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This page, about METHODS OF CREATION, builds on the
foundation of the homepage for VIEWS OF CREATION.

Sections in this page are:
Theological Questions 
Methods of Creation 
  Divine Action & Creation 
  Evolutionary Creation 
  Progressive Creation 
  Young-Earth Creation 
  Secular & Atheist Views 

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This page describes educational web-resources with a variety of views, to stimulate your thinking and help you explore a wide range of ideas.   {information & disclaimer}

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      Theological Questions

      Divine Design of Natural Process?
      Should all Judeo-Christian theists believe that God intelligently designed nature?  Yes.  Does this intelligent design include partial (or total) "self assembly" by natural process?  Should we give credit to God for a design of nature that allows the birth of a baby (or a star) by natural process?  Should we challenge any implication, by a Christian or non-Christian, that "if it isn't a miracle then God didn't do it"?  Should we expect the creation-actions of God to be obvious, so everyone can recognize and acknowledge what He has done?

      Divine Guiding of Natural Process?
      Does "natural" mean "without God"?  During the FORMATIVE HISTORY of nature or the SALVATION HISTORY of humans, can God guide natural process to produce a desired natural-appearing result, and does God guide natural process in either history or in both?
      What makes a theory of theistic evolution theistic rather than deistic?  A process of natural evolution can be interpreted atheistically as "an unguided process without plan or purpose" but — if God designed nature so it would naturally evolve, or if natural process is sometimes (or always) guided by God — should it be interpreted this way?  And even though evolution can be associated with weak Christian theology (or with pantheism, deism, or atheism), must it be? or can it also be associated with strong Christian theology?

      What types of intelligent design were used by God?
      Consider three types of intelligent design, with a feature of nature produced by:
• natural process because, before history began, the universe was designed so this would happen, or
• natural process that was supernaturally guided by God to produce a desired natural-appearing result, or
• design-directed action by God that was miraculous-appearing and is thus potentially detectable by observations.
      And consider three possible plans for creation:  God could have decided to create everything by natural process (perhaps partially or totally guided), or create everything by miracles, or create some things by natural process and others by miracles.

      What does the Bible teach us about creation?
      by direct statement:  In the Bible, do specific verses (or general principles) provide support for a claim that God used one plan-for-creation instead of another?
      by historical analogy:  In the Bible, during salvation history God used two modes of divine action — natural (usually) and miraculous (occasionally) — so does this imply that during formative history God also used both modes of action?  Does a theory proposing "no miracles in formative history" necessarily imply "no miracles in salvation history" or — if miracles in formative history were not necessary — could God decide to do miracles only in the context of human salvation?
      And what about the origin of humans?  What was the historical context of Adam and Eve?  When and where did they live?  Are they the parents of all humans?  Did nonhuman "hominids" exist before them?  Are the lists of their descendants complete, and are the long lifespans literal or symbolic?
      Scripture and Nature:  How should we use these two sources of information graciously provided for us by God?  Should we use information from nature — gathered and evaluated using scientific methods — to help us interpret the Bible, when we ask "what (if anything) does this passage teach us about the details of when-and-how God created?"

 

      Appropriate Humility when Answering-and-Discussing Questions
      First, prayerfully consider Job 42:3 ("surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know") and carefully think about the appropriate humility (not too little and not too much) of recognizing that we can answer some questions, but not others, with justifiable confidence.
      Then ask yourself whether you think each plan-for-creation would be sufficiently wise and impressive to satisfy you, so we could honestly say, along with the heavenly elders in Revelation 4:11, that "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."
 

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What methods of creation were used by God?

In the rest of this page you'll see a wide range of perspectives on theological questions (above) about divine action from Christian creationists (evolutionary & progressive & young-earth) plus secular organizations and non-Christians.  Although in this page the main focus is theology, many writers also discuss science.  But scientific questions are the focus in ORIGINS EVIDENCE where we ask, "What can we learn about the formative history of nature by using scientific evidence-and-logic?"

