Brazilian Creationist Society

Brazilian Creationist Society (SCB) is a civil, nonprofit, educational, and cultural association. Its headquarters is located in Brasília, Brazil. It aims to suggest, promote, coordinate, and implement actions and programs that support multi-disciplinary scientific research of intelligent design in nature. ¹

While having the same philosophical and theological base as the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the SCB has an interdenominational character that allows the diffusion of creationist ideas within a biblical and theistic worldview. This is easily verified through the publications of the society and by the speakers from the most varied denominations. Hence, SCB has developed several activities and events in both secular and confessional institutions, extending its influence beyond the SDAs.

Background

By 1971 in São Carlos, state of São Paulo, Pastor Leondenis Vendramin invited some teachers from the then Brazil College, among them Professor Orlando Ritter, to hold a “Culture Week” in a city club. At the occasion Professor Ritter spoke about Carbon 14, and it was he who gave information to Ruy Carlos de Camargo Vieira about the existence of the Creation Research Society in the USA. From the contact made, at the time, with the creationist society in the U.S.A., Dr. Ruy Vieira had the initiative to establish the Brazilian Creationist Society (SCB), focused specifically on the production of materials, articles, books, and handouts to assist teachers, parents, students, pastors, and other people interested in creationism.²

Founding

Initially, SCB began operating at the Vieira family residence, in São Carlos, State of São Paulo countryside, Brazil. Several SDA members in that city contributed voluntarily as the activities commenced. The SCB mission, from its beginning, is to contribute and promote activities that support the thesis of design evidence in nature, as opposed to the thesis of mere mechanical chance. The SCB activities target mainly the academic audience, including preuniversity students and Christian university students.

The initial milestone of SCB's activities took place in the city of São Carlos in April 1972, with the publication of the first issue of Folha Creationista (Creationist Paper). The journal aimed to disseminate proper literature to clarify the philosophical nature of both evolutionism and creationism, as well as to demonstrate that this is a conflict of worldviews rather than a dispute between science and religion. This publication was for many years the spine of the activities conducted by the society.

Still in 1972, shortly after the publication of the first two issues of “Folha Criacionista” (Creationist Paper), SCB's first participation in an event outside São Carlos took place at the Youth Adventist Congress held in Manaus. There was a striking fact, which occurred at the time. Two bags containing the first publications of Folha Criacionista (Creationist Paper) fell into the Amazon River accidentally. The incident occurred while they were being unloaded from the ship that took them from Belém to Manaus. The bags, although very heavy, did not sink and could be miraculously rescued. Since then the society started participating in various events, either autonomously or in partnership with other interested parties, and this activity has been extended to churches, schools, and other institutions.³

History

The first 33 issues of Folha Criacionista (Creationist Paper) were printed as an external service commissioned from the Publications Service of the School of Engineering of the University of São Paulo (USP), São Carlos campus, where Ruy Vieira taught. In connection with the publication of the Creationist Paper, SCB also started to disseminate information about the few existing books, published in Portuguese, that presented and defended the creationist theses. All translation from English to Portuguese was done by Ruy Vieira himself, proofread by his mother, and typed by his son Rui Corrêa.

While the society was based in São Carlos, at the Vieras house, there was a great collaboration of many supporters of the creationist cause, notably: Elvio Caetano, Francisco Batista de Mello, Harold Azevedo, Humberto Paulo Ricci, Juedi Mayor, Lélio Lindquist, Nahor Neves de Souza Jr., Rosenvaldo Donato, Ruth Jorge Azevedo, and Wellingtom Dinelli.

From 1986 to 1990, Ruy Vieira served as president of the Organização Santamarense de Educação e Cultura (Santamarense Organization of Education and Culture) (OSEC), in São Paulo, and led the transformation of the Faculties of Santo Amaro into the University of Santo Amaro (UNISA). During this period the “Núcleo de Pesquisas Bíblicas Guilherme Stein Jr.” (Guilherme Stein Jr. Biblical Research Center) was implemented at OSEC, and numbers 34 to 48 of the Criacionist Paper were published with OSEC sponsorship.

Since the informal start of its activities, SCB also wanted to publish, in addition to its “Folha Criacionista,” books for the dissemination of the most controversial aspects involved in the confrontation between creationism and evolutionism. However, it was only in the late 1990s that it was possible to publish, through a partnership with OSEC, translations of the books: “Inventando a Terra Plana” (Inventing the Flat Earth), by Jeffrey Burton Russelland and, “A Origem da Vida por Evolução–Um Obstáculo para o Desenvolvimento da Ciência” (The Origin of Life by Evolution--An Obstacle to the Development of Science) by Fernando De Angelis.

From the contacts between SCB and De Angelis, this author approached Romano Ricci, president of the SDA Italian Union of Churches Conference, and became a great supporter of the church in the foundation of the Associazione Italiana Studi sulle Origini: a Creationist entity which, driven by De Angelis (who was inspired by the SCB initiative), soon proceeded to the Italian edition of the book “Evolução–Um Livro Texto Crítico” (Evolution--A Critical Texbook), which SCB had translated into Portuguese.

From 1990 the SCB headquarters was transferred to the Brazilian capital, Brasília, initially staying at the residence of Dr. Ruy Vieira, until later being able to settle in its own space. The Creationist Paper continued to be published directly by the society itself in local printing, from number 49 to 96, the latter corresponding to the first half of 2017.

In 1990, on a Carnival Camp in the city of Friburgo, State of Rio de Janeiro, SCB participated in a creationist event and made its first contacts with Marcus Vinicius de Paula Moreira, an engineer who later became the SCB webmaster and maintainer of the company's Internet sites, SCB Events and Media director, creator of the seminars “A Filosofia das Origens” (The Philosophy of Origins), and founder of the first SCB mini center, which is located at Botafogo SDA Church, Rio de Janeiro.

The bonds of friendship and collaboration between Marcus Vinícius and SCB were strengthened, initially with the manifestation of his interest in the book “O Sábado” (The Sabbath), written by Guilherme Stein Jr. This encouraged SCB to reissue the book in 1995 (with additional footnotes), launching its own editorial line, which included the reissue, in the same year, of another book by the same author: “Sucessos Preditos na História Universal” (Successful Predictions on Universal History).

The institutionalization of SCB took place in 2000 as a decisive step toward its development in a nonprofit civil association, moving in nature from a family entity to a legal entity of social outreach. This came out of the connections of SCB, previously carried out by Marcus Vinicius, and the crucial support of Rubens Crivellaro, who led the improvement of publications, the execution of meetings at diverse levels for the advocation of creationist theses, the registration of the society as a nonprofit civil association, the statute text, the increase in the collection of specimens of minerals and fossils, the preparation of mockups and illustrative models, and several other activities.

In order to have all its activities legalized, SCB had the invaluable guidance of Dr. Erich Olm, who also became one of its founder associates. The General Assembly for the formal foundation of the SCB and the election of its board of directors took place on August 12, 2000, with the attendance of 59 people. The only list of candidates presented for the composition of the BCS Board of Directors included the names of Ruy Carlos de Camargo Vieira for president, Rubens Crivellaro for secretary, and Rui Corrêa Vieira for vice-resident and executive director, who were elected by acclamation.

On November 2, 2004, the SCB Cultural Center was begun. The center is located in Brasília, the capital of Brazil, in Lago Norte (Administrative Region), in a two-floor building with 220 square meters of buildings. On the ground floor are the facilities of the George McCready Price Library (named after the Adventist pioneer of the modern creationist movement), with its sectors: Sector of Periodicals, Hélio Morato Krähenbühl Sector (named after the distinguished scholar of sociological, anthropological, and ethnological matters, whose bibliography was donated to the center), Ayalon Orion Cardoso Sector (named after the distinguished scholar of astronomical, cosmologic, and cosmogonic matters, whose bibliography was also donated to the center), and the Admir Arrais de Matos Sector (named after the distinguished biologist, professor, doctor, and a pioneer researcher on the educational publications of creationist approach).

Also located on the ground floor is the Expedition Room and some of the Cultural Space archives. On the upper floor is the Isaac Newton Science Center (named after the great creationist scientist and researcher of biblical prophecies), the Multimedia Center, and the Jandyra Corrêa Vieira Auditorium (named posthumously after Ruy Vieira's first wife, who died in 2003 and who greatly encouraged SCB, through her husband, to create its own headquarters). In the auditorium is the whole collection of SCB creative videos. There is also on the upper floor (and partly on the ground floor) the Cultural Space, where thematic shows concerning the creation-evolution dispute are periodically displayed.

As an extension of the upper floor is the Board Meeting Room, the Secretariat, and the “Guilherme Stein Jr. Information and Documentation Center,” containing the historical archives of the work of this Brazilian creationist pioneer, and other publications concerning the beginning of the dissemination of the Bible in Brazil, in connection to the first evangelical churches established in the country, as well as the Seventh-day Adventist movement in Brazil. In this same place are located reference works, Bible collections, and additional information material. Next to the stairway to the upper floor is a model of the Foucault Pendulum and an internal garden housing a small sector called “Architects of Nature,” with different types of bird nests and social insects, such as bees, wasps, and termites.

