The belief that God created the universe and life, often contrasted with evolutionary theory.
From 'creation' (Latin creatio, from creare 'to make') plus the suffix '-ism' (Greek -ismos, indicating a belief system). The term emerged in the 19th century as a counter-position to evolutionary theory.
Creationism became a formal philosophical term precisely when Darwin published his theory—it literally didn't exist as a named ideology before evolution threatened it, showing how ideas define themselves through opposition to each other.
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