I do not think you can say that scientists who lived before discovery of information on the age of the Earth, Universe, etc. can be classified as “creationists” in the sense that they would now believe that the everything was created in an actual week.
As far as 40% of Americans believing in “Creationism,” does that mean that they believe that everything was created in 1 week - or merely that God created the universe?
And let’s take the bull by the horns. Suppose we stood on one week.
Who says that the universe of pre-Eden and post-Eden are the same? Or of pre-Flood and post-Flood?
The bible doesn’t. Modern science “presumes.” Science fiction has a better grasp on some of the concepts required, ironically.
My question as well. Are they talking about belief in creation or Creationism?
How many Americans actually believe the earth is only 6,000 years old?
They believed in the Bible and Creation.
It’s impossible to say whether if they continued to live to today, whether they would accept the current Scientific hypotheses about the age of the earth as fact or not.
The fact is, their belief in creation did not stop them from being excellent scientists. The two are not incompatible.
Rejecting current science’s interpretation of observations and extrapolations and assumptions regarding the age of the earth doesn’t make someone anti-science.
That’s just evolutionist’s labeling to try to win an argument by default. The fact is that none of us were there, nobody can say with certainly except for God how the earth was created and how long it took.
Jesus’ first recorded miracle in the New Testament was to create wine, something that has the appearance of age. Science doesn’t know how Jesus died it. And they don’t know how God created the earth either. They have some interesting observations and hypotheses.