Do christians know what a theory is?

When talking about evolution quite a few a them refer to it as "just a theory".



I decided to take this DIRECTLY from a text book since quite a few people never read their textbook and just copied from the smart a** kid next to them.



Just for the record this is what it says about a SCIENTIFIC THEORY from a science textbook for those who are ignorant about evolution. IT IS A DIRECT QUOTE!



"When scientist say that a theory can never be proved, they are not saying that a theory is unreliable. They are simply leaving open to the possibility that a theory may need to be changed at some point in the future to explain new observations or experimental results."



AND



"A theory is a well-tested explaination for a broad set of observations."



If you think I am making it up, check in the Chemistry Book from Prentice Hall. It is on page 23 in chapter 1.



For christians, why do you think a the theory of evolution is a joke?



Please elaborate so I can better understand why.Do christians know what a theory is?
Now how can you expect Christians to be that smart?



Check out the site of this Christian astrophysicist - maybe he knows what you are talking about.......



http://www.reasons.org/
Many people mistakenly believe that a "theory" means something has been unproven, and leaves room for errors. Essentially, they think of a scientific theory as refering to the same thing as a hypothesis rather than a sound idea that has thus far been proven with the facts that are available. Most laypeople don't realize that they're misusing the term "theory" in everyday speech. "I have a theory that my child's autism was caused by thimerisol in his vaccinations" when what they should have said was "I have a hypothesis..." Then they're disproven with the article that was just released that there is NO LINK between autism and thimiserol. Now people say "Hmmm, my theory was wrong." No, your HYPOTHESIS was wrong, because you never developed a theory.Do christians know what a theory is?
do you understand that a "theory" and a fact are two different things? schools teach that "theory" as fact and that is wrong
I'm not Christian and I think evolution theory is the most probable of the current theories on the issue... but...



"just a theory" means it's not a fact.



I'd say some literary Creationist Christians think evolution theory is a joke, because

a) they don't quite understand it (you know "monkeys' children" hahaha)

and

b) They are afraid. It's easiest to hide the fear into mockery. They think acknowledging that the world evolved into what it is now is denying God's involvement in it - also, they think, if not every word of the Bible is factual and truth, not one word of it is true. So the world had to be created in 7 days (or 6 days). I would say that's the hardest part for some Creationists - evolution theory says it took thousands of years for world to evolve into a state the Bible says happened in 6 days.Do christians know what a theory is?
Real good point. Electricity is 'just a theory'. Let the xians try this: stick your thumb in your mouth. Get it REALLY wet. Plug in a lamp and take out it's bulb. Turn the lamp on. Pray to Jesus to keep that electricity from harming you. Stick your thumb in the socket. Pick your self up from the floor opposite the lamp. Extinguish the fire in your hair. Repeat 1,000,000 times.



You will be electrocuted 1,000,000 times. THAT, like evolution, is a RELIABlLE (say this with me brothahs and sistahs) THEORY!!!!
As many have said, because it is a theory and thus can never be set in absolutes that somehow makes it wrong. Nevermind of course that believing that some magical pixie blinked us into existence, an act that can not only not be proven but can't be observed (evolutionary processes can be observed if you know where to look) is somehow equivalent or even more factual than science HA! This is why no one wants to teach it in schools except those who are too simple to understand the complexities of biology. There is also something to be said for the mistakes people make with evolution, such as the mistake that we are descended from monkeys (we share a common ancestor) or that creatures chose to evolve (it's catastrophic changes in environment that wipes out those not fit to survive), if scientists would clear up these misunderstandings we would be better off.



It seems more comforting to believe that there is some ethereal being who created us rather than random mutations and chance. If that is so I guess it means someone is looking out for us... which is funny because in all these ages God doesn't seem to have cared what has happened to us. Personally I am more comforted by the fact that the universe seems to be governed by rules that can be learned and mastered than some giant parent figure with a really S*****y sense of humor.



Sorry for the tangent... in short Evolution is a theory and thus open to attack, whereas God is an idea and much harder to question or falsify. That doesn't make the religious types right... just impossible to reason with.



P.S. I also understand that not every person who is religious is so misguided, just the ones who seem to capture all the attention.
You expect them to read anything besides the Bible? They can hardly listen too.



"schools teach that "theory" as fact and that is wrong."



It's common knowledge that theory means a highly tested hypothesis. You learn about the difference between hypothesis, theory, and facts. (If not, your school doesn't understand science). I don't remember any of my teachers talking about "Fact of Evolution". Theory always tailed behind it or before it. It's Theory of Evoltion.
in theory, when non christians talk about theory, my scriptures and claims of veracity don't hold up
Yes, I do. Do you know what a generalization is?
Christians do not think evolution is a joke. This is totally untrue. The Catholic Church has actually stated that it accepts the theory of evolution as a viable and extremely likely theory and that it is probably true (nobody knows for sure, it's a theory). Only fundamentalist Christians think that this is untrue, and their scientific "calculations" make no sense. They also believe the world is 6000 years old, something we know for definite to be untrue.
Yes.....But not all, the same thing applies to any beliefs/religion. BTW some christians do accept evolution.
"...They are simply leaving open to the possibility that a theory may need to be changed at some point in the future to explain new observations or experimental results."



Notice how many atheists are NOT open to the idea that evolution just might be wrong, and they ridicule anyone who would question it.
Because there has never been any direct evidence that evolution of man came from monkeys. On the contrary there is proof that the Bible is true. I do not believe in evolution. And that is not just because I am Christian. I have never believed in evolution even when I didn't believe in God. I believe that there are such things as theories.