In the corridor to the entrance door of the center is a 10 x 3 meters mural that illustrates the conventional geological layers and provides the possibility of making genealogical trees with interpretations alternative to those usually accepted by traditional biology, geology, and paleontology, based on well-documented paleontological researches.

With the creation of the Cultural Center, SCB began to promote training courses for teachers from public and private schools for the teaching of creationism in the classroom. On this occasion the former governor of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Rosinha Garotinho, authorized the opening of a public contest for teachers of the state schools to explain creationism in religion classes. This fact had a lot of repercussion in the media, provoking the reaction of several scientific organizations such as the “Sociedade Brasileira para o Progresso da Ciência” (SBPC) (Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science). Several of these teachers were sent to participate in the training offered by the SCB. Classes were taught by Adventist and other denomination teachers and researchers, all committed to the creationist cause.

In mid 2005 a close relationship began with Dr. Hipólito Gadelha Remígio, a lawyer in the Brazilian Federal Senate, who joined SCB and became a notable supporter of the society's activities, distinguished by the personal support given to the expansion geography of the seminars “The Philosophy of Origins,” which in 2018 was in its twenty-seventh edition. Interestingly, Hipólito had, in his youth, his first contacts with SCB through the numbers of Folha Criacionista. He was elected in 2006 as SCB's secretary director, and reelected for the following three years, having served as a speaker at several of the society's seminars, presenting theological and philosophical themes. He also contributed to the acquisition of valuable specimens for exhibition at the cultural center of the society and to the maintenance of the editorial program of new creationist books, also responsible for hiring a secretariat to deal with the movement of sales of the material produced by SCB and other bureaucratic activities required by Brazilian law.⁴

Since the SCB was institutionalized in 2000, it has been possible to publish an increasing number of translations of important creationist books by foreign authors. The main one of these books was “Evolução–Um Livro Texto Crítico” (Evolution--a Critical Textbook),⁵ translated and printed in Brazil in 2002, through SCB coordination and support from three universities that have committed to acquire more than half of the initial print run of 2,500 copies. SCB paid copyrights and royalties to the Weyel Lehrmittelverlag (Weyel Publishing House), and the editing in Brazil followed the pattern of the original German. The exceptional editing work, done in Brasilia by Editora Qualidade (Quality Publishing House), led it to receive one of the most notable awards given to the printing houses of parque gráfico Brasiliense (Brasiliense graphic park).

Another important book published by SCB was “Em busca das Origens–Evolução ou Criação?”⁶ (In search of Origins--Creation or Evolution?), translated from Spanish. SCB paid copyrights and royalties to Editorial Safeliz (Safeliz Publishing House). The editing and printing were made in 2002, in Spain, and the books were imported from there. This book was successfully adopted by the SCB in its creationism training courses, following a script prepared beforehand as a study guide. And it has been used by the small study groups that SCB forms during the seminars “The Philosophy of Origins.”

In 2007 SCB chose another German book to be translated into Portuguese and incorporated in its editorial line. This book was entitled “Criação–Criacionismo Bíblico” (Creation–Biblical Creationism), by Alexander Vom Stein, edited by Daniel Verlag (Publishing House). The Brazilian edition was translated and edited by a special SCB team, created for this task, and was made possible through the generous contribution of Dr. Erivan Paiva, SCB associate-founder.

With the recovery of the books written by Guilherme Stein Jr., a line of publications on the common origin of languages and religions was opened at the society, strengthened with the publication of the book by Luiz Caldas Tibiriçá, entitled “Estudo Comparativo do Japonês com Línguas Ameríndias” (Comparative Study of Japanese With Amerindian Languages) and two other booklets. The first was written by Ruy Vieira in 1998, “Um Tronco Comum para os Idiomas?” (A Common Ancestor for All Languages?), whereas the second, published one year later, in 1999, by Tibiriçá, as “Dicionário de Raízes Primitivas–Edição Resumida” (Dictionary of Primeval Roots--Condensed Edition).

