Who here is in a denomination or official church that stands up for Genesis as true? I am looking for those that insist on the direct creation of humans especially, or historical interpretation of Genesis, anything that rejects evolution and chemical stew as the origin of life.
I am just trying to find out what churches there are that do, and if possible what it is they officially say about it.
TIA
The broadest universal profession of belief in creation as essential doctrine is in the Nicene Creed:
The Nicene Creed
I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made. (
Nicene Creed USCCB)
If you notice, the profession of faith in God as Creator has sandwiched in it the incarnation. God creating life is the heart of the emphasis in the creation account, that appears not coincidentally in the opening chapter of Scripture. The ancient Hebrews had a weekly reminder of creation, the fourth commandment:
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. (Exodus 20: 8-11)
The Sabbath controversy was an issue for Jesus and his contemporaries early and often, but with regards to how it was kept, never was there any question raised as to what it meant. A weekly reminder of God's work in creation was sanctified on the seventh day of creation, at the heart of the emphasis in the creation account the passage emphasizes this key creation:
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:27)
Not once, not twice but three times it is repeated that God created Adam and Eve. This leaves no room for a common ancestor between men and apes unless you abandon the interpretive concept of the Bible as historic narrative altogether. The word for 'created' in this passage is in the Qal, or absolute form, meaning God is always the subject:
Created: to create, shape, form
(Qal) to shape, fashion, create (always with God as subject)
In Isaiah this word is used to describe the creation of Israel (Isa. 43:1; 43:7; 43;15), salvation and righteousness (Isa. 45:8), throughout reminding Israel of original creation (Isa. 45:12; 45:18; 48:7).
Adam's name is used to speak of humanity in the Old Testament at least 400 times, just as Israel (Jacob's covenant name), is used for the nation of Israel since he fathered them all through the patriarchs. In Luke's genealogy there is a list of begats, ending with Adam, who was not begotten but rather refereed to as 'son of God', indicating special creation.
Then there is this statement from the Westminster Confession, do note the biblical references:
Section 1.) It pleased God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,(1) for the manifestation of the glory of His eternal power, wisdom, and goodness,(2) in the beginning, to create, or make of nothing, the world, and all things therein, whether visible or invisible, in the space of six days, and all very good.(3)
(1) Heb 1:2; Jn 1:2,3; Ge 1:2; Job 26:13; Job 33:4 (2) Ro 1:20; Jer 10:12; Ps 104:24; Ps 33:5,6 (3) Heb 11:3; Col 1:16; Ac 17:24
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Section 2.) After God had made all other creatures, He created man, male and female,(1) with reasonable and immortal souls,(2) endued with knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness, after His own image,(3) having the law of God written in their hearts,(4) and power to fulfill it;(5) and yet under a possibility of transgressing, being left to the liberty of their own will, which was subject unto change.(6) Beside this law written in their hearts, they received a command not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil;(7) which while they kept, they were happy in their communion with God, and had dominion over the creatures.(8)
(1) Ge 1:27 (2) Ge 2:7; Ecc 12:7; Lk 23:43; Mt 10:28 (3) Ge 1:26; Col 3:10; Eph 4:24 (4) Ro 2:14,15 (5) Ecc 7:29 (6) Ge 3:6; Ecc 7:29 (7) Ge 2:17; Ge 3:8,9,10,11,23 (8) Ge 1:26,28. (
Westminster Confession, Chapter 4; Sections 1-2)
Pope Benedict had this to say about Adam being our first parent, as opposed to being part of a larger population:
37 When, however, there is question of another conjectural opinion, namely polygenism, the children of the Church by no means enjoy such liberty. For the faithful cannot embrace that opinion which maintains that either after Adam there existed on this earth true men who did not take their origin through natural generation from him as from the first parent of all, or that Adam represents a certain number of first parents. Now it is in no way apparent how such an opinion can be reconciled with that which the sources of revealed truth and the documents of the Teaching Authority of the Church propose with regard to original sin, which proceeds from a sin actually committed by an individual Adam and which, through generation, is passed on to all and is in everyone as his own. (
Encyclical Humani Generis of Pius XII, 12 August 1950)
This doctrine is inextricably linked to the incarnation, original sin, and frankly the promise of eternal life through the resurrection. If we are to dismiss the account of the creation of life as allegory and hyperbole what does that say about the weightier matter of eternal life?
Gallup has kept a running poll on how Americans respond to the question of man being created. While at an all time low, now 38% (down from 44%), it's still a commonly held view in the United States
(
In U.S., Belief in Creationist View of Humans at New Low. Gallup)
Notice special creation and the theistic evolutionist views are running neck and neck, while the materialist view has increased by 10% since 1981. As a doctrinal issue I think I have made myself abundantly clear, special creation is essential doctrine inextricably linked to the incarnation, resurrection and the translation of believers at the end of the age. Other opinions abound but as a Biblical doctrine I can offer no spirit of compromise with a Darwinian worldview that would reject the miraculous work of God in the creation of life categorically:
Lamarck was the first man whose conclusions on the subject excited much attention. This justly-celebrated naturalist first published his views in 1801; he much enlarged them in 1809 in his "Philosophie Zoologique,' and subsequently, in 1815, in the Introduction to his "Hist. Nat. des Animaux sans Vertébres.' In these works he upholds the doctrine that species, including man, are descended from other species. He first did the eminent service of arousing attention to the probability of
all change in the organic, as well as in the inorganic world, being the result of law, and not of miraculous interposition. (
On the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin)
Grace and peace,
Mark