FAQ - Creation, Evolution, and Intelligent Design

Creation, Evolution, and Intelligent Design:

An Introductory Overview of the Main Ideas

This FAQ for Origins Questions — about the science, philosophy, and theology of creation, evolution, and intelligent design — is written by Craig Rusbult. Although I'm editor for the "Whole-Person Education" part of ASA's website, this FAQ is written by me as an author expressing my own views, not an editor trying to express the views of ASA. It is one ASA-FAQ, not the ASA-FAQ. Within ASA there is a wide range of strong opinions about some questions, and in the future we'll add other FAQs, written from other ASA perspectives; currently this page ends with some ASA perspectives and another FAQ.

The 10-part FAQ below (1, 1, 8) — which is a hybrid combining my descriptions of general agreements (by most ASA members, or most scientists, Christians,...) and disagreements, plus my own opinions — is being written for ASA, but does not claim to speak for ASA.

There are three versions of my FAQ:

a "read me first" Introductory FAQ
An introduction to the FAQ's educational philosophy
(re: real-life drama, understanding and attitudes, and
multiple perspectives) is followed by summaries of the
main ideas in the 8 sets of "Frequently Asked Questions"
you see below in the Table of Contents for the longer FAQ.

a medium-sized Overview-FAQ
Of the 3 versions (short, medium, long) this is the best balance
between brevity and clarity, but the "read me first" Short FAQ is
a good place to begin because it's shorter. In any version (short,
medium, or long), Section 5G is a brief response for an important
question — What is an appropriate humility about creation?

Table of Contents — what are the FAQs? — for the 8-page longer FAQ:

1. Views of Creation and "When we disagree..."
Christian Views of Creation: Who, When, How?
Are science and religion in a hostile conflict?
Why are so many so confident? (understanding
and respect, or distortion and conflict?)
What are ASA's Views of Creation & Evolution?

2. Using Information from Nature and Scripture
Science and religion in conflict? is it warfare?
Is comparing the Bible with science impossible?
How can we wisely use the two books of God?

3. What does Bible-information say about age?
Is an old-earth view of Genesis 1 satisfactory?
Does the gospel require "no death before sin"?
Is young-earth belief necessary for a Christian?
Is it wise to link The Gospel with a young earth?

4. What does nature-information say about age?
Is there evidence for an old earth-and-universe?
Can historical science be scientific and reliable?
Did God create a young universe that looks old?

5. What can a Christian believe about evolution?
Does "natural" mean "it happened without God"?
a universe "just right for life" — Is it designed?
Can we prove the existence and activity of God?
Is nature designed for 100% natural assembly?
Is "theistic evolution" an impossible combination?
Should we eliminate "God of the gaps" criticism?
What is an appropriate humility about creation?

6. What is intelligent design? Who proposes it?
What are the four types of intelligent design?
Is ID creationism? Who is in the Big Tent of ID?

7. How should we evaluate evolution and design?
Many meanings of evolution: how to evaluate?
Can we use scientific methods to detect design?
Can a Christian use methodological naturalism?
Methodological Naturalism & Design in Science?

8. Wise Education about Creation and Origins
What should Christians teach about creation?
What should public schools teach about origins?

a disclaimer: As explained earlier, views in the FAQs above don't necessarily represent views of the American Scientific Affiliation.

ASA's general perspectives about Views of Creation (creation, evolution, and intelligent design) are summarized in a General Statement on Creation and ASA's Creation-Views & Actions; articles from the ASA journal, selected and introduced by Jack Haas, are in Topics Pages about Creation & Evolution plus The Origin of Life, Astronomy & Cosmology, Bible & Science, and more.
ASA Members also express their views in websites and in other ways: a central feature of Biologos (begun by Francis Collins) is 32 questions-with-responses about science and faith; Deborah Haarsma & Loren Haarsma have written an excellent book about creation, design, and evolution with an associated web-FAQ asking "But what about...?"; most authors of Perspectives on an Evolving Creation (and its editor, Keith Miller) are members of ASA.

This website for Whole-Person Education has TWO KINDS OF LINKS:
an ITALICIZED LINK keeps you inside a page, moving you to another part of it, and
a NON-ITALICIZED LINK opens another page. Both keep everything inside this window,
so your browser's BACK-button will always take you back to where you were.

This page, written by Craig Rusbult (website editor) is
http://www.asa3.org/ASA/education/origins/creation-faq.htm

	Science-and-Faith Education for the Whole Person
SITE MAP	Effective Teaching	School Options	Learning Skills	Thinking Skills	The Nature of Science	FAQ for Creation	World Views	about ASA

There are three versions of my FAQ: a "read me first" Introductory FAQ An introduction to the FAQ's educational philosophy (re: real-life drama, understanding and attitudes, and multiple perspectives) is followed by summaries of the main ideas in the 8 sets of "Frequently Asked Questions" you see below in the Table of Contents for the longer FAQ. a medium-sized Overview-FAQ Of the 3 versions (short, medium, long) this is the best balance between brevity and clarity, but the "read me first" Short FAQ is a good place to begin because it's shorter. In any version (short, medium, or long), Section 5G is a brief response for an important question — What is an appropriate humility about creation?
Table of Contents — what are the FAQs? — for the 8-page longer FAQ:

1. Views of Creation and "When we disagree..." Christian Views of Creation: Who, When, How? Are science and religion in a hostile conflict? Why are so many so confident? (understanding and respect, or distortion and conflict?) What are ASA's Views of Creation & Evolution? 2. Using Information from Nature and Scripture Science and religion in conflict? is it warfare? Is comparing the Bible with science impossible? How can we wisely use the two books of God? 3. What does Bible-information say about age? Is an old-earth view of Genesis 1 satisfactory? Does the gospel require "no death before sin"? Is young-earth belief necessary for a Christian? Is it wise to link The Gospel with a young earth? 4. What does nature-information say about age? Is there evidence for an old earth-and-universe? Can historical science be scientific and reliable? Did God create a young universe that looks old?		5. What can a Christian believe about evolution? Does "natural" mean "it happened without God"? a universe "just right for life" — Is it designed? Can we prove the existence and activity of God? Is nature designed for 100% natural assembly? Is "theistic evolution" an impossible combination? Should we eliminate "God of the gaps" criticism? What is an appropriate humility about creation? 6. What is intelligent design? Who proposes it? What are the four types of intelligent design? Is ID creationism? Who is in the Big Tent of ID? 7. How should we evaluate evolution and design? Many meanings of evolution: how to evaluate? Can we use scientific methods to detect design? Can a Christian use methodological naturalism? Methodological Naturalism & Design in Science? 8. Wise Education about Creation and Origins What should Christians teach about creation? What should public schools teach about origins?

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about

Creation, Evolution, and Intelligent Design: