Young Earth creationism (YEC)
Young Earth creationism (YEC) is the belief that Earth and all life on it were created by God less than ten thousand years ago. This perspective is grounded in a literal interpretation of the Bible, particularly the Book of Genesis, which YEC proponents view as a factual account of creation rather than allegorical. In stark contrast to the scientific consensus that the Earth is approximately 4.54 billion years old, YEC adherents derive their age estimates through chronological calculations based on biblical texts.
YEC is part of a broader movement known as creationism, which posits that life was created by a divine being rather than through natural processes like evolution. While YEC and intelligent design creationism (IDC) both acknowledge a higher power's role in creation, IDC accepts an ancient Earth, differing fundamentally from YEC's timeline. Critics of YEC argue that its principles often rely on misinterpretations of scientific data and pseudoscience, contending that it seeks to fit facts into a predetermined belief system rather than allowing scientific inquiry to guide understanding.
Despite these criticisms, YEC advocates actively promote their views, seeking to include their teachings in public education and disseminating their beliefs through various media, including books and museums. The interplay between YEC and prevailing scientific opinions continues to be a subject of significant debate within society.
Young Earth creationism (YEC)
Young Earth creationism (YEC) is the belief that Earth was created by God less than ten thousand years ago. Supporters of this worldview use a literal interpretation of the Bible to make determinations about the relative age of Earth. These figures used by young Earth creationists to establish an approximate age for the planet are in contrast to the general scientific consensus that Earth is 4.54 billion years old. Young Earth creationists argue that their methodologies have valuable theological and philosophical applications, while critics suggest that the principles of YEC rely upon distortions of science as their basis.
Background
Young Earth creationism is part of a broader movement called creationism. Creationism is the general belief that life was established through the will of a divine being rather than through any sequence of natural mechanisms such as evolution and natural selection. However, creationism has many different models. One model is the flat Earth movement, which consists of biblical literalists who interpret passages of the Bible to mean that Earth was designed by God to be flat. Another model is old Earth creationism, which is a set of philosophies that accept the scientific community's assertion about the age of Earth but disagree about the specific mechanisms that allowed life to develop. YEC is generally regarded as an intermediate position that falls between the flat Earth theory and old Earth creationism.
The YEC belief system is rooted in the idea that true Christian faith requires recognition of the Bible as historical fact. The Bible is then seen as a definitive chronological record of history, rather than merely serving as a guiding text that relies upon nonliteral allegorical parables. As such, the Book of Genesis is viewed as the factual accounting of how God made the universe, Earth, and all life. Under this precept, young Earth creationists believe that all known life, including primordial organisms, dinosaurs, and humans, were created at the exact same moment by God. Because of this belief, young Earth creationists typically disbelieve the theory of evolution, as it would serve in contradiction to the idea that God created all life simultaneously.
Young Earth creationists generally offer a figure of six to ten thousand years as the approximate age of Earth. Such numbers are derived by adding together all of the chronological dates found in the Bible.
By contrast, many scientists use the fossil record, in which fossils of increasing age are layered deeper in Earth's strata, as a way to date the various epochs in Earth's history. Under this methodology, organisms that are found in the same layer lived in approximately the same period and predate the fossils of organisms in the layer immediately above them. However, young Earth creationists argue that the fossil record is a flawed method of determining the relative age of life that should not be used to create a geological timeline or to prove the existence of evolution. Young Earth creationists rely on biblical history and controversial interpretations of science to explain the fossil record and discredit prevailing scientific theory. In particular, the account of Noah and the flood takes on heightened importance.
According to biblical convention, all life on Earth was destroyed through a flood sent by God. The only survivors were those creatures that sheltered on an ark constructed by Noah. Young Earth creationists maintain that the placement of fossils into various strata of Earth could have several explanations as a result of this flood, including that the fossils of deceased organisms were deliberately sorted into different places during the flood, or that organisms that lived in different ecological zones were buried at different times and levels as a consequence of when and where the flood reached them. Prevailing scientific theories about the fossil record, young Earth creationists argue, fail to explain how certain organisms that are supposed to appear in only one layer of Earth's strata have been discovered in other layers as well. They suggest that such discrepancies make the fossil record a questionable resource for dating the geological age of Earth.
