Creation Research Society

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The Creation Research Society (Eng. "Society for Creation Research ") is an organization that represents young earth creationism . It was founded in 1963 by Henry M. Morris and nine like-minded "scientists". It is close to the pseudoscience Intelligent Design developed by Christian fundamentalists in the USA .

organization

The management of the society, the board of directors , consists mainly of professors of various scientific directions at state universities in the United States.

According to its own information, the organization has 1700 members, including 700 eligible voters. Only members who have at least a Master’s degree in natural sciences are entitled to vote . Membership requires the signing of a 4-point Statement of Belief :

  • 1. The Bible is the written Word of God, and because it is inspired throughout, all its assertions are historically and scientifically true in the original autographs. To the student of nature this means that the account of origins in Genesis is a factual presentation of simple historical truths.
  • 2. All basic types of living things, including man, were made by direct creative acts of God during the Creation Week described in Genesis. Whatever biological changes have occurred since Creation Week have accomplished only changes within the original created kinds.
  • 3. The great flood described in Genesis, commonly referred to as the Noachian Flood, was an historic event worldwide in its extent and effect.
  • 4. We are an organization of Christian men and women of science who accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. The account of the special creation of Adam and Eve as one man and one woman and their subsequent fall into sin is the basis for our belief in the necessity of a Savior for all mankind. Therefore, salvation can come only through accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior.

German translation:

  • 1. The Bible is the written word of God, and since it was wholly inspired, all of its claims are historically and scientifically true according to the original Scriptures. For the student of nature, this means that the presentation of the origin in Genesis is the factual presentation of simple historical truth.
  • 2. All basic forms of life, including man, were created by God during the creation week as described in Genesis.
  • 3. The Flood described in Genesis , usually referred to as Noah's Flood, is to be accepted as a worldwide historical fact.
  • 4. We are an organization of Christian men and women of science who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The account of the creation of Adam and Eve as a man and woman and their subsequent fall into sin are the basis of our belief in the need for a Savior for all of humanity. Hence, salvation can only come about through acceptance of Jesus Christ as Savior.

activities

According to their own information, their main functions are:

  • Publication of a quarterly journal
  • Research with the aim of developing and testing creationist models of creation
  • Providing funding and research facilities for creationist researchers
  • Organization of lectures

The Creation Research Society has been publishing the peer-reviewed Creation Research Society Quarterly since 1964 , which Library Journal Online calls the world's most important creation science journal. The journal publishes research reports on scientific topics relevant to the creationism discussion. The bimonthly magazine Creation Matters is also published, with articles on a popular scientific level.

The Creation Research Society also publishes numerous books and multimedia products, from children's books to scientific monographs. The 2004 second edition high school biology book has caused much controversy since it appeared in 1974. It is approved as a textbook in some American states, but in many cases not in public schools because of the separation of church and state.

controversy

Although the Creation Research Society conducts self-portrayal research, it is generally considered a non-scientific mission organization. In particular, the signing of the Statement of Belief, which is required of all members, is not compatible with modern, open-ended science . This statement of belief plays e.g. B. played a major role in the 1982 McLean v. Arkansas Board of Education ruling. In this court case, which was about the admissibility of teaching creationism in public schools in Arkansas, the US Federal judge, after he generally stated the unscientific nature of creationism, specifically on the Creation Research Society the following statement:

“The Creation Research Society uses the same unscientific approach to the subject of creation. Your membership applicants must sign the Book of Genesis 'is historically and scientifically true according to the original scriptures'. The court would never criticize or discredit a person on the basis of their religious beliefs. While everyone is free to undertake scientific research of their own choosing, a method cannot correctly be described as scientific if one has started with inference and ruled out changing it, regardless of the evidence that emerges in the process the investigation shows. "

The publications of the Creation Research Society are also generally viewed as scientifically dubious by the established sciences. Geologist Kevin R. Henke has examined numerous publications by young earth creationists - including those that appeared in CRS publications such as the “Creation Research Society Quarterly” - and found serious deficiencies in them. In their publications, for example, it is criticized that it is often incomprehensible how results come about, that the sources are often inadequate and that unambiguous untruths are disseminated as facts, which is more likely to be equated with disinformation than with new knowledge. The research carried out and published by the Creation Research Society and comparable organizations is therefore not only classified as bad science or pseudoscience by the overwhelming majority of scientists ; Christian representatives of a creation doctrine who accept an old earth also describe the results as unscientific and furthermore criticize the young earth creationists for the fact that their views drove a large number of people from the churches.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Own homepage ( Memento from August 20, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Own homepage ( Memento from February 22, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ Own homepage ( Memento from March 4, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ "Statements of Beliefs" by the Creation Research Society and the Institute for Creation Research (Eng.)
  5. ↑ own homepage ( memento of January 21, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ↑ Library Journal: Creation Research Society ( Memento from June 21, 2007 in the web archive archive.today )
  7. ↑ Catalog on the website ( Memento of December 10, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  8. ^ Biology textbook battles
  9. ↑ The Creation Research Society employs the same unscientific approach to the issue of creationism. Its applicants for membership must subscribe to the belief that the Book of Genesis is "historically and scientifically true in all of the original autographs" (28). The Court would never criticize or discredit any person's testimony based on his or her religious beliefs. While anybody is free to approach a scientific inquiry in any fashion they choose, they cannot properly describe the methodology as scientific, if they start with the conclusion and refuse to change it regardless of the evidence developed during the course of the investigation. ( McLean v. Arkansas Board of Education Transcribed by Clark Dorman [1] )
  10. ↑ Dr Kevin R. Henke exposes John Woodmorappe's fraudulent attacks on radiometric dating and reveals other creationist misrepresentations No Answers in Genesis
  11. ↑ "There are hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of people out there who have abandoned the church because of young earth creationism." About Answers In Creation?