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Creationists wield the biblical story of creation to oppose the exclusive teaching of evolution in American public schools. Using the Bible to disparage the scientific theory of evolution is a reason many people dismiss the Bible as irrelevant and even harmful.
As Karen Armstrong put it in The Lost Art of Scripture (2019): “Because [the Bible’s] creation myths do not concur with recent scientific discoveries, militant atheists have condemned the Bible as a pack of lies, while Christian fundamentalists have developed a ‘creation science’ claiming that the book of Genesis is scientifically sound. Not surprisingly, all this has given Scripture a bad name.”
The polemical use of Genesis 1 stems from a singular fixation by fundamentalists on pitting it against the theory of evolution. As it turns out, it is not an alternative to, or a rival of, evolution. It’s poetry, not exposition.
Evolution is based on empirical evidence. “Creation science” is not. In fact, most scientists view “creation science” as religion, not science.
Still, creationists demand that it be taught in public schools as an alternative to evolution. That, of course, alarms people who consider creationism as religious, and thus a way to surreptitiously inject Christianity or at least theism into the classroom and place religion and science on an equal footing.
They are not equal.
As “the Great Agnostic” Robert Ingersoll (1833–99) put it: “Teaching the biblical story of creation in a high school biology class should be as unthinkable as telling school children that thunder and lightning are produced by Thor’s hammer.”
Pitting the creation story against the theory of evolution is foolish and inappropriate. One account is poetic, the other empirical. They don’t belong in the same debating forum.
Unfortunately, most people see Genesis 1 only in light of the 150-year-old debate. Consequently, their view of Genesis 1 has been prejudiced. They don’t know that long before the creation-versus-evolution debate, Genesis 1 was seen by many as an allegory, not as historical fact. The current literal view of Genesis 1 is quite new and yet fixed in many people’s minds as the only view.
Understandably, then, it is difficult for many people to see Genesis 1 as something other than a foil for evolution. It is not a foil for evolution. It’s a beautiful poem open to many interpretations.
[I have one interpretation you’ve likely never heard before. Darn, you’ll have to buy the book to read the rest.]* * *
COPIES AVAILABLE from your local bookstore or from Four Seasons Books (304-876-3486).
COPIES ALSO AVAILABLE at my book-signing at Four Seasons Books (114 W. German St., Shepherdstown, WV), Friday, December 13, 6–8:00 p.m.
BREAKING NEWS: Digital version now available on Amazon.
