Editing Scopes trial (section)

=== Creation versus evolution debate ===
{{further|Rejection of evolution by religious groups}}
The trial revealed a growing chasm in American Christianity and two ways of [[Epistemology|finding truth]], one "biblical" and one "evolutionist".<ref name=goetz>David Goetz, "The Monkey Trial". ''Christian History'' 1997 16(3): pp. 10–18. 0891-9666</ref> Author David Goetz writes that the majority of Christians denounced evolution at the time.<ref name=goetz />

Author Mark Edwards contests the conventional view that in the wake of the Scopes trial, a humiliated fundamentalism retreated into the political and cultural background, a viewpoint which is evidenced in the 1955 play ''[[Inherit the Wind (play)|Inherit the Wind]]'' (and subsequent [[Inherit the Wind (1960 film)|1960 film]]), which fictionalized the trial, as well as in the majority of contemporary historical accounts. Rather, the cause of fundamentalism's retreat was the death of its leader, Bryan. Most fundamentalists saw the trial as a victory rather than a defeat, but Bryan's death soon after it created a leadership void that no other fundamentalist leader could fill. Bryan, unlike the other leaders, brought name recognition, respectability, and the ability to forge a broad-based coalition of fundamentalist and mainline religious groups which argued in defense of the anti-evolutionist position.{{sfn|Edwards|2000}}

Adam Shapiro criticized the view that the Scopes trial was an essential and inevitable conflict between [[Relationship between religion and science|religion and science]], claiming that such a view was "self-justifying". Instead, Shapiro emphasizes the fact that the Scopes trial was the result of particular circumstances, such as politics postponing the adoption of new textbooks.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Trying Biology: The Scopes Trial, Textbooks, and the Antievolution Movement in American Schools|last=Shapiro|first=Adam R.|publisher=University of Chicago Press|year=2014|pages=4–5}}</ref>