If you didn’t think the idea of how the world was created is a major topic in 2014, last night’s debate between scientist Bill Nye and creationist Ken Ham should change your mind.

The debate between the two men regarding the foundation of the Earth and the origins of life drew a packed house to an auditorium at the Creation Museum in Kentucky.

The debate surprised observers by drawing around 800,000 online viewers on top of the 900 people who filled the event hall.  Social media buzz about the event reached a high point on the social network Twitter as tags related to the debate were the top four trending topics worldwide.

Observers were critical of the debate’s format with one noting it felt more like a “science lecture” than an actual debate.  After opening statements, both Ham and Nye had 30 minutes to make a presentation to back up their side of the issue before rebuttals and then finally questions from the audience.

The event received mostly negative responses from atheists and mainstream media outlets.  Some reporters like Elizabeth Dias of Time Magazine showed outright bias against Ham with snide comments in their reporting such as saying Twitter should have a hashtag that says “#OMGWeAreDebatingCreationIn2014” and mocking Ham with statements like “Ham is resurrecting his image as the defender of the faith to the big secular world.”

At the end of the event, neither man said they had changed their positions.