Editing Progressive creationism (section)

{{Short description|Belief that God created life gradually}}
{{creationism2}}

'''Progressive creationism'''  is the religious belief that [[God]] created new forms of life gradually over a period of hundreds of millions of years. As a form of [[old Earth creationism]], it accepts mainstream [[geological]] and [[cosmology|cosmological]] estimates for the [[age of the Earth]], some tenets of [[biology]] such as [[microevolution]] as well as [[archaeology]] to make its case.  In this view creation occurred in rapid bursts in which all "kinds" of plants and animals appear in stages lasting millions of years.  The bursts are followed by periods of stasis or equilibrium to accommodate new arrivals.  These bursts represent instances of [[God]] creating new types of organisms by divine intervention.  As viewed from the archaeological record, progressive creationism holds that "species do not gradually appear by the steady transformation of its ancestors; [but] appear all at once and "fully formed."<ref>Gould, Stephen J. ''The Panda's Thumb'' (New York: W.W. Norton & CO., 1982), page 182.</ref>

The view rejects [[macroevolution]], claiming it is biologically untenable and not supported by the [[fossil record]],<ref>Bocchino, Peter; Geisler, Norman "Unshakable Foundations" (Minneapolis: Bethany House., 2001). Pages 141-188</ref> as well as rejects the concept of universal descent from a [[last universal common ancestor]]. Thus the evidence for macroevolution is claimed to be false, but microevolution is accepted as a genetic parameter designed by the Creator into the fabric of genetics to allow for environmental adaptations and survival. Generally, it is viewed by proponents as a middle ground between [[Young Earth Creationism|literal creationism]] and [[theistic evolution]].