Abstract

This paper answers the question of whether or not a Christian has to be a
Young Earth creationist. The article opens with the typology of the current
positions in the creation-evolution debate. Basing itself on this typology,
it presents Young Earth creationism as one of four positions, the only one
that denies the concept of “deep time”. Next, the paper presents the genesis
of Young Earth creationism in Western thought. In the third part there is a
brief response to the argument of the proponents of a Young Earth that early
Christianity supported the young age of the universe. In the following part
it is explained that Young Earth creationism confuses the scientific with
the theological statements. At the end, a document of the Catholic Church
is presented which explains that Catholics can understand the “day” in the
creation account as either a natural day or any other period of time. This
makes room for other positions within Catholic orthodoxy apart from that
of a Young Earth.