"I think creationism is ... a kind of category mistake, as if the Bible were a theory like other theories ... if creationism is presented as a stark alternative theory alongside other theories I think there has just been a jarring of categories," Dr Rowan Williams told The Guardian newspaper.

"My worry is creationism can end up reducing the doctrine of creation rather than enhancing it," the most senior clergyman in the Church of England added.

A debate over creationism or a related subject known as intelligent design (ID) has triggered divisions in Britain and fierce divides in the United States, The Guardian explained.

Intelligent design is the argument that creation is so complex an intelligent, religious force must have directed it.

The religious right in the United States has pressured some states to consider giving ID equal prominence to Darwinism, the widely accepted scientific account of the evolution of life, the newspaper said.

The Guardian noted that most scientists believe intelligent design is merely an attempt to sneak fundamentalist Christianity into science teaching.

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