An introductory overview about creationist views (evolutionary, progressive, young earth) — plus links to pages where you can explore more deeply — is in THREE VIEWS OF CREATION.  And questions about human origins are in HUMAN EVOLUTION? — THEOLOGY & SCIENCE.

DIVINE ACTION in Creation
In addition to the pages below, most pages in later sections — about creationism (evolutionary, progressive, young earth) and more — also talk about divine action in creation.
• It's a Miracle! Or is it? by Krista Bontrager, who describes different ways God interacts with his world — in Ordinary Providence and Extraordinary Providence (with Nontranscendant Miracles and Transcendant Miracles) — to clarify the views of Hugh Ross  (9 k + 3k)
• Divine Guiding of Natural Process by Craig Rusbult, describes theistic action (foundational & active) and includes ideas from 10 authors (13 k + 10k)   /   And in another page, 3 main authors (plus 4 more & NABT) ask, "Does evolution occur without purpose and without God?"
• Special Providence and Genetic Mutation: A New Defense of Theistic Evolution is a summary (5 k) of a conference paper by Robert John Russell, who explains how quantum mechanics is "one domain where the effects of God's special action might occur."  {the paper is also available, in shorter/revised form, in Perspectives on an Evolving Creation}  Another summary of a Russell chapter is Divine Action and Quantum Mechanics: A Fresh Assessment. (6 k outline)
• Word Studies in Genesis One by Hugh Ross, is the text of Genesis 1 plus definitions for each word.  (hint: open this page in two windows side-by-side, to show text & definitions)   /   IOU — We'll find more resources with differing views of what Genesis 1 says about creation. (and this is in some pages below)
• The Robust Formational Economy Principle in a Generously Gifted Creation by Howard Van Till, who thinks "creation was gifted from the outset with functional integrity — a wholeness of being that eliminated the need for gap-bridging interventions to compensate for formational capabilities that the Creator may have initially withheld from it."  (6 k)   /   • reflections on the Calvinistic theology (re: free agency) of Charles Hodge by Terry Gray, who is "sympathetic with Howard Van Till’s notions of functional integrity [with God designing nature so it could fully evolve]" but thinks "the traditional Calvinistic formulation is fully able to bear our current understanding without the problems that accompany [Van Till’s] appeal to process theology."  (16 k)
• Science and Divine Action is a collection of pages from the Counterbalance Foundation, with general overviews plus descriptions of the views of Arthur Peacocke and John Polkinghorne, who is probably closer (than is Peacocke) to the views of most evolutionary creationists in ASA.
• DIVINE DESIGN OF NATURE is a links-page asking why nature is fine-tuned to allow life:  Is it trivial (anthropic principle), the inevitable outcome of a multiverse, or extremely intelligent divine design?

God of the Gaps
What does "God of the gaps" mean?  When current naturalistic scientific theories seem implausible, in their attempts to explain some feature in the formative history of nature, is this science gap due to the inadequacy of current science, or does it indicate a nature gap (a break in the continuous cause-effect chain of natural process) that was bridged by miraculous-appearing divine action?  Should a theory proposing a nature gap be criticized by calling it a "God of the gaps" theory?  Is the term "God of the gaps" imprecise because it has too many meanings?  These questions are examined in another links-page, GOD OF THE GAPS.

EVOLUTIONARY CREATION (Theistic Evolution)

DEFINITION — A theory of evolutionary creation proposes that God cleverly designed the universe so physical structures (galaxies, stars,... planets) and complex biological organisms (bacteria, fish, dinosaurs,... humans) would naturally evolve.

