At least from the time of Constantine to the Middle Ages, the Church was involved in the world – i.e., public affairs and endeavors such as philosophy. The Reformation was partly a reaction against this, refocusing the church on spiritual matters and leaving worldly matters to others, that is, to Christians outside the church’s official structure. The highest authority for the church was the Bible but outside the church the prince or king ruled. This was reflected for example in rejecting marriage as a sacrament – Protestant churches did not even perform weddings for several centuries.
Protestants were content to let natural philosophers (scientists) do their thing though the Catholic church remained sensitive to the philosophical and theological implications of natural philosophy – that’s what got Galileo in trouble. The Bible was the authority concerning spiritual matters but science became the authority for knowledge of the natural world, as the state was the authority for political matters. Gradually, Christian countries departed from Christianity because the church left the world to others.
Protestants inspired social movements such as the abolition of slavery but it was a matter of Christians influencing society rather than the church directly involved in social matters. Then in the early 20th century the social gospel refocused liberal/modernist Protestants on society, while conservative/fundamentalist Protestants reaffirmed the spiritual focus of the church. In the later 20th century conservatives started to get interested in what was happening in the world since it was affecting them, too – Darwinism, abortion, etc.
Where does that leave us today? Creationists are surprised that Christians won’t let the Bible be the final authority for science. But the separation of the Bible from matters of the social or natural world has a long history. Evangelical churches are focused on spiritual matters and leave social and natural matters to others, who are often non-Christians. Catholics are still smarting from the Galileo affair and have been reluctant to criticize scientists.
I conclude that creationism will make slow headway in and outside the church until there is a spiritual/philosophical movement that relates spiritual matters to natural matters. To make a military analogy, para-church organizations such as creationists have are like special forces that help with fighting but it is the army that takes over territory, as only the church can re-take society and science for Christ.
May 2014