What is a Creationist?

[HammerRock]

What are the essential beliefs related to being a Creationist? Which ones in the list below are not necessary?

1) God is the Creator
2) Creation was made out of nothing
3) The universe is less than 10000 years old
4) Man was created by a special act of God.
5) All mankind are descended from Adam and Eve
6) There was a literal garden of Eden
7) There was a global flood
8) People lived more than 900 years before the flood
9) Jesus performed miracles of creation e.g. feeding the 5000
10) Macro evolution is false.

 

[gluadys]

What are the essential beliefs related to being a Creationist? Which ones in the list below are not necessary?

1) God is the Creator
2) Creation was made out of nothing
3) The universe is less than 10000 years old
4) Man was created by a special act of God.
5) All mankind are descended from Adam and Eve
6) There was a literal garden of Eden
7) There was a global flood
8) People lived more than 900 years before the flood
9) Jesus performed miracles of creation e.g. feeding the 5000
10) Macro evolution is false.

1, 2 and 9 are the only ones I consider essential to the Christian belief in creation.

3 & 10 I would strike from the list because they are factually false statements and belief in creation, even creationism, should not require believing falsehoods.

The remaining statements express a belief in how scripture should be read, which is really a different topic altogether. The "truth" of these statements is bound up with the idea that a literal interpretation must be true in order for scripture to be true. If by "creationist" one is referring to those who reject science in the name of scripture, I think this is at the heart of creationism.

 

[Dizredux]

It strikes me that you seem to be describing Young Earth Creationism more than any thing else.

Creationism could also include anyone that believes that God made the universe and all within it. This could include Old Earth Creationism, Theistic Evolutionism and a number of other takes of the issue of creation.

Really only #1 applies across the board. For Christians, you need only to add the idea of Christ and redemption.

It really is just more a matter of terminology than anything else. Interesting though.

Dizredux

 

[Sayre]

What are the essential beliefs related to being a Creationist? Which ones in the list below are not necessary?

Yes - 1) God is the Creator
Yes - 2) Creation was made out of nothing
No - 3) The universe is less than 10000 years old
No - 4) Man was created by a special act of God.
No - 5) All mankind are descended from Adam and Eve
No - 6) There was a literal garden of Eden
No - 7) There was a global flood
No - 8) People lived more than 900 years before the flood
No - 9) Jesus performed miracles of creation e.g. feeding the 5000
No - 10) Macro evolution is false.

Jesus performing miracles is not part of creationism. I suggest only 1 and 2 is the essentials of "creationism", which need not be "young earth creationism". Further, I think that 2) is a truism, creation is, by definition, beginning with nothing and creating. Otherwise it would be reshaping.

 

[HammerRock]

1, 2 and 9 are the only ones I consider essential to the Christian belief in creation.

I agree these are essential to be a Christian thinking about creation.

3 & 10 I would strike from the list because they are factually false statements and belief in creation, even creationism, should not require believing falsehoods.

On the age of the Universe I have moved towards the view of an older universe from a YEC position over the years because the facts are hard to deny in this case and I believe the bible allows for this. But there is little factual support for Macro-Evolution and it is not real science because it is mainly speculative.

The remaining statements express a belief in how scripture should be read, which is really a different topic altogether. The "truth" of these statements is bound up with the idea that a literal interpretation must be true in order for scripture to be true. If by "creationist" one is referring to those who reject science in the name of scripture, I think this is at the heart of creationism.

How you read scripture is an important test of a persons faith. Yes we read with a degree of discernment but also trust. Creationists do not reject science they reject the extension of its scope beyond its credible sphere of activity.

 

[HammerRock]

Jesus performing miracles is not part of creationism. I suggest only 1 and 2 is the essentials of "creationism", which need not be "young earth creationism". Further, I think that 2) is a truism, creation is, by definition, beginning with nothing and creating. Otherwise it would be reshaping.

Jesus created bread and fish out of nothing revealing His own Creator credentials. Can a person call themselves a Creationist while denying 80% of what that means?

 

[Sayre]

Jesus created bread and fish out of nothing revealing His own Creator credentials. Can a person call themselves a Creationist while denying 80% of what that means?

I find the wording of this point very strange.

Rejecting that particular claim of a creation miracle doesn't mean you reject all claims of creation miracles. So why does belief or disbelief in Him turning loaves and fishes into heaps of loaves and fishes determine whether or not He created the heavens and the earth?

 

[gluadys]

I agree these are essential to be a Christian thinking about creation.

On the age of the Universe I have moved towards the view of an older universe from a YEC position over the years because the facts are hard to deny in this case and I believe the bible allows for this. But there is little factual support for Macro-Evolution and it is not real science because it is mainly speculative.

This is where we really get into semantics. I find many people who claim macro-evolution is not scientific are not actually talking about the same thing biologists mean by that term.

So if you set out what you mean by that term, I might well agree that what you are talking about is not real science.

But if we are talking real science, there is real macro-evolution with as much solid evidence as the age of the earth and the universe.

How you read scripture is an important test of a persons faith.