Proponents of Evolutionary Creation
• Complexity, Design, and Miracles by Loren Haarsma & Terry Gray, who ask: Did God design nature to produce a full biological evolution? and should Christians hope the answer is yes or no?  (7 k +1k)
• The Fish Wars: A Battle Between Two Worldviews ... Or is it? by Wendee Holtcamp, who explains why (if we think and behave with unity, liberty, and love) "the Fish Wars can move beyond foolish debate and into the realm of common sense and peacemaking."  (13 k total, for Parts 1 and 2)
• Evolutionary Theory And Continuous Creation by Keith Miller, is an overview explaining why "there is no inherent conflict between evolutionary theory and a Christian faith with a high view of scripture." (20 k)
• Evolution — without purpose and without God? contains excerpts from papers & letters in ASA (the journal of ASA) by John McIntyre, Douglas Hayworth, and David Lahti (23 k total) describing two logical fallacies — "a dismissal of God's existence is not logically warranted on the basis of evolutionary theory" and "a belief in God does not logically warrant antagonism to evolution as science" (Hayworth) — and you can read the entire paper by Lahti, One Spiritual Danger in Creationism: Drawing a Red Herring Across a Track (12 k)
• Evolutionary Creation by Denis Lamoureux;  the first part (18 k) emphasizes that some evangelical Christians with conservative theology think God created through a process of evolution;  the second part (also 18 k) begins by acknowledging that "the greatest [perceived] problem with evolutionary creation is that it contradicts the traditional literal interpretation of the opening chapters of the Bible" and explains why, with a credible interpretation that allows conservative theology, this perceived problem isn't an actual problem.
• A Personal View of the Evolution Issue by Alan Harvey, who thinks everyone should "reject the philosophical falsehood that having a scientific explanation for something in nature excludes God from being the creator and sustainer of that something."  (16 k)
• Can a Christian be an evolutionist? Can an evolutionist be a Christian? by Terry Gray, "addressing skeptics and seekers" with the hope that "if your being convinced of evolution (together with your intellectual integrity) has prevented you from becoming a Christian, that this particular objection will be removed."  (16 k)  (other essays about faith-and-science by Gray)
• The Robust Formational Economy Principle in a Generously Gifted Creation by Howard Van Till
• Chiasmic Cosmology and Creation's Functional Integrity by George Murphy, describes "a theology of divine action in which the self-limitation of God [as revealed in the incarnation of Christ and his humble death on the cross]... makes it possible to speak theologically about the design of a universe which displays functional integrity."  (28 k, PSCF)
• How did it all happen? by David Wilcox (this is a links-page with two creation statements, book information, and more)
• Theologies of an Evolving Creation by Robert Schneider, is an overview of responses to Darwin, evolution vs evolutionism, and theologies of evolutionary creation: immanence and panentheism, providence and causality, fully gifted creation, Creator as lover, vulnerable God on the cross, and Teilhard de Chardin. (40 k)
• Robert Schneider was co-chair of a science committee for the Episcopal Church that wrote a Catechism of Creation and, in June 2006, passed a resolution to Affirm Creation and Evolution (3 k);  also, Statements from 19 Religious Organizations (72 k total) assembled by NCSE
• Keith Miller wrote An Evolving Creation: Oxymoron or Fruitful Insight (27 k + 8k) as the opening chapter (to address theological and scientific questions about interpreting scripture and nature) in a book he edited, Perspectives on an Evolving Creation;  and a decade earlier in 1993, Theological Implications of an Evolving Creation (17 k + 2k, PSCF) he describes how "the creation-evolution debate has sapped vital energy from the Christian community,... it has been both destructive to the unity of the body of Christ and a distraction from its God-given mission... to live as God's image bearers, exercising stewardship over His creation, and proclaiming His message of reconciliation to the world."

