Beliefs and Stated Purpose
The statement of belief was an issue of discussion among the 10 founders during its formation, with typical wrangling over wording, and little consensus beyond keeping out anyone supportive of evolution. There was concern that Flood Geology would be able to explain all geologic evidence and whether the six literal-day creation included the creation of the universe.
The CRS adopted the following statement of belief, mandatory for all members:
- 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.
- 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.
- The great flood described in Genesis, commonly referred to as the Noachian Flood, was an historic event worldwide in its extent and effect.
- 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.
The society's stated purpose is "publication and research which impinge on creation as an alternate view of origins".
The CRS' statement of belief was cited in the U.S. Supreme Court ruling of Edwards v. Aguillard. Its mandate that members affirm that the origin story described in Genesis was an established fact was cited by Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr. as evidence there was a fundamentalist sectarian objective in the field of creation science and in Louisiana's 1981 Balanced Treatment Act, a law requiring creation science instruction in the state's public schools wherever scientific evolution was taught. The judge ruled, "the intent of the Louisiana Legislature was to promote a particular religious belief" and therefore the teaching of creationism was unconstitutional.
Read more about this topic: Creation Research Society
Famous quotes containing the words beliefs, stated and/or purpose:
“To begin to use cultural forces for the good of our daughters we must first shake ourselves awake from the cultural trance we all live in. This is no small matter, to untangle our true beliefs from what we have been taught to believe about who and what girls and women are.”
—Jeanne Elium (20th century)
“[T]he Congregational minister in a neighboring town definitely stated that ‘the same spirit which drove the herd of swine into the sea drove the Baptists into the water, and that they were hurried along by the devil until the rite was performed.’”
—For the State of Vermont, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“A major misunderstanding of child rearing has been the idea that meeting a child’s needs is an end in itself, for the purpose of the child’s mental health. Mothers have not understood that this is but one step in social development, the goal of which is to help a child begin to consider others. As a result, they often have not considered their children but have instead allowed their children’s reality to take precedence, out of a fear of damaging them emotionally.”
—Elaine Heffner (20th century)