Biblical Creation Society


The Biblical Creation Society is a United Kingdom-based creationary organisation founded in 1977 by Scottish minister Nigel M. de S. Cameron, it refused to limit its membership to only Young Earth creationists, and in its name rejected American attempts to separate scientific creationism from its Biblical roots. The organisation is based in Rugby, Warwickshire.

Overview

The Society's formal doctrinal basis is the same as that of Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship. However, it has published a manifesto setting out further teachings about creation which the society holds as essential to be faithful to the Bible.
The Society's website states that it offers "a range of articles on very diverse subjects – but all seeking to show that the Bible provides a solid foundation not only for our understanding of origins but also for every aspect of life." The BCS publishes a journal, Origins, two or three times a year.
The British Centre for Science Education, which opposes the teaching of creationism in UK schools, acknowledges that the Biblical Creation Society "appears to be the second largest of the UK's dedicated creationist organisations" and "has some very highly educated members and associates".

Prominent members

Its first president was Edgar H. Andrews, Emeritus Professor of Materials at Queen Mary, University of London, where he was a long-serving head of department and later Dean of Engineering. He is described by historian of creationism Ronald Numbers as the United Kingdom's "most respected creationist scientist of the late twentieth century", a Reformed Baptist, and a convert to since the 1960s. However, he rejected some elements of their views, particularly dogmatic acceptance of a young Earth.
Another prominent member, David C. Watts, went even further in diverging from the American view, described giving primacy to the question of the age of the Earth a "great mistake" and admitted the possibility that life existed before the Edenic creation. His views slowly moved to progressive creationism.

Debates on the creation–evolution controversy

The Society or its officers have been invited to represent the creationary case when the Creation–evolution controversy is debated in the UK. In the 1986 the Society's President, Edgar Andrews, represented the BCS in a debate at the Oxford Union, seconded by A. E. Wilder-Smith. Their proposition was "That the Doctrine of Creation is more valid than the Theory of Evolution". They lost the debate, to Richard Dawkins and John Maynard Smith who opposed this proposition, by 198 to 115 votes.
David Tyler represented the Society in a live television debate with journalist Francis Beckett on BBC Breakfast, on the teaching of intelligent design in school science lessons, in February 2005.

Disagreements with other Christian groups

The Society has supported conferences organised by evangelical churches. However, not all evangelicals or Christians agree with their position. Some members of the Research Scientists' Christian Fellowship met with members of the BCS to identify their points of disagreement. This meeting resulted in the publication of eight questions to the BCS on the application of Biblical authority to the question of evolution.
In 2006 the prominent creationary group Answers in Genesis posted a page disputing the 'Recolonisation Theory' and accusing its supporters of "compromis on the truth of Scripture". The Committee of the BCS responded stating that the accusation was against "several members of BCS ", that BCS "do not take a collective position on the Recolonisation Model", but that labelling them as "compromisers" was unjustified, and that placing it "alongside 'articles on compromises of Scripture such as the Gap Theory, the Framework Hypothesis, Theistic Evolution and Progressive Creation' is totally unwarranted."

People associated with the society

Current officers or employees of the Society include: