Young Earth creationism

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{{cquote|Despite a full century of scientific insights attesting to the antiquity of life and the greater antiquity of the Earth, more than half the American population believes that the entire cosmos was created 6,000 years ago. This is, incidentally, about a thousand years after the Sumerians invented glue.|||[[Sam Harris]]<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150311125854/http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/the-case-against-faith The Case Against Faith] by Sam Harris (Nov 13, 2006) ''Newsweeek''.</ref>}}
'''Young Earth creationism''' ('''YEC''') is the belief that [[Earth|our planet]] and [[universe]] were [[creationism |created]], from nothing,<ref group=note>[[Latin]]: ''ex nihilo''.</ref> in ''six days'', which means ''six'' 24 hour calendar days, approximately 6,000 years ago, by the [[God]] of the [[Abrahamic religion]]s. Adherents of young Earth creationism are known as "young Earth creationists," or simply YECs.

Their belief derives from a [[Biblical literalism|literal]] interpretation of the two [[Creation Week| creation myths]] in the  [[Biblical]] book of [[Genesis]].<ref>[http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/k/kjv/kjv-idx?type=DIV1&byte=1477 Genesis], [[King James Bible]] version.</ref><ref group=note>There are references to other creation myths elsewhere in the Bible, as in the [[Psalms]] and [[Book of Job]], but creationists mostly ignore those.</ref> This means that young-Earth creationists believe the six days enumerated in Genesis were standard 24-hour<ref group=note>Once upon a time.people defined hours as fractions of a day, but Science now offers a more precise definition in terms of atomic seconds, so we can avoid the [[tautology | fallacy of circular definition]].</ref> days and use [[James Ussher]]'s chronology (or a suitable alternative) to date the Earth's origins to only a few thousand years ago.  [[Answers in Genesis]] claims [[science]] is the work of "[[Science was wrong before|fallible]]" [[human]]s while the Bible is [[Falsifiability#Unfalsifiable_ideas|the infallible word of]] [[God]].  This must be true [[Begging the question| because the Bible says so]].<ref>[https://answersingenesis.org/creationism/young-earth/young-earth-creationists/ Don't call us young-earth creationists]</ref>    Young earth creationists reject the [[Evidence against a recent creation| mountains of scientific evidence]] demonstrating the earth is older than a few thousand years, as well as the various attempts to reconcile the stories in Genesis with science, such as [[day-age creationism]]. Many Christians do not hold this view, as they accept much of the science done on this and are reduced to [[metaphor | allegorical]] interpretations.<ref>{{wpa | Hermeneutics}}</ref>

According to a study released in 2019, as many as 40% of [[Americans]] believe in a creationist view of human origin within roughly the past 10,000 years.<ref>[https://news.gallup.com/poll/261680/americans-believe-creationism.aspx Gallup, July 26, 2019, (accessed on October 2, 2019)]</ref>

A [[fundamentalism |firm]] belief in the biblical [[Global flood| worldwide flood]] and in the story of [[Noah's Ark| Noah]] is also a cornerstone of young Earth creationism. Proponents of YEC use this [[flood myth]] to [[Flooddidit |explain]] away almost all observations that [[scientist]]s have interpreted as pointing to a significantly older Earth.

Creationists who believe in a created earth that doesn't conflict (as much) with science are called [[Old Earth creationism |Old Earth creationists]]. This category sometimes includes believers in [[theistic evolution]] despite [[acceptance of evolution]] (albeit minus the [[methodological naturalism]] in the case of the guided-evolution branch of theistic evolution).

Young Earth creationism tends to flourish in conservative, fundamentalist, and Protestant [[Christianity]] and occasionally in the Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican churches and in [[Judaism]]. [[Islam]]ic creationists like [[Harun Yahya]] tend to be [[old Earth creationism|old Earth creationists]].

