Statement of faith

The divine comedy Creationism

Running gags

Biblical literalism Young/Old Earth Intelligent design Creation scientists

Jokes aside

Plate tectonics K-Pg extinction event Fossil record Punctuated equilibrium

Blooper reel

Intelligent design and academic freedom Answers Research Journal volume 3 Paradoxe de l'omnipotence Kent E. Hovind v. RationalMedia Foundation

Evolutionism debunkers

Kurt Wise Desmond Paul Allen Paul Broun Encyclopedia of American Loons v - t - e

Real scientists are supposed to start with the actual evidence, and see what conclusions they can validly draw from that evidence. While this is not absolutely true 100% of the time — real scientists are human beings, and as such, can and do display psychological foibles from time to time — it is overwhelmingly more common to see real scientists who do work with the evidence than any alternative scenario.

Creationists are different; rather than start with the evidence and end with whatever conclusion(s) may be validly drawn from the evidence, they start with a desired conclusion — "a literal interpretation of the Bible is historically accurate" — and end by working out whatever evidence is needed to support their pre-defined conclusion. We know this is how creationists work, because they openly admit that this is how they work! Specifically, many creationist organizations have a statement of faith which its members are required to sign in order to keep them on the objective of affirming Biblical literalism and denying evolution. Since no organization of real scientists requires its members to adhere to any specific theory, one can only wonder why creationists (who are real scientists, and are not just religious fanatics — ask them yourself, they'll tell you) feel the need for such.

Examples

Statements of faith, as used by Creationists, are the very antithesis of scientific inquiry. Here are the statements of faith (or excerpts thereof) of prominent Creationist organizations, and of CreationWiki:

• Answers in Genesis — "No apparent, perceived or claimed evidence in any field, including history and chronology, can be valid if it contradicts the Scriptural record."
• Institute for Creation Research — "All things in the universe were created and made by God in the six literal days of the creation week described in Genesis 1:1-2:3, and confirmed in Exodus 20:8-11. The creation record is factual, historical, and perspicuous; thus all theories of origins or development which involve evolution in any form are false. All things which now exist are sustained and ordered by God's providential care. However, a part of the spiritual creation, Satan and his angels, rebelled against God after the creation and are attempting to thwart His divine purposes in creation."
• Creation Research Society — "All members must subscribe to the following 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."
• CreationWiki — "All contributing editors must believe the universe and life on earth were created by God. Non-creationists are prohibited from editing articles, except for spelling and grammar corrections."
• Biola University — "The Bible, consisting of all the books of the Old and New Testaments, is the Word of God, a supernaturally given revelation from God Himself, concerning Himself, His being, nature, character, will and purposes; and concerning man, his nature, need and duty and destiny. The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are without error or misstatement in their moral and spiritual teaching and record of historical facts. They are without error or defect of any kind."
• Houston Baptist University — "[…] all those who become associated with Houston Baptist University as a trustee, officer, member of the faculty or of the staff, and who perform work connected with the educational activities of the University, must believe in the divine inspiration of the Bible, both the Old Testament and New Testament, that man was directly created by God, the virgin birth of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, as the Son of God, that He died for the sins of all men and thereafter arose from the grave, that by repentance and the acceptance of and belief in Him, by the grace of God, the individual is saved from eternal damnation and receives eternal life in the presence of God; and it is further resolved that the ultimate teachings in this University shall never be inconsistent with the above principles."
• Wheaton College — "WE BELIEVE that God has revealed Himself and His truth in the created order, in the Scriptures, and supremely in Jesus Christ; and that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are verbally inspired by God and inerrant in the original writing, so that they are fully trustworthy and of supreme and final authority in all they say."