FAITH schools should not be allowed to teach that the earth was created in six days as an alternative to modern science.

Young Earth Creationism, as it is called, rests on a misunderstanding of the Bible and a misunderstanding of science.

When the Bible talks of God creating the earth in six days, it is not meant to be taken literally. It wasn't until the Victorian era that such literalist views came into Christianity. Before then the most important meaning of the Bible was always seen as the spiritual meaning not the literal meaning.

It is commonly believed that before Darwin invented evolution, everyone took the Bible literally. This is not true. Many early Christians were not literalists. One of the greatest early Bible scholars writing about 230 AD put it like this:

"What intelligent person can believe that there was a first day, then a second and a third? Who is foolish enough to believe that, like a human farmer, God planted a garden to the east in Eden? I think no one will doubt that these details point figuratively, they did not happen in a literal sense."

Understanding the Bible from a spiritual perspective rather than a literal one is nothing new. It is what most early Christians believed. Those of us who follow the same way of reading the Bible today have the support of history behind us.

But teaching Creationism also misunderstands modern science.

Creationists say that their view should be seen as an alternative to science because there is no cast iron evidence for modern science.

It is true that science is not based on cast iron proof. Modern science works on something like a principle of probability. There is always room for a new theory to come along which is a better fit to the facts.

But Creationism isn't like a scientific theory at all. It does not explain facts as science does, rather it simply relies on a literal reading of the Bible which goes against all the facts of geology, archaeology and biology. Creationism can never be a scientific theory, it is a faith theory.

If people choose to believe such a faith theory then they are free to do so. But they should not be allowed to teach such a belief as if it were an equally valid alternative to evolution. They are not alternative theories, they are just different kinds of theory altogether. Science is based on a continual reassessment of the facts. Creationism is based on faith not facts.

Faith schools have a duty to explain this to their pupils.

In his regular weekly column, the Rev Michael Williams, Vicar of Bolton Parish Church, shares his thoughts with readers on life in the town and around the world