Position · 1961

Young Earth Creationism

The view that God created the universe in six ordinary days roughly 6,000 to 10,000 years ago, and that Noah’s flood was a global event that explains much of the geological record.

Belief in a young earth is old, but the modern movement took shape with The Genesis Flood (1961) by John Whitcomb and Henry Morris. Morris founded the Institute for Creation Research in 1970. Holders see the view as the plain reading of Genesis and as tied to the doctrine that death entered the world through Adam’s sin. It is common in Evangelical and Baptist churches, though no major tradition makes it official teaching. Critics, including many Christian scientists, argue that it conflicts with well-established evidence from geology, astronomy and biology.