hi! person raised young-earth creationist here! i was so incredibly committed to this belief system while i was growing up but it's just... not holding together. at the moment i don't really know what to believe. i don't really know how to begin relearning everything, since i'm realizing that the only thing i've been taught is strict creationism. and i don't want to discard faith along with this rigid worldview, but i also don't know where to find resources for this. it was nice to have all the answers, much harder to face this uncertainty.
if you have any advice or resources you can point me to, i'd appreciate it! thanks for your time and openness!
The first thing I want to say is that it is incredibly brave of you to be looking at YEC critically. A lot of people are going to be mad at you from all sides - I’m not. I’m really proud of you for taking a look at this and asking if it works and sticks together.
Most resources can be divided into three categories: debunking (usually aimed at people who already believe in evolution to some degree), science education (for teaching people what “evolutionists” actually believe and why, and explaining basic principles and boosting scientific literacy without a religious bias) and reassurance (usually aimed at helping YEC Christians explore other faith-based worldviews and perspectives without feeling like they’re being a bad Christian).
Ultimately, the questions you’re going to have to answer for yourself when navigating what I share with you are these three:
How comfortable am I with science? Do you understand and trust that the scientific method is accurate? Have you read a lot of non-Creationist science books and/or been to a public school that teaches evolution? Are you secure enough in your comprehension of what “evolutionists” actually believe that you don’t need basic education? Is part of what’s drawing you away from YEC that you understand the “secular” science enough to see the cracks in creationist arguments?
How secure in my faith am I? Do you need explanations of how Christianity is compatible with evolutionary biology? Do you need reassurance that what you’re doing isn’t evil? Are you more comfortable with arguments that center Christian faith, and are those going to be what you come back to for perspective and grounding?
How Christian-friendly do these resources need to be? Is it enough for a documentary or educational text or article to be made by someone who isn’t hostile to religion? Will casual digs at your faith upset you? Will an argument that debunks creationism while loudly implying that this debunks all of Christianity destabilize or trigger you? Plenty of good science communication is dismissive of Christianity, but features solid work and easily accessible sources - would that be helpful or hurtful?
I’m going to link a number of resources, from both Christian and secular perspectives. Not all of them will be entry-level accessible but they’re all worth taking a look at. My askbox and DMs are also open if there are specific arguments or talking points you have questions about (radiometric dating, uniformitarian geology vs flood geology, irreducible complexity, macro- vs microevolution, etc).
Dr. Francis Collins’s BioLogos Foundation - this organization is a Christian nonprofit that advances and argues for theistic evolution, and is intended to serve as a gentle launching point for YECs to explore theistic evolution. Heavily faith-based, structured a bit like the Answers in Genesis website. Collins is one of the scientists behind the Human Genome Project, and has worked for the US government across multiple presidential administrations while maintaining his devout faith. This is a good place to start if you’re looking for reassurance that you can still be a Christian while holding that evolution is true.
A seven part series from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s DNA Learning Center discussing a few specific creationist talking points, particularly around the Grand Canyon and irreducible complexity. There is also a brief examination of how old YEC is as a philosophy. This is very much in the “debunking” sphere - the people talking do believe that science and religion can coexist, this is mentioned in the last part, but they aren’t Christians and aren’t affirming Christianity in any way.
Taking on creationism, a published scientific journal article discussing how to counter creationist pseudoscience with scientific fact. This is not an entry-level text, but if you have a high level of familiarity with academic writing and a high level of familiarity with secular science it’s worth a read. It is a fairly hostile-to-intelligent-design article but I include it because it gives a sense of how seriously scientists take this stuff, and it’s also good to see how true seculars actually discuss creationism (as opposed to how creationist texts will characterize secular scientists as gleefully Bad or ideologically motivated to undo religion out of personal enmity)
TalkOrigins - this is heavy on the debunking, and is generally dismissive of religion, but has several point by point takedowns of YEC beliefs that explain clearly why they’re erroneous or misrepresenting the facts.
YouTube: Milo Rossi aka Miniminuteman - a science communicator and educator focusing on debunking archaeological conspiracy theories including creationist propaganda. Explicitly religion-neutral, including telling his followers not to harass religious people.
YouTube: Mantracks: A True Story of Fake Fossils - a documentary by filmmaker Dan Olson about creationist fraud around dinosaur footprints.
YouTube: Crash Course, a free education channel discussing all kinds of things like biology, geology, history, astronomy, and chemistry. Included because if you’ve prioritized creationist science textbooks and Christian perspectives on learning, especially if you were homeschooled or went to a religious school or attended school in a town where everyone was Christian, seeing how other people discuss the world will be helpful.
Please please please come to me if you have any further questions - my askbox is always open. You do not have to give up your faith to give up YEC. You can keep it. I promise you that.
