--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The argument that the literal story of…" description: "\"The argument that the literal story of Genesis can qualify as science collapses on three major grounds: the creationists' need to invoke miracles in or..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db0/stephen-jay-gould-885_abandon_the-argument-that-the-literal-story-of-g_871113.jpg" --- # The argument that the literal story of Genesis can qualify… ![“The argument that the literal story of Genesis can qualify as science collapses on three major grounds: the creationists' need to invoke miracles in order to compress the events of the earth's history into the biblical span of a few thousand years; their unwillingness to abandon claims clearly…” quote by Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db0/stephen-jay-gould-885_abandon_the-argument-that-the-literal-story-of-g_871113.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db0/stephen-jay-gould-885_abandon_the-argument-that-the-literal-story-of-g_871113.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db0/stephen-jay-gould-885_abandon_the-argument-that-the-literal-story-of-g_871113.jpg) > “The argument that the literal story of Genesis can qualify as science collapses on three major grounds: the creationists' need to invoke miracles in order to compress the events of the earth's history into the biblical span of a few thousand years; their unwillingness to abandon claims clearly disproved, including the assertion that all fossils are products of Noah's flood; and their reliance upon distortion, misquote, half-quote, and citation out of context to characterize the ideas of their opponents.” [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The literal Genesis narrative fails as science because it relies on miracles, rejects disproven claims, and distorts opponents' ideas. **In simple terms:** Genesis as science collapses due to miracles, denial, and distortion. Key Takeaway Recognize scientific standards over literalist claims. Themes science religion epistemology critical thinking Mood skeptical analytical Type critical explanatory When to use this quote - debates on creationism - education curricula - public policy - media analysis Key Concepts falsifiability methodology interpretation bias Questions to Reflect On - How can we respect belief while upholding scientific rigor? - What evidence would change a creationist view? A Different Perspective It overlooks the cultural significance many hold for the text. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abandon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abandon/) [Argument](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/argument/) [Assertion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assertion/) [Atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) [Biblical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biblical/) [Citations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/citations/) [Claims](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/claims/) [Collapse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collapse/) [Creationists Need](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creationists-need-953247/) [Distortion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distortion/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Events](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/events/) [Flood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flood/) [Fossils](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fossils/) [Genesis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genesis/) [Grounds Creationists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grounds-creationists-953249/) [Half](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/half/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Including](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/including/) [Invoke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/invoke/) [Literal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literal/) [Majors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/majors/) [Miracle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/miracle/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Noah Flood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/noah-flood-953250/) [Of context](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/of-context/) [Opponents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opponents/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Products](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/products/) [Reliance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reliance/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Science Collapses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science-collapses-953248/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Thousand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand/) [Thousand years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand-years/) [Three](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/three/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [“He swam the seas before the continents broke water; he once swam over the site of the Tuileries, and Windsor Castle, and the Kremlin.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/he-swam-the-seas-before-the-continents-broke-water-he-once-swam-over/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [It's natural to be skeptical of a story like Noah. However, the greatest miracle in the Bible is not Noah and the flood. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-turek/it-s-natural-to-be-skeptical-of-a-story-like-noah-however-the/) [Frank Turek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-turek/) > [Yea, foolish mortals, Noah's flood is not yet subsided; two thirds of the fair world it yet covers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/yea-foolish-mortals-noah-s-flood-is-not-yet-subsided-two-thirds-of/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [“Years ago, I asked an acquaintance who was completing his PhD in geology if he had seen any geological evidence for Noah’s Flood. