Biblical Creation Society
Encyclopedia
The Biblical Creation Society (BCS) is a United Kingdom
-based creationist
organisation founded in 1977 by Scottish minister Nigel M. de S. Cameron and a group of evangelical
students, who were concerned about the popularity of theistic evolution
among conservative Christians, but were repelled by the "wholly negative" attitude of the Evolution Protest Movement. Although inspired by the scientific creationism of John C. Whitcomb
and Henry M. Morris
(authors of The Genesis Flood
), it refused to limit its membership to only Young Earth creationists
, and in its name rejected American attempts to separate scientific creationism from its Biblical roots (a separation rendered unnecessary by the lack of constitutional barriers to teaching creationism in the United Kingdom). The organisation is based in Rugby, Warwickshire
.
The Society's website states that it offers "a range of articles on very diverse subjects - but all seeking to show that the Bible provides a solid foundation not only for our understanding of origins but also for every aspect of life." The BCS publishes a journal, Origins (formerly Biblical Creation), two or three times a year.
The British Centre for Science Education
, which opposes the teaching of creationism in UK schools, acknowledges that the Biblical Creation Society "appears to be the second largest of the UK's dedicated creationist organisations" and "has some very highly educated members and associates".
, where he was a long-serving head of department and later Dean of Engineering. He is described by historian of creationism Ronald Numbers
as the United Kingdom's "most respected creationist scientist of the late twentieth century", a Reformed Baptist
, and a convert to Whitcomb and Morris' flood geology since the 1960s. However, he rejected some elements of their views, particularly dogmatic acceptance of a young Earth (even going so far as to suggest that the first day of creation "might be of indefinite length").
Another prominent member, David C. Watts (Professor of Biomaterial
s Science at the University of Manchester
), went even further in diverging from the American view, described giving primacy to the question of the age of the Earth a "great mistake" and admitted the possibility that life existed before the Edenic creation. His views slowly moved to progressive creationism
.
, seconded by A. E. Wilder-Smith
. Their proposition was "That the Doctrine of Creation is more valid than the Theory of Evolution
". They lost the debate, to Richard Dawkins
and John Maynard Smith
who opposed this proposition, by 198 to 115 votes.
David Tyler represented the Society in a live television debate with journalist Francis Beckett on BBC Breakfast
, on the teaching of intelligent design
in school science lessons, in February 2005.
churches. However, not all evangelicals or Christians agree with their position. Some members of the Research Scientists' Christian Fellowship (who do not individually or collectively identify themselves as "creationist" but which, as one of the professional groups of the UCCF, held to the same Doctrinal Basis as the BCS) met with members of the BCS to identify their points of disagreement. This meeting resulted in the publication of eight questions to the BCS on the application of Biblical authority to the question of evolution.
In 2006 the prominent creationist group Answers in Genesis
posted a page disputing the 'Recolonisation Theory' and accusing its supporters of "compromis[ing] on the truth of Scripture". The Committee of the BCS responded stating that the accusation was against "several members of BCS (who are also contributors to Origins)", that BCS "do[es] not take a collective position on the Recolonisation Model", but that labelling them as "compromisers" was unjustified, and that placing it "alongside 'articles on compromises of Scripture such as the Gap Theory
, the Framework Hypothesis
, Theistic Evolution
and Progressive Creation
' is totally unwarranted."
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
-based creationist
Creationism
Creationism is the religious beliefthat humanity, life, the Earth, and the universe are the creation of a supernatural being, most often referring to the Abrahamic god. As science developed from the 18th century onwards, various views developed which aimed to reconcile science with the Genesis...
organisation founded in 1977 by Scottish minister Nigel M. de S. Cameron and a group of evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
students, who were concerned about the popularity of theistic evolution
Theistic evolution
Theistic evolution or evolutionary creation is a concept that asserts that classical religious teachings about God are compatible with the modern scientific understanding about biological evolution...
among conservative Christians, but were repelled by the "wholly negative" attitude of the Evolution Protest Movement. Although inspired by the scientific creationism of John C. Whitcomb
John C. Whitcomb
John Clement Whitcomb, Jr. is an American Old Testament theologian and young earth creationist. Whitcomb is sometimes credited for establishing the modern young earth creationist/creation science movement by authoring with Henry M...
and Henry M. Morris
Henry M. Morris
Henry Madison Morris was an American young earth creationist and Christian apologist. He was one of the founders of the Creation Research Society and the Institute for Creation Research...
