Overview

In the eighteenth century the dominance of biblical geology as stated in the Book of Genesis was challenged by new discoveries, the undermining of ancient authority, and a general spirit of revolution. Natural causes for the formation and shaping of the geological features were stressed by some, the power of unnatural catastrophes by others. Uneasy battle lines were drawn between those who took the Bible literally, those who sought compromise, and those who rejected biblical creation. Often debates and theories were long on words, and short on evidence. Creationists won the short-term battles, and geologists retreated to less controversial areas, until the argument resurfaced with the evolutionary theories of Charles Darwin (1809-1882).

Background

The ancient Greek philosophers speculated widely on the creation and formation of the Earth and its geological features. The most enduring ideas where those of Plato (427-347 B.C.), as...