I don't know that it is. Certainly thinking it is--in particular thinking that a certain type of interpretation is required--would lead one to view any other interpretation as actual disbelief and rejection of scripture. I think that within the parameters of discernement and trust there is still a pretty wide scope for flexibility and alternative interpretations. Mostly, I think it is important to understand the culture from which it came, and the expectations of the original writers and audience as to acceptable meanings. And these would necessarily be pre-scientific.

Creationists do not reject science they reject the extension of its scope beyond its credible sphere of activity.

And I would see any of the points 4 through 8 as having nothing to do with the credibility of science.

Point 4 for example, says man was created by a special act of God. Now science has nothing to say one way or another about special acts of God. And believing that such a special act took place does not impact in any way on the credibility of science.

So from a scientific perspective, all that is left is a question about hominid fossils. How do they relate to a special creation of the first humans?

Going from the other perspective, I can't see that scripture requires belief in a special creation of humankind. So, it follows that choosing to believe this or not is a matter of personal choice and is not a criterion of faith. I think we can allow people to make their own option here, as long as they believe that it was an act of God, whether it was miraculous or natural.

 

[mark kennedy]

This looks like fun

What are the essential beliefs related to being a Creationist? Which ones in the list below are not necessary?

1) God is the Creator

You must believe God is Creator to be a Christian, no self respecting TE would deny this BTW. Of course it's required.

2) Creation was made out of nothing

The initial creation of Genesis 1:1 is nonnegotiable. The transliteration of the Hebrew term is 'bara', again, it essential Christian theism which is the only form of Creationism I'm acquainted with.

3) The universe is less than 10000 years old

No, the opening verse of Genesis simply states it was in the beginning with no reference to a timeline unless you connect it to creation week. I personally do not.

4) Man was created by a special act of God.

Yes, this is actually the key doctrinal issue at the heart of Creationism.

5) All mankind are descended from Adam and Eve

Yes, this one goes to original sin.

6) There was a literal garden of Eden

Not a major point but in taking the previous part of the narrative as explicit and historical this holds true logically.

7) There was a global flood

I wouldn't insist that you must believe this to be a Creationist, I've toyed with the concept of a local flood from time to time. It has no real bearing on Creationism at large even though it's a commonly held belief among my Creationist brethren.

8) People lived more than 900 years before the flood

Unless you can come up with a pretty good explanation for why such a specific age is given I'd say it must hold true in order to be consistent in your reasoning. I'm not all that dogmatic about it because the numbering system is less then reliable.

9) Jesus performed miracles of creation e.g. feeding the 5000

The Nicene Creed expressly affirms Christ as Creator in the first three stanzas, this one in nonnegotiable.

10) Macro evolution is false.

Rhetorically virtually all Creationists would emphatically affirm this but personally I would need a definition.

That was fun, thanks

Grace and peace,
Mark

 

[mark kennedy]

Jesus created bread and fish out of nothing revealing His own Creator credentials. Can a person call themselves a Creationist while denying 80% of what that means?

Technically Jesus did not create it out of nothing, double check the wording.

 

[Resha Caner]

I would have said just #1, but we are rarely given the opportunity to make our own definitions. The purpose of such things is to communicate with others using common understandings of a term, and the most common usage of "creationist" means YEC.

 

[ChetSinger]

I would have said just #1, but we are rarely given the opportunity to make our own definitions. The purpose of such things is to communicate with others using common understandings of a term, and the most common usage of "creationist" means YEC.

I agree.

Based on some answers here, theistic evolutionists are also creationists. But that's not how most people understand the terms, and even here at CF we have separate sub-forums for the two camps.

I think that the term "creationist" in common usage means the belief that life was created pretty much as-is instead of evolving upward from simpler forms.

So I'd say that "creationist" in everyday usage means at least 1, 4, 5, and 10:

1) God is the Creator
4) Man was created by a special act of God.
5) All mankind are descended from Adam and Eve
10) Macro evolution is false.

 

[SkyWriting]

1, 2 and 9 are the only ones I consider essential to the Christian belief in creation.

I would agree that all the others are invented aspects of some Creationist followers. These three are correct for believers in The Creator.

 

[SkyWriting]

What are the essential beliefs related to being a Creationist? Which ones in the list below are not necessary?

1) God is the Creator
2) Creation was made out of nothing
3) The universe is less than 10000 years old
4) Man was created by a special act of God.
5) All mankind are descended from Adam and Eve
6) There was a literal garden of Eden
7) There was a global flood
8) People lived more than 900 years before the flood
9) Jesus performed miracles of creation e.g. feeding the 5000
10) Macro evolution is false.

1, 4, and 8 for "Creationist".
The rest might be valid for "Young Earth Creationists."
(Bumping an old thread.)

 

[hiwaystar]

All of the above. Real creationists don't cherry pick.

 

[Not_By_Chance]

If in doubt, read what God told us in the opening chapters of Genesis and other parts of the Bible. I personally believe all ten statements to be true and far more easy to believe than the myth of evolution.