Georgia Purdom (née Hickman; born 1972) is an American biologist and

Young Earth creationist Young Earth creationism (YEC) is a form of creationism which holds as a central tenet that the Earth and its lifeforms were created by supernatural acts of the Abrahamic God between approximately 6,000 and 10,000 years ago. In its most widespr ...

. She is the director of Educational Content at

Answers in Genesis Answers in Genesis (AiG) is an American fundamentalist Christian apologetics parachurch organization. It advocates Young Earth creationism on the basis of its literal, historical-grammatical interpretation of the Book of Genesis and the Bible ...

Early life

Purdom was born in 1972, and grew up near

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

in what she described as a "very strong Christian home". She attended a Nazarene church.

Education and career

Purdom studied at

Cedarville University Cedarville University is a private Baptist university in Cedarville, Ohio. It is chartered by the state of Ohio, approved by the Ohio Board of Regents, and accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Established in 1887, the school was origina ...

, graduating in 1994, before going on to get a PhD in

molecular genetics Molecular genetics is a sub-field of biology that addresses how differences in the structures or expression of DNA molecules manifests as variation among organisms. Molecular genetics often applies an "investigative approach" to determine the ...

from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

. She was an associate professor of biology at

Mount Vernon Nazarene University Mount Vernon Nazarene University (MVNU) is a private Christian university in Mount Vernon, Ohio, with satellite locations in the surrounding area. It was founded in 1968 by the Church of the Nazarene and offers a variety of Bachelor's and Master ...

before joining

. She received the Alumna of the Year award from Cedarville in 2015.

Views

Purdom believes that whether one holds a "biblical versus secular"

worldview A worldview or world-view or ''Weltanschauung'' is the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing the whole of the individual's or society's knowledge, culture, and point of view. A worldview can include natural p ...

determines how one interprets scientific data. She also believes that "available evidence supports and confirms biblical creation." She is the editor of ''Galapagos Islands: A Different View'' (2013) which presents a "Bible-based analysis of the islands." Purdom claims that the

Galápagos Islands The Galápagos Islands (Spanish: , , ) are an archipelago of volcanic islands. They are distributed on each side of the equator in the Pacific Ocean, surrounding the centre of the Western Hemisphere, and are part of the Republic of Ecuador ...

were formed after the

Genesis Flood The Genesis flood narrative (chapters 6–9 of the Book of Genesis) is the Hebrew version of the universal flood myth. It tells of God's decision to return the universe to its pre- creation state of watery chaos and remake it through the microc ...

. Purdom distinguishes her creationist views with that of

intelligent design Intelligent design (ID) is a pseudoscientific argument for the existence of God, presented by its proponents as "an evidence-based scientific theory about life's origins". Numbers 2006, p. 373; " Dcaptured headlines for its bold attempt to ...

, which she does not regard as Christian.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Purdom, Georgia 1972 births Living people American Christian Young Earth creationists Creation scientists American women geneticists American geneticists Cedarville University alumni Ohio State University alumni Mount Vernon Nazarene University faculty Molecular geneticists American members of the Church of the Nazarene Scientists from Ohio