Once SCB learned of the original English edition of Bill Cooper's book, “Depois do Dilúvio–A História Antiga da Europa Retrocedendo até o Dilúvio Bíblico” (After the Flood: The Early Post-Flood History of Europe Traced Back to Noah), it strived to prioritize its publication. After its translation into Portuguese, the material was soon made available to the public in 2008. Bill Cooper is a renowned British historian, council member, and trustee of the Creation Science Movement, the successor to Evolution Protest Movement, the oldest creationist society in the modern world. The copyright for the publication of this book was granted free of charge to the SCB, aiming to encourage new publications for the diffusion of creationism.⁷

Under the same editorial line, in 2011, Ethel Nelson had her book, “Descoberta do Gênesis na Língua Chinesa” (The Discovery of Genesis: How the Truths of Genesis Were Found Hidden in the Chinese Language), published. Later, in 2015, another book followed: “Mistérios que Confúcio não Resolveu” (Mysteries Confucius Couldn't Solve). Both were translated into Portuguese in voluntary work for the SCB provided by Dr. Carlos Gama Michel.

In the middle of the first decade of this century, SCB initiated contacts with the Science Research Foundation (SRF), a similar entity located in Turkey, which started to stand out as one of the largest in the world in terms of publishing books and producing videos on a large scale In a number of languages. Its peculiarity is to have an Islamic view of creationism, which differentiates it from the other societies with which SCB has maintained contacts. Among the books she published, SCB translated and published in electronic format the titles “O Engano do Evolucionismo” (The Evolution Deceit), by Harun Yahya, and printed for the children's audience: “As Formigas” (The World of Our Little Friends the Ants) and “As Abelhas” (Honeybees That Build Perfect Combs) by the same author. Given the Islamic peculiarity of the SRF, the SCB decided to delineate their partnership in terms of what was conceived as “Malba Tahan Project”; that is, a project aimed at bringing together both institutions in common activities of spreading the wonders of creation that point to the omnipotent Creator, The One God recognized by the monotheistic religions.

Thus, in addition to the translation of books, SCB proposed to perform the dubbing of excellent films produced by SRF, having obtained the proper authorization granted through a formal contract signed with the sponsor of SRF's film productions. This made it possible to dub the videos that constituted the two series that SCB entitled “De Olho nas Origens” (With an Eye on the Origins) and “De Olho na Criação” (With an Eye on the Criation), whose content is well known to the Brazilian public.

The series “De Olho nas Origens” (With an Eye on the Origins), contains four DVDs, each of them with four to five films in an average time of about fifteen minutes, dealing with interesting facts in animal life that produce evidence of the existence of a Creator. This material was shared by SCB with the “Sistema Adventista de Comunicação” (SISAC) (Adventist Media Center--Brazil], the predecessor of the current “Rede Novo Tempo de Comunicação” (Adventist Media Center–Brazil), by firsthand contacts with its then-director, Williams da Costa Júnior, a major supporter of the dissemination of creationism.

The series “De Olho na Criação” (With an Eye on the Creation) contains ten DVDs, each with an average length of 50 minutes. Like the other, this series also looks at evidence of the existence of a Creator based on the irreducible complexity observed in nature, emphasizing the wonders observed in creation. The dubbing of this series was masterfully narrated by Dr. Ronald Ozório, founding associate of SCB.

Another important partnership with SRF resulted in the translation and printing of the “Coleção Temática de Cartazes Didáticos Criacionistas” (Thematic Collection of Creationist Didactic Posters) to be used in classrooms as teaching aids. A series of four posters were prepared for each of the seven basic themes chosen that can be printed in varying sizes and grouped in albums for students and teachers.⁸

The SCB also started to produce their own DVD series, entitled “Do Ararate ao Araripe” (From Ararat to Araripe), starting with the video produced in Australia by Rod Walsh on Noah's Ark and the Flood. The contact with Rod Walsh was made on the occasion of the participation of Ruy and his son in a creationist meeting held in 2001 in Australia, promoted by the counterpart of the SCB, Answers in Genesis. The video was dubbed in partnership with SISAC, just like in the series “De Olho nas Origens” (With an Eye on the Origins).

