The Netherlands is, besides the United States, one of the few countries where debates about creationism have been raging for decades. Strict creationism has become deeply rooted in traditional Reformed (Calvinist) circles, which is all the more remarkable as it stemmed from a very different culture and theological tradition. This essay analyses the historical implantation of this foreign element in Dutch soil by investigating the long-term interaction between American creationism and Dutch neo-Calvinism, a movement emerging in the late nineteenth century, which attempted to bring classical Calvinism into rapport with modern times. The heated debates about evolution in the interbellum period as well as in the sixties---periods characterized by a cultural reorientation of the Dutch Calvinists---turn out to have played a crucial role. In the interbellum period, leading Dutch theologians---fiercely challenged by Calvinist scientists---imported US flood geology in an attempt to stem the process of modernisation in the Calvinist subculture. In the sixties many Calvinists abandoned their resistance to evolutionary theory, but creationism continued to play a prominent role as the neo-Calvinist tradition was upheld by an orthodox minority, who (re-)embraced the reviving Genesis Flood creationism. The appropriation of American creationism was eased by the earlier Calvinist-creationist connection, but also by inventing a Calvinist-creationist tradition, suggesting continuity with the ideas of the founding fathers of neo-Calvinism. This article aims to contribute to a better understanding of what Ronald L. Numbers has recently called the globalization of the science-and-religion dialogue.
...More
Article
Flipse, Abraham C.;
(2012)
The Origins of Creationism in the Netherlands: The Evolution Debate among Twentieth-Century Dutch Neo-Calvinists
(/isis/citation/CBB001231225/)
Thesis
Christopher W. Howell;
(2021)
Designer Science: A History of Intelligent Design in America
(/isis/citation/CBB325390187/)
Book
Lienesch, Michael;
(2007)
In the Beginning: Fundamentalism, the Scopes Trial, and the Making of the Antievolution Movement
(/isis/citation/CBB000741873/)
Article
Krasnodębski, Marcin;
(2014)
Constructing Creationists: French and British Narratives and Policies in the Wake of the Resurgence of Anti-Evolution Movements
(/isis/citation/CBB001421064/)
Thesis
Yegge, John G.;
(2014)
A Historical Analysis of the Relationship of Faith and Science and its Significance within Education
(/isis/citation/CBB001567599/)
Book
Singham, Mano;
(2011)
God vs. Darwin: The War between Evolution and Creationism in the Classroom
(/isis/citation/CBB001033153/)
Book
Bowler, Peter J.;
(2007)
Monkey Trials and Gorilla Sermons: Evolution and Christianity from Darwin to Intelligent Design
(/isis/citation/CBB000774288/)
Chapter
Ruse, Michael;
(2005)
Darwinism and Christianity: Must They Remain at War or Is Peace Possible?
(/isis/citation/CBB000773845/)
Article
Flipse, Abraham C.;
(2008)
Against the Science-Religion Conflict: The Genesis of a Calvinist Science Faculty in the Netherlands in the Early-Twentieth-Century
(/isis/citation/CBB000774844/)
Book
Laats, Adam;
(2010)
Fundamentalism and Education in the Scopes Era: God, Darwin, and the Roots of America's Culture Wars
(/isis/citation/CBB001033489/)
Article
Numbers, Ronald L.;
(2009)
Darwinisme, naturvidenskab og religion---en statusrapport
(/isis/citation/CBB001021779/)
Article
White, Christopher G.;
(2006)
Minds Intensely Unsettled: Phrenology, Experience, and the American Pursuit of Spiritual Assurance, 1830--1880
(/isis/citation/CBB000760007/)
Chapter
Kutschera, Ulrich;
(2002)
Evolution und christlicher Glaube: Kreationismus in Deutschland
(/isis/citation/CBB000500677/)
Article
Hildering, Peter;
Consoli, Luca;
Born, Riyan van den;
(2013)
Denying Darwin: Views on Science in the Rejection of Evolution by Dutch Protestants
(/isis/citation/CBB001320576/)
Book
Cunningham, Conor;
(2010)
Darwin's Pious Idea: Why the Ultra-Darwinists and Creationists Both Get It Wrong
(/isis/citation/CBB001250908/)
Book
Towne, Margaret Gray;
(2003)
Honest to Genesis
(/isis/citation/CBB000411028/)
Book
Adam Laats;
Harvey Siegel;
(2016)
Teaching Evolution in a Creation Nation
(/isis/citation/CBB603541652/)
Article
Sheldon, Myrna Perez;
(2014)
Claiming Darwin: Stephen Jay Gould in Contests over Evolutionary Orthodoxy and Public Perception, 1977--2002
(/isis/citation/CBB001420097/)
Book
Moore, John A.;
(2002)
From Genesis to Genetics: The Case of Evolution and Creationism
(/isis/citation/CBB000201491/)
Article
Boudry, Maarten;
Blancke, Stefaan;
Braeckman, Johan;
(2012)
Grist to the Mill of Anti-Evolutionism: The Failed Strategy of Ruling the Supernatural Out of Science by Philosophical Fiat
(/isis/citation/CBB001250455/)
Be the first to comment!