Criticisms of Evolutionary Creation
• What can a Christian believe about evolution? by Craig Rusbult, is a criticism and defense (18 k for Sections 5A-5G) and is a shorter variation of Theistic Evolution & Theology (25 k + 7 k + 6k)
• Some Problems for Theistic Evolution by Robert Newman  (56 k, PSCF)
• Young-earth creationists define all old-earth views as "evolution" so most arguments in 10 Dangers of Theistic Evolution (by Werner Gitt) apply to either evolutionary creation or progressive creation.  (9 k)   /   response by Greg Neyman, an advocate of progressive creation who defends the theology of evolutionary creation  (7 k)
• The "sad and sorry god" of Theistic Evolution by Troy Lacey (young-earth), reports on a symposium about Evolution and God  (17 k)

Intelligent Design and Evolutionary Creation
There are three types of divine design and evolutionary creationists accept two (design of natural process, and design-action by a guiding of natural process) but reject the one type (design-action that is miraculous-appearing and thus might be scientifically detectable) that is most controversial and is the common meaning of Intelligent Design.  Much of this section explains why evolutionary creation involves intelligent design.  The relationships between evolution and design are also examined in INTELLIGENT DESIGN IN SCIENCE.

Evolutionary-and-Progressive?
• The views of Peter Rüst are difficult to categorize, because (like Robert John Russell and other evolutionary creationists) he proposes only divinely guided natural process during creation, but (unlike Russell but like proponents of intelligent design) he thinks that maybe unguided natural process could not produce the biocomplexity (and associated information) we observe in the time available during the history of evolution.   Creative Providence in Biology by Peter Rüst (18 k) plus a response by Howard Van Till, Does God choose among hidden options? (21 k) and counter-response by Peter Rüst, God's Sovereignty in Creation (18 k), all in PSCF

• Evolutionary Creation & Progressive Creation — Similarities and Diferences by Craig Rusbult, uses quotations — from Howard Van Till, Keith Miller, Terry Gray, Loren Haarsma, George Murphy, Robert John Russell, Peter Rüst, Gordon Mills, Stephen Jones, and Hugh Ross — to show their ideas, and his own, about divine guidance of natural process, evolutionary creation with intelligent design, progressive creation with common descent, and appropriate humility about theological & scientific questions.  (8 k intro-overview, then 67 k + 16k)

 

PROGRESSIVE CREATION (Old-Earth Creation)

DEFINITION — A theory of progressive creation proposes that, during a long history of nature spanning billions of years, God occasionally supplemented natural process with miraculous-appearing creations.
VARIATIONS:  1) The miracles might have been independent creations "from scratch" (so a new species would not necessarily have any relationships with previously existing species) or creations by modification of genetic material (by changing, adding, or deleting it) in an existing species.   2) Progressive Creation is compatible with any interpretation of Genesis 1 (framework, day-age, ancient near east,...) except 144-Hour with a young earth.

Proponents of Progressive Creation
• A Testable Creation Model from Reasons to Believe by Hugh Ross, explains how his model agrees with Genesis 1 and with scientific evidence about chronology (if each "day" is a long period of time) and biology (if "God repeatedly replaced extinct species with new ones" by independent creations).  (7 k)
• Logical Evalution of Evolution by Craig Rusbult, explains why "evidence for common descent... can count against one theory (with independent creation) but not another (with creation by genetic modification)."  (7 k for Section 4 plus "defining by descent" in the appendix, and the whole page is 17 k + 9k)
• Why I accept Common Ancestry — Stephen Jones describes the reasons for his personal journey from independent creations to creations by genetic modification.  (80 k)
• An Overview of Progressive Creation by Dale Tooley, compares progressive creation with theistic evolution and young-earth creation;  he rigidly defines progressive creation as "the day-age interpretation" but is open-minded about how God created, although (especially in the final section, on the origin of humans) he thinks genetic evidence indicates creation by genetic modification.  (25 k)
• Is "Progressive Creation" still a helpful concept? by John Jefferson Davis, offers theological and scientific reflections on an influential book (The Christian View of Scripture and Nature by Bernard Ramm, 1954) a generation later, and explains why progressive creationism "is broad enough to encompass both the immanent presence of God working within the laws of nature and the transcendent power of God above the laws of nature."  (30 k + 17k, PSCF)
• A Theology of Progressive Creationism by Pattle Pun, covering:  The Two Books of God, Immanence of God, Genesis Interpretation, Natural Selection in Creation, Fall & Incarnation;  Progressive Creation by Comparison (with Young-Earth Creation, Theistic Evolution, and Creation Myth of Neo-Orthodoxy) and by Definition, as an "attempt to delineate the immanence of God in His providential involvement in His Creation."  (50 k + references, PSCF)
• Yes and No — by Craig Rusbult, asks "Is progressive creation inconsistent because it accepts one scientific consensus (the earth is old) but not another (the process was totally natural)?"  (15 k + 6k)
• A Design Theory of Progressive Creation by Gordon Mills, is outlined in a collection of pages with lots of science content (which is more relevant for the "origins evidence" area) plus some theology.
• IOU — Later, we'll have pages (about E and TE, OEC, divine action) by other OECs, plus more critiques (by YECs and ECs) below.