Another three DVDs produced by BCS completed the series, giving an overview of the various geological occurrences related to the Flood. Chronologically, the first DVD (placed as the fourth DVD of the series) was shot on the occasion of the BCS team excursion to the region of Araripe Plateau, after the fourth seminar “The Philosophy of Origins” held in the city of Fortaleza. The second was filmed at the BCS Cultural Center, presenting a lecture by Professor Nahor on Diluvial Geology. And the third was shot at the Ministry of Science and Technology in Brasilia, presenting an interview with Dr. Hélio Barros, founder and proponent of “Araripe Geopark.” Hélio Barros and Ruy Vieira had been contemporaries at the Ministry of Education and Culture in Brasilia when Ruy was associate director of the Department of University Affairs and Hélio, the director of coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel-- Capes (CAPES).⁹

Another publication that aroused much interest was the book “Em Seis Dias–Por Que 50 Cientistas Decidiram Aceitar a Criação” (In Six Days: Why Fifty Scientists Choose to Believe in Creation), by John F. Ashton,¹⁰ with whom Ruy and her son maintained personal contact in Australia on the occasion of the meeting there promoted by “Answers in Genesis.” Both John Ashton and Rod Walsh assigned their copyright free of charge to SCB. The book was published in Portuguese in 2010. The translation was done by Ieda C. Tetzke, an English teacher who works at SCB, with technical reviews by a team of members of the society.

Through the acquisition made by SCB, part of the circulation of the book “Fé, Razão e História da Terra”¹¹ (Faith, Reason, and Earth History) written by the professor at Loma Linda University and researcher at Geoscience Research Institute, Dr. Leonard Brand, whose content was translated and revised by the team of the Center for the Study of Origins (NEO), SCB also contributed to the feasibility of publishing the first edition of that work in Portuguese in 2005.

After the VI Seminar SCB held in Campina Grande in 2009 with the local support of various entities, including the Paraíba State University through its "Archaeological Awareness Program," most of the speakers could join a tour to "Valley of the Dinosaurs," which is in the municipality of Souza, in the state of Paraíba. Participants gathered information and filmed the locations in the region where dinosaur footprints are seen, with the intention to produce in the future a creationist documentary film about the controversial extinction of these huge animals. Dr. Marcos Natal and Dr. Nahor, along with Professor Tarcísio Vieira and some other speakers, participated in the excursion and carried out an assessment of the ichnofossils¹² in Rio do Peixe Basin, which showed the existence of huge dinosaurs in that region in times past.

The contacts between SCB and the Mackenzie Presbyterian Institute were strengthened when Marcel Mendes, engineer and enthusiast of creationism, got elected as vice-rector of Mackenzie Presbyterian University. When the book “Evolução–Um Livro Texto Crítico” (Evolution--A Critical Textbook) was published, he was an adviser to Chancellor Dr. Cyro Aguiar and also to Dr. Augustus Nicodemus Gomes Lopes, who took over as chancellor of the institute. In 2008, at the invitation of Nicodemus, SCB participated in the “I Simpósio Internacional Darwinismo Hoje” (I International Symposium Darwinismo Today), in which the creationist, evolutionary, and intelligent design positions were discussed at a high level.

From a long-standing relationship between Dr. Ruy Vieira and one of the owners of the “Objetivo” organization, which became the sponsor of the Universidade Paulista (UNIP), there was a great approximation between SCB and the campus of the UNIP University Center in Brasília, after the transfer of the SCB headquarters to Brasília. Some SCB initiatives were fully supported by Dr. Yugo Okida, who had been an advisor to the National Education Council and designated as rector of UNIP campus in Brasilia. The partnership between SCB and UNIP allowed the publication of the book “Estudo Comparativo do Japonês com Línguas Ameríndias” (Comparative Study of Japanese With Amerindian Languages) by Luiz Caldas Tibiriçá, a geologist with whom the society maintained close contact until his death in 2006.

The book was launched at a ceremony held at UNIP, with the presence of a good number of interested parties. Later, before his death, the same author gave SCB the original copy of his great work “Dicionário da Língua Mãe Universal” (Dictionary of the Universal Mother Language), a precious legacy that was opportunely published as the result of work done during decades of intense research.

Another initiative SCB had was to bring to Brasilia Dr. Augusto Carlos Vasconcelos, professor at the Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo (USP), author of the books “Estruturas da Natureza” (Structures of Nature) and “Máquinas da Natureza” (Machines of Nature), to give a lecture on the subject of these publications in the amphitheater of UNIP, in a similar perspective to that of intelligent design.

Two other projects were supported by the SCB/UNIP partnership. One of them was the construction of a 1:100 scale model of Noah's Ark in the Models Lab of Architecture College. The first of these projects was based on the model built by Rod Walsh, with whom SCB had maintained contact in Australia. The construction of the model was coordinated by Rubens Crivellaro, SCB vice-president and an expert craftsman in delicate woodworks.