(authors of The Genesis Flood
The Genesis Flood
The Genesis Flood: The Biblical Record and its Scientific Implications is a 1961 book by young earth creationists John C. Whitcomb and Henry M...
), it refused to limit its membership to only Young Earth creationists
Young Earth creationism
Young Earth creationism is the religious belief that Heavens, Earth, and all life on Earth were created by direct acts of the Abrahamic God during a relatively short period, sometime between 5,700 and 10,000 years ago...
, and in its name rejected American attempts to separate scientific creationism from its Biblical roots (a separation rendered unnecessary by the lack of constitutional barriers to teaching creationism in the United Kingdom). The organisation is based in Rugby, Warwickshire
Rugby, Warwickshire
Rugby is a market town in Warwickshire, England, located on the River Avon. The town has a population of 61,988 making it the second largest town in the county...
.
Overview
The Society's formal doctrinal basis is the same as that of Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship (UCCF). However, it has published a manifesto setting out further teachings about creation which the society holds as essential in order to be faithful to the Bible.The Society's website states that it offers "a range of articles on very diverse subjects - but all seeking to show that the Bible provides a solid foundation not only for our understanding of origins but also for every aspect of life." The BCS publishes a journal, Origins (formerly Biblical Creation), two or three times a year.
The British Centre for Science Education
British Centre for Science Education
The British Centre for Science Education is a volunteer-run organization in the United Kingdom that has the goal of "countering creationism within the UK" and was formed to campaign against the teaching of creationism in schools.- Activities :...
, which opposes the teaching of creationism in UK schools, acknowledges that the Biblical Creation Society "appears to be the second largest of the UK's dedicated creationist organisations" and "has some very highly educated members and associates".
Prominent members
Its first president was Edgar H. Andrews, Emeritus Professor of Materials at Queen Mary, University of LondonQueen Mary, University of London
Queen Mary, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
, where he was a long-serving head of department and later Dean of Engineering. He is described by historian of creationism Ronald Numbers
Ronald Numbers
Ronald L. Numbers is an American historian of science. He was awarded the 2008 George Sarton Medal by the History of Science Society for "a lifetime of exceptional scholarly achievement by a distinguished scholar".- Biography :...
as the United Kingdom's "most respected creationist scientist of the late twentieth century", a Reformed Baptist
Reformed Baptist
Reformed Baptists are Baptists that hold to a Calvinist soteriology. They can trace their history through the early modern Particular Baptists of England. The first Reformed Baptist church was formed in the 1630s...
, and a convert to Whitcomb and Morris' flood geology since the 1960s. However, he rejected some elements of their views, particularly dogmatic acceptance of a young Earth (even going so far as to suggest that the first day of creation "might be of indefinite length").
Another prominent member, David C. Watts (Professor of Biomaterial
Biomaterial
A biomaterial is any matter, surface, or construct that interacts with biological systems. The development of biomaterials, as a science, is about fifty years old. The study of biomaterials is called biomaterials science. It has experienced steady and strong growth over its history, with many...
s Science at the University of Manchester
University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...
), went even further in diverging from the American view, described giving primacy to the question of the age of the Earth a "great mistake" and admitted the possibility that life existed before the Edenic creation. His views slowly moved to progressive creationism
Progressive creationism
Progressive creationism is the religious belief that God created new forms of life gradually, over a period of hundreds of millions of years. As a form of Old Earth creationism, it accepts mainstream geological and cosmological estimates for the age of the Earth, but posits that the new "kinds" of...
.
Debates on the creation–evolution controversy
The Society or its officers have been invited to represent the creationist case when the Creation–evolution controversy is debated in the UK. In the 1986 the Society's President, Edgar Andrews, represented the BCS in a debate at the Oxford UnionOxford Union
The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford, Britain, whose membership is drawn primarily but not exclusively from the University of Oxford...
, seconded by A. E. Wilder-Smith
A. E. Wilder-Smith
Professor Arthur Ernest Wilder-Smith, Ph.D. , Dr. es Science , D. Sc., P.D., F.R.S.C. , more commonly known as A. E. Wilder-Smith, was an organic-chemist, humanitarian, lecturer and author.-Biography:He became a professor of pharmacology at the University of Illinois Medical Center in 1963...
