Abstract
Words are not innocent, like for example chairs or pebbles on the beach. Words can injure or kill. Words can be misappropriated and instead of saying what they mean can start misleading, leading astray. Something of this sort has happened recently to two verbal expressions: “creationism” (“creation science”) and “intelligent design.” The term “creationism” was well-grounded in the philosophical and theological tradition and was in standard use in the sense of the Christian doctrine of the creation of the world by God. But the word has been misappropriated by fundamentalist groups in the USA who are convinced that the admission of the biological theory of evolution is in conflict with the Christian religion, claiming that the literal interpretation of Chap. 1 of the Book of Genesis should be accorded the name “creation science” and calling for “equal rights” for this “science” with the theories of modern biology. It took quite a long time for these ideas to reach Europe from the United States, nonetheless now, when someone (even in Europe) admits to a belief that the world was created he is almost automatically branded a Fundamentalist. I am not going to argue with “creation science.” Anyone who has read the previous chapters will see how profoundly unwarranted that standpoint is.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Heller, M. (2009). Creation and Evolution. In: Ultimate Explanations of the Universe. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02103-9_20
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-02103-9_20
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-02102-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-02103-9
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)