Creationism - National Center for Science Education
Creationism - National Center for Science Education
Creationism - National Center for Science Education
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Pentecostalists typically affirm belief in the “fundamentals,” and in much the<br />
same doctrine as strict “Bible only” fundamentalists, and seem willing to be classified<br />
with fundamentalists. Fundamentalists do not reciprocate this to the same extent,<br />
however, and tend to be suspicious of Pentecostalists as infected with wild (even demoninspired)<br />
extra-biblical beliefs. As Marsden puts it (1980:94):<br />
Despite close resemblances of Pentecostals to “fundamentalists,” Pentecostals were only tangentially part<br />
of the fundamentalism of the 1920s. Pentecostals often identified themselves as “fundamentalists,” read<br />
fundamentalist literature, and adopted anti-Modernist and anti-evolution rhetoric; yet other fundamentalists<br />
seldom welcomed them as allies or called them into their councils. The influence, then, was largely in only<br />
one direction, from fundamentalism to pentecostalism.<br />
Some Pentecostalists are relatively unconcerned with evolution, or give lip<br />
service to anti-evolutionism without much commitment. Others, such as Swaggart, are<br />
fiercely anti-evolutionist. Aimee Semple McPherson, the celebrated preacher of the<br />
1920s, campaigned ruthlessly against evolution from her Angelus Temple in Los<br />
Angeles. Even the most dedicated Pentecostalist creationists (such as Swaggart),<br />
however, tend to be old-earthers. In general, fundamentalists in the narrower sense of the<br />
term tend to be more uni<strong>for</strong>mly committed to strict creationism.<br />
Fundamentalism, as noted earlier, is a trans-denominational phenomenon. There<br />
are relatively few wholly “fundamentalist” denominations, though there are strong<br />
fundamentalist wings in many other denominations. Similarly, few denominations are<br />
officially anti-evolutionist, though creationism is a strong element among members of<br />
many different denominations. None of the mainline denominations opposes evolution:<br />
all either espouse it openly or have at least come to terms with it. (This fact has often<br />
been pointed out by anti-creationists, but it deserves to be more widely known.)<br />
Also already noted is the tension between strict fundamentalism and<br />
Pentecostalism, and also evangelicalism, though these are all closely related (and<br />
overlapping) conservative Protestant movements. Fundamentalists consider some of the<br />
denominations and sects which are most opposed to evolution to be cults, adding<br />
confusion to the “creationist” movement. The Jehovah’s Witnesses, Armstrong’s<br />
Worldwide Church of God, and the Mormons are all considered heretical cults (van<br />
Baalen 1938, Larson 1982, Martin 1985). Some fundamentalists classify Seventh-day<br />
Adeventists as a cult also, primarily because they hold Ellen G. White’s writings to be<br />
divinely inspired (e.g. Hoekema’s The Four Major Cults), but other fundamentalists<br />
consider them marginally orthodox (e.g. fundamentalist cult expert Walter Martin),<br />
noting their acceptance of many fundamentalist doctrines, and in particular their strong<br />
insistence on literal creation and the the Flood.<br />
Of the denominations which oppose evolution, the Seventh-day Adventists have<br />
been perhaps the most consistent foes of evolution. Adventess prophetess Ellen G. White<br />
opposed evolution relentlessly, and advocated strict, young-earth creationism and a<br />
worldwide catastrophic Flood as the shaper of Earth’s geology (White 1958, 1986).<br />
George McCready Price, inspired by White, reinvented the “science” of Flood Geology<br />
and campaigned <strong>for</strong> strict creationism throughout the first half of this century. Seventhday<br />
Adventists have produced an inordinate share of the creationists literature, though<br />
there are not many more than half a million in this country. Among them, besides Price:<br />
E.J. Waggoner (1894), Alonzo Baker and Francis Nichol (1926), Lucas Reed (1919),<br />
Harold W. Clark (1929, 1940, 1946, 1947), Cyril and Donovan Courville (1941, 1971),