Genesis, Creation, and Creationism

Book excerpt: 'Genesis, Creation, and Creationism' is an important new study that explores all sides of the creationism debate and gives a sound and spiritually rich way of understanding the creation stories of Genesis. -------------------- Creationism is an ardently proclaimed and widely held point of view, involving both scientific and biblical data. While much has been written about Òscientific creationism, much less is available about its counterpart, Òbiblical creationism. 'Genesis, Creation, and Creationism' provides this much-needed evaluation of creationism by uniquely allowing the Bible to speak for itself. Author Lloyd R. Bailey, who is a biblical scholar and also holds a degree in physics, begins his investigation by inviting all sides of the creationism debate to set aside their prejudices for or against the theory of evolution and read the biblical story of creation in Genesis (1:1-2, 4a). He then examines the creationist phenomenon and compares this data with the agenda of the Òyoung earth creationist. All the while, Bailey enhances the Bible's ability to speak for itself by withholding judgment on many of the assumptions of historical-critical biblical scholarship (for example, the date and authorship of Genesis). The result is a scientifically straightforward study of Genesis that explicitly answers fundamentalist questions on creationism. 'Genesis, Creation, and Creationism' is a thought-provoking study on the relationship of science and religion that speaks to all Christian denominations. It provides excellent resource material for high school science classes, religion classes, and for seminarians engaged in biblical studies.