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-barker/years-ago-i-asked-an-acquaintance-who-was-completing-his-phd-in/) [David Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-barker/) > [I have a multivolume history of the world from the 19th century that begins with Noah's flood as though it's as historical a fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/i-have-a-multivolume-history-of-the-world-from-the-19th-century-that/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [“The museum claims Ebenezer the Allosaurus - the centrepiece of their new exhibit - 'met his end during Noah's Flood about 4,300 years ago”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-museum-claims-ebenezer-the-allosaurus-the-centrepiece-of-their/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“where the Coffins had lived ever since Noah's flood (if, indeed, they had not merely returned thither after that temporary displacement),”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kingsley/where-the-coffins-had-lived-ever-since-noah-s-flood-if-indeed-they/) [Charles Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kingsley/) > [The Creation Museum uses fossils to present evidence that there was a global catastrophe, Noah's Flood, that killed and preserved the remains of creatures…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-ham/the-creation-museum-uses-fossils-to-present-evidence-that-there-was-a/) [Ken Ham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-ham/) > [“The online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, has entries that tend to change rather often and is biased toward the religion of secularism. Even so, they write:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-ham/the-online-encyclopedia-wikipedia-has-entries-that-tend-to-change/) [Ken Ham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-ham/) > [If for the sake of a crowded audience you do wish to hold a lecture, your ambition is no laudable one, and at least…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hippocrates/if-for-the-sake-of-a-crowded-audience-you-do-wish-to-hold-a-lecture/) [Hippocrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hippocrates/) > [And Complicated Grief is a text that announces, from the start, in its citation of influence, dense intertextuality and hybridity, a failure of some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/and-complicated-grief-is-a-text-that-announces-from-the-start-in-its/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) > [And for the citation of so many authors, 'tis the easiest thing in nature. 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There is no home, no true freedom, no hope, no joy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-caldwell/there-is-no-solid-satisfaction-in-any-career-for-a-woman-like-myself/) [Taylor Caldwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-caldwell/) > [The cumulative weight of all mortal sins--past, present, and future--pressed upon that perfect, sinless, and sensitive Soul! All our infirmities and sicknesses were somehow,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-a-maxwell/the-cumulative-weight-of-all-mortal-sins-past-present-and-future/) [Neal A. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-a-maxwell/) ## More by Stephen Jay Gould > [I strongly reject any conceptual scheme that places our options on a line, and holds that the only alternative to a pair of extreme…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/i-strongly-reject-any-conceptual-scheme-that-places-our-options-on-a/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [History employs evolution to structure biological events in time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/history-employs-evolution-to-structure-biological-events-in-time/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [In his anti-Darwinian book... (and eponymously named The Neck of the Giraffe ), Francis Hitching tells the story... "The need to survive by reaching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/in-his-anti-darwinian-book-and-eponymously-named-the-neck-of-the/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [... many folks take them seriously because they just 'know' that evolution can never be seen in the immediate here and now. In fact,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/many-folks-take-them-seriously-because-they-just-know-that-evolution/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [Charles Darwin viewed the fossil record more as an embarrassment than as an aid to his theory ...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/charles-darwin-viewed-the-fossil-record-more-as-an-embarrassment-than/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [Zoocentrism is the primary fallacy of human sociobiology, for this view of human behavior rests on the argument that if the actions of "lower"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/zoocentrism-is-the-primary-fallacy-of-human-sociobiology-for-this/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [The world, unfortunately, rarely matches our hopes and consistently refuses to behave in a reasonable manner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/the-world-unfortunately-rarely-matches-our-hopes-and-consistently/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [The true beauty of nature is her amplitude; she exists neither for nor because of us, and possesses a staying power that all our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/the-true-beauty-of-nature-is-her-amplitude-she-exists-neither-for-nor/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [With copious evidence ranging from Plato's haughtiness to Beethoven's tirades, we may conclude that the most brilliant people of history tend to be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/with-copious-evidence-ranging-from-plato-s-haughtiness-to-beethoven-s/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [When scientists need to explain difficult points of theory, illustration by hypothetical example - rather than by total abstraction - works well (perhaps indispensably)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/when-scientists-need-to-explain-difficult-points-of-theory/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [The truly awesome intellectuals in our history have not merely made discoveries; they have woven variegated, but firm, tapestries of comprehensive coverage. 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