The Institute for Creation Research, of Santee, California, is a Protestant organization dedicated to fighting all forms of ideas regarding evolution and proving a completely literal (historically and scientifically speaking) interpretation of the Book of Genesis. They operate a graduate school, an extensive museum and website and publish a short monthly newsletter. We have found the organization to be problematic in three major areas. First, their basic statement of faith is contradictory in a number of respects to Catholic Church teaching. Second, some of their articles indicate an underlying hostility toward the Catholic Church in general and Pope John Paul II in particular. Third, although they certainly work with science to try to prove their points, their basic way of approaching questions regarding evolution and the origins of human life are not compatible with true science. ICR's statement of faith is contradictory to Catholic Teaching First, it's important to understand that the foundational beliefs of the Institute for Creation Research are incompatible with Catholic teaching, whether you look to the great discussions on origins dating back to the time of St. Augustine, the statements of Saint Robert Bellarmine regarding the inquiry into Galileo's teachings, the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913, Pope Pius XII's Humani Generis (an encyclical regarding evolution) or the more current teachings of Pope John Paul II and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The ICR website lists seven Tenets of Biblical Creationism (described as "a unique statement of faith for its faculty and students"). I have chosen the three which I believe to be problematic for discussion here. The remaining tenets are not necessarily problematic.

The Bible, consisting of the thirty-nine canonical books of the Old Testament and the twenty-seven canonical books of the New Testament, is the divinely-inspired revelation of the Creator to man. Its unique, plenary, verbal inspiration guarantees that these writings, as originally and miraculously given, are infallible and completely authoritative on all matters with which they deal, free from error of any sort, scientific and historical as well as moral and theological. (ICR Tenet #2)

The Catholic Church recognizes 46 books of the Old Testament (not 39) and 27 books of the New Testament. Why should this be of concern? Catholics could not agree to this statement of faith, because it is contradictory to our faith (however minor it may seem). This is the first indication that ICR is not just interested in supporting a creationist viewpoint, but in trying to justify a very specific and Protestant understanding of the Bible.

All things in the universe were created and made by God in the six literal days of the creation week described in Genesis 1:1-2:3, and confirmed in Exodus 20:8-11. The creation record is factual, historical, and perspicuous; thus all theories of origins or development which involve evolution in any form are false. All things which now exist are sustained and ordered by God's providential care. However, a part of the spiritual creation, Satan and his angels, rebelled against God after the creation and are attempting to thwart His divine purposes in creation. (ICR Tenet #3)

Catholics are not forbidden from believing that the earth was created by God in a literal six-day week. But the Church certainly does not teach that "all theories of origins or development which involve evolution in any form are false". Also, on a very simple level, the Catholic Church does not teach that the Bible is to be understood in a completely literal manner. The Bible is the inspired Word of God, recorded by man and written in a way understandable to the people of that time. We do not believe that God literally dictated every word to the human writers of the Bible, nor that he revealed every particular in the realm of science and history that might relate to each individual story in order to create an air-tight absolutely literal text. The Catholic Church does teach that there are certain things that we know to be true and that science could never disprove, including: that God created the world and that he directly created man's soul. To a certain extent these simply fall outside the realm of science and so believing these presents no contradiction with an honest scientific study of human origins. However, the timing in which various creatures appeared on earth (in relation to each other) and other particulars of the creation story are touched upon by science and studied by scientists on a regular basis. If you automatically assume to be false any evidence that suggests an older earth (than what the Bible literally suggests) or a longer period of creation, you are not looking at those issues in a true scientific manner. The Catholic Church recognizes the unity of faith and reason - of religion and science - because God is the Lord of All! To simply disregard scientific ideas because they appear contradictory to the faith is to disregard Catholic teaching. St. Robert Bellarmine said that if there appears to be a contradiction, then either the scientific idea is wrong or the religious belief was wrong. If a scientific idea is wrong, there will be scientific AND theological reasons for finding it to be wrong.