Criticism of Progressive Creation by Evolutionary Creationists
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Criticism of Progressive Creation by Young-Earth Creationists
• What's wrong with Progressive Creation? by Ken Ham & Terry Mortenson, from AIG's War of the Worldviews  (19 k)
• Recent Creation is a Vital Doctrine by Henry Morris  (11 k)

Criticism of Hugh Ross by Young-Earth Creationists
• The Days do Matter by Henry Morris  (9 k)
• young-earth response by Jonathan Sarfati (11 k) to 10 similarities &10 differences by Hugh Ross (3 k total)
• critique of Progressive Creation / Rossism by Ken Ham  (10 k)
• critique of a Hugh Ross intro-chapter by Jonathan Sarfati, as part of AIG's Operation: Refuting Compromise  (59 k)
• IOU — more pages will be gathered from AIG's links-page for Creation Compromises

 

YOUNG-EARTH CREATION

DEFINITION — A theory of young-earth creation proposes that God miraculously created everything in the universe during a 144-hour period less than 10,000 years ago.  Later, most of the earth's geology and fossil record were formed in a global flood.   { In a variation that is less common, the earth is young but the universe is old. }

• Tenets of Creationism (Biblical and Scientific) by Henry Morris (1980), leading pioneer of the modern young-earth creation movement, summarizes his educational philosophy (for public and Christian schools) and his TWO models — not three or more — of origins history.  (12 k)
• Let the Word of God be True by Henry Morris, criticizing ASA in 1953 (plus most Christian scientists since then) because they "took strong exception to my premise that the Bible should govern our interpretation of the geological data."  (10 k)
• IOU — I've found suitable pages by the most prominent ye-C organizations (AIG and ICR) and authors (Morris, Morris, Ham,...) and some of these will be here by August 2008;  but separating age-questions and methods-questions will be difficult (well, impossible) so there will be some mixing of age & methods.