That just have to have enough facts to prove plausible. Evolution for example has not given enough facts that state that it is plausible for us to have come from monkeys. But theories, Christians believe that there are theories.
Not all Christians are this ignorant - but many are. Another thing these particular Christians (and other theists) don't understand is that the theory of evolution is a theory for evolution - it explains how and why it occurred. Evolution itself is a fact as much as gravity is a fact. The theory attempts to explain the process.
I'd like to add, that a scientific theory is a set of ideas that have so much evidence behind them that they are accepted as fact.



A fact is an observation that does not change with the observer.



So, with regard to evolution, if the observer is christian, the observer has not observed thoroughly. I'd suggest that any christian who has not taken evolutionary biology classes at a public university should shut their mouth as they do not know enough to speak with any authority on evolution.



BTW, at every point in history, all new information regarding the sience of evolution has supported Darwin's original idea. Also, at every point in history that creationism has been challenged, it has LOST to evolution.



Thank god for Darwin!
Yes I know what a theroy is.



I am going to assume that you are talking about macro evolution. I do believe in micro evolution but not macro evolution. The difference is micro evolution is small changes in things to make them better. They adapt.

Ex. Someone skin color can change because of the climate they live in.

Macro evolution says that over time things change from one species to another species.

Ex. A fish grows lungs and starts coming out of the water and becomes a lizard.

I will be speaking of macro evolution from this point on.

The reason I know the theory of evolution is a joke is because I am a Christian and know that God created the universe and all that it has. Its hard to explain to someone who isnt a believer but I will do my best. When Jesus comes to live in your heart you start a personal relationship with him. He talks to you through spirit. That spirit will guide you and let you know what is truth and what is not. Most will say that it is blind faith but in reality it is not. You can still look at all the evidence and come to a decision. Many scientist have become Christians because of what they learned from science.



I will now give you some scientific evidence of why evolution is a joke.

First of all evolution is not science. In your second

definition of theory it states that it must be observed. This comes from the scienitific method.



The principles and empirical processes of discovery and demonstration considered characteristic of or necessary for scientific investigation, generally involving the observation of phenomena, the formulation of a hypothesis concerning the phenomena, experimentation to demonstrate the truth or falseness of the hypothesis, and a conclusion that validates or modifies the hypothesis.



First thing it has to be observed. Macro evolution has never been observed. No one has ever seen one species change to another species.

In the words of an evolutionist -

Michael Stebbins - Director of Biology Policy for the Federation of American Scientists

“major steps of evolution have never been observed”

http://www.ooblick.com/text/patton/



Stephen Jay Gould - paleontologist and educator at Harvard University

“we view our data as so bad that we never see the very process we profess to study.”

“Change seems to be abrupt because the intermediate steps are missing”

The Richness of Life p.263

http://books.google.com/books?id=yfXJhKm…



The second thing we need to follow the scientific method is experimentation and reproduction.



Again words of evolutinist who write books about evolution.

Theodosius Dobzhansky – geneticists

“the applicability of the experimental method to the study of such unique historical processes is severely restricted before all else by the time intervals involved, which far exceed the lifetime of any human experimenter." American Scientist, Vol.4 5, p.388.

“it is obviously impossible to reproduce in the laboratory under controlled conditions” (Dobzhansky)

http://books.google.com/books?id=s7igybO…



Another thing for something to meet the requirements of the scientific method is falsification.



Yet another evolutionist.

Paul Ehrlich - The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1908

“Our theory of evolution has become . . one which cannot be refuted by any possible observations.”

Evolutionary History and Population Biology, " Nature 216 (1967), p.352.

http://evolution-facts.org/Ev-V3/3evlch3…

They have become part of an evolutionary dogma accepted by most of us as part of our training."- *L.C. Birch and *P. Ehrlich, Nature, April 22, 1967.

http://evolution-facts.org/Ev-V3/3evlch3…



Yes an evolutionist used the word dogma to describe evolution.

1 a: something held as an established opinion; especially : a definite authoritative tenet b: a code of such tenets %26lt;pedagogical dogma%26gt; c: a point of view or tenet put forth as authoritative without adequate grounds2: a doctrine or body of doctrines concerning faith or morals formally stated and authoritatively proclaimed by a church

http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/dogma



That is proof that macro evolution is outside empirical science.



Then when you go to school and they teach you about evolution you are likely to see haeckels drawings in your textbook. These drawings were found fake and Haeckel himself admitted to falsifying his drawings over 100 years ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTA5zm9jY…



Then they give you things like Piltdown man which was totally faked. Piltdown Man consisted of two human skulls, an orangutan jaw, an elephant molar, a hippopotamus tooth, and a canine tooth from a chimpanzee.

http://www.yecheadquarters.org/shame.4.h…



Scientists have no transitional fossils that say evolution is true. In fact some of the fossils they show and say this fish evolved into a land dwelling animal are still being found in the ocean.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zoYtUMmu…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAEuOnWnX…



These are things they use to teach our impressionable children about evolution because they dont have any real proof.



Then if you read the bible and look at archeology you can find many things in the bible found in the earth.

Sodom and Gamorah

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwTVFk1HK…



Noahs Ark

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y5ORpMTe…



The Exodus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZTBjv3Um…



Once you get to know the bible and understand it you can see things happening in the world today that the bible talked about before there was electricity, cars, airplanes, computers, etc.



Dan 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, [even] to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqfunyCeU…



I cant find the scripture, sorry, but the Bible talks about Isreal becoming a nation in one day. In 1947 after 2000 years of not being a nation they did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEGUPlhtM…



This may seem like a lot of things to comprehend but this is the reason I believe the Bible over evolution any day. How I know that evolution is a joke. This is just a small amount of information I have on evolution, biblical archeology, bible prophesy that have come true, etc, etc. If you would like more just ask.



Pro 1:7 The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of knowledge: [but] fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Do you know what the scientific process is? By the above definition evolution doesn't even qualify as a theory.