The Biblical record of primeval earth history in Genesis I-II is fully historical and perspicuous, including the creation and fall of man, the curse on the creation and its subjection to the bondage of decay, the promised Redeemer, the worldwide cataclysmic deluge in the days of Noah, the post-diluvian renewal of man's commission to subdue the earth (now augmented by the institution of human govemment) and the origin of nations and languages at the tower of Babel. (ICR Tenet #5)

Again, the Catholic Church does not teach that the story of Genesis is fully historical, nor that it is mythological, but in fact teaches that good science helps us to understood Genesis properly. ICR's Article Portrays Hostility toward the Church and the Pope

According to the Vatican Information Service in a news release on October 23, Pope John Paul II was reported as saying that evolution is "more than just a theory." This seems to mean, despite the tenuous wording, that he now considers evolution a scientific fact...... (from Evolution and the Pope by Henry M. Morris, founder and president emeritus of ICR)

It seems rather presumptious for Mr. Morris to change the Pope's words from "more than just a theory" to "a scientific fact". Clearly words mean things, and the Holy Father chose his words for a reason. Naturally, Mr. Morris also makes no distinction here between evolution and Darwinism. His comments are likely to mislead many into thinking that the Pope is embracing Darwinism, which is baloney.

Now comes the Pope with his "surprise" announcement that it is acceptable for Catholics to believe and teach evolutionism. He did include the small proviso that they should still allow God to create each human soul. Atheism thus remains inappropriate for Catholics, and that's a relief to know!..... (from Evolution and the Pope by Henry M. Morris, founder and president emeritus of ICR)

First of all, there is no logical precedent for calling the Pope's "announcement" a "surprise". The Church has consistently taught for generations (if not longer) that certain portions of evolutionary theory, if proven true, would not be contradictory to our faith. What Mr. Morris calls a "small proviso" is the absolute heart of the matter! How can anyone believe the fact that God created each human soul to be less important than exactly when he created the world or whether or not man's body somehow developed from some lesser creature (in other words that man being formed out of dust was somewhat figurative. Really, which is harder to swallow - God making us from dust or from some lower creature? This shouldn't be a philosophical argument about fittingness, but a question of science regarding how God did create us.)

Pope John Paul II was Karol Wojtyla, Cardinal of Krakow when he was named pope in 1978. He had earlier been an actor and was apparently quite comfortable as a government-approved ecclesiastic in Communist Poland. When he was elected pope, his election was enthusiastically endorsed by Poland's Communist Party and by World communism in general.... (from Evolution and the Pope by Henry M. Morris, founder and president emeritus of ICR)

This is some of the most incredible nonsense I've read in a while. While some of the particulars are true (I understand that the Communists endorsed his appointment over another bishop - apparently he looked like a "friendly" candidate on paper), the idea that Communists enthusiastically endorsed his election as Pope is utterly ridiculous. Even secular news agencies have traced attempts to kill the Pope to communists who knew his message was a threat to their very existence. This statement smacks so strongly of the most bizarre sort of conspiracy theorism that I find it difficult to take seriously anything this man says.

There are more and more signs that such globalism is also the aim of Pope John Paul II and other modern liberal Catholics. If so, this publicized commitment to evolutionism would contribute substantially to such a goal. All world religions -- including most of mainline Protestantism, as well as Hinduism, Buddhism, and the rest -- except for Biblical Christianity, Orthodox Judaism, and Fundamentalist Islam, have embraced some form of evolutionism (either theistic, deistic, or pantheistic) and rejected or allegorized the true record of origins in Genesis. The pope has participated in important meetings with leaders of Communism, Zen Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Lamaism, and others, as well as the World Council of Churches, the Trilateral Commission, the B'nai B'rith of liberal Judaism, and a wide assortment of still others. He has traveled to India, Australia, the United States, and all over the world in his bullet-proof "popemobile," speaking to immense crowds everywhere. ..... (from Evolution and the Pope by Henry M. Morris, founder and president emeritus of ICR)

It is typical of conspiracy theorists to condemn people based on association. The Pope has participated in meetings with various religious leaders. What in the world would these people say about Jesus if they lived in his time? Our Lord ate with tax collectors and prostitutes! Meeting with someone or even dining with someone in no way implies consent toward their behavior or agreement with their positions! How can Our Lord or the Pope or anyone else work to convert other people unless they meet with them for goodness sake??? This whole article gives me the impression that ICR is deliberately trying to separate Catholics from the Pope and the Catholic Church by means of the complex issue of evolution. ICR's approach is incompatible with true science While their noble intention is to bring science into its proper place as the 'handmaiden' of theology, the Institute for Creation Research is unfortunately taking such a narrow view of theology (Sola Scriptura and then some!) that it clouds their scientific thinking. And it seems that when push comes to shove their means of reconciliation is to break the scientific process by ignoring certain data to get to a preconceived conclusion. In other words, they believe many things which are true, but their flawed theology leads to questionable science. Some Catholic organizations have been drawn in by ICR's persuasive arguments, and so Catholic books, websites and other resources that rely upon ICR's conclusions should be viewed with some skepticism. Reviewed by J.V.H. and A.V.H. (2-21-02)