The other project was the presentation of Haydn's oratory “A Criação” (The Creation) for the first time presented in Brazil in a translation made into the Portuguese language, coordinated by Maestro Eldon Soares who, for a long time, had been considering the possibility of presenting this piece to SCB. The opportunity finally arose in the joint celebration of the Fortieth Anniversary of the Adventist Choir of Brasilia, together with that of SCB. The performance was given at the Auditorium Ulysses Guimarães,UNIP, and counted with the participation of the Symphonic Orchestra “Creatio” and the Adventist Choir of Brasilia, conducted by Maestro Eldon Soares, who brought Maestro Stephen Paul Zork from the USA and the soprano soloist Cristina Piccardi, both from Andrews University. As guest soloists, the bass player Joabe Borges, from Madrigal in the Federal University of Bahia, and the tenor Rodrigo Soalheiro, from the Music School of Brasília, were also invited. Another precious collaboration of UNIP was to offer a free session of the Auditorium Ulysses Guimarães to hold the IX Seminar “The Philosophy of Origins,” in 2011.

Further arrangements between SCB and universities have also occurred in relation to the assignment of amphitheaters to hold the seminars “The Philosophy of Origins.” Among them are the free concession of the theater at the faculty of the city at the time, today “University,” for the First Seminar in Rio de Janeiro, in 2002, and the concession of the Tucker Amphitheater at the “Instituto Metodista de Ensino Bennett” (Bennett Methodist Institute) for the Second Seminar in 2004, also in Rio de Janeiro. As these seminars continued to happen in Rio de Janeiro every two years, the Third Seminar was held in the Auditorium of the Estácio de Sá University, Campus Barra, also given free to the society by the dean Dr. Lauro Zimmer, who had also worked at MEC with Ruy Vieira.

By the end of the 1990s, SCB learned of a group of young creationists in Porto Alegre who was publishing a booklet with chapters on several creationist topics, as well as providing courses for its dissemination. Their work was known as “Seminários Scientia” (Scientia Seminars). Soon links were established with this group, which resulted in the invitation to Dr. Ruy Vieira to present a lecture to them in 2001, which took place at the Central Adventist Church in Porto Alegre.

SCB also became aware of the creationist lectures that were being given by the Presbyterian physicist Adauto Lourenço and managed to visit him in the city of Limeira, São Paulo, where he lived in order to meet him and offer him the literature that had already been published by the society. From that meeting ties with Adauto Lourenço were strengthened, who always responded promptly to invitations to be a speaker at SCB seminars.

Among other seminars, Professor Adauto joined the fourth edition of “The Philosophy of Origins,” held in 2003 in Fortaleza, as well as the expedition to the Araripe Plateau, where some recording was made as part of what later resulted in the DVD video series “Do Ararate ao Araripe” (From Ararat to Araripe). In these recordings Professor Adauto made interesting comments on the dating of the sedimentary rocks in the region in connection with the presentations of other SCB collaborators.

At the same time, Ruy Vieira became aware of the existence of the “Núcleo de Design Inteligente” (Intelligent Design Center) in Brazil and contacted its coordinator, Professor Enézio Eugênio de Almeida Filho. Since then SCB's dialogue with the Intelligent Design movement has narrowed and the society has also counted on the collaboration of Professor Almeida Filho as a speaker at its seminars as an author of articles for Revista Criacionista (Creationist Review) and a reviewer of several books that the society published.

Connections also occurred between the SCB and Dr. Marcos Nogueira Eberlin, coordinator of the Thomson Laboratory for Mass Spectrometry at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP), who joined the seminars by presenting several lectures on intelligent design. Today Dr. Eberlin is the president of the Brazilian Society for Intelligent Design, founded in 2014, a successor to the center previously coordinated by Professor Almeida Filho.

Another initiative by SCB has been to support the creation of mini creation centers in partnership with churches and educational institutions through the donation of copies of their publications and the availability of other types of materials, having already opened several minicenters in churches and schools throughout Brazil.

The SCB also received important contributions from women researchers. Márcia Oliveira de Paula, professor at Brazil Adventist University (UNASP), Campus São Paulo, Ph.D. in microbiology by the Federal University of Minas Gerais. In addition to being a lecturer at SCB events, she has given relevant collaboration in the technical review of several publications, among them the Portuguese version of the book “Estudos sobre Criacionismo” (Studies on Creationism), by Frank Lewis Marsh, first published by the Brazilian Publishing House in 1954 and soon to be relaunched by the SCB.

