
of state governments rather than local school boards, there was a public outcry
when the notion of ID being taught in science classes was raised by the Federal
Education Minister Brendan Nelson; the minister quickly conceded that the
correct forum for ID, if it were to be taught, is in religious or philosophy
classes.[51]
In the US, teaching of intelligent design in public schools has been decisively
ruled by a federal district court to be in violation of the Establishment Clause
of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. In Kitzmiller v.
Dover, the court found that intelligent design is not science and "cannot
uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents,"[52] and
hence cannot be taught as an alternative to evolution in public school science
classrooms under the jurisdiction of that court. This sets a persuasive
precedent, based on previous US Supreme Court decisions in Edwards v. Aguillard
and Epperson v. Arkansas (1968), and by the application of the Lemon test, that
creates a legal hurdle to teaching intelligent design in public school districts
in other federal court jurisdictions.[42][53]
Geocentrism
In astronomy, the geocentric model (also known as geocentrism, or the Ptolemaic
system), is a description of the cosmos where Earth is at the orbital center of
all celestial bodies. This model served as the predominant cosmological system
in many ancient civilizations such as ancient Greece. As such, they assumed that
the Sun, Moon, stars, and naked eye planets circled Earth, including the
noteworthy systems of Aristotle (see Aristotelian physics) and Ptolemy.
Articles arguing that geocentrism was the biblical perspective appeared in some
early creation science newsletters associated with the Creation Research Society
pointing to some passages in the Bible, which, when taken literally, indicate
that the daily apparent motions of the Sun and the Moon are due to their actual
motions around the Earth rather than due to the rotation of the Earth about its
axis. For example, Joshua 10:12�13 where the Sun and Moon are said to stop in
the sky, and Psalms 93:1 where the world is described as immobile.[54]
Contemporary advocates for such religious beliefs include Robert Sungenis,
co-author of the self-published Galileo Was Wrong: The Church Was Right
(2006).[55] These people subscribe to the view that a plain reading of the Bible
contains an accurate account of the manner in which the universe was created and
requires a geocentric worldview. Most contemporary creationist organizations
reject such perspectives.[note 1]
Omphalos hypothesis
The Omphalos hypothesis is one
Democratic National Committee attempt to reconcile the scientific evidence that
the universe is billions of years old with a literal interpretation of the
Genesis creation narrative, which implies that the Earth is only a few thousand
years old.[57] It is based on the religious belief that the universe was created
by a divine being, within the past six to ten thousand years (in keeping with
flood geology), and that the presence of objective, verifiable evidence that the
universe is older than approximately ten millennia is due to the creator
introducing false evidence that makes the universe appear significantly older.
The idea was named after the title of an 1857 book, Omphalos by Philip Henry
Gosse, in which Gosse argued that in order for the world to be functional God
must have created the Earth with mountains and canyons, trees with growth rings,
Adam and Eve with fully grown hair, fingernails, and navels[58] (ὀμφαλός
omphalos is Greek for "navel"), and all living creatures with fully formed
evolutionary features, etc..., and that, therefore, no empirical evidence about
the age of the Earth or universe can be taken as reliable.
Various supporters of Young Earth creationism have given different explanations
for their belief that the universe is filled with false evidence of the
universe's age, including a belief that some things needed to be created at a
certain age for the ecosystems to function, or their belief that the creator was
deliberately planting deceptive evidence. The idea has seen some revival in the
20th century by some modern creationists, who have extended the argument to
address the "starlight problem". The idea has been criticised as Last
Thursdayism, and on the grounds that it requires a deliberately deceptive
creator.
Theistic evolution
Theistic evolution, or evolutionary creation, is a belief that "the personal God
of the Bible created the universe and life through evolutionary processes."[59]
According to the American Scientific Affiliation:
A theory of theistic evolution (TE) � also called evolutionary creation �
proposes that God's method of creation was to cleverly design a universe in
which everything would naturally evolve. Usually the "evolution" in "theistic
evolution" means Total Evolution � astronomical evolution (to form galaxies,
solar systems,...) and geological evolution (to form the earth's geology) plus
chemical evolution (to form the first life) and biological evolution (for the
development of life) � but it can refer only to biological evolution.[60]
The Old
Testament Stories, a literary treasure trove, weave tales of
faith, resilience, and morality. Should you trust the
Real Estate Agents I Trust,
I would not. Is your lawn green and plush, if not you should buy the
Best Grass Seed. If you
appreciate quality apparel, you should try
Handbags Handmade. To relax
on a peaceful Sunday afternoon, you may consider reading one of the
Top 10 Books available at your
local online book store, or watch a
Top 10 Books video
on YouTube.
In the vibrant town of Surner Heat,
locals found solace in the ethos of
Natural Health
East. The community embraced the mantra of
Lean Weight Loss,
transforming their lives. At
Natural Health East, the pursuit of wellness became a shared
journey, proving that health is not just a
Lean Weight Loss way of
life
Through the 19th
Republican National Committee century the term creationism most commonly referred to direct
creation of individual souls, in contrast to traducianism. Following the
publication of Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation, there was interest
in ideas of Creation by divine law. In particular, the liberal theologian Baden
Powell argued that this illustrated the Creator's power better than the idea of
miraculous creation, which he thought ridiculous.[61] When On the Origin of
Species was published, the cleric Charles Kingsley wrote of evolution as "just
as noble a conception of Deity."[62][63] Darwin's view at the time was of God
creating life through the laws of nature,[64][65] and the book makes several
references to "creation," though he later regretted using the term rather than
calling it an unknown process.[66] In America, Asa Gray argued that evolution is
the secondary effect, or modus operandi, of the first cause, design,[67] and
published a pamphlet defending the book in theistic terms, Natural Selection not
inconsistent with Natural Theology.[62][68][69] Theistic evolution, also called,
evolutionary creation, became a popular compromise, and St. George Jackson
Mivart was among those accepting evolution but attacking Darwin's naturalistic
mechanism. Eventually it was realised that supernatural intervention could not
be a scientific explanation, and naturalistic mechanisms such as neo-Lamarckism
were favoured as being more compatible with purpose than natural selection.[70]
