Special creation describes a procedure for the origin of life on earth that is promoted by "special creationists" following an agenda known as "special creationism". Special creation has different meanings in different contexts.
"We do not know how the Creator created, [or] what processes He used, for He used processes which are not now operating anywhere in the natural universe. This is why we refer to creation as special creation. We cannot discover by scientific investigation anything about the creative processes used by the Creator."[1]
The Creation Research Society requires that members agree to a set of beliefs, including, "Evolution did not happen. Rather, the earth and the rest of the universe came into existence by special creation, as described in the Bible."[2]
Dennis Jensen of the American Scientific Affiliation states that "Special creation" means that complex living things did not descend from simpler ones but were created independently.[3]
James B. Stenson writes that for fundamentalists, "special creation" follows from a literal reading of the Genesis account; there is a "special creation" of each separate species in six 24 hour days, starting a few thousand years ago.[4]
The Vatican has defined "special creation" in a different way.
The Pontifical Biblical Commission commissioned by Pope Pius X in 1909 stated that "special creation" only applied to man, not to the other species.[4]
^ abEVOLUTION: A CATHOLIC PERSPECTIVE, James B. Stenson, Catholic Position Papers, Series A, Number 116, March, 1984, Japan Edition, Seido Foundation for the Advancement of Education, 12-6 Funado-Cho, Ashiya-Shi Japan.