==Ellen said "Let there be woo!", and there was==
[[Ellen G. White]] (1827-1915), co-founder of [[Seventh-day Adventism]] (SDA), can be viewed as the creator (no pun intended) of YEC — not that many people noticed while she was alive, though.<ref name=trollinger>''Righting America at the Creation Museum'' by Susan L. Trollinger & William Vance Trollinger Jr. (2016) Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 1421419513.</ref> White proclaimed that the Earth was created in 6 literal days, and furthermore that [[The Flood]] rearranged the geological record, key elements of YEC.<ref name=trollinger/> A fellow-SDA member, {{wpl|George McCready Price}} (1870-1963), published three books that helped popularize White's pronouncements, ''Outlines of Modern Christianity and Modern Science'' (1902),<ref>[https://archive.org/details/MN41649ucmf_2 ''Outlines of Modern Christianity and Modern Science''] by George McCready Price (1902) Pacific Press Publishing Company.</ref> ''The Fundamentals of Geology'' (1916),<ref>[https://archive.org/details/fundamentalsgeo02pricgoog ''The Fundamentals of Geology and Their Bearings on the Doctrine of a Literal Creation''] George McCready Price (1916). Pacific Press Publishing Association.</ref> and ''The New Geology'' (1923).<ref name=trollinger/><ref>[http://documents.adventistarchives.org/Books/NG1923.pdf ''The New Geology: A Textbook for Colleges, Normal Schools, and Training Schools; and for the General Reader''] by George McCready Price (1923). Pacific Press Publishing Association.</ref> SDA members are basically required to believe in YEC because of White, but Price's books brought her ideas to fundamentalist Christians. Among fundamentalists, most [[Dispensational pre-millennialism|dispensational pre-millennialists]] are YEC believers.<ref name=trollinger/> In 1961, ''The Fundamentals of Geology'' was given a retelling by John C. Whitcomb Jr. & [[Henry M. Morris]] in a new and more 
credulous
 popular book titled ''The Genesis Flood''.<ref>''The Genesis Flood: The Biblical Record and Its Scientific Implications'' by  John C. Whitcomb Jr. & Henry M. Morris (1961) Presbyterian & Pub. Co. ISBN 0825433266.</ref>

==When was creation?==
===Ussher===
{{main|Ussher#Ussher's chronology}}
{{cquote|How did Young Earth Creationists decide that the [[Universe]] was only 6,000 years old? [[James_Ussher|A 17<sup>th</sup> century monk]] added up the obviously dubious ages of generations of fictional characters from his [[Bible|favorite folklore]], and from that, he determined that the world was [[Goddidit|magically created]] on October 23rd, 4004 BCE.|||[[AronRa]], ''How Dendrochronology Disproves Noah's Flood''<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KEfj3LLNSY&feature=youtu.be&t=101 How Dendrochronology Disproves Noah's Flood] (1:41)</ref>}}
Although the book of Genesis does not mention any specific creation date, the 4004 [[BCE]] date of creation upheld by young Earth creationists was calculated by the [[Anglican]] Archbishop of Armagh, James Ussher,<ref>[http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast161/Unit5/ussher.html James Ussher's Date of the Creation], Ohio Sate University</ref> in 1658 and John Lightfoot in 1644.<ref>[http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/ussher.htm Bishop Ussher Dates the World: 4004 BC], Lock Haven University]</ref><ref group=note>It should be mentioned in Ussher's defense that his methodology was probably as sound as possible given his time and premises.</ref> These chronologies involve meticulously tracing the lineages recounted in the Bible (including [[Noah]]'s supposed 900 years) back to known time, and compared [[Middle East]]ern, biblical and Mediterranean sources to come up with the surprisingly exact date of October 23, 4004 [[BCE]]. At 9:00 in the morning, EST.

This figure would put the age of the Earth many orders of magnitude less than the scientifically agreed figure based on [[radiometric dating]] among other pieces of [[evidence]]. Specifically, the actual [[age of the Earth]] is about 75 million percent longer than the Biblical age of the Earth.  To put this in perspective, those with the YEC [[worldview]] believe the world was created after the first domestication of the [[dog]] (and possibly the [[goat]]), after the first stones were laid at [[Stonehenge]], after people settled in [[Scotland]] and more. [[Evidence against a recent creation]] is quite simply overwhelming.