Criticisms of Young-Earth Creationism
Some papers in other sections, by proponents of old-earth views — either evolutionary creation or progressive creation — offer theological (and scientific) arguments against young-earth views.
And the "young or old" question is examined in other LINKS-PAGES:
• SCIENCE — According to most Christians who are scientists, strong evidence against a young earth comes from nature, in many areas of science spanning a wide range.  This evidence, which seems to show us that the earth and universe are old, is examined in AGE OF THE EARTH — SCIENCE.   But advocates of a young earth think we should use information from scripture to interpret nature, not vice versa.  How should we use THE TWO BOOKS OF GOD?
• SCRIPTURE — Proponents of other views also challenge young-earth interpretations of Genesis 1 (the six days) and Genesis 6-9 (the flood), as you can see in CREATIONIST INTERPRETATIONS OF GENESIS 1 and NOAH'S FLOOD — THEOLOGY & SCIENCE which compare young-earth and old-earth interpretations.
• RIGIDITY — Prominent young-earth creationists claim they have the only view of creation that is authentically Christian.  Unfortunately, their claim — "if the Bible is true, the earth is young" — is logically equivalent to claiming "if the earth is old, the Bible is not true."  When a Christian who thinks "believing the Bible requires belief in a young earth" examines the scientific evidence and concludes "the earth is old" and then "if the Bible is wrong about the earth's age, maybe it's also wrong about the rest," faith can be weakened or abandoned.  /  Is it wise to link The Gospel of Jesus with Young Earth in a package deal, by claiming that young-earth beliefs are necessary for Bible-based theology?  Is a young earth an essential doctrine that is certain and important, that is taught with certainty in the Bible and is theologically important?  These questions are examined in AGE OF THE EARTH — THEOLOGY.   { One example of young-earth rigidity is the TWO HISTORIES of Death (only young-earth Christian and old-earth atheistic) described by Ken Ham — who claims "the battle between Creation and evolution, between young-Earth and old-Earth views, is a battle between two totally different histories of death" — which intentionally denies the third view (old-earth Christian) in THREE Histories of Death. }
• IOU — Later there will be other non-yeC responses, to explain how THE evolutionary philosophy/worldview (as defined by YECs in their "two model" perspectives that contrasts YEC with everything else) differs from actual old-earth views, in both progressive creation and evolutionary creation;  these responses will include pages that already exist, and maybe commissioned pages, or a "sampler page" containing excerpts from pages in other sections.

IOU — The sections above and below, about young-earth and secular views, need to be developed more thoroughly.

 

Views from SECULAR ORGANIZATIONS and NON-CHRISTIANS

SECULAR ORGANIZATIONS (for science & science education)
Here, secular means "not overtly or specifically religious" (Webster's Dictionary) rather than "atheistic".
• You can see a fascinating story in the views & actions of the National Association of Biology Teachers who, from 1995 to 1997, declared that evolution is an "unsupervised" process so "natural" means "without God".  (this is a links-page with stories about NABT plus a wide range of responses, 5 k + 2k)
• a theist-friendly, pro-evolution approach by Phina Borgeson (a Christian, writing as Faith Network Director for the secular National Center for Science Education) who explains Why NCSE Should Be Involved in the Science-Religion Dialog (5 k);  but a young-earth response from Answers in Genesis claims that Atheists Infiltrating Churches is the strategy of NCSE (7 k);  there will also be some information about NCSE and Borgeson, who is an ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church and is a self-proclaimed Christian, not an atheist.
• For more about the views & actions of organizations, see ORIGINS EDUCATION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

NON-CHRISTIANS
These pages are written by authors with worldviews ranging from Christian through agnostic to atheistic.
• Was Darwin a Christian? by Michael Roberts  (5 k, PSCF)
• Theological Insights from Charles Darwin by Denis Lamoureux  (30 k + 18k, PSCF)
• Finding Gould's God by David Wollert, about views of Darwin and Gould  (19 k, PSCF)
• The Cosmos According to Carl Sagan: Review and Critique by Mark McKim, who criticizes the "scientism" in Sagan's claim that science supports his atheistic worldview  (28 k, PSCF)
• IOU — We'll find more pages, including claims that E is inherently atheistic, from textbooks and scholars (Dawkins, Dennett, Sagan, Provine,...) plus views from atheists who are less hostile, such as Ruse, Gould,...

 

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MORE — Due to space restrictions, many good pages cannot be included in the sections above;  some of these will (eventually but not yet) be in a page for ADDITIONAL RESOURCES.

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INFORMATION for readers is in a brief page about our Goal (a quick education for you), Quality (because we've made choices) and Variety (you'll see multiple positions, hence the disclaimer below), Exploring with Freedom (you can use sections and page-links in any order), Size (what does "20 k + 5k" mean?), and Links (that open in a new window). 

 

other links-pages about Origins Questions are at the top of this page,
or you can Search the Website

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