>To those who wish to use the term old earth creationist as a contrast to
>young earth creationist, let me ask what you would like the term to mean. Do
>you see it as roughly similar to progressive creationist (including the
>concordist variant day-age theory)? Or would it be a broader term that would
>include theistic evolution? In conversations at ASA meetings, I have met
>progressive creationists who think that any label that includes the term
>"creationist" in reference to a theistic evolutionist is inappropriate.
>These individuals apparently feel that "creationist" means "special
>creationist" in which supernatural physical creations are required after the
>creation of nature itself. If the term is to include both PC and TE, then it
>would have a meaning that no other term, that I can think of, would have and
>thus could be quite useful. (This would be like the term special creation as
>it bridges YEC, PC, and the gap theory.) If, on the other hand, OEC is
>merely to be a synonym for PC (and possibly including GT?), then the value
>would be quite limited.
>
I for one do not use old earth creationist as a synonym for progressive
creationism. My preferred label is "evolutionary creationist" (EC) and I
was delighted to see Loren Haarsma use the term in his essay in *The World
and I*. I vigorously resist any effort to make the term "creationist" or
"creation" to refer only to special creation.
Terry G.
_____________________________________________________________
Terry M. Gray, Ph.D. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Calvin College 3201 Burton SE Grand Rapids, MI 40546
Office: (616) 957-7187 FAX: (616) 957-6501
Email: grayt@calvin.edu http://www.calvin.edu/~grayt