. Their proposition was "That the Doctrine of Creation is more valid than the Theory of Evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
". They lost the debate, to Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins
Clinton Richard Dawkins, FRS, FRSL , known as Richard Dawkins, is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author...
and John Maynard Smith
John Maynard Smith
John Maynard Smith,His surname was Maynard Smith, not Smith, nor was it hyphenated. F.R.S. was a British theoretical evolutionary biologist and geneticist. Originally an aeronautical engineer during the Second World War, he took a second degree in genetics under the well-known biologist J.B.S....
who opposed this proposition, by 198 to 115 votes.
David Tyler represented the Society in a live television debate with journalist Francis Beckett on BBC Breakfast
BBC Breakfast
BBC Breakfast is the morning television news programme simulcast on BBC One and the BBC News channel. It is presented live from BBC Television Centre in White City, West London, and contains a mixture of news, sport, weather, business and feature items...
, on the teaching of intelligent design
Intelligent design
Intelligent design is the proposition that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." It is a form of creationism and a contemporary adaptation of the traditional teleological argument for...
in school science lessons, in February 2005.
Disagreements with other Christian groups
The Society has supported conferences organised by evangelicalEvangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
churches. However, not all evangelicals or Christians agree with their position. Some members of the Research Scientists' Christian Fellowship (who do not individually or collectively identify themselves as "creationist" but which, as one of the professional groups of the UCCF, held to the same Doctrinal Basis as the BCS) met with members of the BCS to identify their points of disagreement. This meeting resulted in the publication of eight questions to the BCS on the application of Biblical authority to the question of evolution.
In 2006 the prominent creationist group Answers in Genesis
Answers in Genesis
Answers in Genesis is a non-profit Christian apologetics ministry with a particular focus on supporting Young Earth creationism and a literal interpretation of the Book of Genesis. The organization has offices in the United Kingdom and the United States...
posted a page disputing the 'Recolonisation Theory' and accusing its supporters of "compromis[ing] on the truth of Scripture". The Committee of the BCS responded stating that the accusation was against "several members of BCS (who are also contributors to Origins)", that BCS "do[es] not take a collective position on the Recolonisation Model", but that labelling them as "compromisers" was unjustified, and that placing it "alongside 'articles on compromises of Scripture such as the Gap Theory
Gap Creationism
Gap creationism is a form of Old Earth creationism that posits that the six-day creation, as described in the Book of Genesis, involved literal 24-hour days, but that there was a gap of time between two distinct creations in the first and the second verses of Genesis, explaining...
, the Framework Hypothesis
Framework interpretation (Genesis)
The framework interpretation is an interpretation of the first chapter of the Book of Genesis which holds that the seven-day creation account found therein is not a literal or scientific description of the origins of the universe; rather, it is an ancient religious text which outlines a...
, Theistic Evolution
Theistic evolution
Theistic evolution or evolutionary creation is a concept that asserts that classical religious teachings about God are compatible with the modern scientific understanding about biological evolution...
and Progressive Creation
Progressive creationism
Progressive creationism is the religious belief that God created new forms of life gradually, over a period of hundreds of millions of years. As a form of Old Earth creationism, it accepts mainstream geological and cosmological estimates for the age of the Earth, but posits that the new "kinds" of...
' is totally unwarranted."
People associated with the society
Current officers or employees of the Society include:- Travelling Secretary: J. H. John Peet FRSCRoyal Society of ChemistryThe Royal Society of Chemistry is a learned society in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemical sciences." It was formed in 1980 from the merger of the Chemical Society, the Royal Institute of Chemistry, the Faraday Society and the Society for Analytical Chemistry with a new...
- Secretary: David J. Tyler, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Clothing Design and Technology at Manchester Metropolitan UniversityManchester Metropolitan UniversityManchester Metropolitan University is a university in North West England. Its headquarters and central campus is in the city of Manchester, but there are outlying facilities in the county of Cheshire. It is the third largest university in the United Kingdom in terms of student numbers, behind the...
- Paul Garner, also associated with Biblical Creation Ministries, a separate charity launched by the BCS in 2002
External links
- http://www.biblicalcreation.org.uk - Official site
- Periodical List by University of LeicesterUniversity of LeicesterThe University of Leicester is a research-led university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is a mile south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park and Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College....
listing academic libraries that hold the BCS' journal Origins