In a typical case of [[moving the goalposts]], many modern young-Earth creationists have blurred the date of creation to "under 10,000 years" thus avoiding the nasty problems of a written history just over 7000 years old, and those pesky comments that are "always under 10,000 years old."  Being less specific also avoids any problems people have with the actual genealogies in the Bible.<ref>[https://answersingenesis.org/astronomy/age-of-the-universe/evidence-for-a-young-world/ Evidence for a Young World] by Russell Humphreys (June 1, 2005) ''Answers in Genesis''.</ref>

===The Omphalos hypothesis===
{{main|Omphalos hypothesis}}
Some branches of YEC explain away inconvenient evidence such as [[dinosaur]] fossils, ancient rock strata in the Grand Canyon, and light from [[star]]s millions of [[light year]]s away, as [[red herring]]s planted by God to test the faith of believers.

This hypothesis, that God created the world, and indeed the [[universe]], deliberately to appear much older than it actually is, was promoted by the [[Calvinist]] and naturalist Philip Henry Gosse in his 1857 book ''Omphalos'', giving rise to the Omphalos hypothesis, although there are earlier examples of similar theories.

The Omphalos hypothesis reconciles the Biblical account of creationism with scientific findings which would seem to contradict it, and in fact was probably created with this intention in mind.  However, it doesn't fare well against [[Occam's razor]], since it presents a more elaborate explanation for scientific evidence than we would get from interpreting evidence at face value.  It is also unfalsifiable and resembles [[Last Thursdayism]] or the idea that we're living in a [[simulated reality]].

The Omphalos hypothesis also suggests a [[deceit]]ful God and many creationists reject it for this reason.<ref group=note>{{bible|Romans|1|20}} contradicts this hypothesis. Romans 1:20 says "... being understood from what has been made..." we can't really understand this world if the Omphalos hypotheses was correct.</ref>

==Problems==
[[File:10-12-11-creation-4-dummies.gif|thumb||Are we talking [[Venus]]ian, [[Earth]], or [[Uranus|Uranian]] days?]]
{{main|1=Creationism#Problems|3=Evidence against a recent creation}}
{{cquote|Nearly all peoples have developed their own creation myths, and the Genesis story is just the one that happened to have been adopted by one particular tribe of Middle Eastern herders. It has no more special status than the belief of a particular West African tribe that the world was created from the excrement of ants.|||[[Richard Dawkins]]}}

The concept of the Earth being instantaneously formed only 6000 years ago obviously flies in the face of many fields of modern science. The [[branches of science you have to ignore to believe in young Earth creationism]] are numerous—covering practically ''all'' of known science—but most notably these sciences are [[biology]] (the [[theory of evolution]] and [[palaeontology]]), [[astronomy]] ([[starlight problem]]), [[geology]] (volcanic formation, sedimentation, [[plate tectonics]]), [[archaeology]] (historic development of ancient civilizations), dendrochronology (tree-ring dating), and [[physics]] ([[radiometric dating]]).
 
These scientific fields are backed by centuries of research by the [[scientific method]], are [[falsifiable]] (yet unfalsified) and have accumulated vast quantities of supportive evidence.

Young-Earth creationists have an easy out: they can simply challenge all scientific evidence for an old Earth with the unfalsifiable belief that God simply created Earth with all the evidence of an old Earth already in place.

Also, the Bible does not explicitly '''say''' the world was created 6,000 years ago, so YECs have ''interpreted'' the Bible, which serious {{wpl | Bible-believing}} Christians sometimes insist must be [[Biblical literalism | taken literally]].