Dr. Queila Garcia, biologist, with a master's and doctorate in plant biology from UNICAMP and specializing in plant ecophysiology, is a professor at the Federal University of Minas Gerais and a researcher at the National Research Council (CNPq). She wrote several articles for Revista Criacionista (Creationist Review) and has participated in several seminars on "The Philosophy of Origins." Other women have also participated in SCB activities as the speakers and book writers: Elaine Alves dos Santos, Daniela Simonini, and Maria da Graça Lutz.¹³

Overview

The SCB expanded its activities over the years through its partnership with the Brazilian branch of the Geoscience Research Institute (GRI), the Núcleo de Estudos das Origens (Origins Studies Center) of Brazil Adventist University (UNASP), Campus São Paulo, and the Museu de Geociências (Museum of Geosciences) of Bahia Adventist College (FADBA). The SCB commitment has been one of articulating more effectively all those institutions in order to disseminate the creationism in Brazil. For reaching this goal, it was proposed to the South American Division (SAD) of the SDA Church the establishment of a “consortium.”

As a result, on December 13, 2012, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the previously mentioned institutions and the SAD, establishing the Adventist Creationist Consortium. On the occasion the following representatives took part : from SAD-- Erton Köhler (president); Edgar Luz (education director); and Marlon Lopes (treasurer); from GRI, Nahor Neves de Souza, Jr.; from NEO Marcos Natal (coordinator); from FADBA, Wellington dos Santos Silva (Geosciences Museum coordinator); as well as the SCB board: Ruy Carlos De Camargo Vieira, president; Rubens Crivellaro, vice-president; Rui Corrêa Vieira, executive director; and Hipólito Gadelha, secretary. This consortium has been a very useful tool to boost the production of creationist material of various types and to disseminate it quite comprehensively.

At the end of 2017, after 45 years as SCB president, Dr. Ruy Vieira gave his chair to the current president, geologist Marcos Natal de Souza, and became the institution counselor. In addition to working with SCB, Marcos was appointed by the SAD to coordinate creationism activities within the scope of the Adventist Church in South America. These steps reaffirm the commitment of the Adventist Church to continue supporting the development of SCB and creationism in Brazil.¹⁴

After operating for more than forty-six years, SCB remains motivated to follow its original already consolidated ideal of promoting creationism, challenging itself to expand its efforts in order to achieve it.

Lists

Presidents: Ruy Carlos de Camargo Vieira (1972--2017); Marcos Natal de Souza Costa (2017--).

Titles: “Folha Criacionista” (Creationist Paper); “Revista Criacionista’ (Creationist Review) (1972 onwards); “O Sábado” (The Sabbath); written by Guilherme Stein Jr. (1995); “Sucessos Preditos na História Universal” (Successful Predictions on Universal History) (1995); “A Origem da Vida por Evolução–Um Obstáculo para o Desenvolvimento da Ciência” (The Origin of Life by Evolution: An Obstacle to the Development of Science) by Fernando De Angelis (1998); “A Torre de Babel e seus mistérios” (The Tower of Babel and its Mysteries) by Guilherme Stein Jr. (1998); “A Origem Comum das Línguas e das Religiões” (The Common Origin of Languages and Religions) by Guilherme Stein Jr. (1998); “Um Tronco Comum para os Idiomas?” (A Common Ancestor for All Languages?) by Ruy Camargo Vieira (1998); “Dicionário de Raízes Primitivas” (Dictionary of Primeval Roots) by Luiz Caldas Tibiriçá-- Condensed Edition (1999); “Inventando a Terra Plana” (Inventing a Flat Earth) by Jeffrey Burton Russell (1999); “Evolução: um livro texto crítico” (Evolution--A Critical Textbook) by Reinhard Junker and Siegfried Scherer (2002); “Em Busca das Origens–Evolução ou Criação?” (In Search of Origins--Creation or Evolution?), translated from Spanish, Editorial Safeliz (Safeliz Publishing House) (2002); “Estudo Comparativo do Japonês com Línguas Ameríndias” (Comparative Study of Japanese With Amerindian Languages) by Luiz Caldas Tibiriçá (2002); “Fé, Razão e História da Terra” (Faith, Reason, and Earth History) by Leonard Brand (2005); “Criação–Criacionismo Bíblico” (Creation–Biblical Creationism) by Alexander Vom Stein, Daniel Verlag (Publishing House) (2007); “Depois do Dilúvio–A História Antiga da Europa retrocedendo até o Dilúvio Bíblico” (After the Flood: The Early Post-Flood History of Europe Traced Back to Noah) by Bill Cooper (2008); “Descoberta do Gênesis na Língua Chinesa” (The Discovery of Genesis: How the Truths of Genesis Were Found Hidden in the Chinese Language) (2011) and “Mistérios que Confúcio não Resolveu” (Mysteries Confucius Couldn't Solve) (2015), both by Ethel Nelson; “O Engano do Evolucionismo” (The Evolution Deceit), “As Formigas” (The World of Our Little Friends the Ants) and “As Abelhas” (Honeybees That Build Perfect Combs), both by Harun Yahya; “Coleção Temática de Cartazes Didáticos Criacionistas” (Thematic Collection of Creationist Didactic Posters); DVD–“Do Ararate ao Araripe” (From Ararat to Araripe); “Em Seis Dias–Por Que 50 Cientistas Decidiram Aceitar a Criação” (In Six Days: Why Fifty Scientists Choose to Believe in Creation) by John F. Ashton.¹⁵