YEC and Intelligent Design Creationism
Young Earth creationism is often confused with intelligent design creationism (IDC). The principles of YEC and IDC both share perceptions that a higher power was the primary agent in the creation of the universe. However, as one of the old Earth creationist philosophies, IDC accepts the principle that Earth is billions of years old, albeit created with a purpose. Proponents of IDC believe that an unidentified intelligence (often associated with the Christian God) actively guided the development of all life. However, both philosophies reject the scientifically backed principle of natural selection—the primary biological mechanism behind the theory of Darwinian evolution—as an unproven idea. Both groups rely on alternative interpretations of existing scientific data to explain their belief systems while questioning information that appears to contradict them.
Criticisms
Critics of the YEC theory argue that it is centered on the desire to arrange facts to fit preconceived beliefs, rather than allowing scientific data to guide its followers to fact-based answers. These critics suggest that YEC relies on pseudoscience and half-truths that distort recognized scientifically established data. YEC critics also argue that the authors of the Bible deliberately used allegories as a means of expression rather than to convey factual history. For example, the talking serpent from the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis is a creature with no contemporary incarnation and an example of the allegorical intentions of the authors of the Bible.
Alternatively, some religiously oriented people ascribe to a belief in theistic evolution, which suggests that a divine being actively guided the creation of humanity through scientific processes such as evolution. Such beliefs, they argue, allow for the acceptance of both divine guidance and scientific discovery. Some advocates for this synthesis of religion and science argue that the "six days" mentioned in Genesis were intended to be symbolic metaphors for longer epochs in the Earth's history, rather than literal twenty-four-hour days. Theistic evolution has the support of such religious bodies as the Catholic Church.
Topic Today
Advocates of young Earth creationism have sought to gain greater exposure for their beliefs by including it as part of public school curriculums. Attempts by young Earth creationists to have their teachings used in public schools were overruled by the US Supreme Court in 1968's Epperson v. Arkansas and 1987's Edwards v. Aguillard. Other cases at various judicial levels followed. Some educators have chosen to teach about the actual controversy in their curriculum. The debate continued into the 2020s, with some states introducing increasingly religious content into their public schools despite cries of it being unconstitutional.
Young Earth creationists have also publicized their beliefs through widely distributed books, videos, and magazines, as well as the establishment of creation museums in several states and the Institute for Creation Research.
Bibliography
Berkman, Michael B., et al. "Evolution and Creationism in America's Classrooms: A National Portrait." PLoS Biology, vol. 6, no. 5, 2008, p. e124, doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0060124. Accessed 1 Jan. 2025.
Caudill, Edward. "The Genesis of Young-Earth Creationism." Intelligently Designed: How Creationists Built the Campaign against Evolution, University of Illinois Press, 2013, pp. 14-28.
"The Creation/Evolution Continuum." National Center for Science Education, 22 Jan. 2016, ncse.com/library-resource/creationevolution-continuum. Accessed 1 Jan. 2025.
Gordon, Bruce L. "Scandal of the Evangelical Mind: A Biblical and Scientific Critique of Young-Earth Creationism." Science, Religion and Culture, vol. 1, no. 3, 2014, pp. 144-173.
Humphreys, D. Russell. "Evidence for a Young World." Institute for Creation Research, 1 June 2005, www.icr.org/article/evidence-for-young-world. Accessed 1 Jan. 2025.
Keener, Craig S. "Is Young-Earth Creationism Biblical?" HuffPost, 8 Aug. 2012, www.huffpost.com/entry/is-young-earth-creationism-biblical‗b‗1578004. Accessed 1 Jan. 2025.
Randy Moore. “Did Humans Live with Dinosaurs? Excavating ‘Man Tracks’ along the Paluxy River.” The American Biology Teacher, vol. 76, no. 4, 2014, pp. 243–46. University of California Press, doi.org/10.1525/abt.2014.76.4.5. Accessed 1 Jan. 2025.
Rios, Christopher M. "An Increasingly Powerful Movement: Modern Creationism to the 1980s." After the Monkey Trial: Evangelical Scientists and a New Creationism, Fordham University Press, 2014, pp. 105-120.
Woodmorappe, John. "The Fossil Record: Becoming More Random All the Time." Creation Ministries International, creation.com/the-fossil-record. Accessed 1 Jan. 2025.
"Young Earth Creationism." National Center for Science Education, 22 Jan. 2016, ncse.com/library-resource/young-earth-creationism. Accessed 1 Jan. 2025.