Creationism is the religious belief that humanity, life, the Earth, and the universe were created in some form by a supernatural being or beings. The term is usually used to refer to the denial, on religious grounds, that biological processes (most commonly, evolution) can adequately account for the history, diversity, and complexity of life on earth; the creation-evolution controversy. In Jewish and Christian sects such creationism is usually based on a literal reading of the Genesis creation myth. Other religions have deity-led creation myths which are quite different.
Since the end of the 19th century belief in creationism has decreased as scientific theories have been presented that support more naturalistic explanations for the universe and for life. While some have tried to refute these theories, others believe in types of creationism that do not exclude all of these theories. When mainstream scientific research produces conclusions which contradict a strict creationist interpretation of scripture, creationists often reject the conclusions of the research and/or its underlying scientific theories and/or its methodology. Both creation science and intelligent design have been characterized as pseudoscience by the mainstream scientific community.The most notable disputes concern the evolution of living organisms, the idea of common descent, the geological history of the Earth, the formation of the solar system and the origin of the universe.