Sources

Ashton, John F., Em Seis Dias: por que 50 cientistas decidiram aceitar a criação [In Six Days: Why Fifty Scientists Choose to Believe in Creation]. Brasília: Brazilian Creationist Society, 2010.

Brand, Leonard. Fé, Razão e História da Terra – Um Paradigma das Origens da Terra e da Vida por Planejamento Inteligente [Faith, Reason & Earth History - A Paradigm of Earth and Biological Origins by Intelligent Design]. São Paulo: UNASPRESS, 2005.

Flori, Jean and Henri Rasolofomasoandro. Em Busca das Origens - Evolução ou Criação? [In search of Origins - Creation or Evolution?]. Madri: Editorial Safeliz [Safeliz Publishing House], 2002.

Reinhard Junker and Siegfried Scherer. Evolução: um livro texto crítico [Evolution - A Critical Textbook]. Brasília: Brazilian Creationist Society, 2002.

ProGeo. http://www.progeo.pt/progeo_pt.htm.

Silva, Wellington. Uma Introdução à História do Criacionismo Adventista no Brasil [An Introduction to the History of Adventist Creationism in Brazil]. Brasília: Brazilian Creationist Society, 2017.

Notes

1. Marcos Costa, “Mensagem da Diretoria” [Message from the Board], Brazilian Creationist Society, January 2018, accessed April 10, 2018, https://novo.scb.org.br/institucional/mensagem-da-diretoria/.↩

2. Wellington Silva, Uma Introdução à História do Criacionismo Adventista no Brasil [An Introduction to the History of the Adventist Creationism in Brazil] (Brasília: Brazilian Creationist Society, 2017), 90-91.↩

3. Ibid., 91.↩

4. Ibid., 91-96.↩

5. Reinhard Junker and Siegfried Scherer, Evolução: um livro texto crítico [Evolution - A Critical Textbook], (Brasília: Brazilian Creationist Society, 2002).↩

6. Jean Flori and Henri Rasolofomasoandro, Em Busca das Origens - Evolução ou Criação? [In search of Origins - Creation or Evolution?] (Madri: Editorial Safeliz [Safeliz Publishing House], 2002).↩

7. Wellington Silva, Uma Introdução à História do Criacionismo Adventista no Brasil [An Introduction to the History of the Adventist Creationism in Brazil] (Brasília: Brazilian Creationist Society, 2017), 96-97.↩

8. Ibid., 98.↩

9. Ibid., 99.↩

10. John F. Ashton, Em Seis Dias: por que 50 cientistas decidiram aceitar a criação [In Six Days: Why Fifty Scientists Choose to Believe in Creation] (Brasília: Brazilian Creationist Society, 2010).↩

11. Leonard Brand, Fé, Razão e História da Terra – Um Paradigma das Origens da Terra e da Vida por Planejamento Inteligente [Faith, Reason & Earth History - A Paradigm of Earth and Biological Origins by Intelligent Design] (São Paulo: UNASPRESS, 2005).↩

12. “Ichnofossils (Greek ichnós “traces,” “marks”) are traces or marks left by past living beings. Examples are footprints and other signs of animal movements, fossil eggs, coprolites (fossilized excrement) and gastroliths (stones, in general, rounded, which the animal would ingest to help the food-grinding, as seen in the birds' gizzard). Accesed on April 10, 2018, http://www.progeo.pt/cigc/glossario/icnofosseis.html.↩

13. Wellington Silva, Uma Introdução à História do Criacionismo Adventista no Brasil [An Introduction to the History of the Adventist Creationism in Brazil] (Brasília: Brazilian Creationist Society, 2017), 100-104.↩

14. Ibid., 105-106.↩

15. For more information, access the website address: https://s3.scb.org.br/.↩