Creation and Evolution

The Issue

Christians confess that God created the world. The questions in dispute are "how" and "how long." Positions diverge over whether Genesis 1–2 should be read as a literal historical record and over how to regard scientific explanations of the age of the universe and of biological evolution.

Three Positions

• Young-earth creationism: Holds that God created the world in six 24-hour days and that the earth is roughly ten thousand years old or less. It reads the genealogies and Noah's flood as literal history. "Creation science" is the movement that seeks to support this position scientifically. Its proponents present it as the clearest way to uphold the authority of Scripture.
• Old-earth creationism: Accepts the scientific account that the universe and the earth are very old, while holding that God specially created life and human beings. It interprets the "days" of creation as long ages (the day-age theory) or reads Genesis 1 as a literary framework.
• Theistic evolution (evolutionary creation): Holds that God created life through the process of evolution. It reads Genesis as a confession of faith that speaks of "who" created and "why," not as a science textbook.

There is also intelligent design, which argues that the complexity of life points to a designer.

Mutual Criticisms

Young-earth proponents criticize the other positions for compromising Scripture to accommodate science, arguing that accepting death before Adam undermines the doctrines of sin and redemption. Their opponents criticize young-earth creationism for ignoring the literary character of the biblical text and for clashing unnecessarily with mainstream science, thereby driving younger generations away from the faith. Whether Adam was a historical person is an important question for all three positions.

The Situation in the Korean Church

After the Korea Association of Creation Research was founded in the early 1980s, young-earth creationism spread widely in Korea through church education programs and seminars. More recently, books and gatherings introducing other positions have multiplied among theologians and scientists who are Christians, and public controversies have arisen over the treatment of evolution in school textbooks and over the creation-science activities of candidates for public office. Most denominations confess the doctrine of creation but have not adopted any particular position as official doctrine.