Special Creation

The word special, at least by derivation and in the theological term "Special Creation", relates to species, Aristotle's word for a distinct kind. It is not the same as specimen, which refers to an individual of the species.

Oxford Dictionaries online gives this range of meanings for special creation:

The creation of the universe and all species by God, especially as described in the Bible; the creation of man by God (whether or not the literal truth of the biblical account of the creation is assumed); a doctrine, belief, or hypothesis concerning this; frequently attributive.

Thus the word special in the phrase special creation does not have the everyday meaning of the word as illustrated by these examples, also from Oxford Dictionaries:

• ‘She knew that he was making a special effort for her sake.’
• ‘Grandad and I have special food, at different times from other people.’
• ‘This time it's special.’
• ‘she's a very special person’
• ‘we want to preserve our town's special character’