On the historical roots of creationism and intelligent design: German Allmacht and Darwinian evolution in context

Abstract

As detailed in a Letter published in Science in 2017, the adherents of creationism and intelligent design are still active in promoting their biblical-literalist views of the origin and evolution of life on Earth. In this contribution, we take a look at this ideological phenomenon in the USA and analyze the philosophical roots of this ongoing movement. Specifically, we discuss Vernon Kellogg’s book entitled Headquarters Nights (1917) with reference to the German ‘Allmacht’ (English—omnipotence) and Darwinian evolution to demonstrate how this publication bolstered the development of active anti-evolutionism in the USA among American fundamentalist Christians, inclusive of the Intelligent Design (ID)-agenda. The current activities of creationist associations in the USA and Germany are summarized, with reference to a new pro-ID-group established in Austria in 2019 that is sponsored by the Discovery Institute in Seattle, Washington (USA).