Increationism,special creationis a belief that theuniverseand alllifein it originated in its present form byfiator divinedecree.
Catholicismuses the phrase "special creation" in two different senses:
- in the context oftheistic evolutionto refer to the "special creation of humans", a point ofhominizationwhere evolved near-human animals were givensoulsby God, and became fully human; this belief is also calledspecial transformismby some scholars.[citation needed]
- to refer to the doctrine of immediate or specialcreation of each human soul
Creationism
editIn creationism, "special creation" is aliteral interpretationof theGenesis creation narrative,viewing it as an accurate description of thecreationof the universe in essentially its present form over the course of six 24-hour days.[1][2]
Duane Gishof theInstitute for Creation Researchdefined "special creation" as being creation usingsupernaturalprocesses:
We do not know how the Creator created, [or] what processes He used, for He used processes which are not now operating anywhere in the natural universe. This is why we refer to creation as special creation. We cannot discover by scientific investigation anything about the creative processes used by the Creator.[3]
Dennis Jensenof theAmerican Scientific Affiliationstates that special creation means that complex living things did not descend from simpler ones but were created independently.[4]
James B. Stensonwrites that forfundamentalists,special creation follows from aliteralreading of the Genesis creation narrative. There is a "special creation" of each separatekindin six 24-hour days, starting a few thousand years ago.[5]
InThe Mystery of Life's Origin,Charles B. Thaxtonargues for "Special Creation by a Creator beyond the Cosmos", and asserts that special creation holds "that thesource that produced lifewas intelligent ".[6][need quotation to verify]
In Catholicism
editThePontifical Biblical Commissionissued a decree ratified byPope Pius Xon June 30, 1909, mentioning special creation only in relation to humans, not to the other species.[5]In 2004, the International Theological Commission, then under the presidency of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (soon to bePope Benedict XVI), published a paper in which it accepts the current scientific accounts of the history of the universe commencing in theBig Bangabout 15 billion years ago and of the evolution of all life on earth including humans from the microorganisms commencing about 4 billion years ago. TheVaticanteaches that Godacted indirectlythroughcausal chainsoperating from the beginning of cosmic history, which prepared the way for the moment of transition to the spiritual with the special creation of the human soul. This special creation, the Vatican says, established the basis for a divine intimacy which embraces every single human person from the first moment of his or her existence.[7]
Notes
edit- ^Locy, William Albert (1908). "Biology and Its Makers" (Document). H. Holt and Company. p. 469.
- ^Eugenie C. Scott(2004).Evolution vs. creationism: an introduction.Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press.ISBN0-313-32122-1.
- ^Evolution: The Fossils Say No,Duane Gish,Master Books; Rpt edition (1995) page 42ISBN0-89051-112-8
- ^Pain, Pleasure and Evolution: An Analysis of Paul Draper's Critique of Theism,Dennis Jensen,Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith51.1 (March 1999): 40-46)
- ^abEVOLUTION: A CATHOLIC PERSPECTIVE,James B. Stenson, Catholic Position Papers, Series A, Number 116, March, 1984, Japan Edition, Seido Foundation for the Advancement of Education, 12-6 Funado-Cho, Ashiya-Shi Japan.
- ^Barbara Forrest(April 1, 2007)."Expert Witness Report"(PDF).Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, 2005=.United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on October 28, 2008.Retrieved2008-10-19.
- ^Communion and Stewardship: Human Persons Created in the Image of God,(July 23rd 2004), International Theological Commission, La Civiltà Cattolica 2004, IV, pp. 254-286.