As a school of thought, Young-Earth creationism, though sometimes termed "[[New Earth creationism]]",<ref>
For example:
{{cite book
 |last1                = Idler
 |first1               = Thomas
 |date                 = 29 May 2024
 |title                = Discovering the Revelations of God: Nine Witnesses to God's Existence
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=lST7EAAAQBAJ
 |location             = Winnipeg
 |publisher            = Word Alive Press
 |isbn                 = 9781486625123
 |access-date          = 19 November 2024
 |quote                = [...] new earth creationism [...] New earth creationists believe that everything was created in a literal six-day period. This knowledge could have come directly from God and been given to Adam, if we rely on oral tradition, we may conclude that the creation account could have been memorized by Adam and passed on to successive generations to reach Moses, who then wrote it down onto scrolls.
}}
</ref>
seems to prefer a moniker for itself which suggests the trendy modern secular [[cult]] of Youth rather than risking referencing the repeated venerable traditional Biblical [[prophecy | prophecies]] and fore-shadowing of "new heavens" and a "new earth" ({{bible|Isaiah|66|22|}}; {{bible|2 Peter|3|13|}}; {{bible|Revelation|21|1|}}).

==Demographics==
{{main|Creationism#Demographics}}
Young Earth creationism exists primarily among [[Christian]], [[Muslim]], and [[Jewish]] fundamentalists, and is most popular in the [[USA]].

==See also==
*[[Old Earth creationism]]
*[[Branches of science you have to ignore to believe in young Earth creationism]]
*[[Fun:Statements that are wrong on the level of a Young Earth]]
*[[Evidence against a recent creation]]
*[[Intelligent design]]
*[[The incontrovertible evidence of common descent]]
*[[Leviathan]]
*[[Disproving creationism|Challenge: Falsifiability of Creationism]]
*[[Starlight problem]]
*[[Creation Museum]]
*[[Russ Miller]]
*[[Got Questions]]

==External links==
'''YEC Resources:'''
*[http://www.answersingenesis.org/ Answers in Genesis] 
*[http://www.creationontheweb.com/ Creation Ministries International]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070220095102/http://youngcosmos.com/ Young Cosmos]
*[https://www.genesisandgenetics.org/carbon-14-biblical-date-calculator/ Carbon-14 Biblical literalist date 'calculator'] — A 'tool' for converting scientific ages to YEC dates, where everything older than 2348 [[BCE]] is converted to 2348 BC. It is basically an aid for YEC [[confirmation bias]].

'''Refutation resources:'''
*[http://www.talkorigins.org/ Talk Origins]
*[http://www.noanswersingenesis.org.au/ No Answers in Genesis]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060502012851/http://www.plesiosaur.com/creationism/index.php The Plesiosaur Site, Creationism]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080521163858/http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=AC3481305829426D Why do people laugh at creationists?]
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bRvt0InhYk&feature=PlayList&p=5975FF2FEECF90D3&index=0 Why Young Earth Creationists Must Deny Gravity]
*[http://www.skepdic.com/yec.html The Skeptic's Dictionary on YECs.]
*[http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0520083938/qid=1121130206/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/102-5232657-5324157?v=glance&s=books&n=507846 Ronald L. Numbers ''The Creationists'' University of California Press 1993]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060116033335/http://skeptically.org/christianity/id9.html Seventh Day Adventist Believe in Young Earth]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20040215013521/http://www.reasons.org/resources/apologetics/history1.shtml Creating Creationism Part 1], [https://web.archive.org/web/20021228235326/http://www.reasons.org/resources/apologetics/history2.shtml Part 2], [https://web.archive.org/web/20040215013416/http://www.reasons.org/resources/apologetics/history3.shtml Part 3]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050228195823/http://home.entouch.net/dmd/churchfathers.htm Early Church Fathers on Genesis, This article from the DMD Publishing CO. site addresses and debunks the young earth lie about early church fathers embracing the young earth concept]  
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060210000541/http://www.epicidiot.com/evo_cre/young_earth_evidence.htm Young Earth Evidence Rebuttals]
*[https://letterstocreationists.wordpress.com/2015/07/09/exposing-the-roots-of-young-earth-creationism/ Exposing the Roots of Young Earth Creationism] Letters to Creationists, by Scott Buchanan, July 9, 2015

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note|2}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|90%}}

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[[Category:Types of creationism]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience]]

Categories: Types of creationism, Pseudoscience