DARWIN, GEOLOGY AND RELIGION; 1859, SCOPES AND THE CREATION MUSEUM. HOW THINGS HAVE CHANGED – FOR THE WORSE

Instead of focussing on Darwin and evolution and its relationship to Christianity, this paper focuses on geology and Christianity. I will consider four key events, the response after 1859; geology and the age of the earth in relation to the Scopes trial, The Genesis Flood in 1961, and AIG’s Creation Museum in Ohio in 2005. McCready Price (1870-1963), the architect of Creationism, said that evolution, ‘all turned on its view of geology, and that if geology were true, the rest would seem to be more or less reasonable.’

After ‘The Origin’ few geologists supported evolution. All were unequivocal about vast geological time, or the progressive nature of the fossil record, except for the evangelical John Salter, to Darwin’s great surprise. Sedgwick also rejected evolution on religious grounds. Most Christians, like Wilberforce, initially opposed evolution BUT accepted geological time. Within a decade or two almost all scientists and most Christians had accepted evolution.

Fast forward to 1925 and the Scopes trial. Geological time was not an issue. The objections was evolution and losing all morality (and opposition to eugenics). Bryan had some sympathy for McCready Price. Due to his prodigious publishing, Price unsettled evangelicals and softened the ground for Morris and Whitcomb’s The Genesis Flood in 1961, jump starting modern creationism, and is more a rejection of geology than an attack on evolution. Through misquotation and misunderstanding, an alternative geology was postulated. With a young earth, evolution was a no-no. In less than 50 years ideas from so inauspicious a book are now spread throughout the world and affect both science and religion of many faiths.

And so to the Creation Museum in Florence, Ohio, which was opened in 2007 portraying a 6000 year old earth with dinosaurs playing with Adam and Eve. It presents an alternative science to be taught throughout the world. Often creationism is seen as the main Christian stance on science

So what do we learn? 150 years have seen a great change, but in 1859 there were no challenges to geology, but are now challenging the teaching of geology throughout the world. As we celebrate Darwin as a great geologist, we need to see the challenge to all the sciences he contributed to. It does not bode well for the future.