Creation Science Rebuttals -

Thomas Jefferson and the Creator

10 January 2006

     The 10 January 06 daily feature for the young earth creation science ministry Creation Moments discusses Thomas Jefferson.

     The author tells about Jefferson's ability to learn languages, and the respect this man commanded from far-reaching places.  He was president of America's leading scientific organization of the time, the American Philosophical Society.

     Amazingly, the young earth author of this article writes, "One might think that Jefferson would have accepted the evolutionary ideas that were being circulated then by such people as Charles Darwin's grandfather."  Since Jefferson died in 1826, long before evolution became popular (after Origin of Species, 1859),  I had to dig deeper into this mysterious claim.

     Charles Darwin came up with the idea of natural selection in the year 1838, twelve years after Jefferson died, and they were not well known until after Origin of Species.  Since the formalizing of the theory of evolution was after Jefferson, what about Grandpa Darwin?  The young earth author made the claim that evolutionary ideas were being circulated by Darwin's grandfather, Erasmus Darwin.   His contribution was a book called Zoonomia, which contained a system of pathology.  As it turns out, this book does indeed include some early evolutionary thought.  As I discovered, Erasmus was familiar, and possibly added to, the earlier evolutionary thinking of a man named James Burnett.

     So yes, there were earlier precursors to the theory of evolution being discussed in scientific circles.  And it does appear that Jefferson rejected them (although, as Creation Moments properly points out, Jefferson was a Diest and not a Christian).

     So what does this mean to the creation-evolution debate?  Absolutely nothing.  Evolution was in its infancy, and it is much further developed as a theory now.  What would Thomas Jefferson say today?  Does it matter?  Not one bit.  You see, while the advice and beliefs of our forefathers are important, they should not be taken as the truth.  Today, we have much more knowledge at our fingertips (the average ninth-grader knows more about evolution that Jefferson did).  The real question is...what are you going to do with this knowledge?  (For more on relying on the beliefs of our forefathers, see Church Fathers.)

     Want to learn more about creation science?  Are the claims of young earth creation science ministries truthful?  Visit the young earth creation science ministry rebuttal home page for more truth in creation science.