Credit: Subaru/ P. Capak (SSC/Caltech)
- In religion, philosophy, science and technology
- Creation ex nihilo, the concept that matter comes “from nothing”
- Matter creation, the appearance of elementary particles, in physical processes such as pair production
- Ayin and Yesh, the kabbalistic concept of creation
- Genesis creation narrative, the Biblical accounts of creation
- Creationism, the belief that the universe was created
- Creation myth, stories of the supernatural creation of the Earth
See also
- Abiogenesis
- Big Bang
- Cosmogony
- Creationism
- Creaton
- Creator (disambiguation)
- Invention
- Universe
- Ein Sof
Creationism
Creationism is the belief that the Universe and living organisms originate “from specific acts of divine creation.”[2][3] For young Earth creationists, this includes a literalistic reading of the Book of Genesis and the rejection of evolution.[4] As science developed during the 18th century and forward, various views aimed at reconciling the Abrahamic and Genesis creation narratives with science developed in Western societies.[5] Those holding that species had been created separately (such as Philip Gosse in 1857) were generally called “advocates of creation” but were also called “creationists,” as in private correspondence between Charles Darwin and his friends. As the creation–evolution controversy developed over time, the term “anti-evolutionists” became common. In 1929 in the United States, the term “creationism” first became associated with Christian fundamentalists, specifically with their rejection of human evolution and belief in a young Earth—although this usage was contested by other groups, such as old Earth creationists and evolutionary creationists, who hold different concepts of creation, such as the acceptance of the age of the Earth and biological evolution as understood by the scientific community.[4][6][7]
Today, the American Scientific Affiliation, a prominent religious organisation in the US, recognizes that there are different opinions among creationists on the method of creation, while acknowledging unity on the Abrahamic belief that God “created the universe.”[8][9] Since the 1920s, literalist creationism in America has contested scientific theories, such as that of evolution,[10][11][12] which derive from natural observations of the Universe and life. Literalist creationists[13] believe that evolution cannot adequately account for the history, diversity, and complexity of life on Earth.[14] Fundamentalist creationists of the Christian faith usually base their belief on a literal reading of the Genesis creation narrative.[13][15] Other religions have different deity-led creation myths,[note 1][16][17][18] while different members of individual faiths vary in their acceptance of scientific findings.
When scientific research produces empirical evidence and theoretical conclusions which contradict a literalist creationist interpretation of scripture, young Earth creationists often reject the conclusions of the research[19] or its underlying scientific theories[20] or its methodology.[21] This tendency has led to political and theological controversy.[10] Two disciplines somewhat allied with creationism—creation science and intelligent design—have been labelled “pseudoscience” by scientists.[22][23] The most notable disputes concern the evolution of living organisms, the idea of common descent, the geological history of the Earth, the formation of the solar system and the origin of the universe.[24][25][26][27]
Theistic evolution, also known as evolutionary creationism, reconciles theistic religious beliefs with scientific findings on the age of the Earth and the process of evolution. It includes a range of beliefs, including views described as evolutionary creationism and some forms of old Earth creationism, all of which embrace the findings of modern science and uphold classical religious teachings about God and creation.[28][29]
The Universe: Big Bang to Now in 10 Easy Steps
by Denise Chow, SPACE.com Staff Writer | October 18, 2011 05:00pm ET
How the Universe Came to Be
10. How It All Started
Credit: NASA/WMAP
9. The Universe’s First Growth Spurt
Credit: NASA, ESA, and S. Beckwith (STScI) and the HUDF Team
8. Too Hot to Shine
Credit: NASA/WMAP
7. Let There Be Light
Credit: ESA/ LFI & HFI Consortia
6. Emerging from the Cosmic Dark Ages
Credit: ESA XMM-Newton/EPIC, LBT/LBC, AIP (J. Kohnert)
5. More Stars and More Galaxies
Credit: ESA, Hubble, NASA
4. Birth of Our Solar System
Credit: NASA
3. The Invisible Stuff in the Universe
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/CfA/M.Markevitch et al.; Optical: NASA/STScI; Magellan/U.Arizona/D.Clowe et al.; Lensing Map: NASA/STScI; ESO WFI; Magellan/U.Arizona/D.Clowe et al.
2. The Expanding and Accelerating Universe
Credit: NASA, ESA, D. Coe (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, and Space Telescope Science Institute), N. Benitez (Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia, Spain), T. Broadhurst (University of the Basque Country, Spain), and H. Ford
1. Still a Lot to Learn
Credit: NASA